In Korea with Marquis Ito

by George Trumbull Ladd

Art. 4. The profit or loss of the undertaking shall be divided between the two Governments in proportion to the amounts of their investments.

Art. 5. In case necessity arises to increase the investment stated in the Art. 2, it shall be done, on the recognition of both Governments.

Art. 6. In case necessity arises to enact detailed rules in order to enforce the present agreement, it shall be submitted to the hands of commissioners appointed by both Governments.

Art. 7. On the progress of the undertaking, when necessity arises to change its organization into a company so as to enable the subjects of both the countries to join in the undertaking, the necessary processes shall be determined by an agreement of both Governments.

For centuries Korea has been reputed to be rich in deposits of gold; and it is a fact that Japan, by trading with Korea, obtained most of this precious metal, which the Dutch, by shrewd management of their relations in trade with Japan, carried off to Holland. Both these Oriental countries in this way contributed to the enrichment of a limited number of Europeans. But the real condition of the mining resources of the peninsula has never been investigated; even the amount of the annual product of gold has never been accurately ascertained; and—worst of all—there have never been any laws or accepted principles to govern the mining industry. The result of all this ignorance, confusion and fraud is not difficult to conjecture. “Some mines,” says the official report, “are under the direct control of the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry; with others the granting of a concession rests with the Chief of the Mining Bureau; with others again, the subordinate officials on the spot have it in their power to allow or disallow their working; and to make confusion worse confounded, there are even mines operated under patents secretly granted by the Emperor without consulting the Cabinet. This chaotic state of things is bad enough, but it does not stop here. For in some cases the concessions granted are cancelled without compensation; while in other cases, one and the same mining district has been leased to several persons one after another until it has become utterly impossible to tell which is the rightful concessionaire. Then, again, there are cases in which the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, of Finance, and of the Imperial Household, severally and independently, have levied mining taxes to suit their own convenience; while in others, the provincial authorities quite arbitrarily collect imposts. In the midst of this indescribable confusion, the cunning and unscrupulous have not been slow to make the most of the situation, by having recourse to bribery, instigation, intimidation, and other unlawful schemes, until vast tracts of mining lands have come under their control.”[64]

To remedy, as far as possible, these evils and to limit their continuance into the future, a General Mining Law was proclaimed on July 12, 1906, and a Placer Mining Law on the 28th of the same month. Both these laws were accompanied by the enactment of detailed rules. The principal features of these laws provided that mines, whose ownership could not be definitely ascertained, should revert to the state; that the limits of mining concessions should be definitely prescribed; that mining rights which could be established as legally gained should be legally protected; that the taxes on mining properties should be unified; and that priority of application, in cases of competing concessions, should, until examination could be made, stop the granting to others of the same concession in an arbitrary way. In the effort to put into effective operation these legal enactments it was necessary to call upon the Korean authorities to promulgate a list of the mines belonging to the Imperial Household, and also a list of such Crown mines as the Household might intend to work for itself. But the Korean authorities, either from ignorance, sloth, or other even less creditable reasons, did not make haste to prepare such a list. Meantime, all mining rights were, legally considered, in abeyance. It was only after repeated and urgent remonstrances from the Resident-General, and as late as November 17, 1906, that the required list was promulgated. It then appeared that the Imperial Household not only laid claim to mines claimed by Japanese, but also by American and European concessionaires.

The falsity of the statement, so repeatedly made abroad, that the Koreans are being robbed by Japanese, to the detriment of the interests of other foreigners, under the protection of the Japanese Government in Korea, is made obvious by the following, among other facts. Had the applicants to these contested claims been only Japanese or Koreans, they would have been required to survey the properties and make out maps at their own expense; but in deference to the interests of the American and European claimants the survey was made by experts at the expense of the state. And while only twenty per cent. of the 200 applications made by Japanese were granted, “virtually all the applications made by Americans and Europeans were granted.”

Besides gold, which is found especially in the form of gold-dust, there are in Korea silver, copper, graphite, and coal. The coal is not good for steaming purposes, nor fitted for export; but when made, by mixing it with earth, into bricks or balls, it is valuable as fuel for those who can afford its use. The total annual value of these mineral products, for reasons already explained, cannot be accurately ascertained. Hitherto much of the gold has been smuggled out of the country in order to escape the export and other taxes. It is calculated, however, by the Residency-General that in the aggregate these products do not fall below 6,000,000 yen.

We shall not attempt to speak in detail of the other natural resources of Korea, of its fisheries, or its sericulture, or its raising of fruit. But all these have been in the past left in a lamentable condition of ignorance and disorder; and all of these are to be made objects of attention, with the purpose of reform, by the Korean Government under the Japanese Protectorate.

What has been shown to be true of the natural resources of Korea, in soil, forests, mines, and other products, is true of its manufacturing industries. Early in her history Korea attained a considerable development in the arts of weaving, pottery, paper-making, metal-casting, and the dressing of skins. In several instances Japan borrowed her models from Korea in all these lines of the industrial arts. But to-day there is absolutely nothing that a foreign traveller would covet to take away from Korea except, perhaps, a Korean brass-bound chest or a set of its rude brass utensils for holding food. The founding of an Industrial Training Institute in the spring of 1907, and a statement of what it proposes to try to accomplish for the revival and development of Korean industrial arts, have been referred to in an earlier chapter ([p. 128 f.]). Its practical results must be awaited with patience; but now that the control of the Resident-General over internal affairs in Korea is increased by the Convention of July, 1907, we may reasonably anticipate favorable results in due time.