But the fact that the needed reforms have not been instituted should not lead us to a wholesale condemnation of the Japanese regime. The problem is an extremely complicated one and those who expected that by a single wave of the hand a condition of official corruption that has been fostered and fed by centuries of precedent could be rectified were doomed to disappointment from the start.
But unfortunately both for Korea and for Japan the failure to carry out reforms is only one, and the lesser one at that, of the complaints that are heard. It is stated from various parts of the country that Koreans are being deprived of their property without receiving proper compensation. Doubtless some of these stories are exaggerations but enough of them have been witnessed by foreigners of unquestioned veracity to establish the general fact. What we wonder at is that in the midst of a great war, in which all her energies are absorbed, Japan should allow the already difficult Korean problem to become complicated to such a painful degree by an influx of the less desirable element of their people into the peninsula. We hear it repeatedly asserted that the reinforcement of Japan’s enormous army in Manchuria is gradually depleting the supply of labor in Japan itself. This must be so if something like a million young men have been taken away to the seat of war. But if it is so how does it come about that thousands upon thousands of Japanese are flocking into Korea? It must be because they consider their opportunities better here than in the home country. But just at the present crisis they are doing their own land a double injury, first by further depleting the supply of labor there and secondly by complicating the already sufficiently difficult Korean problem.
The Japanese authorities in Korea have repeatedly been heard to say that a very undesirable class of Japanese is pouring into this country. They are thoroughly aware of this and they feel very keenly the extreme difficulty of holding their nationals in check. What we wonder at is that the Japanese government, which has shown such consummate ability in holding its subjects in check in Japan should allow itself to become hampered by the lawless acts of its subjects in Korea. It seems to us, and in this we are simply voicing the general sentiment of foreign observers in Korea, that the obvious course would have been to prohibit promiscuous emigration from Japan to Korea until the war was over and adequate arrangements could be made for the management and jurisdiction of those who wished to come.
Whether we are reasonable in this may be seen from the following consideration. It is affirmed by the defenders of Japan’s policy in Korea that as soon as the war is over and things quiet down these acknowledged difficulties will be overcome and the common people of Korea will be protected in their rights. This sounds reasonable, but does not every undesirable Japanese who comes here before that time make that solution more difficult? What, for instance of all the Koreans who have been forced to sell their property for a mere fraction of its value? Will the justice which Japan’s advocates foresee be retroactive, and will those acts of injustice be rectified? The Korean government guaranteed to secure the land for the building of the great railway through the peninsula. Was it not the duty of the Japanese to see to it that this land was paid for by the Korean government before it was seized, or at least should not each Korean whose land was appropriated have received an official paper signifying the amount of land he surrendered, such paper constituting a claim on the government for payment at some future time? Unless something like this was done it is hard to see how any future action of the Japanese could right the manifest wrong. The evidence has been lost.
It seems to be an object of general surprise that Japan should estimate at such a small value the good will of the Korean people. It was not to be expected that the government could look with satisfaction upon a Japanese occupation, but at first the people were enthusiastic over it and hailed it as a sign that all abuses were to be done away. We confess to utter inability to understand how or why Japan should have sacrificed this heavy asset of good will. It is the province of diplomacy and statesmanship to make use of all such moral factors to the fullest extent. We hear on all sides the statement that the Koreans have brought the present state of things upon themselves, but what we would like to know is the reason why Japan has not only failed to carry out needed reforms but has rendered future work in this time almost impossible by allowing an army of adventurers to come in and exasperate the people. We can see only two possible answers, either the Japanese government has concluded that reforms will not pay or else they are not fully aware of the actual conditions that prevail in Korea.
A few weeks ago at a station on the Seoul-Fusan Railway a Korean stepped upon a path leading away from the station. There was no sign to indicate that this was forbidden. Instantly three or four Japanese rushed upon him, knocked him down and beat him into unconsciousness. He remained in that state two days but finally recovered. It was an utterly brutal and causeless assault, and this sort of thing is going on all over the country. The class of Japanese who for the most part are exploiting Korea seem to take delight in wantonly abusing the people, simply out of braggadocio. There is no use in multiplying examples of this. We think that the Japanese are injuring themselves in allowing this sort of thing to go on. We are sorry to see that Koreans have come to the conclusion that all Japanese are like this. Such is far from being the case. We believe the average Japanese would act very different from this. The daily press of Japan is constantly recording acts of generosity and kindness on the part of Japanese even toward Russian captives and we believe that if the more respectable class of Japanese should come to Korea the people would be treated justly and kindly.
We have consistently upheld Japan in her opposition to Russian intrigues in the Far East. Japan is doing a splendid work and is fitting herself to do a still greater work in this region. She probably aspires to be a leader of opinion in this part of the world and to bring her influence to bear upon China for the renovation of that enormous mass of humanity. That is a much larger work than the mere absorption of a little corner of the Far East like Korea; but if Japan breaks her solemn pledges to Korea and continues to treat this people as she is now doing she is sure to injure herself in the eyes of the world. Japan is fighting Russia because of the latter’s broken promises in Manchuria, but if Japan herself breaks the promises she has made to Korea, how can she gain the countenance and acquiescence of the Western powers in any plan for large work in the rehabilitation of China? The best thing for Japan from the merely selfish standpoint would be to clear her skirts of all suspicion of double dealing with Korea, to give this people even-handed justice, to visit swift and exemplary punishment on any Japanese subject who treats a Korean less justly than he would a fellow Japanese.
We would ask what Korea has done that her people should be despoiled of their property and debarred from ordinary justice. To be sure she has not responded to the appeal which Japan made so many years ago and still retains the forms of conservation, but this can hardly be called crime. If Korea had been leagued with Russia against Japan and had been conquered by the latter then Japan would have some semblance of right to absorb the territory of the peninsula, but this was not the case. Of her own accord Japan formed an alliance with Korea and engaged to preserve the interests of the country. A failure to carry out this agreement would throw suspicion upon all Japan’s policy regarding the territory she acquires during the present war and would make it difficult to believe any of her promises.
A man who is prominent in the Japanese regime told us flatly a few days ago that as soon as this war is over Japan would declare a protectorate over this country. The excuse seems to be that it has been found impossible to make anything out of the Korean government or to effect reforms. This is the merest subterfuge. No serious attempt has been made to effect reforms, no one stands in the way of reforms, the people have been waiting for them and hoping against hope that reforms would be instituted, but so far as reforming this government for the sake of the Korean people is concerned there are few signs of a desire or determination to do so. Russia was severely blamed for making use of corrupt officials to carry out her schemes in Korea but we find today that Japanese are doing the very same thing in some parts of the country. We do not believe the leading authorities in Japan are aware of all the facts in the case and we cannot believe that they would countenance such a close imitation of Russian methods. What is needed is that the facts should be known. If they are known there are those who will attempt to have the evils remedied.
Our attitude, and that of most foreigners in Korea, is one of admiration of Japan’s wonderful ability and of earnest desire for the real welfare of the people. We want to see Japan’s military and naval record equalled by a wise and broad-minded solution of the Korean problem, a solution that will secure to Japan all the legitimate fruits of victory and still ensure to Koreans immunity from unjust reprisals.