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160 country through which the line passes is known as the granary of Korea. Developments of a substantial character must follow the completion of this undertaking, the position of Japan in Korea receiving more emphatic confirmation from this work than from anything by which her previous domination of the country has been demonstrated. It will promote the speedy development of the rich agricultural and mining resources of Southern Korea, and as these new areas become accessible by means of the railway, it is difficult to see how the influx of Japanese immigrants and settlers to the southern half of the kingdom can be avoided. Indeed, a very serious situation for the Korean Government has already arisen, since by far the greatest number of the men, engaged upon the construction of the Seoul-Fusan Railway, have signified their intention of becoming permanent settlers in the country. In the case of these new settlers, the company has granted from the land, which it controls on either side of the line, a small plot to each family for the purposes of settlement. While the man works upon the line, his family erect a house and open up the ground. Whether or no the action of the company can be justified to the extent which has already taken place, the policy has resulted in the establishment of a continuous series of Japanese settlements extending through the heart of Southern Korea from Seoul to Fusan.

From time to time the Japanese Government itself has attempted to stem the torrent of Japanese migration to Korea. But the success of the colonies already settled there has made it a delicate and a difficult task—one which, in the future, the Japanese Government may be expected to leave alone. The railway once open, the still greater stimulus which will be imparted to agriculture in the southern half of