Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/265

 This looked as if it were intended as a counter-move to the Po-an Society, and, as the latter was having very little success, a third society took up the gauntlet under the name of the Kuk-min, or " National People's " Society. The platforms promulgated by all these societies were quite faultless, but the institutions had no power whatever to carry out their laudable plans, and so received only the smiles of the public. During the summer the Japanese suggested that it would be well for Korea to recall her foreign representatives. The idea was to have Korean diplomatic business abroad transacted through Japanese legations. Whether this was a serious attempt or only a feeler put out to get the sense of the Korean government we are unable to say, but up to the end of the year the matter was not pushed.

The various societies which had been formed as protests against existing conditions stated some things that ought to be accomplished, but suggested no means by which they could be done. The difficulty which besets the country is the lack of general education, and no genuine improvement can be looked for until the people are educated up to it. For this reason a number of foreigners joined themselves into the Educational Association of Korea, their aim being to provide suitable textbooks for Korean schools and to help in other ways toward the solution of the great question. About the same time the Minister of Education presented the government with a recommendation that the graduates of the government schools be given the preference in the distribution of public offices. This had no apparent effect upon the government at the time, but this is what must come before students will flock to the government schools with any enthusiasm. Later in the year a large number of Koreans also founded an educational society. It made no pretensions to political significance, but went quietly to work, gathering together those who are convinced that the education of the masses is the one thing needed to put Korea firmly upon her feet.