Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/266

 In the middle of October the Japanese military authorities sent Marshal Hasegawa to take charge of military affairs in Korea. He arrived on the i3th, and shortly after went to Wonsan to inspect matters in that vicinity. The news of considerable Russian activity in northeast Korea seemed to need careful watching, and the presence of a general competent to do whatever was necessary to keep them in check.

The laying of the last rail of the Seoul-Fusan Railway was an event of great importance to Korea. It adds materially to the wealth of the country, both by forming a means of rapid communication and by enhancing the value of all the territory through which it runs. It also gives Japan such a large vested interest here that it becomes, in a sense, her guarantee to prevent the country from falling into the hands of other powers. But, like all good things, it has its dangers as well.

Mr. Megata, the new Adviser to the Finance Department, arrived in the autumn, and began a study of Korean monetary and financial conditions. This should have been an augury of good, for Korean finance has always been in a more or less chaotic condition, but, as we shall see, it spelled worse disaster than ever.

Late in the year Mr. Stevens, the newly appointed Adviser of the Foreign Department, took up his duties, which, though less important than those of Mr. Megata, nevertheless gave promise that the foreign relations of the government would be handled exclusively in the interests of Japan.

The year 1905 gives us a complete picture of Japanese methods in handling an alien people. It has been said that Japan has much the same work to do in Korea that England has in Egypt. Let us see how far the methods of these two powerful governments coincide. It has been said, again, that up to the present time Japan has not been able to show what she can do in this line, because she has been so busy with the war, but we would ask the reader to note that an American gentleman who has resided many years in Formosa made the remark