Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/270

 But the Japanese know that the government has no money and that the land is simply confiscated. But not only so ; men claiming to be connected vith the Japanese army go out into the country districts and seize any land they like, repeating simply the formula " This is for military purposes." The writer has been repeatedly asked to interfere in such cases of fraud. Koreans have come hundreds of miles to sell their farms to a foreigner for a few cents each, simply that they might be under a foreigner's name, and so escape wanton seizure. During the year 1905 there was no such thing as justice for the Korean either from the private Japanese or from the officials. The military put their hands upon eight square miles of the most valuable land near Seoul simply for the building of barracks and parade grounds for twelve thousand men, when experts affirm that one-sixteenth of that space would have been ample. That land could not be bought in open market for six million dollars, but the Japanese knew the government could not pay a proper price, so they gave two hundred thousand dollars, to cover the cost of removal only. And this is all the Koreans could ever hope to get. The most elementary laws of human right and justice have been daily and hourly trampled under foot. Hardly an effort has been made to carry out any reform that would better the condition of the Korean people.

Mark the action of the man who controlled the finances of the country, a Japanese. The country was flooded with counterfeit nickels, made largely by Japanese in Osaka, and brought over to Korea by the millions. The Korean currency fell to a ruinous discount, and Japanese merchants were suffering severely because of the rapid fluctuations of exchange. The Adviser determined that the Korean government should borrow several million yen from Japan, and with it make a new currency to substitute for the one in use. When it was learned that Korea was to pay six per cent for this money, Korean financiers came forward and said that they would lend their government the necessary money at a far lower rate. They did it to keep Korea out