Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/82

 exaggeration. The Koreans put the matter in a nutshell when they say that a " big man " will escape censure for great faults  and will be lauded to the skies for small acts of merit, while  the " little man's " good acts are taken for granted and his  slightest mistakes are exaggerated. The ajun is the scapegoat for everyone's sins, the safety-valve which saves the boiler from  bursting. It is right to pile metaphors upon him, for everybody uses him as a dumping-ground for their abuse. No doubt there are many bad ajuns, but if they were half as bad as they are  painted the people would long ago have exterminated them. They are fixtures in their various districts, and if they once forfeit the good-will of the people they cannot move away to  " pastures new," but must suffer the permanent consequences. Their families and local interests are their hostages, and their normal attitude is not that of an oppressor, but that of a buffer  between the people and the prefect. They must hold in check the rapacity of the prefect with one hand and appease the exasperation of the people with the other. Since it is their business to steer between these two, neither of whom can possibly be  satisfied, uphold their own prestige with the prefect and at the  same time preserve the good-will of the people, is it any wonder  that we hear only evil of them?

The ajun is no simple yamen-runner who works with his own hands. He superintends the doing of all official business, but is no mere servant. He is necessarily a man of some degree of education, for he has to do all the clerical work of the office  and keep the accounts. Not infrequently the best scholars of the district are found among these semi-officials. It is they who influence most largely the popular taste and feeling, for  they come into such close touch with the common people that  the latter take the cue from them most readily. They hold in their hands the greatest possibilities for good or evil. If they are good, it will be practically impossible for a bad prefect to  oppress the people; and if they are bad, it will be equally impossible for a good prefect to govern well. They can keep the