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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1904)
Strange Story of America's Lead in Corea 15y Archer Butler llulbcrt, Formerly Editor of the Corcan Independent (Copyright, 1 : 1 . by Archer It. Hulbrrt.) r"o!UA In the only foreign country 1 f I In which Americans Ini Vf taken I t,,. parting unit In lis commercial exploration; and It was purely Iiy act Idcnt that America, begin to play t tut important roll- in tin' develop ment of tin' hermit kingdom that it has 1'lii ! during tin- last generation. It was Just twenty years uflcr the mouto of 1XM, that nil American iin'rth il missionary, I r. Horace Allen, was called Upon to nTforiii a serious opci a t Ion on tho manghil body of Piiner .Vin Yung ll(. a Corean nolil' tn.' n. Tin epilation wis suc cessful ami attracted the a t tent ii li of the) Co-can ompi lor, who ImiiK ill iti ly up ioi,iti (l I r. Allen l 1 1 1 " k physician. Tho American niisslonarii s, other tha'i medical, hi io also achieving tin' li'vimm.)? ff thl'll' Hleee. ses. Al the SITIIc lime. i'l order to foiinil a school for the training f Corean noblemen's sons for government Mini diplomatic poMllons, tlie Corean j,o rrnineiit sent to America, asking lor threo teachers lo found a government sc Iio il or royal colli go. Thus, ill 1 1 space of a few yens. A mil leans took the lead in Con-it In missionary, medical and educational lines. The with looked upon as friend- ly tho nativiH, ami wrri loved; they wir Hot meddling In politics; not asking fop coaling stations or open ports. They eamu to do rood, and they did Rood and nulh trip else. Th" first chapter of modern Corean hlr tnry ended wild the outbreak of tho Japan lilmi. war. Corea had nominally In longed to China up lo this time; though t h Catlio lli: iniHsloiiai les had Is en In Corea, almost Hliieo the Puritans latulifl nt Plymouth Hoek. 1'Yanoo had sought no political power In tho government. The Itoyal ho-pital bad boon founded through li Allen's In fluence. At the (lose of the war Core:v liccimin free from outsiders and ("poll for tier own robber princes. llelng frit-, Corea luirt the right to grant foreign concessions. Various parlies sought these vigorously, Imt unsuccessfully; for In nlmost every In utanoo, thorp w'emod to ho an ulterior pn lltleal motive In view, Horace Allen hart now liooomo American ambassador to Corea. and It was plain that America's Wholesome introduction to Coroa through mlKonary, physician and educator was to lend to commercial successes which would also ho unrivaled. In a short time James II. Morse of tho American Trading company secured two concessions from the Corean government, one for opening gold mines In the moun tains In the north of Corea and another for building the first railway In the coun try, from the soamrt of Chemulpo to tho capital. Seoul, twenty-seven miles Inland, The mining concession was leased to T.elgh Hunt; n plant costing J 125,000 Is now In operation, J. Bloat Kassett of New York being one of tho best known Interested parties. The contract for building the rail way was given to the American and Ori ental Construction company, formed by Messrs. Oollbron anil James of Denver and C'huttunooKa, respectively. In tho building of the road V. C Curley was llrst ervKinocr-tn-churKo; II. It. Ilostwick, auditor, and 8. K. l'hillps, suerlntendent-ln-charBe. Tho principal feat tu the construction of the road was Ihiowlnr nn eluht-sp in brldga across the Kfcat rlvr Han, three miles from Seoul. This bridge, 1,6110 feet long, Tiras rent across the Atlantic In pieces on a Bpeclul vessel. It marto tho Corcans open their eyes to see a three-masted schooner come blundering safely Into tho half chartered Corean port under the firm luuul if u Yankee skipper, but their wonder be came amazement when the strange piece of Iron It bore as rargo were carried twenty-live miles Inland and swung rifely aboNo the mad tides of the chief river of Core. i. The total length of the bridge It Z.iTiO feet. Including approaches, t'pon com I'letlon a Jiipanuse company secured tho road. This road hart Its ttrminus without the west gate of Seoul. American enterprise now put on foot an electric railway runulnic from the railway terminus Into Seoul, through the city and out to the tomb of Xlff c:."j j AN EXCURSION PARTY OVER T 13 a ct:t on the the murdcrel empress, Mln, thre mi'.cs east of the city and a mecca for Corcans. The Seoul Klectric company was oik mixed. It comprised Core. ins only, with the gov ernor of the city as presidi nt. The fran chise carne from the department of public works. The company was capitalized fit f;ilK,X); one-half of this sum was Immedi ately paid to the same construction com pany which hart built the Seoul-Chemulpo railway. The inotormen have been Japanese anit the conductors Coreins. Of courre, a number of accidents have happened; at one of these a car was demolished and the company a wu eudangcred. Tli THK GHKAT UU1DUE AM KHI CANS Coreans are a very stately race of men; they move slowly nml have no wit in avoiding accidents-and the trolley ear tho world over is no respecter of dignity. The commonest surgical operation in Corea. the medical missionaries say, to pull a two or three foot pipestem out of the buck of a Cortan's neck; by accidents, in wheeling around corners, or by fal.lng down when Intoxicate 1, these pipist 'ms arj Jammed downwards or backwards, ad In finitum. Other more marvelous objections have been raised to these "make-themsclves-go machines," so named by the people win call the bicycle the "man-make-hlmsclf-go machine." The people ulllrm that a le- A lk&$M' W "Jl'-C 1 .I v., ....j..,. -- -1.. . I jf - - THK CONSTRUCTION TRACK Ok IUH r " ! r 1 f m SKoci.-rnKMri.ro iiailwav. nuii.T cent drouth hao 1h(ii trl.' wires which are cau.-e.l by the t le--itruiig acio.-' Se ul. In all six miles in length. They declared that the wires cut off the lnfluente of heaven. Others were n-'t satisfied whether the blame should be given the wl'e or thi location of the power house of tho elec tric plant; it was fou:nl oa ex-imlnatlo 1 of the recoids that the house stood on 11 sacred spot and desecrated It. The power ho-.ise, remains, however, on the hallow el spot. During these years of eommorol il ex ploitation the American missionaries have not been backward; tho Presbyterian mls tiuua lu liio uoitU ua-i'wci 7,WJ cuu verts, BUILT ACUOSS THE KIVER IIAU. and the Methodist missions In the center of the little kingdom count over 5.000. The Methodist: have paid special attention to publishing; their first pl.int the Triangular Press, having played un Important part lu the opening of Corea. The Koman Catholics number 40,(110 converts; t'ney en toiod Corea two centuries ago; when the Jesuits were leading the way Into the heart of tho American continent. The Corcans have "practically given up Hud dhlsm and Confucianism," uccorJIng to Minister Allen. A few American trading houses have sprung up; the Standard Oil company does a large business in Corea; but the future of American trade, of course, depends, like - vmn : " n iss SEOLU - CIiKAlUlO'O RAILWAY. ... by Americans. everything else, upon the political turn which tilings may take In the future in tho land of the Morning Calm. Seventy . per H'm of the trade of Corea is with Eng land; Japan and Kussi.i have a little on tho cast and north. Thanks to the wisdom of her rcprescnta tive in Corea. America has maintained her place with dignity ar.d success. As Mr. Allen has modestly stated, "Today ' Amer icans are found to be In possession of lights and privileges of great material value, obtained by peaceful means from the goodwill of the people." Amid all tho excitement of various up risings, of tho Japan-China war and of the surprising days of 1SSS, American Interests have not lost ground. On one occasion, at least, the Corean emperor sought to come lo the American legation for protection at a tinio when several foreign ambassadors would have done anything to have ob tained his majesty's person; but he was kindly but flrmly refused the necessary permission. Nothing would have lieen gained to Americans best Interests by hav ing tho possession of the king, and a thou sand dangers would have been run. Tho emcror leads a haunted life, sleeping in daytime, when all the world Is awake, and holding his cabinet meetings and doing all Ms business by night. He has deserted his old palace In tho native portion of the city anil lives In a straw-thatchert barn of a building In a frog pond in the foreign quar ter within reach of the legations in caso Cf trouble. From any point of view, America must bo greatly interested in and connected with tho future of Corea. Twice os many Amer icans can talk the Corean language as any other nationality of foreigners in Corea; America has led In commercial exploita tion; America has led in disseminating political knowledge. lr. Philip Jaisohu, a natura:ied American of Corean parentage, and adviser to the cabinet, founded the first English paper In Corea, the native editions of which circulated widely and played an Important port In tho early work of the In dependence club. When filled with fears of assassination, just after the murder of his queen, tho emperor of Corea put not a mouthful of food to his lips that was not prepared by the hands of an American missionary and taken secretly to the palace. On the occasion of a riot on Thanksgiving day night, 16. three Americans lay In tho ante-room of the king's bedchamber at tho palaco with cooked revolvers and other weapons In their hands, ready to beat back the mob If It came. There is something splendid In the mere fact that America has taken no advantage of the "Inside track" that she has secured In Corea to gain political power. Her re fusal to take such advantage has given her almost the power that others have de sired; and it would be a small surprise to tho well informed In far eastern politics If Americans should possess an Influence In ftorm-tossed Corea which, irrespective of tho outcome of any war between Russia and Japan, should, for one thing, put a Forious prohibition on Russian advance In that direction. It would be Interesting if American Influence In Corea should be tho real power that Russia should find In Corea when she raps at the door again. Note Indeed, there is a treaty, In forro slnre 1x:l. between Corea and the United Plates, a clause of which reads as follows: "If other powers deal unjustly or op pressively with either government, tho other will exert its good offices, on being Informed of the case, to bring alout an amloabl arrangement, thus ehowlng their friendly feelings." Editor.