File No. 1166/259–267.
American Embassy,
Tokyo, September 19 [20], 1907.
No. 417.]
The new ordinance altering the constitution of the imperial
residency-general at Seoul has been published to-day in the Official
Gazette. I annex a translation which I have had made.a Owing to the closing of the
mail, however, it has been impossible to examine the effect of the new
ordinance, which must be left to the next post. The text of the original
ordinance was inclosed in Mr. Wilson’s dispatch No. 363, of January 2,
1906.
[Inclosure 1.]
[From the Japan Times, September 20,
1907.]
marquis ito and korea—absurdity of
annexation talk.
The Nichi Nichi publishes what purports to be a summary of Marquis
Ito’s speech at the recent banquet given in his honor by the members
of the House of Peers. Below is our translation of the same:
“The marquis was emphatic in pronouncing all annexation talk as
absurd. He thought it not unnatural for the leaders of thought in
Korea to be secretly displeased with the new agreement. But forces
had combined in a definite direction and nothing could avert it. The
new agreement furnished, however, a streak of hope, and led by it he
was striving for the permanency of the Yi dynasty and the
preservation of Korea, together with rescuing its people from their
miserable lot. For this purpose he was unremitting in his exertions
to effect comprehensive administrative reform under Japan’s
guidance. In these
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circumstances, should the strained application of force and coercion
be resorted to, the result might be to press the Koreans to suspect
the real intention to be annexation. Such a turn of affairs would be
tantamount to driving them to desperation and self-abandonment,
which would only tend to increase the sources of trouble and
occasion a serious denouement. The situation called, therefore, for
extreme caution. It was but an easy job to stamp out the riotous
risings in the different parts of the country by the aid of a
powerful army. But these insurgents were the dupes of outside
instigators, at whose beck and call they were making
disturbances.
“His excellency then went on to give specific instances to illustrate
how skillfully the instigations were being worked. In view of this
he was having recourse to nothing else but dealing with the natives
sincerely and with genuine solicitude. He was racking his brain how
to effectively make them see their own blunder of being misguided by
those inciting them to rebellion and bring them round so as to
reconcile them to the Japanese régime. There were, perhaps, some who
would accuse the marquis of too much leniency and dilatoriness, but
he, on his part, firmly believed it to be the best plan, in the
present state of affairs, to exercise power and kindness side by
side and avoid forcing the Koreans to self-abandonment.
“One thing that greatly disturbed the resident-general’s mind was the
fear that, as the result of the risings, the season’s crops might be
a total failure. For the riot reports would show that the farmers of
the different localities, armed with their spades and hoes, were
helping the agitators, while entirely neglecting the tilling of
their soil. The result might not be a total failure of crops, but
would inevitably lead to enormous reduction. This would have serious
effect on the revenues of the Korean Government; not only that, but
it would also affect considerably the progress of Japan’s
administrative plans. The prospect could not but be a source of
great anxiety.”
