File No. 895.52/1.
The British ambassador here, acting upon the report made by his consul
general at Seoul, sent to the foreign office a note much stronger than
mine, and has on several occasions informed me that the British
Government considered, as an absolute prerequisite to any steps taken by
the Government of Chosen, that the authenticity of their consular
records should be unquestioned.
[Inclosure.]
The American Chargé
d’Affaires to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs.
Tokyo
,
December 15,
1910
.
No. 515.]
Your Excellency: I have the honor to inform
your excellency that I am in receipt of a communication from the
American consul at Seoul, inclosing a copy of a letter to him, dated
the 5th instant, from Mr. Ariyoshi, chief of the general affairs
department of the Government General of Chosen, with translations of
law No. 7, promulgated August 24, 1910, and regulations for the
investigation of land in Korea.
As this law was promulgated before the annexation of Korea, I should
have taken it for granted that it was not intended to apply in any
way to foreigners except for the facts that Article IX of decree No.
26 of the department of finance, dated August 23, reads, “Foreigners
shall mention their nationalities below their names,” and that Mr.
Ariyoshi’s letter requests Mr. Scidmore to bring the new rules to
the notice of American citizens.
Laying aside any discussion as to the right of the authorities in
Chosen to enforce this law in the case of American cititens at this
time, I beg to assure your excellency that this embassy, animated by
a sincere desire to cooperate in every possible way with the
Imperial Government in its prospective reform in Korea, would be
inclined to urge upon American citizens owning land in that country
the advisability of prompt compliance with this law, were it not for
the following reasons:
Both Mr. Ariyoshi’s letter and the stipulations of the law and
regulations themselves entirely ignore the fact that the various
foreign consulates at Seoul contain in their archives accurate
records of the purchase of lands by [Page 331] their respective nationals. There has always
been in the American consulate general special provision for the
recording of all land bought by Americans in Korea, and these
records have been made with the greatest care, those since 1906
having been made in consonance with the Korean land law and
regulations of that year. The title deeds, after certification by a
local magistrate and the nearest Japanese resident, with copies of
the necessary certificates and other documents, have been duly
recorded in the consular archives. This course has naturally
involved much time, trouble, and expense to the purchaser, and as it
is understood that this system has operated with satisfaction, it
does not seem either necessary or just that these carefully prepared
records should be absolutely ignored as they are in the new law.
Moreover, Chosen being still largely a land of somewhat primitive
means of communication, American citizens, especially missionaries,
residing in distant parts of the country, where they have purchased
numerous tracts of land, would find it impossible in many districts,
within the limited time allotted in which applications for
investigations must be filed, to comply with the law, and great
hardship would be caused and much unnecessary discontent aroused by
this measure. Articles V, VI, VII, VIII, and XII seem especially
stringent and arbitrary.
I have felt it necessary to enter into some detail in this matter
with a view to emphasizing the great hardship which the enforcement
of this land investigation would work upon many worthy American
citizens who have acquired land in Korea, not only for business but
for praiseworthy philanthropic and educational enterprises, and
whose efforts it is believed are conducive of great good to the
Korean people. Their lands have been bought in good faith, properly
recorded, and, in many cases, enjoyed for years without
molestation.
Mr. Scidmore requests instructions from this embassy by telegraph.
Before replying, however, I have ventured to lay the foregoing
considerations before your excellency, being confident that a
presentation of the case will bring about a satisfactory
modification of the provisions of the above-mentioned law.
I avail, etc.,
