Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 3, 1912

File No. 895.52/10.

The Vice Consul General at Seoul to the Secretary of State .

No. 334.]

American Consulate General,
Seoul , April 22, 1912 .

Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith translations,¹ made in this office, of ordinances of the Government General of Chosen, as follows:

• Ordinance for Certification of Immovables in Chosen (effective April 1, 1912).
• Ordinance for Registration of Immovables in Chosen. (Date of enforcement to be determined by the Governor General.)
• Registration Tax Ordinance (effective April 1, 1912).

These ordinances in no wise affect the validity of titles which have already been certified. They merely provide for the maintenance by local officials of comprehensive land records, and all future transactions must be carried out in accordance with them.

Viewed broadly, these laws appear to be the latest move on the part of the Government General to complete the work which has occupied the attention of the Japanese authorities ever since their arrival in this country, i. e., to establish some authoritative record of land rights. The first land laws were promulgated by the then Korean Government on October 31, 1906, and supplemented by numerous other laws regarding the certification and registration of rights in land. Finally, on August 24, 1910, a law providing for a thorough investigation of the lands of the peninsula was enacted.² This investigation will, when finished, furnish a complete cadastre of Chosen. These new ordinances provide a means of keeping the cadastre up to date. They have, moreover, the advantage of compelling uniformity of land records throughout the country, a condition which has not obtained hitherto.

While these ordinances place considerable power in the hands of local officials, there is provision for appeal to the courts, and it is not anticipated that any injustice will result.

I respectfully direct attention to the Registration Tax Ordinance, (Enclosure No. 3) which provides, upon certification of land rights, for the payment of fees ranging from one half of one per centum to two per centum of the value of the land or of the rights therein. This provision appears to mark the first attempt on the part of the Government to levy an equitable land tax. Provision is also made for the payment of fees by juridical persons. Article 7, paragraph 3, provides that upon certification of the sites of shrines and temples and tomb lands registration taxes shall not be paid. I have asked whether this category would include Christian churches, but have not, as yet, received a reply.

I have [etc.]

Edwin L. Neville.

1. Not printed.
2. For. Rel. 1911, p. 328.