XV. THE PEOPLE SPEAK - THE TYRANTS ANSWER
On Saturday, March 1st, at two in the afternoon, in a large number of centres of population throughout the country, the Declaration of Korean Independence was solemnly read, usually to large assemblies, by representative citizens. In some places, the leaders of the Christians and the leaders of the non-Christian bodies acted in common. In other places, by mutual agreement, two gatherings were held at the same time, the one for Christians and the other for non-Christians. Then the two met in the streets, and sometimes headed by a band they marched down the street shouting "Mansei" until they were dispersed. Every detail had been thought out. Large numbers of copies of declarations of independence were ready. These were circulated, usually by boys and schoolgirls, sometimes by women, each city being mapped out in districts.
It was soon seen that every class of the community was united. Men who had been ennobled by the Japanese stood with the coolies; shopkeepers closed their stores, policemen who had worked under the Japanese took off their uniforms and joined the crowds, porters and labourers, scholars and preachers, men and women all came together.
In every other Korean demonstration, for untold centuries, only part of the nation had been included. When the yang-bans started a political revolt, in the old days, they did not recognize that such a thing as popular opinion existed and did not trouble to consult it. Korea had long known demonstrations of great family against great family, of Yis against Mins; of section against section, as when the Conservatives fought the Progressives; and of Independents against the old Court Gang. But now all were one. And with the men were the women, and even the children. Boys of six told their fathers to be firm and never to yield, as they were carried off to prison; girls of ten and twelve prepared themselves to go to jail.
The movement was a demonstration, not a riot. On the opening day and afterwards - until the Japanese drove some of the people to fury - there was no violence. The Japanese, scattered all over the country, were uninjured; the Japanese shops were left alone; when the police attacked, elders ordered the people to submit and to offer no resistance. The weak things had set themselves up to confound the strong.
At first, the Japanese authorities were so completely taken by surprise that they did not know what to do. Then the word was passed round that the movement was to be suppressed by relentless severity. And so Japan lost her last chance of winning the people of Korea and of wiping out the accentuated ill-will of centuries.
The first plan of the Japanese was to attack every gathering of people and disperse it, and to arrest every person who took part in the demonstrations or was supposed to have a hand in them. Japanese civilians were armed with clubs and swords and given carte blanche to attack any Korean they suspected of being a demonstrator. They interpreted these instructions freely. Firemen were sent out with poles with the big firemen's hooks at the end. A single pull with one of these hooks meant death or horrible mutilation for any person they struck.
The police used their swords freely. What I mean by "freely" can best be shown by one incident A little gathering of men started shouting "Mansei" in a street in Seoul. The police came after them, and they vanished. One man - it is not clear whether he called "Mansei" or was an accidental spectator - was pushed in the deep gutter by the roadside as the demonstrators rushed away. As he struggled out the police came up. There was no question of the man resisting or not resisting. He was unarmed and alone. They cut off his ears, cut them off level with his cheek, they slit up his fingers, they hacked his body, and then they left him for dead. He was carried off by some horrified spectators, and died a few hours later. A photograph of his body lies before me as I write. I showed the photograph one evening to two or three men in New York City. Next day I met the men again. "We had nightmare all night long, because of that picture," they told me.
In Seoul, when the thirty-three leaders were arrested, a demonstration was held in the Park and the Declaration read there. Then the crowd made an orderly demonstration in the streets, waving flags and hats, shouting "Mansei," parading in front of the Consulates and public buildings, and sending letters to the Consuls informing them of what they had done. There was no violence. The police, mounted and foot, tried to disperse the crowds and made numerous arrests, but the throngs were so dense that they could not scatter them.
Next day was Sunday. Here the strong Christian influences stopped demonstrations, for the Korean Christians observe the Sunday strictly. This gave the Japanese authorities time to gather their forces. Numerous arrests were made that day, not only in Seoul but all over the country. On Monday there was the funeral of the ex-Emperor. The people were quiet then. It was noticed that the school children were entirely absent from their places along the line of march. They had struck.
On Wednesday life was supposed to resume its normal aspects again. The schools reopened, but there were no pupils. The shops remained closed. The coolies in official employ did not come to work. The authorities sent police to order the shopkeepers to open. They opened while the police were by, and closed immediately they were out of sight. Finally troops were placed outside the shops to see that they remained open. The shopkeepers sat passive, and informed any chance enquirer that they did not have what he wanted. This continued for some weeks.
The authorities were specially disturbed by the refusal of the children to come to school. In one large junior school, the boys were implored to come for their Commencement exercises, and to receive their certificates. Let me tell the scene that followed, as described to me by people in the city. The boys apparently yielded, and the Commencement ceremonies were begun, in the presence of a number of official and other distinguished Japanese guests. The precious certificates were handed out to each lad. Then the head boy, a little fellow of about twelve or thirteen, came to the front to make the school speech of thanks to his teachers and to the authorities. He was the impersonation of courtesy. Every bow was given to the full; he lingered over the honorifics, as though he loved the sound of them. The distinguished guests were delighted. Then came the end. "I have only this now to say," the lad concluded. A change came over his voice. He straightened himself up, and there was a look of resolution in his eyes. He knew that the cry he was about to utter had brought death to many during the past few days. "We beg one thing more of you." He plunged one hand in his garment, pulled out the Korean flag, the possession of which is a crime. Waving the flag, he cried out, "Give us back our country. May Korea live forever. Mansei!"
All the boys jumped up from their seats, each one pulling out a flag from under his coat and waved it, calling, "Mansei! Mansei! Mansei!" They tore up their precious certificates, in front of the now horrified guests, threw them on the ground, and trooped out.
At nine o'clock that Wednesday morning there was a great demonstration of students and high school girls around the palace. The girls had planned out their part ahead. A big crowd gathered around. Then a large force of police rushed on them, with drawn swords, knocking down, beating and arresting, lads and girls alike. The girls were treated as roughly as the men. Over four hundred, including one hundred girl students, were taken to the police station that morning. What happened to the girls there, I tell in a later chapter. Fifteen nurse-probationers of the Severance Hospital, one of the most famous missionary hospitals in the Far East, hurried out with bandages to bind up the wounded. The police took them in custody also. They were severely examined, to find if the foreigners had instigated them to take part in the demonstrations, but were released the same afternoon.
As Prince Yi was returning from the ex-Emperor's funeral that afternoon, a group of twenty literati approached his carriage and attempted to present a petition. They were stopped by the police. A petition was sent by the literati to the Governor-General; the delegates were told to take it to the police office. Here they were arrested.
Two of the most famous nobles in the land, Viscount Kim and Viscount Li, sent a dignified petition to the Governor-General, begging him to listen to the people, and deploring the severe measures taken to suppress the demonstrations. Viscount Kim was senior peer, head of the Confucian College, and had ever been a friend of Japan. As far back as 1866, he had run the risk of death by urging the King to open the country to outside nations and to conclude a treaty with Japan. The Japanese had made him one of their new Korean peerage. He was now eighty-five, feeble and bedridden. The protest of himself and his fellow senior was measured, polished, moved with a deep sympathy for the people, but with nothing in it to which the Governor-General should have taken offence.
The Japanese treatment of these two nobles was crowning proof of their incapacity to rule another people. The two were at once arrested, and with them various male members of their families. Kim was so ill that he could not be immediately moved, so a guard was placed over his house. All were brought to trial at Seoul in July. With Viscount Kim were Kim Ki-ju, his grandson, and Kim Yu-mon. With Viscount Li was his relative Li Ken-tai. The charge against them was, of violating the Peace Preservation Act. Ki-ju aggravated his position by trying to defend himself. The Japanese press reported that he was reported to "have assumed a very hostile attitude to the bench enunciating this theory and that in defence of his cause." This statement is the best condemnation of the trial. Where a prisoner is deemed to add to his guilt by attempting to defend himself, justice has disappeared.
Viscount Kim was sentenced to two years' penal servitude, and Viscount Li to eighteen months, both sentences being stayed for three years. Kim Ki-ju, Kim Yu-mon and Li Ken-tai were sentenced to hard labour for eighteen months, twelve months and six months respectively. The sentence reflected disgrace on the Government that instituted the prosecution and decreed the punishment.
The white people of Seoul were horrified by the Japanese treatment of badly wounded men who flocked to the Severance Hospital for aid. Some of these, almost fatally wounded, were put to bed. The Japanese police came and demanded that they should be delivered up to them. The doctors pointed out that it probably would be fatal to move them. The police persisted, and finally carried off three men. It was reported that one man they took off in this fashion was flogged to death.
Reports were beginning to come in from other parts. There had been demonstrations throughout the north, right up to Wiju, on the Manchurian border. At Song-chon, it was reported, thirty had been killed, a number wounded, and three hundred arrested Pyeng-yang had been the centre of a particularly impressive movement, which had been sternly repressed. From the east coast, away at Hameung, there came similar tidings. The Japanese stated that things were quiet in the south until Wednesday, when there was an outbreak at Kun-san, led by the pupils of a Christian school. The Japanese at once seized on the participation of the Christians, the press declaring that the American missionaries were at the bottom of it. A deliberate attempt was made to stir up the Japanese population against the Americans. Numbers of houses of American missionaries and leaders of philanthropic work were searched. Several of them were called to the police offices and examined; some were stopped in the streets and searched. Unable to find any evidence against the missionaries, the Japanese turned on the Korean Christians. Soon nearly every Korean Christian pastor in Seoul was in jail; and news came from many parts of the burning of churches, the arrest of leading Christians, and the flogging of their congregations. The Japanese authorities, on pressure from the American consular officials, issued statements that the missionaries had nothing to do with the uprising, but in practice they acted as though the rising were essentially a Christian movement.
In the country people were stopped by soldiers when walking along the roads, and asked, "Are you Christians?" If they answered, "Yes," they were beaten; if "No," they were allowed to go. The local gendarmes told the people in many villages that Christianity was to be wiped out and all Christians shot. "Christians are being arrested wholesale and beaten simply because they are Christians," came the reports from many parts.
Soon dreadful stories came from the prisons, not only in Seoul, but in many other parts. Men who had been released after investigation, as innocent, told of the tortures inflicted on them in the police offices, and showed their jellied and blackened flesh in proof. Some were even inconsiderate enough to die a few days after release, and on examination their bodies and heads were found horribly damaged. The treatment may be summed up in a paragraph from a statement by the Rev. A.E. Armstrong, of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, who was on a visit to Korea at the time:
"The tortures which the Koreans suffer at the hands
of the police
and gendarmes are identical with those employed in the
famous
conspiracy trials. I read affidavits, now on their way
to the
United States and British Governments, which made
one's blood
boil, so frightful were the means used in trying to
extort
confessions from prisoners. And many of these had no
part in the
demonstrations, but were simply onlookers."
Within a fortnight, the arrests numbered thousands in Seoul alone. Every man, particularly every student, suspected of participation was jailed. But it was evident that the authorities had not secured the leaders, or else that the leaders had arranged a system by which there were men always ready to step into the place of those who were taken. The official organ, the Seoul Press, would come out with an announcement that the agitation had now died down; two or three days later there would be another great demonstration in the streets. The hundred thousand visitors who had come to Seoul for the funeral returned home to start agitations in their own districts. The authorities were particularly annoyed at their inability to discover the editors and publishers of the secret paper of the protest, the Independence News, which appeared in mimeographed form. To prevent its publication the authorities took control of mimeograph paper, and seized every mimeograph machine they could find. Time after time it was stated that the editors of the paper had been secured; the announcement was barely published before fresh editions would mysteriously appear in Seoul and in the provinces.
Despite every effort to minimize it, news of the happenings gradually crept out and were published abroad. Mr. I. Yamagata, the Director-General of Administration, was called to Tokyo for a conference with the Government. Much was hoped by many friends of Japan in America from this. It was believed that the Liberal Premier of Japan, the Hon. T. Hara, would promptly declare himself against the cruelties that had been employed. Unfortunately these hopes were disappointed. While speaking reassuringly to foreign enquirers, Mr. Hara and his Government officially determined on still harsher measures.
Mr. Yamagata's own statement, issued on his return, announced that after conference with the Premier, an audience with the Emperor and conferences with the Cabinet "decision was reached in favour of taking drastic measures by despatching more troops to the peninsula."
"In the first stage of the trouble, the
Government-General was in
favour of mild measures (!), and it was hoped to quell
the
agitation by peaceful methods," Mr. Yamagata
continued. "It is to
be regretted, however, that the agitation has
gradually spread to
all parts of the peninsula, while the nature of the
disturbance
has become malignant, and it was to cope with this
situation that
the Government was obliged to resort to force. In
spite of this,
the trouble has not only continued, but has become so
uncontrollable and wide-spread that the police and
military force
hitherto in use has been found insufficient,
necessitating the
despatch of more troops and gendarmes from the mother
country....
Should they (the agitators) continue the present
trouble, it
would be necessary to show them the full power of the
military
force. It is earnestly to be hoped that the trouble
will be
settled peacefully, before the troops are obliged to
use their
bayonets."
Count Hasegawa, the Governor-General, had already issued various proclamations, telling the people of the Imperial benevolence of Japan, warning them that the watchword "self-determination of races" was utterly irrevelant to Japan, and warning them of the relentless punishment that would fall on those who committed offences against the peace. Here is one of the proclamations. It may be taken as typical of all:
"When the State funeral of the late Prince Yi was on
the point of
being held, I issued an instruction that the people
should help
one another to mourn his loss in a quiet and
respectful manner
and avoid any rash act or disorder. Alas! I was deeply
chagrined
to see that, instigated by certain refractory men,
people started
a riot in Seoul and other places. Rumour was recently
circulated
that at the recent Peace Conference in Paris and other
places,
the independence of Chosen was recognized by foreign
Powers, but
the rumour is absolutely groundless. It need hardly be
stated
that the sovereignty of the Japanese Empire is
irrevocably
established in the past, and will never be broken in
the future.
During the ten years since annexation, the Imperial
benevolence
has gradually reached all parts of the country, and it
is now
recognized throughout the world that the country has
made a
marked advancement in the securing of safety to life,
and
property, and the development of education and
industry. Those
who are trying to mislead the people by disseminating
such a
rumour as cited know their own purpose, but it is
certain that
the day of repentance will come to all who, discarding
their
studies or vocations, take part in the mad movement.
Immediate
awakening is urgently required.
"The mother country and Chosen, now merging in one
body, makes a
State. Its population and strength were found adequate
enough to
enter upon a League with the Powers and conduct to the
promotion
of world peace and enlightenment, while at the same
time the
Empire is going faithfully to discharge its duty as an
Ally by
saving its neighbour from difficulty. This is the
moment of time
when the bonds of unity between the Japanese and
Koreans are to
be more firmly tightened and nothing will be left
undone to
fulfill the mission of the Empire and to establish its
prestige
on the globe. It is evident that the two peoples,
which have ever
been in inseparably close relations from of old, have
lately been
even more closely connected. The recent episodes are
by no means
due to any antipathy between the two peoples. It will
be most
unwise credulously to swallow the utterances of those
refractory
people who, resident always abroad, are not well
informed upon
the real conditions in the peninsula, but,
nevertheless, are
attempting to mislead their brethren by spreading wild
fictions
and thus disturbing the peace of the Empire, only to
bring on
themselves the derision of the Powers for their
indulgence in
unbridled imagination in seizing upon the watchword
'self-determination of races' which is utterly
irrelevant to
Chosen, and in committing themselves to thoughtless
act and
language. The Government are now doing their utmost to
put an end
to such unruly behaviour and will relentlessly punish
anybody
daring to commit offences against the peace. The
present
excitement will soon cease to exist, but it is to be
hoped that
the people on their part will do their share in
restoring quiet
by rightly guarding their wards and neighbours so as
to save them
from any offence committing a severe penalty."[1]
[Footnote 1: Quoted from the Seoul Press.]
The new era of relentless severity began by the enactment of various fresh laws. The regulations for Koreans going from or coming into their country were made more rigid. The Regulations Concerning Visitors and Residents had already been revised in mid-March. Under these, any person who, even as a non-commercial act, allowed a foreigner to stay in his or her house for a night or more must hereafter at once report the fact to the police or gendarmes. A fresh ordinance against agitators was published in the Official Gazette. It provided that anybody interfering or attempting to interfere in the preservation of peace and order with a view to bringing about political change would be punished by penal servitude or imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years. The ordinance would apply to offences committed by subjects of the Empire committed outside its domains, and it was specially emphasized in the explanations of the new law given out that it would apply to foreigners as well as Japanese or Koreans.
The Government-General introduced a new principle, generally regarded by jurists of all lands as unjust and indefensible. They made the law retroactive. People who were found guilty of this offence, their acts being committed before the new law came into force, were to be sentenced under it, and not under the much milder old law. This was done.
The Koreans were quickly to learn what the new military regime meant. One of the first examples was at Cheamni, a village some miles from Suigen, on the Seoul-Fusan Railway. Various rumours reached Seoul that this place had been destroyed, and a party of Americans, including Mr. Curtice of the Consulate, Mr. Underwood, son of the famous missionary pioneer, and himself a missionary and a correspondent of the Japan Advertiser, went to investigate. After considerable enquiry they reached a place which had been a village of forty houses. They found only four or five standing. All the rest were smoking ruins.
"We passed along the path," wrote the correspondent of the Japan Advertiser, "which ran along the front of the village lengthwise, and in about the middle we came on a compound surrounded by burnt poplars, which was filled with glowing ashes. It was here that we found a body frightfully burned and twisted, either of a young man or a woman. This place we found later was the Christian church, and on coming down from another direction on our return I found a second body, evidently that of a man, also badly burned, lying just outside the church compound. The odour of burned flesh in the vicinity of the church was sickening.
"We proceeded to the end of the village and climbed the hill, where we found several groups of people huddled under little straw shelters, with a few of their pitiful belongings about them. They were mostly women, some old, others young mothers with babes at breast, but all sunk in the dull apathy of abject misery and despair.
"Talking to them in their own language and with sympathy, Mr. Underwood soon won the confidence of several and got the story of what happened from different groups, and in every case these stories tallied in the essential facts. The day before we arrived, soldiers came to the village, some time in the early afternoon, and ordered all the male Christians to gather in the church. When they had so gathered, to a number estimated to be thirty by our informers, the soldiers opened fire on them with rifles and then proceeded into the church and finished them off with sword and bayonets. After this they set fire to the church, but as the direction of the wind and the central position of the church prevented the upper houses catching, soldiers fired these houses individually, and after a time left.
"As we passed down the ruined village, returning to our rikishas, we came on the last house of the village, which was standing intact, and entered in conversation with the owner, a very old man. He attributed the safety of his house to its being slightly removed, and to a vagary of the wind. He was alive because he was not a Christian and had not been called into the church. The details of his story of the occurrence tallied exactly with the others, as to what had happened."
One example will serve to show what was going on now all over the country. The following letter was written by a cultured American holding a responsible position in Korea:
"Had the authorities handled this matter in a
different way, this
letter would never have been written. We are not out
here to mix
in politics, and so long as it remained a purely
political
problem, we had no desire to say anything on one side
or the
other. But the appeal of the Koreans has been met in
such a way
that it has been taken out of the realm of mere
politics and has
become a question of humanity. When it comes to
weakness and
helplessness being pitted against inhumanity, there
can be no
such thing as neutrality.
"I have seen personal friends of mine among the
Koreans, educated
men, middle-aged men, who up to that time had no part
in the
demonstrations, parts of whose bodies had been beaten
to a pulp
under police orders.
"A few hundred yards from where I am writing, the
beating goes
on, day after day. The victims are tied down on a
frame and
beaten on the naked body with rods till they become
unconscious.
Then cold water is poured on them until they revive,
when the
process is repeated. It is sometimes repeated many
times.
Reliable information comes to me that in some cases
arms and legs
have been broken.
"Men, women and children are shot down or bayonetted.
The
Christian church is specially chosen as an object of
fury, and to
the Christians is meted out special severity....
"A few miles from here, a band of soldiers entered a
village and
ordered the men to leave, the women to remain behind.
But the men
were afraid to leave their women, and sent the women
away first.
For this the men were beaten.
"A short distance from this village, this band is
reported to
have met a Korean woman riding in a rickshaw. She was
violated by
four of the soldiers and left unconscious. A Korean
reported the
doings of this band of soldiers to the military
commander of the
district in which it occurred and the commander
ordered him to be
beaten for reporting it.
"Word comes to me to-day from another province of a
woman who was
stripped and strung up by the thumbs for six hours in
an effort
to get her to tell the whereabouts of her husband. She
probably
did not know.
"The woes of Belgium under German domination have
filled our ears
for the past four years, and rightly so. The Belgian
Government
has recently announced that during the more than four
years that
the Germans held the country, six thousand civilians
were put to
death by the Germans. Here in this land it is probably
safe to
say that two thousand men, women and children, empty
handed and
helpless, have been put to death in seven weeks. You
may draw
your own conclusions!
"As for the Koreans, they are a marvel to us all.
Even those of
us who have known them for many years, and have
believed them to
be capable of great things, were surprised. Their
self-restraint,
their fortitude, their endurance and their heroism
have seldom
been surpassed. As an American I have been accustomed
to hear, as
a boy, of the 'spirit of 76,' but I have seen it out
here, and it
was under a yellow skin. More than one foreigner is
saying, these
days, 'I am proud of the Koreans.'"
There were exciting scenes in Sun-chon. This city is one of the great centres of Christianity in Korea, and its people, hardy and independent northerners, have for long been suspected by the Japanese. Large numbers of leaders of the church and students at the missionary academy had been arrested, confined for a very long period and ill-treated at the time of the Conspiracy trial. They were all found to be innocent later, on the retrial at the Appeal Court. This had not tended to promote harmonious relations between the two peoples.
Various notices and appeals were circulated among the people. Many of them, issued by the leaders, strongly urged the people to avoid insulting behaviour, insulting language or violence towards the Japanese.
"Pray morning, noon and night, and fast on Sundays" was the notice to the Christians. Other appeals ran:
"Think, dear Korean brothers!
"What place have we or our children? Where can we
speak? What has
become of our land?
"Fellow countrymen, we are of one blood. Can we be
indifferent?
At this time, how can you Japanese show such ill
feeling and such
treachery? How can you injure us with guns and swords?
How can
your violence be so deep?
"Koreans, if in the past for small things we have
suffered
injuries, how much more shall we suffer to-day? Even
though your
flesh be torn from you, little by little, you can
stand it! Think
of the past. Think of the future! We stand together
for those who
are dying for Korea.
"We have been held in bondage. If we do not become
free at this
time, we shall never be able to gain freedom.
Brethren, it can be
done! It is possible! Do not be discouraged! Give up
your
business for the moment and shout for Korea. Injury to
life and
property are of consequence, but right and liberty are
far more
important. Until the news of the Peace Conference is
received, do
not cease. We are not wood and stones, but flesh and
blood. Can
we not speak out? Why go back and become discouraged?
Do not fear
death! Even though I die, my children and
grandchildren shall
enjoy the blessings of liberty. Mansei! Mansei!
Mansei!"
Mr. D.V. Hudson, of the Southern Presbyterian University at Shanghai, brought the records of many outrages back with him on his return to America. From them I take the following:
"At Maingsang, South Pyeng-yang Province, the
following incident
took place on March 3rd. When the uprising first broke
out there
were no Japanese gendarmes in the village, but Koreans
only. The
people there were mostly Chun-do Kyo followers, so no
Christians
were involved in the trouble. These Chun-do Kyo people
gathered
on the appointed day for the Korean Independence
celebration, and
held the usual speeches and shouting of 'Mansei.' The
Korean
gendarmes did not want to or dared not interfere, so
that day was
spent by the people as they pleased.
"A few days later Japanese soldiers arrived to
investigate and to
put down the uprising. They found the people meeting
again,
ostensibly to honour one of their teachers. The
soldiers
immediately interfered, seized the leader of the
meeting and led
him away to the gendarme station. He was badly treated
in the
affray and the people were badly incensed. So they
followed the
soldiers to the station, hoping to effect the release
of their
leader. The soldiers tried to drive them away. Some
left but
others remained.
"The police station was surrounded by a stone wall,
with but one
gate to the enclosure. The soldiers permitted those
who insisted
on following to enter, and, when they had entered,
closed the
door; then the soldiers deliberately set to work,
shooting them
down in cold blood. Only three of the fifty-six
escaped death."
Let me give one other statement by a newspaper man. I might go on with tale after tale of brutality and fill another volume. Mr. William R. Giles is a Far Eastern correspondent well known for the sanity of his views and his careful statements of facts. He represents the Chicago Daily News at Peking. He visited Korea shortly after the uprising, specially to learn the truth. He remained there many weeks. Here is his deliberate verdict:
"Pekin, June 14th. - After nearly three months of
travelling in
Korea, in which time I journeyed from the north to the
extreme
south, I find that the charges of misgovernment,
torture and
useless slaughter by the Japanese to be substantially
correct.
"In the country districts I heard stories of useless
murder and
crimes against women. A number of the latter cases
were brought
to my notice. One of the victims was a patient in a
missionary
hospital.
"In a valley about fifty miles from Fusan, the
Japanese soldiery
closed up a horseshoe-shaped valley surrounded by high
hills, and
then shot down the villagers who attempted to escape
by climbing
the steep slopes. I was informed that more than 100
persons were
killed in this affray.
"In Taku, a large city midway between Seoul and
Fusan, hundreds
of cases of torture occurred, and many of the victims
of
ill-treatment were in the hospitals. In Seoul, the
capital,
strings of prisoners were seen daily being taken to
jails which
were already crowded.
"While I was in this city I spent some time in the
Severance
Hospital as a patient, and saw wounded men taken out
by the
police, one of them having been beaten to death. Two
days later
the hospital repeatedly was entered and the patients
catechized,
those in charge being unable to prevent it. Detectives
even
attempted in the night time secretly to enter my room
while I was
critically ill.
"In Seoul, Koreans were not allowed to be on the
streets after
dark and were not allowed to gather in groups larger
than three.
All the prisoners were brutally and disgustingly
treated.
Innocent persons were being continually arrested, kept
in
overcrowded prisons a month or more, and then, after
being
flogged, released without trial.
"Northern Korea suffered the most from the Japanese
brutalities.
In the Pyeng-yang and Sensan districts whole villages
were
destroyed and churches burned, many of which I saw and
photographed.
"In Pyeng-yang I interviewed the Governor and easily
saw that he
was powerless, everything being in the hands of the
chief of the
gendarmerie. At first I was not allowed to visit the
prison, but
the Governor-General of Korea telegraphed his
permission. I found
it clean and the prisoners were well fed, but the
overcrowded
condition of the cells caused untold suffering.
"In one room, ten feet by six, were more than thirty
prisoners.
The prison governor admitted that the total normal
capacity of
the building was 800, but the occupants then numbered
2,100. He
said he had requested the Government to enlarge the
prison
immediately, as otherwise epidemics would break out as
soon as
hot weather came.
"I visited an interior village to learn the truth in
a report
that the Christians had been driven from their homes.
The local
head official, not a Christian, admitted to me that
the
non-Christian villagers had driven the Christians into
the
mountains because the local military officials had
warned him
that their presence would result in the village being
shot up. He
said he had the most friendly feeling for the
Christians but
drove them out in self-protection.
"In other villages which I visited the building had
been entirely
destroyed and the places were destroyed. In some of
the places I
found only terrorized and tearful women who did not
dare to speak
to a foreigner because the local gendarmes would beat
and torture
them if they did so.
"The majority of the schools throughout the country
are closed.
In most places the missionaries are not allowed to
hold services.
Though innocent of any wrong-doing, they are under
continual
suspicion. It was impossible for them or others to use
the
telegraph and post-offices, the strictest censorship
prevailing.
Undoubtedly an attempt is being made to undermine
Christianity
and make the position of missionaries so difficult
that it will
be impossible for them to carry on their work.
"In the course of my investigation I was deeply
impressed with
the pitiful condition of the Korean people. They are
allowed only
a limited education and attempts are being made to
cause them to
forget their national history and their language.
"There is no freedom of the press or of public
meeting. The
people are subject to the harshest regulations and
punishments
without any court of appeal. They are like sheep
driven to a
slaughter house. Only an independent investigation can
make the
world understand Korea's true position. At present the
groanings
and sufferings of 20,000,000 people are apparently
falling on
deaf ear."
As these tales, and many more like them, were spread abroad, the Japanese outside of Korea tried to find some excuse for their nationals. One of the most extraordinary of these excuses was a series of instructions, said to have been issued by General Utsonomiya, commander of the military forces in Korea, to the officers and men under him. Copies of these were privately circulated by certain pro-Japanese in America among their friends, as proof of the falsity of the charges of ill-treatment. Some extracts from them were published by Bishop Herbert Welsh, of the Methodist Church, in the Christian Advocate.
"Warm sympathy should be shown to the erring Koreans,
who, in
spite of their offence, should be treated as
unfortunate fellow
countrymen, needing love and guidance.
"Use of weapons should be abstained from till the
last moment of
absolute necessity. Where, for instance, the
demonstration is
confined merely to processions and the shouting of banzai and
no violence is done, efforts should be confined to the
dispersal
of crowds by peaceful persuasion.
"Even in case force is employed as the last resource,
endeavour
should be made to limit its use to the minimum extent.
"The moment the necessity therefor ceases the use of
force should
at once be stopped....
"Special care should be taken not to harm anybody not
participating in disturbances, especially aged people,
children
and women. With regard to the missionaries and other
foreigners,
except in case of the plainest evidence, as, for
instance, where
they are caught in the act, all forbearance and
circumspection
should be used.
"You are expected to see to it that the officers and
men under
you (especially those detailed in small parties) will
lead a
clean and decent life and be modest and polite,
without abating
their loyalty and courage, thus exemplifying in their
conduct the
noble traditions of our historic Bushido."...
If a final touch were wanted to the disgrace of the Japanese administration, here it was. Brutality, especially brutality against the unarmed and against women and children, is bad enough; but when to brutality we add nauseating hypocrisy, God help us!
One of the Japanese majors who returned from Korea to Tokyo to lecture was more straightforward. "We must beat and kill the Koreans," he said. And they did.
After a time the Japanese papers began to report the punishments inflicted on the arrested Koreans. Many were released after examination and beatings. It was mentioned that up to April 13th, 2,400 of those arrested in Seoul alone had been released, "after severe admonition." The usual sentences were between six months' and four years' imprisonment.
Soon there came reports that prisoners were attempting to commit suicide in jail. Then came word that two of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence were dead in prison. Koreans everywhere mourned. For they could imagine how they had died.
During the summer the authorities published figures relating to the number of prisoners brought under the examination of Public Procurators between March 1st and June 18th, on account of the agitation. These figures do not include the large numbers released by the police after arrest, and after possibly summary punishment. Sixteen thousand one hundred and eighty-three men were brought up for examination. Of these, 8,351 were prosecuted and 5,858 set free after the Procurators' examination. One thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight were transferred from one law court to another for the purpose of thorough examination, while 178 had not yet been tried.