4194 . CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. AUGUST 18,
would very long permit its own citizens to be charged higher
rates than the citizens of other States or foreigners.
Very sincerely,
JOHN D. LAWSON, LL.D.,
Dean Emeritus.
AFF AffiS IN KOREA.
Mr. SPENCER. Mr. President, I hold in my hand a sworn
statement of Mr. Homer B. Hulbert, who was for 23 years a
resident of Korea and the confidential adviser of the Emperor
of Korea. This statement presents information whiclr I think
Senators will be glad to read. I ask that it be printed in t~e
RECORD and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
There being no objection, the statement was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed in
the RECORD, as follows :
UNITED STATES 011' AMERICA,
District of' Oolumbia, city of Washington, ss:
Homer B. Hulbert, being duly sworn, says that lie sojourned in
·Korea for 23 years ; that he was sent to Korea shortly after the sign­ing
of the treaty of amity and commerce between the United States
and Korea, which was executed in 1882, by the State Department of
the United States, and at the request of .the Korean Government, to
assist in the organization of a school system in Korea. That during
the 23 years that he was in Korea he became the friend and confidant
of the Emperor of Korea and became intimately acquainted with po­litica
l and general conditions in Korea and considers himself compe­tent
to speak the facts as to those conditions. That he has prepared
the. attached statement and summary of facts and conditions, and that
said statement is true. That he has in his possession the originals
of which reJ!Iroductions are attached to said statement and knows that
they are authentic, and stands ready and o1fers to produce the same in
any l egislative or judicial tribunal that is or may be considering the
questions affecting the Korean situation. .
H. B. HULBERT.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 15th day of August, A. D.
1919. .
[SEAL.] HUGH W. BARR,
Notary P ·ub lio.
WHAT ABOUT KOREA?
The time has arrived when it seems n ecessary to lay before the
American people some facts bearing upon r equest of the Korean people
that they be freed from the tyranny of Japan. This r equest was made
by millions of that nation in a perfectly peaceful way on March 1,
1919, and was met by a perfect orgy of abuse and persecution on the
part of the military authorities there. Thousands of people were
beaten, tortured, and even killed. and women w ere treated with obscene
brutality.
In order to show the genesis of this remarkable moral and patriotic
uprising in which the Kore ans, t·ealizlng clearly the tragic consequences
of their demand, stood up and declared that death is prefe rable to a
continuance of the present situation, it will be necessary to review
briefly the course of Japanese polic,v in that country.
There has never been a time m history, from 600 B. C. ·to the
present time, wh e n Japan has not exhibited a hostile and aggressive
spirit towa rd the Korean people and Government. • For 2,000 years it
was a series of robber raids and attempted extortions on the part of
Japan, until in 1390 A . D. a Korean general succeeded in inflicting
such punishment upon the corsairs that they ceased for a time their
raids. But in 1592 the Japanese invaded the co untry with an immense
army, and it was only after seven years of sanguinary strife that com­bined
Korean and Chinese armies finally expelled the invade r s. It is
said that 20 per cent of the Korean population perished in this conflict .
It put a stop to Japanese aggression for 300 years.
When Korea was opened to· foreign relations, about the year 1882
Japan immediately began to exercise h e r baneful influence again. In
1884 she organized and supported by force of arms an insurrection in
Korea, in which every minister of the King's cabinet was murdered in
cold blood before his· very eyes. In 1895, after the Japan-C hina War,
though formally 11ecognizing the independence of Korea, Japan made
such outrageous demands, economic and commercial, that the Queen
of Korea put her foot down and used her great influence to veto the
proposition. Therefore the accredited minister of Japan to Korea
sent into the palace a band of ruffians, who killed the Queen and in­cinerated
her body, nothing be ing found but one little finger.
But, not content with this, the Japanese forced upon the King a
cabinet of traitors, who h eld the King a prisoner, and through these
tools they compelled the King to put out an edict degrading his dead
Queen, the mother of his children, to the position virtually of a prosti­tute.
Perhaps the reader will see why the Koreans have never b<>en
eager to accept "western civilization" at the hands of the J-apaneBe: .
But Korea managed to hold oft: the Japanese until after the Japan-Russia
War. It will be remember ed that at t he beginning of that war J apan
made a treaty with Korea guaranteeing her perpetual independence
The fact that such treaty was entirely insincere and that the Japanese
h a d no Intention of keeping it has nothing to do with the binding
nature of the treaty. But it became immediately evident that Japan
had no intention of Implementing that 'treaty honestly. She allowed
her people to abuS!' and rob the Koreans without affording any means
for redress. She kept encroaching thus until it became evident that
t he treaty was in her eyes m erely a "scrap of paper."
The Emperor of Korea, being aware of t h e fact that in his treaty
' with America there was a clause in which the American Government
promised to use its good offices 'if Korea was endangered a nd a n­nounced
the fact to us, determined to appeal to our Government to
carry out that important clause of the treaty. The following i s a
translation of his letter to the Washington Government :
. Ever s ince 1883 the United States a nd Korea have been in friendlv
• treaty r elations. Korea has received many proofs of the good will ani:I
: the sympathy of the American Government and people. The American
R epresentatives have always shown themselves to be in sympathy with
t h e welfare and progress of Korea. Many teachers have been sent from
.America who have done much for the uplift of 011r people,
134116-1977G
But we have n;t made the progress that we ought. This is due
partly to the political machinations of foreign powers a nd partly to our
m!stakes. At the beginning of the Japan-Russia war the J a panese Gov­ernment
asked us to enter into an alliance with them, granting t hem the
use of our territory, harbors, and other resources, t o facilitate their
military and naval operations. Japan, on her part, guaranteed to pre­serve
the independence of Korea and the welfare and dignity of the
royal house. We complied with Japan's request, l oyally lived up to our
obligations, and did everything t h at we had stipulated. By 80 d oing
we put ourselves in such a position that If Russia had won, s he could
have seize d Korea and annexed her to Russia n territory on the ground
that " - were active allies of Japan.
It is now apparent that Japan proposes to abrogate their part of this
treaty and declare a protectorate over our country in direct contraven­tion
of her sworn promise in the agreement of 1904. There are several
reasons why this should not be done.
In the first place, Japan wlll st ultify herself by such a direct breach
of faith. It will injure her prestige as a power that proposes to w ork
according to e nlightened laws.
In the second ,place, the actions of J ap an in Korea during the p ast
two years give no promise that our p eople will be handled in an en­lightened
manner. No adequate means have been · provided whereby
redress could be s'ecure d for wrongs p e rpetrated upon our p eo ple. The
finances of the cou:tltry have been gravely mishandled by Japa n. Noth·
ing h as been done t 0ward advancing the cause of edu cation or justice.
Every move on Japan's part has been manifestly selfish. .
The destruction of Korea's independence will work her a great injury,
because it will inte nsify the contempt with which the J a p an ese people
treat the Koreans a nd will make their a cts all the more oppressive.
. We acknowledge that m a ny reforms are n eeded in Korea. We are
glad to have the h elp of J apanese advisers, and we are prep ared loyall[.
to carry out their suggestions. We recognize the mistakes of the pas .
It is not for ourselves we plead, but for the Korean people.
At the beginning of the war our people gladly wel com ed the Japanese
because this seemed to h e rald n eeded reforms and a general bettering of
co:>ndition s, but soon it was seen that no genuine reforms were intended
and the people had been deceived.
· One of the gravest evils that will follow a protectorate by Japan Is
that the Korean people will lose all incentive to improvement. No
hope will r emain that they can ever regain their independence. They
need the spur of national feeling to make them determine upon progress
and to make them p ersevere in it. But the extinctio n of nationality
will -bring despair, and instead of working loyally and gladly In co n­junctron
with Japan, the old-time hatred will be int ensified and suspicion
and animosity will result. · .
It has been said that sentiment should have no place in such a1falrs;
·but we believe; sir, that sentiment is the moving force in all human
a1fairs, and that kindness, sympa thy, and generosity are still working
between nations as between individuals. We beg of ,you to bring to bea r
upon this question the same breadth of mind and t he same calmness of
judgment t hat h ave characterized your course hitherto, and, having
weighed the matter, to render us what aid you can consistently in thia
our time of na tional danger.
[Private Seal of the Emperor of Korea.] .
It will be noted that in sending this letter the Emperor of Korea was
fulfilling a necessary part of t he contract, for b y failing so to appeal
he wou!d !orfeit the benefits of the treaty. He entrusted that l etter to
me to aellver into the hand.s of t be President of the United States. I
showed it to the .American ministe r tn Seoul, Korea, a nd for two reasons :
First, I was vnwilling to do anything that might look like mere in­trigue.
I was under no obligation to make uubllc my mission, but as
an American citizen I thought it incumbent upo n me to acquaint m y own
authorities with what was to happen. In the second place, it was evi­dent
that J ap an might attempt to seize Korea at any momen t , and I
wanted the Government In Washington to know in advance that su ch a
letter was on the way, so that if Japan .should use force upon the Korea n
Einperor .an d cabinet during the transmission ol that document the
American 'Government might delay action in regard to recognition of the
downfall of Kore a until the letter- should arrive and could be taken intq
consideration.
The J ap an ese suspected that something was on foot . It may be that
the American minis ter told them. The sequel warrants such sus picion.
At any r a t e, the Japanese immedia tely bega n to bring pressure upon the
Emperor and his cabin et to g ive Japan a protectorate ; but it was per­emptorily
refused. Tbe Emperor was d esp erately trying to hold them
oft: until the letter s hould be presented in Washingt on. Day after day
they worked until that l e tter had passed Yokohama, Honolulu, San Fran­cisco,
Denver, and St. Louis. At Cincinnati It was still one day from
Washington, and the Japanese were desperate: That nigbt they broke
into the palace and fill ed it wit h armed J apanese. They brought the
Emperor and the cabinet together and made a final and menacing demand
for the instant signing of a treat,y of protectorate. -All protested their
utter unwillingness to sign. The Japanese took Mr. Han Kyu-Sul, the
prime minister, into a side rooiQ, and Field M a rshal Hasegawa, the
same who is now. governor general of Korea, drew his sword and de­manded
his consent. It was refused. They left him t h ere under guard
and went back to th·e r est of the cabinet 11-nd asked them if t h e y would
sign now. Bein~ sur e that Han Kyu-s·ul had been killed and that they
also would .be killed, three of them signed the document. But it still
required the seal of State. The Emp_eror had secretly dispatched a man
to throw th is seal into the lake, b ut the J apanese managed to secure it
and attached the seal to the document. This was done almost at the
very instant the l e tte r reached Washington.
As yet una ware of the tragedy that was happenin.g in Seoul I sent
to the President saying that I was bearer of an important dOcument
from the Empore r. Of course, this fact bad bee n cabled on from Korea
by the Amer ican minister, and I supposed tha t the President would bt>
not only willing but eager to see the l etter; but instead· of that I re­ce
ived the astounding answer that the President would not r eceive it.
I cast about in my own mind for a possible r eason, but could imagine
none. I went to the State Departme nt with it, but was told that they
were too busy to see me. Remember that at that verv m oment K or ea
was in h e r deah· throes; that sh e was in full treaty r e)ations with u s:
that there was a Korea n l egation in Washington and -a n American l ega­tion
in S eo ul. I determinl.'d that there was somethi ng here that was
more tha n m ere' carelessness.· Ther e was pre meditation in the refusal.
Ther e was no oth er ans wer . They said I might come the following day.
I did so and was told that they were still too busy, but m ight come the
next .day. I hurrie d over to the White Hou.se. and asked to be admi tted .
A secrj!tar.Jf_ came out a nd w ithout a ny pre llmmary whatever told me in
the lobby fbat the;v kn. ew the conte nts of the letter, but that the State
,
I
1919. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 4195
Department was the only place to go. I had to wait till the next day.
But on that same day, the day before I was admitted, the · administration,
without a word to the Emperor or Government of Korea or to the Korean
legation, and knowing well· the contents of the undelivered letter, ac­cepted
Japan's unsupported statement that it was all satisfactory to
the Korean Government and people, cabled our legation to. remove from
Korea, cut off all communication with the Korean Government, and then
admitted me with the letter. ·
The following is the receipt which I received :
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, November 25, 1905.
H. B. HULBERT, Esq.,
l!S Union Avenue, Mount Vernon, N. Y.
DEAR SIR : The letter from the Emperor of Korea which you in­trusted
to me has been placed In the President's hands and read by him.
In view of the fact · that the Emperor. desires that the sending of the
letter should remain secret, and of the fact that since intrusting it to
you the Emperor bas made a new agreement with Japan disposing of
the whole question to which the letter relates, it seems quite im­practicable
that any action should be based upon it.
Very truly, yours, · ·
ELIHU ROOT.
The reference to secrecy was because the Emperor was anxious not
to hav:e the Japanese know what was going on. Perhaps it is not the
first time that an important document of state has been withbeld ·from
public comment, at least until it has been delivered. The fact o! its
being too late was because they held off for two days, until it was
~ too late.
The next day I received the following cablegram from the Emperor.
It was taken across from Korea to Cbeefoo, so as not to be sent over
Japanese wires :
"I declare that the so-called treaty of protectorate recently con­cluded
between Korea and Japan was extorted at the point of the
sword and under duress, and therefore is null and void. I n ever
consented to it and never will. Transmit to American Government.
" THE EMPEROR OF KOREA."
J took that cablegram to the State Department and put it into
the bands of the Assistant Secretary of State, who merely said that
he wo"uld put it on file. Those two documents which are, or ought
legally to be, on file in the archives of the State Department are
conclusive proof of the wholly Illegal character of Japan's occupation
of Korea. Of course brute force can and will have its way, but to-day
Korea is de jure a free and independent government, and in demanding
physical and actual independence Korea is asking nothing that is not
morally and legally her own. The world is talki_ng about Shantung,
but Japan's occupation of Korea is fully as illegal as her Qccupation
of Shantung. It is even more illegal, for Japan took Shantung from
Germany and not directly from China. I am not defending Japan in
Shantung. That occupation is an outrage that calls ·for and will
receive justice infthe long run, but Korea was directly stolen without
even a decent pre ense. In the one case Japan is the receiver of stolen
·goods; in the other she herself is the original culprit. The fact that
some time has elapsed does not validate her claim to Korea nor, In the
eyes of respectable people, will the acqulesence of all the great powers
In Japan's seizu:re of Korea render that seizure the less damnable.
It has been said thai: Korea deserved no sympathy, because she made
no effort to · oppose the · act. This is based wholly upon misapprehen­sion
of the facts and upon Japan's excellent control of news sources.
For five years the Koreans, by thousands, fought as !lest they could
among the mountains, freezing and starving in the wintertime. Once
nn entire regiment of Japanese was overwhelmed and destroyed, their
gattling gun was taken away among the hills. The Japanese called
them bandits. If so, then Garribaldi was a footpad, Cromwell was a
bandit, Paul Jones was a pirate, and George Washington at Valley
Forge was a brigand.
The women of Korea gave their jewels to sell to save their country.
Even the. prostitutes came by scores and laid at their country's feet
the profits of their nameless toil. Never in history bas there been
shown more splendid patriotism than the Koreans have exhibited.
If it be said that the Emperor was resigned to this ignominious
fate, I will show that this, too, is an error. Although a prisoner in
his palace in the hands of the Japan!lJle, be delivered into my bands
in Jun~ 1907, a letter to each of t he great powers, the United States,
Great .t:Sritain, France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary,
and Italy couched in identical terms, of which the following is the
letter to England :
" To His Majesty the King of England, Greeting :
" For many years the Government of Korea has been in friendly
treaty r elations with the Government of Great Britain and bas often
received evidences of the good will of that power. In this time of our
difficulty we feel sure that all people who desire to see justice done
will sympathize wit)J us. In order to show that great injustice has
been done us we hereby declare that the so-called treaty of November
18, 1905, was fraudulent, because, (1) the signatures of certain mem­bers
of our Cabinet were obtained by intimidation and. under duress
(2) we never authorized the Cabinet to sign the document, and (3)
the meeting of the Cabinet at which it was signed was illegal, having .
been convened neither at ou~ call nor that of the Prime Minister,
but by the Japanese themselves.
"We denounce that document as invalid in law and we declare
that under no circumstances wlll we voluntarily consent to the ratifi­cation
of any instrument which impairs the independence of the
Korean Empire.
" Furthermore, in view of the violent manner in which the so-called
treaty of last November was carried through we deem it necessary and
proper to' declare to you that if at any future time any power shall
claim to have obtained our consent to such an agreement, that claim
will either be wholly false or will be based upon acts wrung from us
by force of arms or under threats of personal violence.
" In view of the fact that we are at the present time de jure an
independent power, we earnestly request you to reassert your right to
establish a le~ation at Seoul, or at least to prepare for such establish­ment
by helpmg us to bring the matter before The Hague Tribunal
in order that the validity of our claim to independence may be legally
established.
"Any further information that may be desired will be given by our
fully accredited envoy at whose hand we are transmitting this docu­ment.
" In witness whereof we here affix the imperial seal.
134116- 19776
" Done in Seoul this 22d day of June, A. D. 1906, and of the
dynasty the five hundred and fifteenth year." .
Together with these letters be gave me another constituting me his
fully accredited envoy to each of these Governments :
. " By virtue· of the power vested in us as the Emperor of Korea and
m accordance with the right granted us in the treaties between Korea
and the various friendly powers, we hereby constitute and appoint Homer
P . Hulbert as our special envoy to the Governments of the United States,
G;reat Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Bel­glum,
and China ; and we hereby delegate to him full authority to repre­sent
our interests and those of the Korean Empire at the seat of each
of those Governments.
"In Connection with this we have instructed him to deliver to each of
t~ese. Governments a document relative to the present political situa­tion
m Korea and to take such steps as may lead to the peaceful settle­ment
of the difficulties which have arisen between our Government and
that of Japan. . •
"We hereby give him special authority to secure the adjustment of
the matter before the peace conference at The Hague.
" In .witness whereof we here affix the imperial seal.
b " Done in Seoul this 22d day of June, A. D. 1906, and <Jof the dynasty
t e five hundred and fifteenth year."
'Yhen I left Korea with this in the summer of 1907 the Japanese
agam suspected, and the very day I landed in America they forcibly
deposed the Emperor, and thus a utomaticaliy canceled my credentials.
But. the point I make is this : The Emperor to his last hour protested
agamst the ens! a vement of his people, even at the risk of his life.
.Two years later, in 1909, the Emperor, fearing that the Japanese
m1gbt learn. o~ the fac~ that his private fortune was deposited in the
Deutsch Asmt1c Bank m Shanghai and would compel him to turn it
over to them, sent out to me from his palace under the skirts of a
scrubwoman, the r eceipts for that investment together with his auto­graph
let~e r const!tuting ·n:e h!s financial agent to collect that money
and use 1t accordmg to b1s directions. I succeeded in getting those
papers out of Korea on the person of an American woman who took I them to China for me: I W!lS at the time in some peril, for the Japanese
papers c):larged me w1tb bemg at the heart of the conspiracy to assassi­!
late ~rmce Ito, and I was warned to fly the country. I had been
m!endmg to go to China to attend to the Emperor's affairs, but when
th1s outrageous charge was made I determined to stay right in Korea
lest my departure might giye color to the charge. The Japanese Gov­ernme!
lt P!Jt a swarm of plam-clotbes men about me to guard me against
!lssa~smatwn, for, though I may not escape the charge of egotism in say­Ing
1t, they knew that the Korean people would actively resent any at·
tack upon _rne, and they did not want any disturbance. At the same timf'
two Am.encan secret-service !Den put themselves at my service and ac­c~
mpamed me not onl:r to Chma but all the way across Siberia as far as
VI arsaw. In Shanghai I learned that the German bank had turned over
t<! .the Japanese the entire private fortune of the Emperor. It was a
p1t1ful sum, af~er all, on~y abo~t $100,000, but the Japanese .must have
1t. They seemmgly conmved w1th the Germans and manage«t" to get the
money transferred. I have preserved the papers all these years as a
sacred trust, and if Korea ever ~ets out of the hands of Japan as God
grant ~be may, the Japanese Wlll have to give an accounting' of that
theft as well as the rest. Of course, I shall be. charged with having
tried to get t!Je. Empero~'s fortune into my own hands for selfish rea­sons.
I am wrllmg to ab1de the charge.
The contidenye whic_b the Emper~r reposed in me and the years that
I ba:'e sp~nt m. fightmg for the nghts of the Korean people will be
sufficient m the1r eyt;s to exonerate me from such a calumny. It will
not be for the first tlm.e. When I bought thousands of Kor·eans' farms
at one-half a cent ap1ece simply to put my name down upon their
boundary post~, so that the Japanese might not be able to club the
far!J-1er from h1s home and take the land for nothing one (If the most
assiduous of Japan's apologists in this .country circulated thf. rPport
that I .had sold those farms at good prices and bad made a fortune I
have given all tbjse farms back to the original owners and have never
seen even my hlillf cent back. I say that I have given them all back
but that is a slight error .. I hear. from the good Americans In Korea
through whom I am doing 1t that 1t is almost completed. He has only
1 peck of land deeds left.
Tb~ _people of. A!perica have read in all the papers the indescribable
atroc1t1es of wh1ch ;rapan h~s been guilty during the last few months.
And now Japan, wh1pped to 1t by public opinion says that the military
party has gone too far ~nd reforms wi!l .be inshtuted. The apolo.zists
of Japan have been _saymg t~at the ClVll party will change all that. ·
WeU, I ask the Amer:1can publlc to note that the following things were
common occurrences m Korea \\ben the civil party was dominant there
.and Prince Ito was the· governor general :
(1) Because three Koreans, maddened by the fact that all their land
ba~ been .taken by the J!lpanese for railroad purposes, without a cent
of 1mmed1ate or prospective payment, went out one night and tpre up
a few feet of construction track they were taken out and crucified
and then shot to pieces. There are hundreds of photographs of this
pleasmg event.
(2) When a t elegraph line was cut near a country vjllage by par­ties
unknown, but presumably _by Korean guerrilla fighters, the Japanese
came and .burned d?wn 10 v1llages .and left the people to freeze and
starve durmg the \\mter. One old man, over 80 years old, on his knees
begged them to spare his home. The Japanese ran him through with
their swords and threw hia body into the burning rafters of his own
home. ·
(3) W!thin a stone's th110w of my own house in Seoul, Korea, a
Korean llved .who refused to sell his house to the Japanese for one­quarter
its value. One night six Japanese, stripped stark naked broke
into the house and shocked the Inmates so that they deserted the
hous~ and tied to the -country, and the Japanese got the place for
nothmg.
( 4) ..;\ Korean merchant came to Seoul to buy goods, and placed his
money m the _hands of a Japanese h~ok er to change for him, but when
he came for h1s money the broker sa1d be had already paid it although
the Korean still ileld the receipt. Only by the intervention of an
American was t~e Korean able to get his money. The Japanese author­ities
utterly refused to listen to his claim. There was no p lace of
any kin~ provided by the Japanese where a Korean could come and ask
for just1ce. . .
(5) A Presbyterian hospital bad 40 cases in one month of Koreans
who came begging t<> be cured of the morphine habit which the Japanese
had taught them. And a lthough Americans caught Japanese red­handed
in the act of selling morphine. to Koreans and notified the
authorities, not a thing was done to stop the damnable traffic.
4196 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. AUGUST 18,
(6) The Japanese- introduced thousands of prostit utes into Korea
and offered opportunities for vice such . as the Koreans had never
dreamed of. And the spread of venereal diseases was greatly increased.
(7) A woman came to me in great distress, saying .that the Japanese
had demanded her bouse for $25, and that if she did t sell it they
would dig under the corner posts and let the roof fall on her. She
begged me to buy h er house for 5 cents and put my card on the door,
which I did, and by doing so saved her house. .
(8) A Korean business man leased his store to Japanese, who after
the first month refused to pay any more and refu~e.d to leave: He
tried every method to get at the Japanese authorities, but with\)Ut
s uccess. He came to me, and after several weeks we secured the oustmg
of the Japanese. . .
(9) A Japanese asked· a country gentleman to give bun lodgmg over­night,
which the Korean did. In the evening the ~apan ese drew out a
box of pills and said they were good for the digestwn. He offered «?De
to his host who took it. In the· moq1ing the J apanese before leavmg
demanded $15 as payment for the pill, and as the Korean refused to
pay, he went out to the stable, unhitc hed t~e Korea n 's horse, and drove
it · away to market. If the Korean ha d laid a finger on the Japanese
he would have been severely handled if not killed.
· (10) One night two Koreans who had been. cruelly torture!! by the
Japanese police came to my house and talked With me. I published the
!acts in my magazine, the Korea Review. Prince Ito sent to me, !le­manding
the J.mmes of the men who had come to me. I r efused to give
them, for it would have meant severe punishment for them.
These are just a few of the many cases that came to . me for help
under a civil regime, at a time when Korea was governed by a man who
claimed to be humane and who was probably the most decent Japanese ·
that could be found. I sent pers onally to Prince Ito and t<!ld him that
if he would make some office or tribunal where I could bnng Koreans
wh·o had been outraged and abused by t he Japanese, simply to get a
hearing, I would immediately cease from any public comment on Japan's ·
actions in Korea. But he contemptuously refused. In fact .he never
even replied. He had no intention of giving the Koreans a " square
deal." ·
For this and a score of other reasons I affirm that Japan's proposa.l
to effect reforms in Korea by establishing ther e at mixed civil and
military regime is ludicrous. The very fact that they include the mili­tary
shows that they propose to govern Korea by intimidation, whatever
be the name under which it is carried out.
There is no right solution of tb.e question except the ·restoration of
the complete independence o"f the Korean people. They have always
been so abused and insuJ.ted by the J apanese that the continuation of
any Japanese control is simply unbearable. · The Koreans wilt not con­sent
to it, and dther they must be made free or else the world must
look on and see the rapid extinction of a na.tion of 18,000,000 people
who are intrinsically far more "civilized" than are the Japanese them­selves.
Japan, as at present conducted, is in anachronism. There Is no
room for brutal a utocr-a cy in this world from now on to the crack of
doom. The sooner the Japanese people come to realize this and deter ­mine
to take things in hand and oust the bureaucrats t h e better for
them and for the whol e world. The question will never be settled with­out
a complete revolution in Japan. The sooner it comes the better.
[Translation.]
.,. By virtue of the power vested in us as the Emperor of Korea, and in
accordance with the right granted us in the treaties between Korea
and the various friendly powers, we h ereby constitute and a ppoint
Homer B. · Hulbert as our special envoy to the Governm·ents of the
United States, Great Britain, France, Germany,. Russia, Austria-Hun­gary,
Italy, Belgium, and China; and we hereby delegate to him full
ilU thority to r epr esent our inte r ests and t hose of the Korean Empire at
the seat of each of these Governments.
In consonance with this we h ave instructed him to delive r to each
of these Governments a document r elative to the present political situa­tion
IJl Korea :md to take such steps as may lead to the peaceful settle­
·ment of the diffi culties which have arisen between our Government a nd
that of J apan .
We hereby give him special authority to srcure the a djustment of the
matter before the peace conference at The Hague. · ·
In witness whereof we here affix the imperial seal.
Done in Seoul this 22d day of June, A. D. 1906, and of the dy nasty
t he five hundred and fifteenth year.
[Translation.]
To His Majesty the Kvng of England, greeting:
For ma~y years the Government of Korea bas teen in friendly treaty
relations with the Government of Great 6ritai;: r.nd has often received
evidences of the good will of that power. In this time of our difficulty
we feel sure that all people who desire to see justice done will sympa­thize
with us. In order to show that great injustice b as been done us
we here by declare that the so-called treaty of November 1 8, 1905, was
fraudulent, because ( 1) the signature s of certain members of our cabi­net
were ·obtained by intimidation a nd under duress, (2) we never
authorized the cabinet to sign the document, and (3) the meeting of
the cabinet at which it was signed was illegal, hav ing been conven ed
neither at our call nor that of the prime ministe r, but by the Japa n ese
themselves. ,
We denounce that document as invalid in law, and we deci~Y:e tha t
under no circumstances will we voluntarily consent to the r a tification
of any instrument which impairs the independence of the Korean
Empire. . ·;--..
Fnrthermore, in view of the viole nt manner in w'bi.cJ1 t he s o-called
treaty of last Novem ber was car_ried t hrough, we d!~cm it · necessary and
proper to declare to you that 1f at &LY f uture tnue any power shall
claim to ha ve obtained onr co n sent to such an agreement tbRt claim
will ei ther be whollv false or will be based upon acts wrung from us
by force of arms or under thre ats of person a l violence.
In view of the fact that we are at the present time de j u re an inde­pendent
pO\Yer and nation, w e req u est you to r eassert yonr right to
establi sh a legation at Seoul, or at least . to prepare for such establish­ment
by helping us to bring the matter before The Hague tribuna l , in
order that our l egal and just claim to independe nce may be l egally
established.
Any further information that may be desired will be given by our
fully accredite d envoy, at whose hand we are trans mitting this docu­men
t .
In witness wher eof we here affix the imperial s e al.
Do'ne in Seoul t his 22daday of June, A. D. 1906, a nd of the dy n asty
the five hundred and fimentb year.
134116- 19776
[Translation.]
I desire to draw from the Deutsch Asiatic Bank of Shanghai, China,
all the funds that I have there. For this purpose I herew ith turn over
to you all the papers connected with those funds, including a list of
the stocks and bonds and the receipts of the bank therefor. You a re
her(\by authorized to go to the Deutsch Asiatic Bank, e-xamine the cer­tificates
of stock or the bonds h eld for me by that bank, estimate the
amount of interest that has accrued on them, and to r eceive all in my
name for transmission to me. This m y Writing and my seal witness
that you have full rights as my agent in r espect of this business.
To the American citize n H. B. Hulbert.
Written in the third year of Loong-he, the tenth moon, and the
twentieth day.
[Imperial private seal.]
Oct. 20, 1909.
ORIGINAL RECJIUPT.
SEOUL, ! D ecember, 1~.
Received from the private treasury of His Majesty the Emporer of
Korea the following :
23 (twenty-three) bars -of gold, said to weigh 575 ounces, and Japanese
bank note s said to be of the value of 150,000 yen (one hundred and fifty
thousand). · .
The total value to be verified in Shanghai after the sale of the above
notes and gold bars, and a detailed r eceipt to be given to the imperial
treasury.
The total amount to be invested in German securities and to be
held at the disposal of His Majesty the Emperor of Korea.
. J . BUSES,
Manager D eutsch-Asiatische Bank.
CARS FOR COAL SHIPMENT.
Mr. POMERENE. Mr. President, on Friday last , I believe,
the Director General of Railroads· sent to the Senate a report
on a resolution which had theretofore been adopted by the
Senate, namely, Senate resolution 152, giving certain informa­tion
concerning the supply of coal cars. This resolution h as at­tracted
a little attention throughout the country, and I think it
is only fair to the coal operators that their position be likewise
presented to the .Senate.
Throughout Ohio a nd West Virginia there has been a very
great shortage of the supply of coal cars, which it seems to me
i s recognized by the coal trade generally, even if it is not recog­nized
by the Director General of Railroads. I have before me .
here several t e legrams, and I think they vvill be of interest to
the Senate. They came to-day. One of them is from C. E.
Ma urer, president of the Glen s Run Coal Co., of Cleveland,
Ohio, in which h e says : ~
CLEVELAND, OHIO, August 16, 1919.
Hon. ATLEE POMERENE,
United States Senate, Washington, D. C .:
Referring to Hines testimony stating no car s hortage, we lost 22
per cent time l ast half July and 2'7 P er cent first half of August account
car short age. This is ge11era l at all mines on P ennsylvania lines.
Understand Baltimore & Ohio worse. I s nearl y time the director gen­eral
was called by somebody.
a C. E. MA URE R,
P1·esid ent t:l~e Glens Run Coal Co.
Another telegram from Mr. Thomas K. tMaber, treasurer of
another coal company in Cleveland-the Pursegl ove-Maher Coal .
Co.-in which he says :
CLEVELAND, OHIO, August 16, 1_919.
Hon. ATLEE P0~1ERENE,
United States Senate, Washington, D. a.:
Referring to Hines testimony be fore Interstate Commerce Commis­.
sion yesterday, Hines knows .that no cars were d istribute d at all on
the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad for seven clays in succession. Hines
knows the Wheeling & Lake Erie h ave d i stributed no car s in the N o. 8
district t his week. Hines knows that Baltimore & Ohio shortage last •
w eek amounted to -about 50 p er cent. His car-distribution department
acknowledges these shortages.
. THOS . K . MAHER, Treasure!·.
I may say that in a confer ence with one of the staff of Mr.
Hines I have bee n advised that t his i s in part due to t h e fact
that there has b een a strike in the repair shops.
Another telegram, from W. R. Nethken, ge neral manage r of
the Deep Run- Big Vein Coal Co., says:
CUMBERLAND, MD., August 16, 1919.
Ilon. ATLEE POMERENE,
United States Senate, Washington, D. a.:
Please ask W alker D. Hines if h e is n ot ashamed of himself when be
faces any Member of the United States Senate and says there h as not
been and is not now serious car shoi:tage in the bituminous coal fields.
His statement to you is a gross misr E>presentation of facts or proves h is
absolute ignorance of the true situation. ·
W. R. NETHKEN,
General Manager D eep Run Big Vein Coal Co.
Another telegram, from Chattanooga, Tenn., say!'~ :
CHATTANOO GA, TENN., August 16, 1919.
Senator ATLEE POMERENE,
· United States Senate, Washington, D. a.:
R efer statement Hines, Senate, car shortage not r esponsible coal
shortage. Our mines, Cu mberla nd Valley Division Louisville & Nashville
R a il!'o ad, southeastern Kentucky, with 14 available days August, have
run 6 days, los t 8 days accqunt no cars. If this condit io n g e n eral would
make total l oss production about 12,000,000 tons.
FEDERAL COAL ,
Another correspondent who is interested in the Cambria Coal
Co., which has mines in West Virginia, sent me this morning two
WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTIN G OFFICE; 1919
'\._