publicly that the methods used by Japan in Korea are precisely those that have been used in Formosa ever since the ChinaJapan war of 1894.
The whole Japanese army is made up of men of the upper middle class. No man of the lower classes can stand in the ranks of that army. It is generally known that the relative social grade of the Japanese soldier is much higher than in any other country. These are men who have imbibed the old Samurai spirit and who in just that proportion hold themselves above the lower classes. It is for this reason that such a remarkable change came over the face of affairs in Korea after the Japanese armies had passed and the thousands of adventurers and self-seekers followed in its train. Unlawful action by a Japanese soldier was almost unknown, and the Koreans were constrained to lay aside their old-time suspicion and receive them as harbingers of a new and better era. When, therefore, the heavy influx of low-class Japanese began, and they, on the strength of the prowess of Japanese arms, began to treat the Koreans as the very scum of the earth and to perpetrate all sorts of outrages, it was inevitable that a mighty reaction should take place. It has never been explained why the Japanese authorities did not hold back this tide of immigration until the war was over and proper steps could be taken to establish sufficient legal machinery to govern the ruffians properly.
It will be asked what specific evidence is there that Koreans were ill-treated. This question must be met and answered. The following are a few of the cases that have come within the notice of the writer and of other American residents in Seoul and other parts of Korea, and which can be thoroughly attested.
An American gentleman stood upon a railway station platform where a score or more of Japanese were waiting for a train. An aged Korean, leaning upon a staff, mounted the platform and looked about him with interest. It is likely that he had never before seen a railroad train. A half-naked Japanese employee of the road seized the old man by the beard and threw
