Korea (Hamilton)/Chapter 13

​

With the exception of Great Britain, the example of the Japanese in Korea has stirred the Western Powers to corresponding activity. Every strange face in Seoul creates a crop of rumours. Until the new-comer proves himself nothing more dangerous than a correspondent, there is quite a flutter in the Ministerial dove-cots. Speculation is rife as to his chance of securing the particular concession after which, of course, it is well known he has come from Europe, Asia, Africa, or America. The first place among the holders of concessions is very evenly divided between Japan and America. If the interests of Japan be placed apart, those of America are certainly the most prominent. Germany and Russia are busily creating opportunities for the development of their relations with the industries of the country; Italy and Belgium have secured a footing; Great Britain is alone in the indifference with which she regards the markets of Korea.

In this chapter I propose to state briefly the exact position occupied in Korea by the manufacturing and industrial interests of foreign countries; adding a specific ​table, which, I hope, may attract the attention of British manufacturers to the means by which the Japanese houses contrive to meet the demands of the Korean market. The competition of the Japanese has an advantage in the propinquity of their own manufacturing centres; a co-operative movement throughout the Japanese settlements against foreign goods is another factor in their supremacy.

It may, perhaps, afford British manufacturers some small consolation to know that there are still many articles which defy the imitative faculties of the Japanese. These are, mainly, the products of the Manchester market, which have proved themselves superior to anything which can be placed in competition against them. It has been found, for instance, impossible to imitate Manchester dyed goods, nor can Japanese competition affect the popularity of this particular line. Chinese grass-cloths have, however, cut out Victoria lawns fairly on their merits. The Chinese maufacturer, unhampered by any rise in the cost of production and transportation, produces a superior fabric, of more enduring quality, at a lower price. Moreover, in spite of the assumed superiority of American over English locomotives, on the Japanese railways in Korea the rolling stock produced by British manufacturers has maintained its position. It is pleasing to learn that some proportion of the equipment of the old line from Chemulpo to Seoul, and of the new extension to Fusan, have been procured from England. Mr. Bennett, the manager of Messrs. Holme Ringer and Company, the one British house in Korea, with whom the order from the Japanese company was placed, informed me that the steel rails and fish-plates imported would be from Caramel and Company, the wheels and axles from Vickers, and that orders for a ​number of corrugated iron goods sheds had been placed in Wolverhampton. The locomotives were coming from Sheffield. The Japanese company expressly stipulated that the materials should be of British make; it was only through the extreme dilatoriness of certain British firms in forwarding catalogues and estimates, that an order, covering a large consignment of iron wire, nails, and galvanised steel telegraph wire, was placed in America. This dilatoriness operates with the most fatal effect upon the success of British industries. The Emperor of Korea instructed Mr. Bennett to order forty complete telephones, switchboards, key-boards, and instruments, all intact. Ericson's, of Stockholm, despatched triplicate cable quotations, forwarding by express shipment triplicate catalogues and photographs, as well as cases containing models of their different styles, with samples of wet and dry cables. One of the two British firms, to whom the order had been submitted, made no reply. The other, after an interval of two months, dictated a letter of inquiry as to the chemical qualities of the soil, and the character of the climatic influences to which the wires, switch-boards, and instruments would be subjected!

A few years ago a demand arose for cheap needles and fish-hooks. The attention of British manufacturers was drawn to the necessity of supplying a needle which could be bent to the shape of a fish-hook. A German manufacturer got wind of the confidential circular which Mr. Bennett had prepared, and forwarded a large assortment of needles and fish-hooks, the needles meeting the specified requirements. The result of this enterprise was that the German firm skimmed the cream of the market. The English needles were so stiff that they snapped at once; and it is perhaps unnecessary to add that, beyond the few packets opened for ​the preliminary examination, not one single order for these needles has been taken.

The position which Great Britain fills in Korea is destitute of any great commercial or political significance. Unintelligible inaction characterises British policy there—as elsewhere. Our sole concession is one of very doubtful value, relating to a gold mine at Eun-san. In the latter part of 1900 a company was formed in London, under the style of the British and Korean Corporation, to acquire the Pritchard Morgan Mining Concession from the original syndicate. In the spring of 1901 Mr. E. T. McCarthy took possession of the property on behalf of the new owners. Mr. McCarthy had had considerable experience as a mine manager. The most careful management was necessary to the success of this concern. The expenses of working were extraordinarily heavy, as, owing to the absence of fuel, coal had to be imported from Japan. A coal seam had been located upon the concession, but nothing was then known as to its suitability for steam purposes. It is impossible to consider the undertaking very seriously. All surface work was stopped during my residence in Korea, the operations for the past few months having been confined to underground development and prospecting. There was talk of the instalment of a mill. A vein of pyrrhotine, carrying copper for a width of 13 ft., was regarded with some interest, but in the absence of machinery nothing of much consequence could be done.

Another concern, Anglo-Chinese in its formation, is the Oriental Cigarette and Tobacco Company, Limited. The capital of this venture is registered from Hong-Kong. Since May 1902, the company has been engaged at Chemulpo in the manufacture, from Richmond and Korean ​tobacco, of cigarettes of three kinds. At the present time it possesses machinery capable of a daily output of one million cigarettes. In the days of its infancy, the company was reduced to a somewhat precarious existence—the early weeks of its career producing no returns whatsoever. Now, however, a brighter period has dawned, and an ultimate prosperity is not uncertain. Cash transactions, in the sales of the cigarettes manufactured by the company, began in July 1902, realising by the end of February 1903, £1515 sterling; to this must be added credit sales of £896 sterling—making a grand total for the first few months of its existence of £2411 sterling. A large staff of native workers is permanently employed.

Aside from this company and the mining corporation, British industrial activity is confined almost exclusively to the agency which Mr. Bennett so ably controls in Chemulpo, of which a branch is now established in the capital, and the Station Hotel which Mr. Emberley conducts at Seoul. Mr. Jordan, the British Minister in Korea, did request in June 1903, a concession for a gold mine five miles square in Hwang-hai Province. Apart from this, the apathy of the British merchant cannot be regarded as singular when business houses in London direct catalogues, intended for delivery at Chemulpo, to the British Vice-Consul, Korea, Africa. Nor, by the way, is Korea a part of China. Mr. Emberley has established a comfortable and very prosperous hotel in the capital, while at Chemulpo Mr. Bennett has opened out whatever British trade exists in Korea. British interests are safe enough in his hands, and if merchants will act in co-operation with him, it might still be possible to create good business, in spite of the competition and imitation of the Japanese. In this respect ​British traders are not unreasonably expected to observe the custom, prevailing among all Chinese merchants, of giving Korean firms an extended credit. Foreign banks in the Far East charge seven or eight per cent. per annum, and the native banks ten to fourteen per cent., which represents a very considerable advance upon home rates. In the opinion of Mr. Bennett, who is, without doubt, one of the most astute business men in the Far East, no little improvement would be shown in the Customs return of British imports, if the manufacturers at home would ship goods to Korea on consignment to firms, whose standing and bank guarantees were above suspicion, charging thereon only home rates of interest. An American company, engaged extensively in business with Korea, never draws against shipments, by that means deriving considerable advantage over its competitors. I commend this suggestion to the attention of the British shipper, particularly as trade in Korea is largely dependent upon the rice crop. In the train of a bad harvest comes a reduction of prices. Importers, then, who have ordered stocks beforehand, find themselves placed in a quandary. Their stocks are left upon their hands—it may be for a year, or even longer—and they are confronted with the necessity of meeting the excessive rates of interest current in the Far East. If the manufacturer could meet the merchant by allowing a rate of interest, similar to that prevailing at home, to be charged, the importer of British goods would be less disinclined to indent ahead. Under existing circumstances the merchant must take the risk of ordering in the spring for autumn delivery, and vice-versâ; on the other hand, China and Japan, being within a few days' distance of Korea, the importer prefers to await the fulfilment of the rice crop, when, as occasion ​requires, he can cable to Shanghai, Osaka, or elsewhere for whatever may be desired.

Attached to the English Colony in Korea, which numbers one hundred and forty-one, there is the usual complement of clergy and nursing sisters, under the supervision of Bishop Corfe, the chief of the English Mission in Seoul. Miss Cooke, a distinguished lady doctor and a kind friend to the British Colony, is settled in Seoul. A number of Englishmen are employed in the Korean Customs; their services contributing so much to the splendid institution which Mr. McLeavy Brown has created, that one and all are above criticism. Mr. McLeavy Brown would be the first to acknowledge how much the willing assistance of his staff has contributed to his success.

The importance of the American trade in Korea is undeniable. It is composite in its character, carefully considered, protected by the influence of the Minister, supported by the energies of the American missionaries, and controlled by two firms, whose knowledge of the wants of Korea is just forty-eight hours ahead of the realisation of that want by the Korean. This is, I take it, just as things should be. The signs of American activity, in the capital alone, are evident upon every side. The Seoul Electric Car Company, the Seoul Electric Light Company, and the Seoul (Fresh Spring) Water Company have been created by American enterprise, backed up by the "liveness" and cuteness of the two concessionaires, whom I have just mentioned, and pushed along by little diplomatic attentions upon the part of the American Minister. The Seoul-Chemulpo Railway Concession was also secured by an American, Mr. Morse, the agent of the American Trading Company, and subsequently sold to the Japanese company in whom the rights ​of the concession are now vested. The charter of the National Bank of Korea has also been awarded to these Americans, and it is now in process of creation. The only mine in Korea which pays is owned by an American

syndicate; and, by the way, Dr. Allen, the American Minister, possesses an intelligible comprehension of the Korean tongue.

There is a large American colony in Korea, totalling in all two hundred and forty. One hundred live in Seoul; sixty-five are employed upon the American Mine at Un-san; thirty-four live at Pyöng-yang. Five are in the service of the Korean Government; ten are associated with the railway; the famous two are engaged in business and the remainder comprise the staffs of the Legation and Consulate, and a medley of missionaries. American trade with Korea embraces kerosene, flour, mining machinery, railway and ​mining supplies, household goods and agricultural implements, clothing and provisions, drills, sheetings, cotton goods, and cotton yarn. The American mine at Un-san employs seventeen Japanese and one hundred and thirty-three Chinese, one hundred Europeans, of whom thirty-five are American, and four thousand natives, whose wages range from 8d. to 1s. 2d. daily. The private company that has acquired this concession works five separate mines with enormous success; four mills, two of forty stamps and two of twenty stamps, are of long standing. An additional mill of eighty stamps is of more recent construction. During 1901 gold to the amount of £150,000 was exported by the company, while in the year following this sum was very vastly exceeded. The area of the concession is eight hundred square miles.

The future alone can disclose whether Korea is to be absorbed by the Japanese. At present, the Japanese population in Korea exceeds twenty thousand, the actual estimate falling short of twenty-five thousand. The Japanese control the railway between Chemulpo and Seoul, as well as the important trunk line to Fusan, an undertaking now in course of construction and under the immediate supervision of the Japanese Government. The new company has since absorbed the parent line from Seoul to Chemulpo. The capital of this company is twenty-five million yen, £2,500,000, which is to be raised in annual instalments of five million yen, counting from the time when one-tenth of the first instalment of five million yen was found. As a matter of fact, the preliminary turning of the first sods took place at Fusan on September 21st, and at Yong-tong-po on August 20th, in the summer of 1901. From that moment, the Japanese Government made itself ​responsible for the payment of the debenture bonds, and guaranteed six per cent. upon the company's subscribed capital for a period of fifteen years.^[1] Each share is of the value of £5, the money to be called up as required, each call being at the rate of ten shillings per share. The whole of the 400,000 shares, which was the original allotment, was at once taken up, Japanese and Koreans alone being eligible as shareholders. The estimated cost of the line is £9000 per mile. Work has been completed as far as Syu-won, a distance of twenty-six miles, over which section trains are already running. Construction is, of course, being rapidly pushed forward, and working parties are engaged at a number of places along the line of route.

The length of the Seoul-Fusan Railway will be 287 miles. It is confidently expected that the undertaking will be completed within six years. There will be some forty stations, including the terminal depots, and it is, perhaps optimistically, estimated that the scheduled time for the journey from Fusan to Seoul will be twelve hours, which is an average of twenty-four miles an hour, including stops, the actual rate of speed being approximately some thirty miles an hour. The present working speed of the Seoul-Chemulpo railway requires a little less than two hours to make the journey between Seoul and Chemulpo, a distance of twenty-five miles, from which it will be seen that considerable improvement must take place if the distance between Seoul and Fusan is to be accomplished within twelve hours. ​In the first few miles of the journey, the trunk line to Fusan will run over the metals of the Seoul-Chemulpo railway. The start will be from the station outside the south gate of the capital; the second stop will be Yong-san, and the third No-dol. At the next station, Yong-tong-po, the railway leaves the line of the Seoul-Chemulpo branch to run due south to Si-heung, where it bears slightly eastward until reaching An-yang and Syu-won, some twenty-six miles distant from Seoul. At this point the railway resumes its southerly direction and passes through Tai-hoang-kyo, O-san-tong, and Chin-eui, where it crosses the border of the Kyöng-keui Province into Chyung-chyöng Province, and reaches the town of Pyöng-tak. The line then runs near the coast, proceeding due south to Tun-po, where it will touch tide water, and, bearing due south, reaches On-yang, sixty-nine miles from Seoul. It then proceeds in a south-easterly direction to Chyön-eui, and once again turning directly south crosses the famous Keum River and enters the important town of Kong-chyu. From Kong-chyu, which is ninety-six miles from Seoul, and by its fortunate possession of facilities for water transit, is destined to become an important distributing centre, the line follows its southward course towards Sin-gyo, where an important branch line will be constructed towards the south-west to connect Kang-kyöng, the chief commercial centre of the province, with the main system. It is also probable that a further extension of the line from Sin-gyo towards the south-west will be projected, in order to make communication with Mokpo, the coast port through which passes the grain trade of Chyöl-laand Kyöng-syang Provinces.

The town of Sin-gyo marks one hundred and twenty-five miles from Seoul; beyond Sin-gyo, the south-westerly direction, which the line is now following, changes by an ​abrupt sweep to the east, where, after passing through Ryön-san, a western spur of the great mountain chain of the peninsula is crossed, and the town of Chin-san entered. Still running east to Keum-san, the valley of the southern branch of the Yang River is traversed in its upper waters, until, after following the river in a north-easterly direction for some little distance, the road takes advantage of a gap in the mountains, through which the Yang River breaks, to cross the stream and turn due east to touch Yang-san, coming to a pause one hundred and forty-one miles from Seoul in Yöng-dong. From Yöng-dong the railway moves forward north-east to Whan-gan, one hundred and fifty-three miles from Seoul, the place lying close within the mountain range but a few miles distant from the Chyu-pung Pass—to cross which will call for more than ordinary engineering skill. Leaving the pass and running slightly south of east, the railway proceeds towards the Nak-tong River, through Keum-san, crossing the stream at Wai-koan, a few miles north-east of Tai-ku, a town of historical importance some two hundred miles from Seoul. The railway then follows the valley of the Nak-tong, and passes to the east of the river, through Hyön-pung, Chyang-pyöng, Ryöng-san, Syök-kyo-chyön, Ryang-san, Mun-chyön, Tong-lai, where the Nak-tong River is again met. The direction from Tai-ku is south-east all the way to Fusan, whence the line runs beside the river. At Kwi-po it strikes across to the native town of Old Fusan, thence running round the Bay to its terminus in the port.

This railway, which provides for extensive reclamation works in the harbour of Fusan, has become already an economic factor of very great importance. More particularly is this manifest when it is remembered that the ​country through which the line passes is known as the granary of Korea. Developments of a substantial character must follow the completion of this undertaking, the position of Japan in Korea receiving more emphatic confirmation from this work than from anything by which her previous domination of the country has been demonstrated. It will promote the speedy development of the rich agricultural and mining resources of Southern Korea, and as these new areas become accessible by means of the railway, it is difficult to see how the influx of Japanese immigrants and settlers to the southern half of the kingdom can be avoided. Indeed, a very serious situation for the Korean Government has already arisen, since by far the greatest number of the men, engaged upon the construction of the Seoul-Fusan Railway, have signified their intention of becoming permanent settlers in the country. In the case of these new settlers, the company has granted from the land, which it controls on either side of the line, a small plot to each family for the purposes of settlement. While the man works upon the line, his family erect a house and open up the ground. Whether or no the action of the company can be justified to the extent which has already taken place, the policy has resulted in the establishment of a continuous series of Japanese settlements extending through the heart of Southern Korea from Seoul to Fusan.

From time to time the Japanese Government itself has attempted to stem the torrent of Japanese migration to Korea. But the success of the colonies already settled there has made it a delicate and a difficult task—one which, in the future, the Japanese Government may be expected to leave alone. The railway once open, the still greater stimulus which will be imparted to agriculture in the southern half of ​the kingdom, will appeal to many thousands of other would-be settlers. Whatever objection the Korean Government may offer to this invasion, it is quite certain that with the very heart of the agricultural districts laid bare, Korea must be prepared to see a rapid increase in her already large Japanese population. In a great part the increase is already an accomplished fact. The influence of Japan is already supreme in Korea. It is paramount in the Palace; and it is upheld by settlements in every part of the country. In the capital itself there is a flourishing colony of four thousand adults. She has established her own police force; created her own post-office, telephone, cable and wireless telegraph system. She has opened mines—her principal mine is at Chik-san—and has introduced many social and political reforms, besides being the greatest economic factor in the trade of the kingdom.

Little development has distinguished the concessions secured by the French in Korea. A railway concession was abandoned a few years ago; and an existing charter, covering certain mining rights, has almost expired. M. Colin de Plancy, the amiable and energetic French Minister in Korea, has, however, succeeded in re-arranging the terms of the abandoned concession. In addition to this, in June 1903, he applied for a new gold-mining concession in Chyung-chyöng Province. The concession, which has been revived, was granted so far back as 1896; but it was forfeited long since, and only recently revoked. By the old agreement a French syndicate, La Compagnie de Fines-Lille, received a charter to construct a line of railway between Seoul and Wi-ju, the important frontier port at the mouth of the Yalu. The construction of this line, which will form, together with the Seoul-Fusan railway, the ​main trunk line of the kingdom, will no longer be the private speculation of a French syndicate, the Imperial Government itself having undertaken to make the road. Two years ago the French Minister succeeded in reviving the interest of the Korean Government in the scheme, and secured an undertaking that the services of French engineers only should be employed, and that the materials for the new work should be supplied by French houses. In continuation of this most excellent piece of diplomacy, M. Colin de Plancy was instrumental, at a little later date, in bringing about the creation of the North-Western Railway Bureau, of which the First Secretary of the French Legation, M. G. Lefevre, was made managing director, with Yi Yong-ik as its President. M. de Lapeyriere became the chief consulting engineer to the railway; M. Bourdaret, and a small army of French engineers, master mechanics, overseers, and skilled workmen were placed upon the pay-sheets of the company.

The Korean Government made itself responsible for the annual disbursement of one hundred thousand yen (£10,000) on this railway, and construction began in the spring of 1902. Operations were suspended, however, owing to the prevalence of the rainy season. Work was resumed again in the autumn and, again, after a short spell of activity, stopped. Lack of the necessary funds is doubtless the reason; yet, nevertheless, the Korean Government refused an offer for the right to construct the line from a Russian financier. This preliminary stage of the line traverses districts famous for their mineral and agricultural resources, and connects the present capital, Seoul, with two former seats of Central Government, Song-do and Pyöng-yang, even now rich and populous towns. It is intended to complete the ​line to Song-do at once, pushing forward towards Wi-ju, in the hope of connecting with the Trans-Siberian system, when the Government is able to find the funds. The distance between Seoul and Song-do by the line of railway is eighty kilometres. In round figures the cost of construction is placed at about £260,000; the traffic receipts are valued at £12,000, £10,000 of which will be contributed by passenger traffic. The annual working expenses are placed at £8000; and it is "hoped" that the Seoul-Song-do line will be opened to general traffic within two years. The figures are altogether French and airy.

A survey of the line between Seoul and Song-do shows to some extent the nature of the work which awaits the French engineers. Gradients will be about 21 feet to the mile; embankment-building and excavation give 13,000 cubic metres to the kilometre; twenty-six per cent. of the line will be curved, the radius of the most acute bend being some 200 metres; twenty-five moderately large bridges, one hundred and fifty small bridges and culverts will figure in construction. The Im-chin River will be crossed, at first, by ferry; in the end, however, a bridge, five hundred feet in length, will span this break in the line. The gauge of the road would be 1.43 m.; the ties will be 2.50 m. long, 30 m. in width, 1.25 m. thick. There will be 1.70 kilometres for the purpose of side-tracking, and an off-line, 1.30 kilometres long, will branch to Han-chu, on the Han River. Between Seoul and Song-do there will be six stations and four signal points; the rolling stock will consist of five locomotives of the Mallet type, five combined first and second class and eight third class coaches, five luggage cars, and twenty-five freight cars. This comprises the general requirements of the ​proposed line, evolved out of an abandoned concession by the astuteness and activity of the French Minister.

The line will proceed from outside the West Gate of Seoul, where the terminus will be 48.50 m. above the sea level, towards Yang-wha-chin, crossing the A-o-ya Pass at 59.50 m. Descending to the valley of the Han River, and 17 m. above tide-water, the line traverses the district of Han-ju, and the western county of Ko-yang, leaving the Han valley 31 kilometres from Seoul. The line then crosses the Kyo-wha valley, at an elevation of 15 m., and at 42 kilometres from Seoul crosses a tributary of the Im-chin River at Mun-san-po. Fifty-one kilometres from Seoul the railway will meet the Im-chin River ferry, where passengers and freight, under the existing provisional arrangements, will be transferred to a second train upon the remote side of the river. The line then crosses the Chang-dan district, and moving up the Valley of Song-do enters the Song-do terminus at an elevation of 40 m. The distance by rail is somewhat shorter than by road, and unexpectedly few obstacles have been met with in the course of construction. A rough survey has been made north from Song-do, from which point the railvwy will run due west to Hai-chu, then due north to Pyöng-yang through Sin-chyön and An-ak. Beyond this point to Wi-ju no survey has been attempted.

It is questionable, however, if the French line promises such satisfactory returns as those which may be expected from the southern railway. When the two lines have been completed and Fusan is in direct communication with the Siberian Railway, some definite expansion in the northern areas of the kingdom may be anticipated, and the railway will be in a position to compete with the junks of the Yalu. But, apart from the border trade, there is little settled ​industry which may be relied on to contribute traffic to the carrying capacity of this line; nor is it likely that the mines, whose concessions maybe said to border the line of railway, will accept it as a medium of transportation so long as they are able to make use of the existing facilities for water transit, with which the American and English mines are served. Of course, it cannot be predicted what mining and agricultural developments may take place in the northern regions of Korea. Gold and coal, copper and iron are known to exist. The development of this mineral wealth may open up the country, and the presence of the mines will create a demand for the local production of certain varieties of foodstuffs. These channels of revenue to the railway are highly problematical. In the absence of any specific value, which may be attached to the prospects of the French line, a comparison between the relative importance of the two undertakings confirms the superiority of the Japanese concession upon every count. The strategic, as well as the commercial, significance of the southern trunk line must impress the Koreans with its very positive qualities.

There are some eighty French subjects in Korea, of whom forty are French priests and one a bishop. Three are associated with the North-Western Railway Bureau; two are in the Korean Customs; two have been given employment in the Imperial Mines, and one has become legal adviser to the Imperial Government. One is attached to the French School; one manages, most admirably and successfully, the Imperial Korean Post Office. Two are working in the Korean Arsenal, and three assist in the management of the Hôtel du Palais. The members of the French colony have been lately increased by the addition of a number of French engineers, who have fallen upon the ​Korean Government in the hope of finding employment with the Railway Bureau. These transitory visitors are not included in my figures.

The German colony is small and insignificant. German interests, however, have been given the concession of a railway line from Seoul to Won-san. A mine, controlled by a German syndicate, and located at Tong-ko-kai, has been abandoned with the loss of the many thousand pounds which had been laid out upon machinery and mining material in general. Germans possess no other concessions. There is an important firm in Chemulpo, and this house has established a branch in Seoul. A distinguishing feature of the business is that there are Germans in both the Seoul and Chemulpo offices who are thoroughly familiar with the Korean language. This, as the country develops, will not be without effect; and the fact seems to illustrate very admirably the methodical system upon which German commerce in the Far East is built up. The Court band has been entrusted to the training of a German professor. The effect is very solemn, and perhaps discloses the necessity for the introduction of a German physician to the Imperial Household. This counterblast to the position, which a singular power of sympathy and great professional ability has won for Miss Cooke, is of recent accomplishment. This English lady doctor has been for many years physician-in-ordinary to the Imperial Household, and enjoys the complete confidence of the Court. Miss Cooke is the only foreigner who has succeeded in overcoming native prejudice and suspicion entirely.

The battle of concessions is as keen in Korea as in China. The latest Power to interest itself in the exploitation of the mineral deposits of Korea is Belgium, hitherto without ​special concern in the development of the mining interests of the kingdom. Now, however, Belgium has come forward, and it is understood that a concession, nine hundred square li^[2] in extent, has been granted to its nationals. The Belgians have undertaken to lend the Korean Government 4,000,000 yen, receiving in exchange the lease of the mines for twenty-five years. The concession is situated at Ta-bäk Mountain, at the point where the Chyung-chyöng, Kyöng-syang and Kang-won Provinces meet. At this moment it is impossible to state the value of this new concession; but the Belgians are shrewd, close-fisted people. It is doubtful, therefore, if their venture will be as unfortunate as our own, or the German, has been.

Adverting to the foreign trade of Korea again, foreign merchants possess a very definite grievance against the Japanese manufacturing houses who cater for the Korean markets. After the closest investigation, I venture to assert there are but few of the so-called foreign-made articles, exposed to sale in the shops of the Japanese settlements in any of the open ports in Korea, that are not most shameless imitations. For the most part they are concocted in Japan, and embellished with the necessary designs and trade marks, with some imperceptible modification. The illegality of this practice is incontrovertible. In the absence of any supervision upon the part of the Korean Customs, or by representatives of merchants affected by these tricks, it is difficult to see how they may be avoided. I add a table, showing the various articles counterfeited by Japanese manufacturers with which I am personally familiar, and which are on sale under false descriptions. In each instance the imitation comes from Japan. ​

​Japanese kerosene oil comes over in cans which exactly reproduce the pattern of the Standard Oil Company.

John Orr-Ewing and Company's Turkey reds, in breadths of 27 in. and 40 yds. long, and colour fast, become 27 in. in breadth, 37½ yds. in length, the colour is not fast, the material shrinks and the weight is 5 lbs. deficient.

The trade mark of the firm, "Parrot Brand," with a picture of the bird, is the most perfect imitation imaginable.

Imitations of Nestlé's milk, Bryant and May's matches, Boehringer's quinine, and many other articles have been repeatedly denounced by the firms.