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A Japanese steamer, the "Chikugogawa Maru," was advertised to sail on the evening of the 30th September for Japan by way of Corea, and I took passage by her to Chemulpo. As the dinner hour approached I was informed by the steward that the cook could not prepare foreign meals, and that forks and knives were luxuries which the ship did not carry in addition to her cargo of bones. Fortunately, I had provided myself against emergencies with a small box of stores and table requisites, and had not, as I have had to do occasionally in the interior of China, to smoke a pipe or two to still the pangs of hunger. A smooth passage brought the aged "Chikugogawa Maru" to Chemulpo early on the morning of the 2nd October; but we had to wait outside until granted pratique by a Customs officer. Passengers were landed at 8 a.m., and, after the formality of passing my baggage through the Customs, I proceeded to the railway station and took the first train which landed us at Seoul at 11:30. During the few hours of daylight that remained I saw a considerable part of the capital, and was further fortunate in catching a glimpse of the present Emperor and the 11-year-old heir presumptive to the throne as they passed under the walls of the British Consul-General, but I was still more fortunate in renewing acquaintanceship with several old friends.
Through Corea to Manchuria.
Next morning I started at 9:25 a.m. on the railway journey of 312.9 miles which separate Seoul from the banks of the Yalu. Corea is not within my beat, and I was merely taking a short cut back to Manchuria, but as it has at present no Commercial Attaché I may say a few words on the country without trespassing on a comrade's ground. As regards the people, what struck me most forcibly, in contrast to the Chinese, was the spotlessly white attire of the men, the amplitude of it, and the green-hooded cloaks with unoccupied sleeves of many of the women.
There is a story attached to the latter, but it is concerned more with war than with commerce, and need not be given here. Even the Corean leading his ox laden with firewood was unspotted, and, what is more, he is much whiter complexioned than either of his neighbours, and, I was informed by a competent judge, a quiet gentleman. To produce all this snowy whiteness every house in Corea must be a veritable wash-house, and while there is a demand for the cotton goods of English looms, there should also, if there is not already, be a great consumption of English washing soaps. The population of Corea is not great, but proportionately it should consume, judging by the results, much more soap than the population of China.
The railway, a Japanese line of standard gauge, goes north through valley after valley, some narrow, others widening into plains, bounded by low, grassy hills, little wooded in the south, but well covered with umbrageous flat-topped pines in the north. The harvest was everywhere being garnered, and men and women were busy with the sickle.
The crops were excellent: the tall millet (Holcus sorghum) was already cut and stooked; rice, principally in the north, and small millet (Setaria italica) were being cut; tobacco leaves were hanging on ropes in the sun; buckwheat, beans, cabbages, long white turnips, the castor-oil plant, and young winter wheat were on the ground, and melons shared with blood-red chillies the straw-thatched roofs of the houses, the former trained to the roof for safety, and the latter spread in heaps to dry, and lending a touch of colour to the otherwise dull greyish-brown villages. Considering the people, the houses are terribly disappointing; they are low, with projecting eaves all round, even to the gables. Each house resembles a capsized boat, preferably a house-boat, with keel and a more or less rounded hull.
The train does not run at night, and the journey was broken at P'ing-yang, near which the first conflict between China and Japan occurred during the war of 1894–95. I was mistaken in thinking that a high stone pillar rising from a pile of stones not far from the station was a monument of the Japanese victory; it simply commemorated the completion of the railway between Seoul and the Yalu. It is from 1.3 miles to 2 miles from the railway station to Ping-yang, where I spent the night in a Japanese hostel. Sixty miles to the north-east of Ping-yang are the Wonsan gold mines, worked with profit by the American Oriental Consolidated Mining Company. The train left Ping-yang at 8 a.m. on the 4th October, and steamed into the station at Hsin Yi Chon the same afternoon at 4:30 o'clock. During the last few miles the line emerges from the hills and valleys and runs over a flat plain, which has evidently been deposited in the old bed of the Yalu. A walk of a few hundred yards from the station, through an immense railway reserve containing, I was told, 500 Japanese houses, and crossing the line which, when nearing the Yalu, takes a short easterly
7
course down river to the railway terminus, brought us to a Corean custom-house, water police station, and Japanese ferry on the left bank of the river; but, before proceeding further with this narrative, I propose to say a word regarding the railway which has landed us on the waterway forming the boundary of Corea and Manchuria.
The railway from Seoul to the Yalu was built by Japan in haste, and the trace, which was carried along the line of least resistance, was not intended to be the alignment of the permanent track. This is evident to-day; curves are being straightened, several new tunnels have been made through the hills, and extensive bridge work is being carried out, especially in the section north of Ping-yang. The whole line is thus being shortened and strengthened to form a great commercial and strategic route from Japan to Manchuria.
Antung.
Mr. Coales, in his Report of a visit to Antung and Ta-tung-kow in December and January of the past and present year, has given such an excellent description of the position of the city of Antung, and of the condition of affairs existing there, that it is unnecessary for me to enter into details; but since that time several developments have occurred to which I must call attention.
The
Of the 9,000 mou (1,500 acres) of land acquired by the Japanese military authorities in 1905, most of it by forced sale, 2,800 mou (467 acres) to the immediate east of the Chinese city, which has no wall, has been formed into a Japanese Settlement bounded on the south, west, and north sides by the Antung-Mukden Railway and its reserve. The southern section of the line, with a station near the south-eastern corner of the Settlement, has been constructed since Mr. Coales' visit, and I noticed that passage along the bank of the river was blocked by wire fencing in one or two places. The balance of 6,200 mou (1,033 acres) stretches east from the Settlement for a distance of about 2,400 yards, and from the river bank northwards for about 2,000 yards to, and including the low hills, as far east as the Chinese city. At Antung Japan has acquired an estate at least four times the size of the native town, and it is the only land outside that town that can be profitably utilized for commercial purposes. The thousand odd acres outside the Settlement are held as a railway reserve; but Mr. Okabé, the Japanese Consul, informed me that it was in contemplation to curtail the railway reserve, which was too large, and convert it into a second Settlement. Considering the way the land was originally acquired, it seems to me that it would be a graceful and an honourable act on the part of Japan to present, or at least resell at cost price, to China what is not required by the railway, on condition that it be reserved for an international Settlement. It is true that the Chinese authorities speak of converting the western part of the Chinese city next to the Japanese Settlement into a foreign Settlement, but it is low-lying, and, like the rest of the city, liable to be flooded by the overflow of the Yalu in summer. The southern half of this proposed Settlement in the native town is at present a cesspool caused by the drainage from the Japanese Settlement being pumped into it from the moat which runs along the flood embankment built by the Japanese on the east side for the protection of their Settlement, and near the centre of it is a large Chinese "yoshiwara," recently erected at great expense by the Chinese authorities. During the war a Japanese Syndicate, consisting of five persons, purchased a narrow strip some miles in length along the right bank of the river below the land occupied by the military authorities for the sum of 17,000 yen, but Japan has refused to uphold the transaction, and the land was bought back by the Taotai in July for the sum of 40,000 taels, that is, for about three times the price originally paid for it. A precedent for resale has thus been established, and it would be no great hardship for Japan to part with a slice of her great estate, for to my mind the Japanese Settlement is sufficiently ample to satisfy all her legitimate commercial requirements. It may well be asked, what is the raison d'être of the Japanese Settlement at Antung? Wide streets have been laid out, and roads are being built; numerous houses, mostly with corrugated-iron roofs, have been erected, and others are in course of construction; and it has a population of 6,000 Japanese. Mr. Ukabé told me that he exercised jurisdiction, as Consul at Antung and Resident at Hsin-yi Chou, over 8,000 Japanese and 2,000 Coreans. The trade of Antung does not now, and is never likely to, attract a large alien population. How, then, does this large Japanese community—probably the largest in any Chinese port—live? The Japanese is as, if not more, frugal than the Chinese. The Settlement is full of small Japanese shops, in which, in contrast to
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6
A Japanese steamer, the "Chikugogawa Maru," was advertized to sail on the evening of the 30th September for Japan by way of Corea, and I took passage by her to Chemulpo. As the dinner hour approached I was informed by the steward that the cook could not prepare foreign meals, and that forks and knives were luxuries which the ship did not carry in addition to her cargo of bones. Fortunately, I had provided myself against emergencies with a small box of stores and table requisitos, and had not, as I have had to do occasionally in the interior of China, to smoke a pipe or two to still the pangs of hunger. A smooth passage brought the aged "Chikugogawa Maru" to Chemulpo early on the morning of the 2nd October; but wo had to wait outside until granted pratique by a Customs officer. Passengers were landed at 8 a.M., and, after the formality of passing my baggage through the Customs, I proceeded to the railway station and took the first train which landed us at Seoul at 11:30. During the few hours of daylight that remained I saw a considerable part of the capital, and was further fortunate in catching a glimpse of the present Emperor and the 11-year- old heir presumptive to the throne as they passed under the walls of the British Consul-General, but I was still more fortunate in renewing acquaintanceship with several old friends.
Through Corea to Manchuria.
Next morning I started at 9.25 A.M. on the railway journey of 312-9 miles which separate Seoul from the banks of the Yalu. Corea is not within my beat, and I was merely taking a short cut back to Manchuria, but as it has at present no Commercial Attaché I may say a few words on the country without trespassing on a comrade's ground. As reg rds the people, what struck me most forcibly, in contrast to the Chinese, was the spotlessly white attire of the men, the amplitude of it, and the green- hooded cloaks with unoccupied sleeves of many of the women.
There is a story attached to the latter, but it is concerned more with war than with commerce, and need not be given here. Even the Corean leading his ox laden with firewood was unspotted, and, what is more, he is much whiter complexioned than either of his neighbours, and, I was informed by a competent judge, a quiet gentleman. To produce all this snowy whiteness every house in Corea must be a veritable wash-house, and while there is a demand for the cotton goods of English looms, there should also, if there is not already, be a great consumption of English washing soaps. The population of Corea is not great, but proportionately it should consume, judging by the results, much more soap than the population of China.
The railway, a Japanese line of standard gauge, gocs north through valley after valley, some narrow, others widening into plains, bounded by low, grassy hills, little wooded in the south, but well covered with umbrageous flat-topped pines in the north. The harvest was everywhere being garnered, and men and women were busy with the sickle.
The crops were excellent: the tall millet (Holcus sorghum) was already cut and stooked; rice, principally in the north, and small millet (Setaria italica) were being cut; tobacco leaves were hanging on ropes in the sun; buckwheat, beans, cabbages, long white turnips, the castor-oil plant, and young winter wheat were on the ground, and melons shared with blood-red chillics the straw-thatched roofs of the houses, the former trained to the roof for safety, and the latter spread in heaps to dry, and lending a touch of colour to the otherwise dull greyish-brown villages. Considering the people, the houses are terribly disappointing; they are low, with projecting caves all round, even to the gables. Each house resembles a capsized boat, preferably a house- boat, with keel and a more or less rounded huli.
The train does not run at night, and the journey was broken at P'ing-yang, near which the first conflict between China and Japan occurred during the war of 1894–95, I was mistaken in thinking that a high stone pillar rising from a pile of stones not far from the station was a monument of the Japanese victory; it simply commemorated the completion of the railway between Seoul and the Yalu. It is from 13 miles to 2 miles from the railway station to Ping-yang, where I spent the night in a Japanese hostel. Sixty miles to the north-east of Ping-yang are the Wonsan gold mines, worked with profit by the American Oriental Consolidated Mining Company. The train left Ping-yang at 8 A.M. on the 4th October, and steamed into the station at Hsin Yi Chon the same afternoon at 4:30 o'clock. During the last few miles the line emerges from the hills and valleys and runs over a flat plain, which has evidently been deposited in the old bed of the Yalu. A walk of a few hundred yards from the station, through an immense railway reserve containing, I was told, 500 Japanese houses, and crossing the line which, when nearing the Yalu, takes a short easterly
7
course down river to the railway terminus, brought us to a Corean custom-house, water police station, and Japanese ferry on the left bank of the river; but, before proceeding further with this narrative, I propose to say a word regarding the railway which has landed us on the waterway forming the boundary of Corea and Manchuria.
The railway from Seoul to the Yalu was built by Japan in haste, and the trace, which was carried along the line of least resistance, was not intended to be the alignment of the permanent track. This is evident to-day; curves are being straightened, several new tunnels have been made through the hills, and extensive bridge work is being carried out, especially in the section north of Ping-yang. The whole line is thus being shortened and strengthened to form a great commercial and strategic route from Japan to Manchuria.
Antung.
Mr. Coales, in his Report of a visit to Antung and Ta-tung-kow in December and January of the past and present year, has given such an excellent description of the position of the city of Antung, and of the condition of affairs existing there, that it is unnecessary for me to enter into details; but since that time several developments have occurred to which I must call attention.
The
Of the 9,000 mou (1,500 acres) of land acquired by the Japanese military authorities in 1905, most of it by forced sale, 2,800 mou (467 acres) to the immediate east of the Chinese city, which has no wall, has been formed into a Japanese Settle- ment bounded on the south, west, and north sides by the Antung-Mukden Railway and its reserve. The southern section of the line, with a station near the south- eastern corner of the Settlement, has been constructed since Mr. Coales' visit, and I noticed that passage along the bank of the river was blocked by wire fencing in one or two places. The balance of 6.200 mon (1,033 acres) stretches east from the Settlement for a distance of about 2,400 yards, and from the river bank northwards for about 2,000 yards to, and including the low hills, as far east as the Chinese city. At Antung Japan has acquired an estate at least four times the size of the native town, and it is the only land outside that town that can be profitably utilized for commercial purposes. The thousand odd acres outside the Settlement are held as a railway reserve; but Mr. Okabé, the Japanese Consul, informed me that it was in contemplation to curtail the railway reserve, which was too large, and convert it into a second Settlement. Considering the way the land was originally acquired, it seems to me that it would be a graceful and an honourable act on the part of Japan to present, or at least resell at cost price, to China what is not required by the railway, on condition that it be reserved for an international Settlement. It is true that the Chinese authorities speak of converting the western part of the Chinese city next to the Japanese Settlement into a foreign Settlement, but it is low-lying, and, like the rest of the city, liable to be flooded by the overflow of the Yalu in summer. southern half of this proposed Settlement in the native town is at present a cesspool caused by the drainage from the Japanese Settlement being pumped into it from the moat which runs along the flood embankment built by the Japanese on the east side for the protection of their Settlement, and near the centre of it is a large Chinese "yoshiwara," recently erected at great expense by the Chinese authorities. During the war a Japanese Syndicate, consisting of five persons, purchased a narrow strip some miles in length along the right bank of the river below the land occupied by the military authorities for the sum of 17,000 yen, but Japan has refused to uphold the transaction, and the land was bought back by the Taotai in July for the sum of 40,000 taels, that is, for about three times the price originally paid for it. A precedent for resale has thus been established, and it would be no great hardship for Japan to part with a slice of her great estate, for to my mind the Japanese Settlement is sufficiently ample to satisfy all her legitimate commercial requirements. It may well be asked, what is the raison d'être of the Japanese Settlement at Antung? Wide streets have been laid out, and roads are being built; numerous houses, mostly with corrugated-iron roofs, have been erected, and others are in course of construction; and it has a population of 6,000 Japanesc. Mr. Ukabé told me that he exercised jurisdiction, as Consul at Antung and Resident at IIsin-yi Chou, over 8,000 Japanese and 2,000 Coreans. The trade of Antung does not now, and is never likely to, attract a large alien population, How, then, does this large Japanese community-probably the largest in any Chinese port-live? The Japanese is as, if not more, frugal than the Chinese. The Settlement is full of small Japanese shops, in which, in contrast to
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