CO129-464 - Public Offices - 1920 — Page 321

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all these months to put a stop to that and to flogging.

This he

promised to do and explained that the date of April 1st proposed for the cessation of this practies had been chosen on scoount of its being a convenient day, i.e. the beginning of the Japanese fiscal year. I could not help reminding His feelidney that the date selected had other associations in foreign minda and might

not inspire even the Coreans.with confidence. He assured me át

the same time that my previous suggestion for a general amnesty for all political prisoners had already been conveyed to ir.

Midzuno. I pointed out to him that these numbered, I understood, many hundreds, and that their liberation would provide all the prison accommodation which could possibly be required for all the new offenders who would be sentenced to terms of imprison- ment in lieu of flogging unless they proposed to flog and imprisor the whole of the Corean population. I also specially drew atten- tion to the case of the thirty three men who had been languishing in gaol for seven months without trial and suggested that ir.

Midzuno might be asked to investigate it. r. Yoshizawa admitted

that the legal Authorities in Jorea'were utterly unable to cope with the mass of business with which they were confronted and

deplored the state of affairs which I had brought to his notice.

He thanked me for the interest which I showed in the matter and

said he would always be glad to receive any suggestions that I

wished to make on the subject.

I concluded the interview by telling dr. Yoshizawa that although my suggestion for some sympathetic sot, auch sɛ a general amnesty, might appear quizotio, and that it might require great

determination to carry it out, it did not seem too great for

such a country as Japan, which would reap universal esteem by

so doing.

I have etc.,

(Signed) B. Alston.