was,
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to enquire into the missionary problem. Mr. Sakai received me very courteously and thought, most anxious to be conciliatory. He told me at the outset that be much regretted that there had ever been any misunderstandings between his office! and the missionaries, and assured me that he respected the work they were doing and was most anxious that only friendly relations should exist between them and his consulate. He further assured me that he had always answered their letters and had never refused to see them or taken into consideration any complaints they had to make. He appeared rather to resent the fact that they had on one or two occasions, appealed to you in matters which, he said, could quite easily have been arranged without your intervention, e.g., the incidents of the telephone wire, which was for a time placed across the girls' school belonging to the mission, and the use of the mission compound by signallers, in each of which cases he assured me he bad at once brought the matter to the notice of the military authorities with a view to its speedr adjustment.
We then went on to discuss the allegations made from time to time, eg, in Colonel Mizumachi's now famous letter that the supporters of the independence" movement among the Koreans were encouraged by the missionaries.
He cited one i or two instances in which he said they had proof that Koreans implicated in the movement had been connected with or taken refuge in the hospital attached to the mission, but though I asked him what proofs he had he gave me no definite reply, and I gathered that the only foundation for the suspicions of the Japanese authorities i were statements obtained by the police from Koreans under examination. appears, however, that the brother of one of the leaders of the independence move- ment is employed as an assistant at Dr. Martin's hospital, while on one occasion one of the ringleaders did for a time take refuge in the basement of the building, though| on being discovered by the hospital authorities he was at once ordered to leave.
Et
I explained to Mr. Sakai that from the very nature of the work upon which they were engaged it was essential for the missionaries to make friends with the people among whom they were working, and that, in fact, they could not succeed in their work unless they did so. To this extent, therefore, they had to sympathise with the Koreans, but to say that they went further in their sympathies was incorrect, while it was ridiculous to suppose that they actually supported or encouraged the independence movement, as it was obviously contrary to their owal interests and the interests of their work to do so. They were only hindered by disturbances such as had occurred in Korea in 1919 and in Chientao last October. I further told Mr. Sakai that while in Korea last year missionaries of many denominations had told me that they would as a matter of fact be sorry to see the Koreans obtain their independence, as they were not, in fact, fit to govera themselves and were much better off under Japanese rule, and that Mr. MacDonald, of Kwainei, had only a few days before expressed exactly the same views.
My conversation with Mr. Sakai was most friendly throughout, and as up to then I had not had an opportunity of talking things over with Dr. Martin or Mr. Barker. I said I would see them and let Mr. Sakai know if they raised any further points which seemed to need discussion.
Subsequently I saw both Dr. Martin and Mr. Barker, and discussed thoroughly with them the present situation. It is hardly necessary to say, however, that I am entirely satisfied that the missionaries at Lungchingtsun have no band is encouraging the independence movement, and, in fact, Dr. Martin told me that when, as mentioned above, one of the ringleaders had been found in the baserrit of the hospital he had at once been ordered to leave, and that strict instructions. had been given to the effect that no one was to be allowed to stay on the compon without the permission of those in charge. Mr. Sakai had also raised the quest of a history book, which he said contained objectionable matter, but Mr. Barker told me that the only passage referred to was one connected with the Magna Charta and that, as a matter of fact, the book was not now being used in the mission schools. It appears to be on small points such as this that the Japanese base their suspicions of the missionaries, and am told that they even accuse them of conniving at the independence movement because Christian children are taught to sing such bynans] as Onward, Christian Soldiers!"
1
I saw Mr. Sakai again the following day, and told him the result of my interview with Dr. Martin. again impressing on him the fact that he need have m fear that the missionaries were in any way aiding the independence movement. also pointed out to him that as British subjects enjoying extra-territorial rights China, it was only natural that they should protest if they found their rights in any
7
way infringed by action taken by the Japanese military. Mr. Sakai quite admitted this, and assured me that he was prepared to do all he could to avoid any misunderstandings in the future. Such misunderstandings as did arise during the Japanese military occupation were, I venture to think, as much the result of the different personalities and characters of the parties concerned as of anything else, as the somewhat rough and ready ways of the L'anadian missionaries must be very liable to be misunderstood by Japanese officials with their love of formality of all kinds. At the same time there is little doubt that the military authorities while in the district acted in a most high-handed manner. The missionaries, however, came very little into direct contact with them.
3. As I have already stated, I saw during my stay of eleven days in the district no signs of Japanese except in the open marts I visited, and in one fairly large village through which I passed on my way from Paitsaokou to Hunchun, where there were some Japanese police. The military have entirely withdrawn, while even a small force on outpost duty at Kami Sampo, which was still there on the 19th May when I entered the Chientao district, was, as I subsequently learned, withdrawn on the following day. There are, however, so far as I could learn, about 1,000 troops stationed permanently at Kwainei, while there are outposts at several places to the north of that place, notably at Keigen and Shojo, through both of which I passed on my return journey to Kami Sampo. I am not able to say how many men are stationed at each place, but, judging from the size of the buildings I saw, I should think not more than a company or so. More barracks are, I understand, Teing built at Kwainei, while the same is the case at Ranan, which is the head- quarters of the army in the north-eastern part of Korea and the seat of a division.
In addition to the wireless apparatus mentioned above as having been installed at Lungchingtsun, the Japanese during their operations last year put in several new telegraph and telephone lines. At one time I am told they had field telephones in all directions, but these have, of course, been removed, while, according to the Chinese officials whom I questioned on this point, the telephone wires have, with the exception of a line connecting Kami Sampo with Lungchingtsun. also been removed. The telegraph lines, Bowever, remain, and consist of a line from Lungchingtsun to Yenchi (two wires), one from Lungchingtsun to Towtackou, and another (three wires) from Keigen to Hunchun. Negotiations for the removal of these telegraph lines are now in progress, but were not, I gathered, proceeding very rapidly, as the Japanese had proposed to sell the lines to the Chinese Government, though they wished to make the use of the Japanese language over the lines a condition of the sale. The line from Kwainei to Lungchingtsun, which has been mentioned above, appears to be in common use, but the other lines are apparently not used at present, unless by the Japanese themselves, as. for instance, messages sent through the Japanese post-office at Hunchun are forwarded by mail courier to Keigen for despatch from the latter place. I was much struck by the size of the posts used for the line from Keigen to Hunchun. These were of good solid timber over a foot in diameter, and much more solid than the ordinary posts one sees in the country in Korea, so that they do not give one the impression of having been put in temporarily. There was also a telephone line from Huachun to a small town at the extreme north of Korea, but the wire has quite recently been removed, although posts, also very substantial ones, were still standing at the time of my visit.
Although the military forces have been withdrawn from the district, there are still about ten Japanese army officers stationed at the five open marts as haison officers. Most of these, I understand, have recently arrived, though some have been there throughout the operations of the winter. They do not appear to be in any way attached to the consulates, but to act entirely independently. The senior is a Colonel Harada, stationed at Yenchi, who, as reported in my other despatch of this date, called on me during my stay in the town and said he had received instructions from the headquarters of the army in Korea to do so. I did not see the officers stationed at Langchingtsun, though the two stationed at Hunchun also called on me.
It is difficult, however, to see the necessity for the presence of these officers, and the Taoyin at Yenchi gave me to understand that negotiations with a view to their withdrawal were in progress, but that the Japanese had stated that the Chinese authorities at Mukden had consented to their being stationed in the district, though this had been denied by the authorities concerned, from whom enquiries had been made by telegraph,
the
I also made enquiries from the Chinese officials as to the number of Japanese police in the district, and was told that there were now about 350, most of whom
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