governmental purposes to what you say or because of that natural curiosity; but in case you say anything you should not, whether the listener is a secret agent or not, he goes and reports your conversation to somebody, for that is the first duty of all Japanese-to tell what they hear. There are always some of these agents about the big hotels. They act as roomboys, as bar-boys, as waiters, and in any other capacity that will put them in contact with the guests. In the days of the Russian war the correspondents who were held in Tokyo were accustomed to relate their opinions of the Japanese in front of a certain bar, and each night complete reports of what they said were transmitted to the war office. The bar-boys were secret agents. . . . Let a man whose business is not definitely stated by him the moment he arrives go to any city in Japan, and there will be secret-service men set after him immediately. Every petty detail will be communicated to some secret head and set down painstakingly in some secret record. His trunks are likely to be opened. The boy in his room at his hotel is likely to be a spy. Every move will be watched. A man whom I know could do it told me he would get me a complete record of my comings and goings in Japan for a hundred yen. I told him it was not worth it."

10

99 10

Saturday Evening Post, May 22, 1915, p. 53.

The organization of the Japanese spy system in Korea is pretty nearly perfect. It is a part of the military administration in the peninsula, and is used most effectively to denationalize the ancient kingdom. A Korean is not permitted to go to Europe or America, and even within Korea the people are not allowed to travel in large groups. "Every one must be registered and is given a number, which is known to the police. Every time he leaves his village or town he must register at the police station and state fully the business he intends to transact and his destination. The policeman 'phones to this place, and if his actions are in any way at variance with his report, he is liable to arrest and mistreatment. A strict classification is kept on the basis of a man's education, influence, position, etc. As soon as a man begins to show ability or qualities of leadership he is put in class 'a,' detectives are set on his trail, and from thenceforth he becomes a marked man, hounded wherever he goes. Even children are watched or bribed for information. If a man escapes the country his number is traced, his family or relatives arrested and perchance tortured until they reveal his whereabouts. A man is likely to disappear any day and perhaps not be heard of again." " Officially authorized spies are sta

"J. E. Moore, "Korea's Appeal for Self-Determination,"

PP. 9-10.

tioned in every town and village; they force their presence even into private household parties. Their acts are backed by the Japanese gendarmerie, and woe to the native who dares to resent their intrusion! He will be charged with treason as opposing the government authorities! The Japanese enlist as sub-spies a large number of the worst scoundrels in the country. These incorrigibles are paid good salaries and in many cases given rewards for the merit of their work; not infrequently the well-to-do natives are blackmailed by these spies, and the government winks at the crime. It is not only an opportunity for petty and venal natures to vent personal enmities and spites, but also a chance to gather a handsome fortune for a scoundrel who is not fit for anything else.

Such abuse of the method might naturally be expected, but the worst feature of it all is that it is often used as a machine by the government in relentlessly crushing out the spirit of nationalism. If a Korean is suspected of keeping alive the spirit of his forefathers,-not rebellion, for that would be a hopeless thing at present,-the government instructs its spies to bring certain charges against him. Upon the witness of the spies, he will be imprisoned, his property will be confiscated, and he will be punished in such a way as to be disabled for life; or he may even be

executed on the charge of treason." Like the mediæval" Ironwoman" that crushed its victim without bloodshed, this spy system of the Japanese administration in Korea removes from the country the ablest and best educated Koreans without technically violating the regulations of the colonial policy of the Japanese Empire.

The sad feature of the Korean case is that, although the Korean suffers the same hard fate as did the Poles and the Armenians before the European War, his story is unknown to the outside world. The only time when he had a partial hearing before the world's court of public opinion was during the late wholesale arrest and trial of the Korean Christian leaders on the charge of conspiracy against the life of Governor-General Terauchi. This time the news leaked out because it involved several prominent foreign missionaries."

"For Japanese prison tortures in Korea, see the Continent, June 13, 27, 1912; Sengman Rhee, "The Christian Persecution in Korea" (Korean, published in Honolulu, T. H.).

"For full account, see the Report sent to the Continuation Committee by the missionaries in Korea. Also, consult Arthur Judson Brown, "The Korean Conspiracy Case" (1912); Sengman Rhee, "The Christian Persecution in Korea" (Korean); "A Korean View of Japan's Policy in Korea," Missionary Review of the World, 36: 450-453, June, 1913.

I

II

THE GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP

1. PRESS CENSORSHIP

T is only half a century since Japan abol

ished feudalism, but the basis of it-loyalty

-still remains. This furnishes a fertile ground for the growth and fruition of the political philosophies of Machiavelli and Hegel-the suppression of the individual for the sake of the state. The individual Japanese is not a free citizen, but a tool of the state. He has no conscience of his own except national conscience; he has no liberty except his share in national liberty. The Japanese scholar or publicist is only a mouthpiece of his government. The individuals are for the state, but the state is not for the individuals, as it is in America and Western Europe.' This doctrine of individuals -existing for the sake of the state brings about that unity of purpose and simplicity in ends which are the direct correlatives of national

1

See W. E. Griffis, "The Mikado-Institution and Person" (1915).