July 12.
Marquis Ito is nob to be envied his position as Resident-General ab Seoul, for of all people an intractable Emperor is the most difficult And when an Emperor combines intrigue with his obstinacy, he becomes a veritable white elephant, There can bs little doubt, despite his feigned innocence la the matter, that the Emperor of Korea was behind the deputation that suddenly appeared at The Hague and sought admission to the Conference, and the arrival of this i mission will have the effect of raising considera as to thegenuinenessofhis Majesty' denial that he had anything to do with the curious appeal, pub-Holbert campaign in the S ates, ed by Mr. Douglas ory, or Mr.
Emperor's conduct) may, nob inaptly, be compared to that of a naughty school boy, who is always up to some mischief, bud who promptly denies all knowl-dge of ib when taken to risk by his master. But though his word may be taken even inthe face of strong circumstantial evidence, once, or even twice, bonnd to come when apprarances are altogether too strong against him, and a denial onl; to enhance difficult to conceive how any self-respecting monarch can resor® to the ailly intrigues of which the Korean Emperor appears to have been gaily. The belief that any good could come from such a deputation as that which has proceeded to The Hague can only be char-cterised as childish. The Powers, by withdrawing their Leg tions from Seou!, have acquiesced in the terms of the Convention of Novimber 1905 under which Japan assumed contro! of Korea's external relations, and not only is ita prench of this Convention to abtemp> to obtain admission to the Hague Conference as an independent S: ate, but the belief thoo such an effort would be successful argues almost incredible self-delusion, Details of the mission to the Hague are still meagre, bud it ap-Beats to have been composed of the Cabinet until two years ago; Yi Shun, an ex-judge of the Korean Supreme Court; and Yi Icho, Into Korean Minister at St. Petersburg. It seems that Yi Shokwa left Korea on April 20, aod travelled to the Russian capital by the Siberian Railway. He badan audience the Emperor prior to his departure, and met Yi Icho at St. Petersburg. Thence they travelled together to The Hngue, The delegates appear to Save Keown that if their mission proved unsuccessful they woul! b+ repudiated by ths Emperor, When the door of the Conference was closed against them they'announced their intention of proceeding to America, where their presence and their grievances will doubtless furnish plenty of sensational copy for the columns of the Yellow Press for months to come. There are p rumours in Seoul that an Am agitator, whos to identify, ea having recently Ito Korea for Europe, after he had ceived from the Palace a sum of Yen 20,000 for that purpose. At present he i said to be in Paris, whence he is directing the operations at The Hague. It was rumoured ab the time be leto Seoul that he was charged with some political mission on the Emperor's Behalf but it is to be hoped, for his own credit, that he has nov been associated with such a useless effort.
The Emperor evidently is now thoroughly frightened at the results of his Intest intrigue. He is alleged to have suggested the arrest of the delegates; but his Ministers, realising the serious consequences of the mission, hive advised his Majeaty to proceed to Japan and personally to apologise to the Emperor of that country. Marquis Tro is not a statesman who acts rathly, and his ominous: bably caused the El guaime than any immediate action, may be more than a coincidence at an attempt was made on the lives of two members of the Korean Cabinet on the same day as the arrival of the deputation at the Hague. The Cabinet has denied all knowledge of the mission, and as the delegates lof Seoul long Shokwa, who was Seoretary of before it came into power, there is every reason to believe that it knew nothing about it. Ma Tto has now informed the Emperor that no more intrigues will be tolerated. and the most effectual means to prevent their repetition have been adopted—the control of the Emperors purse. A.later telegram in dicates that even more drastic measures are contemplated. No sympathy is felt for the Korean people, who undoubtedly resent the A anese Protectorate bub for its introduction their own Government is to blame. Korea has indirectly involved Japan in two wars, and how ever distasteful the Japanese Protectorate may be, ib cannot be en off by intrigues of a nature and Brood policy of the Court The Hague. Iv was the intrigue lar to that of the apa on to
that made it so vital fur Japan to obtain control of Koren's foreign relations, and it is not by intrigue.|that obe will be able be reopen them.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.