February 16, 1919

“The beautiful, the halcyon days of Aranjuez are over,” as the poet sang. A delegate has arrived from what was once known as the Land of the Morning Calm, and so this Naboth’s vineyard of the East Asian coast must be classed with the other troubled zones which present so many apparently insoluble problems. In any event it is no longer one of the few sections of the globe to which I can lead my Colonel without the least danger of becoming involved in the labyrinthine discussions of the Conference. The delegate is a Mr. Kim, an authentic Korean if there ever was one. He does not have a topknot or wear a rat-trap hat, but he can quote pages of that wonderful idyl of his native land, the “Perfume of Spring.” Indeed, he knows the author of this charming song of youth.

These credentials suffice for me, but as a matter of protocol neither Mr. Kim nor his distressful country have any standing at the Great Assizes, nor will they have a look in at the Conference. The subjugation of his people and the annexation of his land by predatory Japan was formally, indeed it seemed to me at the time cheerfully, recognized by President Theodore Roosevelt and later reaffirmed by President Taft. Indeed, the last-mentioned chief magistrate of the “land of the free and the home of the brave” announced to Washington and to the world that the Tokyo government was in complete control of Korean affairs both in the foreign and the domestic field.

These eminent gentlemen, whose power in the Far East was only exceeded by their ignorance of the situation, “disremembered” a treaty of alliance, defensive and even offensive, which was negotiated with the Seoul government forty-five years ago by one of our roving sailor diplomats. It bound Washington to defend these unfortunate people against all intruders, whatever might be the purpose with which they came. Doubtless this formal instrument was placed in the “dead” files, but even before the encroachments came from benevolent China and later ruthless aggression from predatory Japan, it was regarded by the Koreans (it being among other things the first treaty they had ever negotiated with the Western World) as the charter of their liberties and the bulwark of their independence.

From this instrument, certainly lost sight of in Washington, flowed very distinct personal advantages to a group of Americans with whom I had close contacts during my stay at the Seoul Legation in the fall months of 1895.

It seems to me quite natural, and Mr. Kim assures me such is the case, that the people of Korea should regard the assembly of this Parliament of Man, and the convening of this High Court of world justice, as a heaven-sent opportunity (since Washington had always turned a deaf ear to their pleas) to make known their wrongs to the world and to seek redress. Leaving out of consideration the treaty of reassurance and of benevolent guardianship which our government has long regarded as outmoded—as not even worth denouncing —there is another treaty and other engagements of quite recent date which it should not be so easy to ignore, especially at a gathering where treaty-breakers are to be pilloried and it is hoped punished.

In view of the fact that the war which has cost the world ten million of its best and bravest was fought to maintain the sanctity of treaties and to bring to a strict accounting those who failed to live up to their engagements, yet Japan, the great law- and treaty-breaker in the Far East, sits in the Council of the Great Powers and is not even to be interrogated as to her recent conduct.

Of course Korea is far away and few here know the facts of her situation. Still fewer have any comprehension of them, and yet as a matter of fact it is all very simple. In declaring war on Russia in 1904 Japan proclaimed to the world that she did so to defend and preserve the integrity and the independence of Korea whence came in a large measure her culture, now threatened by the advance of the Russian Colossus to the shores of the Pacific. And after the war she reaffirmed her noble intention. When the treaty of peace was, at the instigation of President Roosevelt, signed and sealed at Portsmouth, one of its redeeming features was that once again Japan agreed to guarantee and to defend the independence of Korea. But see what happened a scant six years later! When the treaty made on American soil with its commitments approved and many think inspired by the American President was thrown into the wastepaper basket by the men of Tokyo, nothing came from Washington, not even a word of remonstrance.

When what they regarded as their opportunity came and the Great Assizes was summoned to meet in Paris, the Koreans bestirred themselves and several delegations at least started for Europe to explain their plight and ask for a fair deal. Of course passports and visas to leave the country were refused by the Japanese overlords, and when mass meetings were held to protest in Seoul and other cities, the unfortunate “agitators” were machine-gunned by the army of occupation to the number of many thousands. It was under these circumstances that the official delegations were prevented from leaving their former kingdom. The result is that the delegation that has arrived, and two others that are on the way, have but very informal accrediting documents and international lawyers are in agreement that they are “stateless men.” They, however, represent the two or three million Koreans who have escaped from their oppressed country and found safety and work in China or Eastern Siberia where they cannot be reached by the Japanese police. Mr. Kim represents the refugees in China, while my old friend General Pak, who was my guide and interpreter during my stay in Seoul, represents his countrymen living in Eastern Siberia. Mr. Kim tells me that for lack of funds poor Pak is walking along the rails of the Trans-Siberian and when last heard from was bogged down somewhere near Lake Baikal. Kim, too, is practically without funds, but he faces this unpleasant situation with great dignity.

Later. I have done what I could for Kim. Unfortunately it is very little. It is decided that the Korean case will not even be submitted to our High Court. Despite the fact, the undoubted fact, that the Imperial Japanese minister, General Miura, instigated the murder of the Min Queen (during my sojourn in Korea), and the undeniable fact that his clerks in October, 1895, led the assassins who cut her to pieces, many think that I take a too extreme view of the situation and certainly an impractical one. She was a gallant little woman who would not be bullied or even browbeaten, and so the Japanese murdered her. She may not have been the only “man” in Korea, as many disgusted foreigners at the time asserted, but she was an outstanding one and put to shame the chicken-hearted king, her husband.

Yesterday it was my unpleasant duty to tell Kim, as instructed, that the Korean problem did not come within the purview of the Conference, that its jurisdiction was not worldwide as some had believed. My Colonel is sympathetic with my point of view, but he says we must be practical—that if we attempt too much we may fail to accomplish anything. One word of comfort he offered and gave permission to pass on to Kim. If we deal out justice in Europe and punish the criminals here it may prove a leaven of righteousness in other fields. Perhaps later the League will be able to curb Japan when it has less pressing matters nearer at hand to deal with. I hope so, but it was hard to have to tell Kim that there was not even a forlorn hope that he would have his day in court, that Japan, if not a Great Power, is certainly a strong one. He took it very well and seems confident that later, on some not-too-distant day, the League will at least listen to the grievances of his unfortunate people.

In some respects I fear the New Order is very like the Old. I recall (it is not a comforting memory) what the Russian Ambassador Count Benkersdorff told me of his last talk with that good man and outstanding liberal, Sir Edward Grey, at a critical moment in the affairs of the world at which unfortunately this well-meaning man took the wrong turn. Ignoring the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy formally annexed (1908) the Slav provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina of which she had accepted the trusteeship twenty-five years before.

“What are we going to do about it?” inquired the Russian Ambassador. Grey hemmed and hawed and then said, “My dear Count, I agree with you wholeheartedly. It is an outrageous breach of faith. But Britain will do nothing about it. Those provinces you have just mentioned are too far away. They do not form a part of our life. Many of our people have never heard of them and few know where they are.”

That was quite true, but in those provinces which nobody knew, as a result of thwarted racial aspirations, an explosion occurred, the heir to the treaty-breaking empire was murdered, and a million men of Britain and her dominions died in the terrible war that followed. Korea is far away too, many times farther than was Bosnia, but in it live some twenty million people who are being oppressed and whose enslavement, ten times more severe than anything the South Slavs suffered, may result in another explosion, another World War.