272 



COREA. 



in Seoul, and, during the summer, carried off 

 1,000 persons a day. The filthy water in the 

 choked drains, the uncleanly habits of the peo- 

 ple, their excess in eating food and in passions, 

 and their habitual use of green food, provided 

 the congenial soil for a pestilence that ceased 

 not until the advent of frost. This visitation 

 of cholera is but a repetition of the scourge 

 introduced from Japan. 



Education. Hitherto only a knowledge of 

 the Chinese classics, and the ability to read, 

 write, and reckon on the abacus, constituted 

 the education of a Corean gentleman. The 

 chief spur to knowledge was the hope of gov- 

 ernment employ, appointment to office being 

 made by competitive examination. The badge 

 of a graduate or scholar was a certain pecul- 

 iarity in the dress of the head and body. 

 Schools were private, or under temple patron- 

 age. Acting upon a proposition emanating 

 from the American legation, the Foreign Of- 

 fice made application to the State Department 

 in Washington for three teachers to establish 

 a school on Western principles in Seoul. Three 

 young men, D. A. Bunker, G. W. Gilmore, 

 and H. B. Hulbert, graduates respectively of 

 Oberlin, Princeton, and Dartmouth Colleges, 

 were selected by the Commissioner of Educa- 

 tion. Arriving in Seoul July 5, they were 

 given charge of thirty-five picked young men 

 of noble family, and on the 16th of September, 

 1886, the nucleus of the Royal College of 

 Corea, and of a national system of education 

 was begun. The students are supported by 

 the Government, and live in barracks adjoin- 

 ing the school, which is modeled on the Amer- 

 ican plan. Other foreigners, mostly mission- 

 aries, have also opened schools, in which for- 

 eign languages are taught. The course of 

 study in the Royal College embraces six years. 

 The probability of high rank and office is a 

 stimulus of great power to those matriculated. 

 In October a union Christian church was or- 

 ganized for foreigners resident in Seoul. 



Finances. The unfortunate political situa- 

 tion of Corea between two great rival nations 

 and her frequent wars with either country, have 

 frequently placed her in a position of financial 

 embarrassment. Her long seclusion and her 

 political system have tended to decentraliza- 

 tion and weakness. Both income and expendi- 

 ture are fixed within narrow limits. After 

 seasons of calamity five methods of obtaining 

 funds have been in vogue: (1) Reduction of the 

 army ; (2) reduction of salaries of officers ; (3) 

 the utilization of the reserve funds, consisting 

 of 3,050,000 bushels of rice and 100,000 pounds 

 troy of silver; (4) the coinage of copper 

 tokens; (5) the sale of official rank. After 

 the great Japanese invasion of 1592-'99, the 

 official salaries were reduced 66 per cent., and 

 the reserve fund was exhausted, so that the 

 other active means for replenishing the treas- 

 ury had to be put into effect. The French and 

 American hostilities in 1866 and 1871, and the 

 disturbances consequent upon foreign inter- 



course, have, during the present King's reign, 

 almost reduced the treasury to emptiness. The 

 sale of official positions and new levies of taxes 

 have failed to bring relief, and a reform in ad- 

 ministration is imperative. A national debt 

 has been created, and $1,000,000 is now owing 

 to Japanese, Chinese, and German bankers. 

 At present the customs service is one of heavy 

 expense; the profits, when in hand, are, by 

 treaty made with the Japanese, to be devoted to 

 the erection of lighthouses at important points. 



Gold-Mining. Gold in quartz is found in many 

 places, but in Ham-kiung it is alluvial. In the 

 former case the rock is crushed with hammers, 

 and the dust washed. In the placers, a shallow 

 wooden bowl holding two shovelfuls of earth 

 is set under a running stream, and kept in agi- 

 tation, only the coarser gold being saved. Na- 

 tive methods are exceedingly wasteful, no ma- 

 chinery being used ; 25,000 men were engaged 

 in the washings during 1886. The number of 

 permits issued by the Government varies ac- 

 cording to the harvests. When crops are good, 

 the number is curtailed. The bullion and dust 

 are exported to Seoul, China, Siberia, and Japan. 

 Nine tenths of the gold coins struck at the 

 Osaka mint are of Corean metal. In 1883 the 

 export of gold from Wen-san, noted at the 

 custom-house (reckoned at $20 per tael or 1 

 ounce) was $28,920; in 1884, $110,265; in 

 1885, $375,148; in 1886, to June, $155,110; 

 and, in July, one Japanese steamer took away 

 $42,000. Mr. George C. Foulk, in his report to 

 the State Department, dated March 20, 1886, 

 that the miners pay as royalty to the Govern- 

 ment and magistrates 50,400 pounds of gold 

 annually ; that from 1881 to 1884, 6,540 pounds 

 of gold, valued at $1,885,033, and 18,680 pounds 

 of silver, worth $387,780, were exported by 

 sea; that 82 mines of gold. 4 of silver, 17 of 

 copper, 40 of iron, 9 of coal, 7 of lead, and 13 

 of precious stones, are known and worked. 

 Mr. Ito states that the exports of crude gold, 

 from 1881 to 1884, amounted to $3,785,033,- 

 191, and of silver $387,769,444, an average ot 

 about $1,200,000 of metal per annum. In the 

 overland trade with Russia and China gold is 

 exported, and a heavy outlay of silver 1,000 

 pounds for each ambassador is required for 

 the embassy sent to Pekin annually. 



Trade. At Chimulpo, in 1885, trade aggre- 

 gated $1,159,322, an increase of 98 per cent, 

 over the $585,960 of 1884. Of exports, the 

 staple is hide and of imports cotton, the to- 

 tal figures of export for 1884 being $60,951, 

 and for 1885, $132,583, and of imports $546,- 

 258 and $180,442. At Gensan, the trade in 

 1885 was $564,052, as against $306, 132 in 1884. 

 Of the $53,835 worth of exports, cow-hides 

 figure at $50,000. The difficulty of transport 

 ($3.50 on a ton of goods from Seoul to Chi- 

 mulpo, a distance of twenty-five miles), the 

 lack of good roads, the meanness of the small 

 copper currency, and the general apathy of 

 the people, make the development of trade, 

 while hopeful, slow and uncertain. 



