placed under Japanese inspectors where they were not themselves Japanese.  The various departments of affairs, agricultural, commercial, and industrial, were given Japanese directors and advisers, and the power of appointing all officials, save those of the highest rank, was finally in the hands of the Resident-General.  This limitation, again, was soon put on one side.  Thus, the Resident-General became dictator of Korea—­a dictator, however, who still conducted certain branches of local affairs there through native officials and who had to reckon with the intrigues of a Court party which he could not as yet sweep on one side.

To Japan, Korea was chiefly of importance as a strategic position for military operations on the continent of Asia and as a field for emigration.  The first steps under the new administration were in the direction of perfecting communications throughout the country, so as to enable the troops to be moved easily and rapidly from point to point.  A railway had already been built from Fusan to Seoul, and another was in course of completion from Seoul to Wi-ju, thus giving a trunk line that would carry large numbers of Japanese soldiers from Japan itself to the borders of Manchuria in about thirty-six hours.  A loan of 10,000,000 yen was raised on the guarantee of the Korean Customs, and a million and a half of this was spent on four main military roads, connecting some of the chief districts with the principal harbours and railway centres.  Part of the cost of these was paid by the loan and part by special local taxation.  It may be pointed out that these roads were military rather than industrial undertakings.  The usual methods of travel and for conveying goods in the interior of Korea was by horseback and with pack-ponies.  For these, the old narrow tracks served, generally speaking, very well.  The new roads were finely graded, and were built in such a manner that rails could be quickly laid down on them and artillery and ammunition wagons rapidly conveyed from point to point.  Another railway was built from Seoul to Gensan, on the east coast.

The old Korean “Burglar Capture Office,” the native equivalent to the Bow Street Runners, or the Mulberry Street detectives, was abolished, as were the local police, and police administration was more and more put in the hands of special constables brought over from Japan.  The Japanese military gendarmerie were gradually sent back and their places taken by civilian constables.  This change was wholly for the good.  The gendarmerie had earned a very bad reputation in country parts for harshness and arbitrary conduct.  The civilian police proved themselves far better men, more conciliatory, and more just.

One real improvement instituted by the Residency-General was the closer control of Japanese immigrants.  Numbers of the worst offenders were laid by the heels and sent back home.  The Residency officials were increased in numbers, and in some parts at least it became easier for a Korean to obtain a hearing when he had a complaint against a Japanese.  The Marquis Ito spoke constantly in favour of a policy of conciliation and friendship, and after a time he succeeded in winning over the cooeperation of some of the foreigners.