The effect of this agreement has been to place the resources of Korea at the disposal of Japan in the present war. The victorious army which forced the passage of the Yalu so brilliantly on May 1st was landed at Korean ports, concentrated on Korean soil, and supplied from Korean harbors. In the political sphere Korea has denounced, as having been made under compulsion, all her treaties with Russia and all concessions granted to Russian subjects. On the other hand, Russia has declared that she will regard as null and void all the acts of the Korean Government while under Japanese tutelage, and her newspapers loudly proclaim that, if our (English) neutrality were genuine, we should raise objections against the Protocol, as being inconsistent with the Treaty of 1902, whereby we, in conjunction with Japan, mutually recognize the independence of Korea. In reality there is no inconsistency, because, as we have just seen, it is clear from the first Article of the Treaty that the independence is not an ordinary independence, but a diplomatic variety which was perfectly consistent with recurring interventions to ward off foreign aggression and put down domestic revolt. In other words, it was a dependent independence, or no independence at all, and such it remains under the agreement of February, 1904. That instrument undoubtedly establishes a Japanese Protectorate over Korea, and the beauty of Protectorates is their indefiniteness. As Professor Nye, the great Belgian jurist, says in his recently published work on _Le Droit International_: “Le terme ‘protectorat,’ désigne la situation créée par le traité de protection.... Le protectorat a plus ou moins de développement; rien n’est fixé dans la théorie; il est cependant un trait caracteristique commun aux Etats protégés c’est qu’ils ne sont pas entièrement indépendants dans leurs relations avec les autres Etats.” These words exactly fit the condition of Korea under its recent agreement with Japan. Indeed, the description might be extended to its internal affairs also. Susceptibilities are soothed, and possibly diplomatic difficulties are turned, by calling it independent; but in reality it is as much under Japanese protection as Egypt is under ours; all state-paper description to the contrary notwithstanding. The new Treaty of August 22, 1904, shows that this is fully understood at Tokyo. A financial adviser and a diplomatic adviser are to be appointed by the Korean Government on the recommendation of Japan, and nothing important is to be done in their departments without their advice. No treaties with Foreign Powers are to be concluded, and no concessions to foreigners granted, without previous consultation with the Japanese Government.