All during the latter half of 1896 the gulf between the Independence party and the conservatives kept widening. The latter grew more and more confident and the former more and more determined. Dr. Jaisohn in his capacity of adviser to the Council of State was blunt and outspoken in his advice to His Majesty and it was apparent that the latter listened with growing impatience to suggestions which, however excellent in themselves, found no response in his own inclinations. The Minister of Education voiced the growing sentiment of the retrogressive faction in a book called “The Warp and Woof of Confucianism” in which such extreme statements were made that several of the Foreign Representatives felt obliged to interfere and call him to account. A Chief of Police was appointed who was violently anti-reform. The assassin of Kim Ok-kyun was given an important position under the government. A man who had attempted the life of Pak Yong-hyo was made Minister of Law, and on all sides were heard contemptuous comments upon the “reform nonsense” of the liberal faction. And yet in spite of this the momentum of the reform movement though somewhat retarded had by no means been completely stopped. The Summer and Autumn of this year 1896 saw the promulgation of a large number of edicts of a salutary nature, relating to the more systematic collection of the national revenues, the reorganization of gubernatorial and prefectural systems, the definition of the powers and privileges of provincial officials, the further regulation of the postal system, the definition of the powers of the superintendents of trade in the open ports, the abolition of illegal taxation and the establishment of courts of law in the various provinces and in the open ports. As many of these reforms survived the collapse of the liberal party they must be set down as definite results which justify the existence of that party and make its overthrow a matter of keen regret to those who have at heart the best interests of the country. All this time Russian interests had been cared for sedulously. The king remained in close touch with the Legation and Col. Potiata and three other Russian officers were put in charge of the Palace Guard, while Kim Hong-nyuk, the erstwhile water-carrier, continued to absorb the good things in the gift of His Majesty. And yet the Russians with all their power did not attempt to obstruct the plans of the subjects of other Powers in Korea. Mr. Stripling, a British subject, was made adviser to the Police Department, a mining concession was granted to a German syndicate; an American was put in charge of a Normal School, Dr. Brown continued to direct the work of the Finance Department and the work on the Seoul Chemulpo Railway was pushed vigorously by an American syndicate. The Russians held in their hands the power to put a stop to much of this, but they appeared to be satisfied with holding the power without exercising it. Chapter XXIII.