Whether we are reasonable in this may be seen from the following consideration. It is affirmed by the defenders of Japan’s policy in Korea that as soon as the war is over and things quiet down these acknowledged difficulties will be overcome and the common people of Korea will be protected in their rights. This sounds reasonable, but does not every undesirable Japanese who comes here before that time make that solution more difficult? What, for instance of all the Koreans who have been forced to sell their property for a mere fraction of its value? Will the justice which Japan’s advocates foresee be retroactive, and will those acts of injustice be rectified? The Korean government guaranteed to secure the land for the building of the great railway through the peninsula. Was it not the duty of the Japanese to see to it that this land was paid for by the Korean government before it was seized, or at least should not each Korean whose land was appropriated have received an official paper signifying the amount of land he surrendered, such paper constituting a claim on the government for payment at some future time? Unless something like this was done it is hard to see how any future action of the Japanese could right the manifest wrong. The evidence has been lost. It seems to be an object of general surprise that Japan should estimate at such a small value the good will of the Korean people. It was not to be expected that the government could look with satisfaction upon a Japanese occupation, but at first the people were enthusiastic over it and hailed it as a sign that all abuses were to be done away. We confess to utter inability to understand how or why Japan should have sacrificed this heavy asset of good will. It is the province of diplomacy and statesmanship to make use of all such moral factors to the fullest extent. We hear on all sides the statement that the Koreans have brought the present state of things upon themselves, but what we would like to know is the reason why Japan has not only failed to carry out needed reforms but has rendered future work in this time almost impossible by allowing an army of adventurers to come in and exasperate the people. We can see only two possible answers, either the Japanese government has concluded that reforms will not pay or else they are not fully aware of the actual conditions that prevail in Korea.