And

is not of itself a political one. It is a purely commercial question, in which each and every Power is anxious to be enabled to compete with the best chance of success. thus it is we see the different Powers each striving with others in its effort to obtain concessions for the development of districts, in order that the trade in those districts when developed may come its way.

Manchuria, the most important of China's dependencies, is about three times as large as Great Britain. It is for the most part thinly populated, and so far has remained practically undeveloped. Manchuria is a mountainous country, except along the western border, where it impinges on the plains of Mongolia. It is watered by several fine rivers, mostly tributaries of the Amur, and occupies an important situation politically, owing to its being the frontier province of China on the Russian border.

Adjoining Manchuria to the southward, is the peninsula of Chosön or Korea, a country comprising an area of 82,000 square miles, and containing a population of ten and a-half million people. Korea lies between the Yellow Sea and that of Japan, and, despite its exposed position, has come less into contact with other nations than any other country in the world. Situated midway between the empires of China and Japan, Korea has for centuries been a cause of jealousy and ambition to both. On the whole, however, Japanese influence has triumphed, and the future of the country, in regard to its Eastern neighbour, supplies one of the most crucial points in the question of the Far East.

Korea is remarkable for the length of its coast line, which is out of all proportion to its area. Its total length is 1,740 miles, and its shores are largely indented with bays and harbours, affording great possibilities for naval and commercial purposes. Surrounded by the sea on three sides, its only land frontier is that supplied by the Tuman and Yalu rivers, which flowing north-east and south west, delimitate Korean territory from that of Russia and Manchuria.

The Korean people are of the Mongolian type. They

THE PEOPLE OF KOREA

7

are mostly agriculturists, but their characteristics are uninviting, and they have the reputation of being indolent and corrupt. While boasting a civilisation of their own, they are far behind the Chinese in intelligence. They are, moreover, extremely exclusive, and have carried their dislike of foreign intercourse even further than their neighbours. For several centuries a belt of land some fifty miles wide was set apart along the Manchurian frontier as a neutral zone separating the two countries. Any person crossing this belt, in either direction, was accorded the penalty of death. Of late years this observance has fallen into desuetude, and the neutral zone is now in course of being settled on along both frontiers.

Of the many islands which dot the coast line of Korea, only four call for remark. Quelpart, the largest, some 45 by 18 miles, lies 60 miles south of the mainland in the Yellow Sea. Port Hamilton, a much smaller island, once occupied by Great Britain, is placed between Quelpart and the coast. Tsushima, comprising two islands, some 30 miles south of Fusan, at one time belonged to Korea, but was ceded to Japan in 1615 and remains her nearest outpost to the mainland of Asia. Close to Fusan is the island of Koje, which offers exceptional opportunities for the construction of a harbour and naval base. The harbours and inlets on the west coast are frozen in the winter, but those on the east remain open all the year round.

The government of Korea is formed on the Chinese model, and is carried on through ministers responsible to the emperor, The Korean social system is one of caste. The population may be divided into two classes: the lower, who mostly work in the fields, and are poor, dirty, and shiftless; and the officials, who are secretive and corrupt. For administrative purposes the country is divided into thirteen provinces. Seoul has a population of 240,000. The industry is mainly agricultural, and large quantities of cereals are produced. There are considerable mineral deposits which are not developed, and

the chief industries are the production of silk and bamboo products.

To the south and east of Korea is the Archipelago of Japan. The islands number upwards of a thousand, many of them being very small. The chief are Hondo, Shikoku, Kyushiu, and Yezo. In addition to these and their many satellites, Japan owns the island of Formosa and the islets forming the Pescadores and Kurile groups. The total area of Japan, including the last named, is 158,245 square miles, and the population about 45 millions.

The various islands constituting the empire are as follows:

The most marked physical characteristic of Japan is the number of indentations along the coast line of the various islands, which form admirable harbours. The interior is in most cases mountainous and subject to frequent volcanic disturbances. The plains are mostly fertile and highly cultivated, the principal occupation of the people being agriculture. Silk, sugar and tea are produced in quantities. The rice harvest supplies the bulk of the food of the masses.

Japan possesses extensive mineral deposits which have recently been developed. Silver, coal and iron abound, and gold, copper and lead are also worked.

The Japanese, who are supposed to be of mixed Korean and Malayan descent, are as a race small but highly intelligent. They possess many excellent attributes. The great majority are law abiding, industrious and frugal, and possess a keen sense of honour and a patriotic spirit,

THE PROGRESS OF JAPAN

9

They are ardent admirers of European civilisation, which they miss no opportunity of studying and following, and seem bent on persevering in self teaching until they equal those countries which have served as their example.

The remarkable strides in progress made by the Japanese during the past fifty years has placed the country in a pre-eminent position in the Far East. Not only has Japan emerged from her exclusiveness into a career of phenomenal activity, but by dint of her intelligence and her patriotism, she has become a power fitted to hold her own in the comity of nations. Her government has been built up in imitation of that of Germany. An hereditary monarchy, with a cabinet of ministers who attend to the administration, a privy council and an imperial diet of two chambers, provide the necessities for a liberal and prosperous government. The laws of Japan, both civil and eriminal, have been drafted on the model of our

own.

The building up of modern Japan has had a marked influence on the politics of the far East. The strides made by the people of Nippon have not only heralded their intention of becoming a first-class power, but have served to sound a note of warning to the ambitions of Russia. Although the fact does not appear to have attracted notice, there can be little question but that Russia's descent on Manchuria, which in itself is a movement preparatory to the acquisition of the coast lines of Korea and Northern China, has been greatly accelerated by the rapidity with which Japan has consolidated her position, and provided herself with the means of asserting her interests on the Pacific.

Differing from the countries above described in that they are not indigenous kingdoms of the Far East, but outlying bulwarks of Western empires, are the Asiatic possessions of France and Russia, which have come to play an important rôle in the destinies of the Pacific.

French Indo-China, a conglomeration of provinces absorbed during the past forty years, comprises the kingdoms of Annam, Cambodia, Cochin China and Tonkin,

with a total area of 315,250 square miles and a population of about eighteen millions. The details of these provinces are as follows:

These countries, at one time tributaries of China, have come under French rule by right of conquest and annexation. Their climate is tropical and unhealthy to most Europeans. The attempts made to develop their resources by the French have only been partially successful, and as colonies they may be said to have failed. Several large rivers irrigate the plains of Indo-China, and these supply, as in China, practically the only means of communications. The products are such as usually emanate from tropical countries. Rice, maize, and other cereals are plentiful. Spices and medicinal plants flourish. Silk, sugar, cotton, and tobacco are produced. The importance of Indo-China in the Far Eastern problem is entirely due to political causes. While financially unsound and unlikely to bring either increased prosperity or reputation to its owners, the colonies on the China Sea afford a footing from which France can prosecute her aims in Asia. Without possession of the coast line of Cochin China, it would be difficult for her to pose as a naval power in Asiatic waters, and with it she is in a position to make her voice heard in any question which may arise respecting Far Eastern affairs.

Russian influence on the Pacific dates from 1858, when, by the Treaty of Aigun, the Amur Province was made over by China to Alexander II. Since then Russia has considerably improved the occasion. In 1860 she obtained the maritime province of Manchuria with the fine harbour of Vladivostok, and in 1897 she added the southern extremity of the Liaotung Peninsula with Port