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Fluent Python
SECOND EDITION

Clear, Concise, and

Effective Programming

Luciano Ramalho
Fluent Python
by Luciano Ramalho
Copyright © 2022 Luciano Ramalho. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North,
Sebastopol, CA 95472.
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April 2022: Second Edition

Revision History for the Second Edition
2022-03-31: First Release

See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781492056355 for

release details.
The O’Reilly logo is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Fluent Python, the cover image, and related trade dress are
trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.
The views expressed in this work are those of the author and do not
represent the publisher’s views. While the publisher and the author
have used good faith efforts to ensure that the information and
instructions contained in this work are accurate, the publisher and
the author disclaim all responsibility for errors or omissions,
including without limitation responsibility for damages resulting from
the use of or reliance on this work. Use of the information and
instructions contained in this work is at your own risk. If any code
samples or other technology this work contains or describes is
subject to open source licenses or the intellectual property rights of
others, it is your responsibility to ensure that your use thereof
complies with such licenses and/or rights.
978-1-492-05635-5
[LSI]
Dedication
Para Marta, com todo o meu amor.
Preface

Here’s the plan: when someone uses a feature you don’t

understand, simply shoot them. This is easier than learning
something new, and before too long the only living coders will be
writing in an easily understood, tiny subset of Python 0.9.6
<wink>.1
—Tim Peters, legendary core developer and author of
The Zen of Python
“Python is an easy to learn, powerful programming language.” Those
are the first words of the official Python 3.10 tutorial. That is true,
but there is a catch: because the language is easy to learn and put
to use, many practicing Python programmers leverage only a fraction
of its powerful features.
An experienced programmer may start writing useful Python code in
a matter of hours. As the first productive hours become weeks and
months, a lot of developers go on writing Python code with a very
strong accent carried from languages learned before. Even if Python
is your first language, often in academia and in introductory books it
is presented while carefully avoiding language-specific features.
As a teacher introducing Python to programmers experienced in
other languages, I see another problem that this book tries to
address: we only miss stuff we know about. Coming from another
language, anyone may guess that Python supports regular
expressions, and look that up in the docs. But if you’ve never seen
tuple unpacking or descriptors before, you will probably not search
for them, and you may end up not using those features just because
they are specific to Python.
This book is not an A-to-Z exhaustive reference of Python. Its
emphasis is on the language features that are either unique to
Python or not found in many other popular languages. This is also
mostly a book about the core language and some of its libraries. I
will rarely talk about packages that are not in the standard library,
even though the Python package index now lists more than 60,000
libraries, and many of them are incredibly useful.
Who This Book Is For
This book was written for practicing Python programmers who want
to become proficient in Python 3. I tested the examples in Python
3.10—most of them also in Python 3.9 and 3.8. When an example
requires Python 3.10, it should be clearly marked.
If you are not sure whether you know enough Python to follow
along, review the topics of the official Python tutorial. Topics covered
in the tutorial will not be explained here, except for some features
that are new.
Who This Book Is Not For
If you are just learning Python, this book is going to be hard to
follow. Not only that, if you read it too early in your Python journey,
it may give you the impression that every Python script should
leverage special methods and metaprogramming tricks. Premature
abstraction is as bad as premature optimization.

Five Books in One

I recommend that everyone read Chapter 1, “The Python Data
Model”. The core audience for this book should not have trouble
jumping directly to any part in this book after Chapter 1, but often I
assume you’ve read preceding chapters in each specific part. Think
of Parts I through V as books within the book.
I tried to emphasize using what is available before discussing how to
build your own. For example, in Part I, Chapter 2 covers sequence
types that are ready to use, including some that don’t get a lot of
attention, like collections.deque. Building user-defined
sequences is only addressed in Part III, where we also see how to
leverage the abstract base classes (ABCs) from collections.abc.
Creating your own ABCs is discussed even later in Part III, because I
believe it’s important to be comfortable using an ABC before writing
your own.
This approach has a few advantages. First, knowing what is ready to
use can save you from reinventing the wheel. We use existing
collection classes more often than we implement our own, and we
can give more attention to the advanced usage of available tools by
deferring the discussion on how to create new ones. We are also
more likely to inherit from existing ABCs than to create a new ABC
from scratch. And finally, I believe it is easier to understand the
abstractions after you’ve seen them in action.
The downside of this strategy is the forward references scattered
throughout the chapters. I hope these will be easier to tolerate now
that you know why I chose this path.
How the Book Is Organized
Here are the main topics in each part of the book:
Part I, “Data Structures”
Chapter 1 introduces the Python Data Model and explains why
the special methods (e.g., __repr__) are the key to the
consistent behavior of objects of all types. Special methods are
covered in more detail throughout the book. The remaining
chapters in this part cover the use of collection types: sequences,
mappings, and sets, as well as the str versus bytes split—the
cause of much celebration among Python 3 users and much pain
for Python 2 users migrating their codebases. Also covered are
the high-level class builders in the standard library: named tuple
factories and the @dataclass decorator. Pattern matching—new
in Python 3.10—is covered in sections in Chapters 2, 3, and 5,
which discuss sequence patterns, mapping patterns, and class
patterns. The last chapter in Part I is about the life cycle of
objects: references, mutability, and garbage collection.

Part II, “Functions as Objects”

Here we talk about functions as first-class objects in the
language: what that means, how it affects some popular design
patterns, and how to implement function decorators by
leveraging closures. Also covered here is the general concept of
callables in Python, function attributes, introspection, parameter
annotations, and the new nonlocal declaration in Python 3.
Chapter 8 introduces the major new topic of type hints in
function signatures.

Part III, “Classes and Protocols”

Now the focus is on building classes “by hand”—as opposed to
using the class builders covered in Chapter 5. Like any Object-
 Oriented (OO) language, Python has its particular set of features
that may or may not be present in the language in which you and
I learned class-based programming. The chapters explain how to
build your own collections, abstract base classes (ABCs), and
protocols, as well as how to cope with multiple inheritance, and
how to implement operator overloading—when that makes
sense. Chapter 15 continues the coverage of type hints.

Part IV, “Control Flow”

Covered in this part are the language constructs and libraries that
go beyond traditional control flow with conditionals, loops, and
subroutines. We start with generators, then visit context
managers and coroutines, including the challenging but powerful
new yield from syntax. Chapter 18 includes a significant
example using pattern matching in a simple but functional
language interpreter. Chapter 19, “Concurrency Models in
Python” is a new chapter presenting an overview of alternatives
for concurrent and parallel processing in Python, their limitations,
and how software architecture allows Python to operate at web
scale. I rewrote the chapter about asynchronous programming to
emphasize core language features—e.g., await, async dev,
async for, and async with, and show how they are used
with asyncio and other frameworks.

Part V, “Metaprogramming”
This part starts with a review of techniques for building classes
with attributes created dynamically to handle semi-structured
data, such as JSON datasets. Next, we cover the familiar
properties mechanism, before diving into how object attribute
access works at a lower level in Python using descriptors. The
relationship among functions, methods, and descriptors is
explained. Throughout Part V, the step-by-step implementation of
a field validation library uncovers subtle issues that lead to the
 advanced tools of the final chapter: class decorators and
metaclasses.

Hands-On Approach
Often we’ll use the interactive Python console to explore the
language and libraries. I feel it is important to emphasize the power
of this learning tool, particularly for those readers who’ve had more
experience with static, compiled languages that don’t provide a
read-eval-print loop (REPL).
One of the standard Python testing packages, doctest, works by
simulating console sessions and verifying that the expressions
evaluate to the responses shown. I used doctest to check most of
the code in this book, including the console listings. You don’t need
to use or even know about doctest to follow along: the key feature
of doctests is that they look like transcripts of interactive Python
console sessions, so you can easily try out the demonstrations
yourself.
Sometimes I will explain what we want to accomplish by showing a
doctest before the code that makes it pass. Firmly establishing what
is to be done before thinking about how to do it helps focus our
coding effort. Writing tests first is the basis of test-driven
development (TDD), and I’ve also found it helpful when teaching. If
you are unfamiliar with doctest, take a look at its documentation
and this book’s example code repository.
I also wrote unit tests for some of the larger examples using pytest
—which I find easier to use and more powerful than the unittest
module in the standard library. You’ll find that you can verify the
correctness of most of the code in the book by typing python3 -m
doctest example_script.py or pytest in the command shell
of your OS. The pytest.ini configuration at the root of the example
code repository ensures that doctests are collected and executed by
the pytest command.

Soapbox: My Personal Perspective

I have been using, teaching, and debating Python since 1998, and I
enjoy studying and comparing programming languages, their design,
and the theory behind them. At the end of some chapters, I have
added “Soapbox” sidebars with my own perspective about Python
and other languages. Feel free to skip these if you are not into such
discussions. Their content is completely optional.

Companion Website: fluentpython.com

Covering new features—like type hints, data classes, and pattern
matching—made this second edition almost 30% larger than the
first. To keep the book luggable, I moved some content to
fluentpython.com. You will find links to articles I published there in
several chapters. Some sample chapters are also in the companion
website. The full text is available online at the O’Reilly Learning
subscription service. The example code repository is on GitHub.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
Italic
Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file
extensions.

Constant width
Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to
program elements such as variable or function names, databases,
 data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords.
Note that when a line break falls within a constant_width
term, a hyphen is not added—it could be misunderstood as part
of the term.

Constant width bold

Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by
the user.

Constant width italic

Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or
by values determined by context.

TIP
This element signifies a tip or suggestion.

NOTE
This element signifies a general note.

WARNING
This element indicates a warning or caution.

Using Code Examples

Every script and most code snippets that appear in the book are
available in the Fluent Python code repository on GitHub at
https://fpy.li/code.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 CARRYING PRODUCE TO MARKET

The Koreans hold rice, their chief cereal, in peculiar honour. They
state that it originated in Ha-ram, in China, at a period now involved
in much fable and mystery—2838 b.c. to 2698 b.c. The name, Syang-
nong-si, itself means Marvellous Agriculture. The name was
doubtless given at a later time. The first rice was brought to Korea
by Ki-ja in 1122 b.c. together with barley and other cereals. Before
that time the only grain raised in Korea was millet. There are three
kinds of rice in Korea, with a variety of sub-species. First, that which
is grown in the ordinary paddy-fields. This is called specifically tap-
kok, or paddy-field rice. It is used almost exclusively to make pap,
the ordinary boiled rice. Then we have chun-kok or field-rice. This is
so-called upland rice. It is drier than the paddy-field rice, and is used
largely in making rice flour and in brewing beer. The third kind is
grown exclusively on the slopes of mountains, and is a wild rice. It is
smaller and harder than the other kinds; for this reason it is used to
provision garrisons. It will withstand the weather. Under favourable
circumstances, lowland rice will keep five years, but the mountain
rice will remain perfectly sound for quite ten years.
Next in importance to rice come the different kinds of pulse, under
which heading is included all the leguminous plants, the bean and
the pea family. That Korea is well provided with this valuable and
nutritious form of food will be seen from the fact that there are
thirteen species of round beans, two kinds of long bean, and five
varieties of mixed bean. Of all these numerous assortments, the
“horse-bean” is by far the most common. It is the bean which forms
such a large part of the exports of Korea. It is supposed by Koreans
to have originated in North-Western China, and derives its name
from the fact that it is used very largely for fodder. One variety only
may be regarded as indigenous—the black-bean—and it is found
nowhere else in Eastern Asia. Of the rest, the origin is doubtful. The
horse-bean grows in greatest abundance in Kyöng-syang Province
and on the island of Quelpart, though of course it is common all over
the country. The black-bean flourishes best in Chyöl-la Province. The
green-bean, oil-bean, and white-cap bean flourish in Kyöng-keui
Province. The yellow bean is found in Hwang-hai Province; the South
River bean appears in Chyung-chyöng Province; the grandfather-
bean (so called because of its wrinkles) grows anywhere, but not in
large quantities. The brown-bean and chestnut-bean come from
Kang-won Province.
It would be difficult to over-estimate the importance of these
different species of pulse to the Korean. They furnish the oily and
nitrogenous elements which are lacking in rice. As a diet they are
strengthening, the nutritious properties of the soil imparting a tone
to the system. Preparations of beans are as numerous as the dishes
made from flour; it is impossible to enumerate them. Upon an
average, the Koreans eat about one-sixth as much pulse as rice. The
price of beans is one-half that of rice; the price of either article is
liable to variations. There are varieties which cost nearly as much as
rice.
The common name for barley is po-ri; in poetical parlance the
Koreans call barley The Fifth Moon of Autumn, because it is then
that it is harvested. The value of barley to the Korean arises from
the fact that it is the first grain to germinate in the spring. It carries
the people on until the millet and rice crops are ready. Barley and
wheat are extensively raised throughout Korea for the purpose of
making wine and beer. In other ways, however, they may be
considered almost as important as the different kinds of pulse. The
uses of barley are very numerous. Besides being used directly as
farinaceous food it becomes malt, medicine, candy, syrup, and
furnishes a number of side-dishes. Wheat comes mostly from Pyöng-
an Province, only small crops of it appearing in the other Provinces.
Barley yields spring and autumn crops, but wheat yields only the
winter crop. The poor accept wheat as a substitute for rice, and
brew a gruel from it. It is used as a paste; it figures in the native
pharmacopœia, and in the sacrifices with which the summer solstice
is celebrated.
Oats, millet, and sorghum are other important cereals in Korea.
There are six varieties of millet; the price of the finer qualities is the
same as that obtained for rice. One only of these six varieties was
found originally in the country. Sorghum is grown principally in
Kyöng-syang Province. It grows freely, however, in the south; but is
less used than wheat, millet, or oats in Korea. A curious distinction
exists between the sorghum imported from China and the native
grain. In China, sorghum is used in making sugar; when this sugar-
producing grain arrives in Korea it is found impossible to extract the
sugar. Two of the three kinds of sorghum in Korea are native, the
third coming from Central China. Oats become a staple food in the
more mountainous regions, where rice is never seen; it is dressed
like rice. From the stalk the Koreans make a famous paper, which is
used in the Palaces of the Emperor. It is cultivated in Kang-won,
Ham-kyöng, and Pyöng-an Provinces.
 The Korean is omnivorous. Birds of the air, beasts of the field, and
fish from the sea, nothing comes amiss to his palate. Dog-meat is in
great request at certain seasons; pork and beef with the blood
undrained from the carcase; fowls and game—birds cooked with the
lights, giblets, head and claws intact, fish, sun-dried and highly
malodorous, all are acceptable to him. Cooking is not always
necessary; a species of small fish is preferred raw, dipped into some
piquant sauce. Other dainties are dried sea-weed, shrimps,
vermicelli, made by the women from buckwheat flour and white of
egg, pine seeds, lily bulbs, honey-water, wheat, barley, millet, rice,
maize, wild potatoes, and all vegetables of Western and Eastern
gardens; even now the list is by no means exhausted.
Their excesses make them martyrs to indigestion.
 CHAPTER XI
Japan in Korea—Historical associations—In Old Fusan—Political and economic
interests—Abuse of paramountcy

JAPANESE CAVALRY

Southern Korea bears many evidences of the warlike activities and

commercial enterprise of the past generations of Japanese, who,
abandoning their own island home, sought domicile upon the shores
of the neighbouring peninsula. The precarious existence of these
waifs and strays from an alien state, in the midst of a people whose
whole attitude was anti-foreign, did not deter others from coming to
her ports. This gradual migration from Japan to the Hermit Kingdom
continued during many centuries, promoting an intercourse between
two races which the Government was powerless to frustrate.
Japanese historians argue from this settlement in Korea that the
State was a vassal of Japan from the second century by right of
conquest and appropriation. The idea, which prevailed through
seventeen centuries, was not finally rejected until the Ambassador of
the Mikado signed a treaty at Seoul on February 7th, 1897, which
recognised Korea as an independent nation. From about the
beginning of the Christian era until the fifteenth century, the
relations between Japan and Korea were very close. From this period
onward Korea, although maintaining her attitude of complacent
indifference to events outside her own Empire, betrayed signs of
weakness in her policy of isolation when menaced with the
importunate demands of her rival neighbours, China and Japan.
At the two points in her Empire adjacent to the dominions of
China and Japan, war and peace alternately prevailed. If, upon
occasion, the Koreans went out unsupported to fight their invaders,
the leaders more usually united with one of the two rivals against
the other. Thus, there was always turmoil throughout the kingdom.
In the south, as in the north, the tide of war rolled backwards and
forwards, with varying success. From the west, the armies of China
appeared and vanished, skirting the Liao-tung Gulf, to plunder and
to devastate the peninsula. Fleets from Shantung, crossing the
Yellow Sea, dropped their anchors in the rivers of the land. The west
was threatened by the hordes of China, and the south was harried
by ships and men from the east, who pounced upon Fusan and
seized the cities of the south. The aggressions of the Japanese
extinguished any hope the Koreans might still have cherished of
preserving the southern frontier of their kingdom intact. Although
cordons of armed sentinels and palisades, barriers of mountains and
miles of ruined and deserted wastes protected the northern borders
against the incursions of the Chinese soldiers to some extent, the
south was vulnerable.
 Fusan was the floodgate through which poured the hostile masses
of Japan, an unbroken stream of men, to deluge the land. They
invaded Korea as enemies, levying tribute; they came as allies
against China; they appeared as the embassies of a friendly State
and returned enriched to the Court of their Sovereign. Actuated by
feelings of mercy, they sent grain-ships to Fusan when famine
overtook their neighbours. Between Japan and Fusan there was the
continuous passing of ships. Around this outlet, the one gate to the
southern half of the kingdom, the spasmodic beginnings of the
present important commerce between the two countries grew out of
a fretful exchange of commodities.
In the years that followed the earlier visitations, Japan became so
embarrassed by her own internal troubles, that the Kingdom of
Korea was left in that peace and seclusion which, always preferring,
it had found so much difficulty in securing. This happy state of
things prevailed for two centuries. At the end of this interval, the
annual embassy to Japan from the Court of Korea had ceased. The
kingdom in general, lulled by visions of perpetual peace, no longer
maintained defences. Military preparations were neglected; the army
was disorganised; the old fighting spirit of the people died down,
and martial exercises disappeared from the training of the militia.
Dissipation and profligacy were rife. In the meantime, order having
been restored in Japan, the thoughts of her soldiers again turned
towards fields of conquest and deeds of daring. The vassalship of
Korea was recalled; the King was summoned to renew his allegiance.
The answer proving unsatisfactory, preparations for an invasion were
at once begun. The fleet assembled and the ships set sail. The
mobility which was to distinguish the Japanese in after years
characterised their movements in this campaign. Within eighteen
days after their landing at Fusan, the capture of the capital was
accomplished and a blow was struck, which enabled the Koreans at
last to understand the gravity of their plight.
 THE GUARD OF THE JAPANESE LEGATION, SEOUL

The part, which Fusan played in this war, materially assisted the
invading hosts of Japan. A settlement at Fusan, which had been
founded long since by the retainers of the Daimio of the island of
Tsu-shima, assisted by itinerant traders and deserters from the
numerous expeditions which visited its shores, had grown to such
dimensions that when the force was descried off the harbour upon
the morning of May 25th, 1592, Fusan was already in their
possession. This circumstance gave the troops immediate facilities
for disembarkation, and, in the subsequent vicissitudes of the next
six years’ campaign, expedited the progress of the war. The position
of Fusan speedily made the place a base of supplies to the army of
operation and a repairing yard for the Japanese fleet after their
disastrous engagement with the Korean ships, in an attempt to co-
operate with the victorious forces, which Konishi and Kuroda had
assembled before Pyöng-yang. After the conclusion of the first
invasion and the Japanese retreat from the north, before the
combined strength of the Chinese and Koreans on May 22nd, 1593,
Fusan became one of the fortified camps upon the coast, where the
Japanese armies passed the winter in sight of the shores of their
own land. The negotiations, which were opened in the following
year, and shifted alternately between the camp of the Commander-
in-Chief at Fusan and the Courts in China and Japan, failed.
Even at this date Japan was anxious to establish her power in
Korea by obtaining possession of the southern provinces. Foiled in
this attempt, she renewed her attack. Fusan again became the seat
of the councils of war, and the base for the second invasion. The
operations began with the siege of the Castle of Nan-on, in Chyöl-la
province, upon the morning of September 21st, 1597. Twelve
months later, the Japanese were withdrawn from Korea, and the war
came to its close. Two hundred years passed before Korea recovered
from the desolation of this conflict, which was one in which the loss
of three hundred thousand men was recorded. Moreover, the
Japanese retained Fusan, a perpetual evidence of their victory.
This early claim to the southern provinces put forward by the
Japanese plainly reveals how long standing is their wish to annex the
southern half of Korea. Even in modern times, they have embarked
upon one campaign in the interests of Korea, while they are now
ready to go to war with Russia on behalf of the same nation that
they themselves consistently bully. Their plea of Korea for the
Koreans, however, is in curious contrast to their own lawless
domination of the coveted territory. Indeed, the interests which the
Japanese have developed for themselves throughout these regions
do not disclose much consideration for the rights of the natives. The
treaty of 1876, which opened Fusan to Japanese settlers, removed
the nominal obstacles to that over-sea immigration which had been
progressing steadily during several centuries. A wave of Japanese
colonisation at once lapped the eastern, western, and southern
shores of the Hermit Kingdom.
Indications of previous incursions were given by the affinity which
existed between the language, manners, and local customs of these
newcomers and the indigenous race. The existence of this affinity
became a powerful, if impersonal, instrument in abating the
opposition of the population to the settlement. Unable to obtain the
secession of the territory which they so much desired, communities
of Japanese fringed its borders. They planted themselves wherever
there were prospects of trade, until the resources of the land were
tapped in all directions, and the control of its commerce was virtually
in their hands. As other ports were opened at the persistent
instigation of these persevering traders, however, the settlement of
the south proceeded less rapidly. In view of the changing relations
between Korea and the Powers, therefore, the Japanese passed
further afield, developing some little industry to their own advantage
wherever they went. Trade followed their flag, whether they were
within the radius of the treaty ports, or engaged in forcing the hand
of the local officials by settling beyond the limitations of their
Conventions. The success of these efforts was soon assured. Despite
the stipulations of the treaties, and in face of the objections of their
own, as well as the Korean, Government, the irrepressible activity of
these pioneers of a past generation unconsciously contributed to
that supremacy which the trade of Japan has since achieved in the
land of her former enemy.
The expansion of Japanese interests in Korea has not been
without political design. The integrity of her neighbour is bound up
with her own existence. The security of Korea emphasises the safety
of her own borders; and, as her own Empire has developed into a
first-class Power, this desire to see the kingdom respected has
become more and more the spirit of the policy upon which she has
concentrated her individual action. She has fostered the trade with
Korea because it drew together the ties which connected the two
countries. She has urged the concession of ports, and still more
ports, to foreign commerce, because the preponderance of her trade
in these open marts substantiates her claim to be the lawful
champion of the race. The progress of Korea, since the country
came under her supervision, has been more evident than any of the
difficulties which have originated out of the disposition of the
Japanese to bully and coerce the Koreans. If, upon occasion, the
results have suggested that the blind cannot lead the blind without
disaster, the rarity of mistakes reflects credit upon the judgment
which has been displayed. This combination is, of course, directed
against foreigners. Just as Japan is discarding those Western
teachers, whose genius and administrative abilities protected her in
her days of ignorance, so does she hanker after the time when she
alone may guard the interests of Korea, and supply the demands of
her markets. At present, however, it is open to question whether the
Koreans will have overcome their feelings of irritation against the
Japanese by the time that these have become thoroughly
progressive in their treatment of the Koreans. The Japanese are
more repressive in their methods than they need be.
The extraneous evidence of the power of the Japanese irritates
the Koreans, increasing the unconquerable aversion which has
inspired them against the Japanese through centuries, until, of the
various races of foreigners in Korea at the present, none are so
deservedly detested as those hailing from the Island Empire of the
Mikado. Nor is this prejudice remarkable, when it is considered that
it is the scum of the Japanese nation that has settled down upon
Korea. It is, perhaps, surprising that the animus of the Koreans
against the Japanese has not died out with time; but the fault lies
entirely with the Japanese themselves. Within recent years so much
has occurred to alter the position of Japan and to flatter the vanity
of these island people that they have lost their sense of perspective.
Puffed up with conceit, they now permit themselves to commit social
and administrative excesses of the most detestable character. Their
extravagant arrogance blinds them to the absurdities and follies of
their actions, making manifest the fact that their gloss of civilisation
is the merest veneer. Their conduct in Korea shows them to be
destitute of moral and intellectual fibre. They are debauched in
business, and the prevalence of dishonourable practices in public life
makes them indifferent to private virtue. Their interpretation of the
laws of their settlements, as of their own country, is corrupt. Might is
right; the sense of power is tempered neither by reason, justice nor
generosity. Their existence from day to day, their habits and their
manners, their commercial and social degradation, complete an
abominable travesty of the civilisation which they profess to have
studied. It is intolerable that a Government aspiring to the dignity of
a first-class Power should allow its settlements in a friendly and
foreign country to be a blot upon its own prestige, and a disgrace to
the land that harbours them.
There are some twenty-five thousand Japanese in Korea, and the
Japanese settlement is the curse of every treaty port in Korea. It is
at once the centre of business, and the scene of uproar, riot, and
confusion. In the comparative nakedness of the women, in the noise
and violence of the shopkeepers, in the litter of the streets, there is
nothing to suggest the delicate culture of Japan. The modesty,
cleanliness, and politeness, so characteristic of the Japanese, are
conspicuously absent in their settlements in this country.
Transformation has taken place with transmigration. The merchant
has become a rowdy; the coolie is impudent, violent, and, in
general, an outcast more prone to steal than to work. Master and
man alike terrorise the Koreans, who go in fear of their lives
whenever they have transactions with the Japanese. Before the
Chino-Japanese war this spirit had not displayed itself to any great
extent in the capital of the Hermit Kingdom. With the successful
conclusion of that campaign, however, the Japanese became so
aggressive in their treatment of the people that, had the choice of
two evils been possible in view of these events, the Koreans would
have preferred the Chinese and a state of dependence to the
conditions which were then introduced. The universal admiration
aroused by the conduct of the Japanese troops in the North-China
campaign of 1900-1901 has added sensibly to the vanity and egoism
of these Korean-Japanese. Convinced of their innate superiority, their
violence towards the Koreans goes on unchecked. It threatens now
to assume unparalleled dimensions. If the relations between the
Powers are to continue upon a satisfactory footing in Korea, it will be
necessary for the Japanese Government to redress those abuses
which foreigners, Japanese, and Koreans alike have combined to
denounce.
H.M.S. ASTREA
 CHAPTER XII
The commercial prospects of Korea—Openings to trade—Requirements of markets
—Lack of British enterprise

The trade returns for 1900 exceeded every previous year. During
the period covered by the Boxer disturbances, however, the Korean
exports to China decreased, and the importation of foreign goods
likewise fell off. The stimulus given to the cereal trade, by the
interruption of the Manchurian export bean trade from Newchang,
and by the demand for food-supplies for the troops in China, more
than counterbalanced this temporary decline in direct native exports
and direct foreign imports. Cotton goods, however, show an increase
of £14,297 over the figures of previous years; but there is a specific
falling off in imports of British manufacture and origin, and a specific
advance in the more important lines of Japanese goods. I append a
small table revealing the comparative prosperity of British and
Japanese trade at this date:

English, decrease in: Japanese, increase in:

Shirtings £59,069 Shirtings £1,731
Indian Yarn £3,056 Yarn £11,329
Sheetings Small Sheetings £40,422
and other pieces decrease Other piece goods £25,676

In time, the markets of Japan will produce everything which at

present comes from America in the shape of canned goods, and
from Europe, in the form of textiles or food-stuffs. Japanese woven
fabrics, and canned foods of inferior quality are driving the
wholesale manufacturing houses of England and America from the
markets. At present, therefore, the trade of Korea is limited as much
by the capacity of the Japanese markets as by the wants of the
Korean. In face of the opposition of the Japanese, their
determination to retain the Korean markets for themselves, and the
absence of effective attempts by Western houses to beat up such
trade as may exist, it is difficult to believe that the future will show
any material expansion in the capacity of the foreign trade.
Nevertheless, Korea provides a fair field for capital. It would be
quite possible to improve the condition of foreign trade, if merchants
could arrange to protect their interests by establishing their own
agencies in the country, under competent and energetic European
management. When British merchants depart from their apathetic
indifference and organise an exhaustive expert inquiry into the
capabilities of the Korean trade, their trouble will be quickly
rewarded. New markets require new commodities, the demand for
which any technical inspection of the requirements of the people will
disclose. Until this examination takes place, however, the stagnation
in British trade must continue. Korea offers to British interests an
interesting field in which the development of new industries must be
conducted upon practical lines. Briefly, the imports in demand are
those which are necessary to meet the requirements of an
agricultural country whose mining resources are in process of
development and whose railway system is as yet in its early stages.
The increase in the importation of mining supplies supports this
contention. Bags and ropes for packing, machinery for agricultural
and mining purposes, and sewing machines are in greater demand.
Railway material is, of course, wanted. The new industries may not
be upon a large scale. Primitive methods doubtless will continue for
the most part to govern native manufactures such as grass cloth,
straw mats, ropes, &c. Excellent paper has been made since the
replacement of the use of native lye by caustic soda and soda-ash,
while the innovation is one to which the people have taken kindly
enough. Again, while the paper industry is capable of expansion, a
brisk business in leather could be built up in the country. Hides,
which are exported to Japan in their raw state, are abundant, and
might be converted into leather so easily on the spot. The straw
braid industry contains great possibilities, while the climate of Korea
is naturally suited to the growth and treatment of silk.
 Many things would be necessary to the success of such
enterprises. The work must be based upon a knowledge of the
country and its language. The manufacturer or the merchant must
take the pains to accommodate a direct import trade to the
exigencies of the local market. As an example, smaller bales and
shorter lengths are requisite in the piece goods. The establishment
of sample warehouses at the treaty ports, and in the more important
trade-centres of the interior, where bales of shirting, cotton and
woollen goods, cases of farming implements, &c., could be opened
and sold for cash, would appeal to the natives. This departure would
avoid the increase in the prime cost of the articles necessitated by
the existing system of transhipment. At present, goods come from
Shanghai to Chi-fu and thence to Chemulpo. They pass then from
the importer to the Chinese merchants, and from them to the
Korean wholesale buyers; these resell them in greatly diminished
quantities to the pedlars and agents, who retail the goods. It would
also be advisable to create consular agencies in Fusan and Won-san.
Official representation at present is confined to an underpaid and
understaffed Legation in Seoul, and a vice-consulate in Chemulpo.
Additional employés should be interchangeable, undertaking either
the vice-consular duties of the ports or the secretarial services of the
Legation.
The bulk of the imports and exports, which pass through the
Customs, comes from China and Japan. The means of transport are
controlled by Japanese; the export trade of the country is entirely in
their hands. This fact alone should appeal to British shipping
interests and to ship-owners. Unfortunately, many years of
prosperity have brought about great changes in the spirit of our
nation, and we no longer show the enterprise and initiative which
formerly distinguished us. This depreciation in the forces of the
nation has promoted a corresponding depression in our trade. We
are no longer the pioneers of commerce; nor have we the capacity
and courage of our forefathers who fostered those interests of which
we are now so neglectful in every quarter of the globe. At the dawn
of the twentieth century, it is amazing to find a country, with a total
foreign import and export trade exceeding two millions and a half
sterling for the year 1901 and two millions and three quarters
sterling for the year 1902, whose shores were visited by over ten
thousand steam and sailing trading-vessels in the same period,
registering an aggregate tonnage of more than two million tons,
almost untouched by British merchantmen. Deplorable as this may
be, statistics which Mr. McLeavy Brown has drawn up show that one
steamship, chartered by Chinese and floating the British flag,
entered Korean waters in 1900; that four steamers came in each of
the years 1901-2, a return which reveals a steady decline upon the
previous years. Since Korea was opened to trade in 1880, British
shipping has visited the country in the proportion of 1377 tons to
every two years. Despite appeals from our Consuls in Korea to
British steamship companies improvement has been impossible;
since no response was evoked by their efforts, and no service has
been established. The consequence of this is that a valuable
opportunity has been allowed to escape, the Japanese profiting by
our indifference.
The trade of Korea is increasing gradually. A steamer, which could
make periodical calls between Shanghai and Won-san, Yokohama
and Vladivostock, taking cargo and passengers to the open ports of
Korea, and touching at Japan upon the journey back, would return
good money upon the venture. British and Chinese merchants would
prefer to ship in a British vessel. The old-fashioned traditions of the
British mercantile service, as to punctuality and despatch, are not
carried out by the steamers of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha and the
Osaka Shosen Kaisha, which call at the ports in Korea. It is almost
impossible to know when the steamers of these companies will
arrive or when they will leave. Little attempt is made to observe their
schedule. The condition of the vessels of the latter company
accredited to the Korean run is filthy. Moreover, this company is
careless of cargo, and quite indifferent to the comforts of its
passengers. The Nippon Yusen Kaisha certainly supplies meals in
foreign style, but the Osaka Shosen Kaisha provides nothing. Plying
between Japan, China and Korea, this company declines to make
any arrangements for foreigners in the matter of food or
accommodation. One experience is enough. Unfortunately,
foreigners are compelled to travel in them, as the steamers of one or
other of the two companies are usually the sole means of
communication between those countries and Korea. There is cargo
and passenger traffic for any company that will organise a regular
steam-service. The profits might be small at first, since the Japanese
prefer to endure their own steamers and to ship under their own
flag; but there are signs that the flourishing condition of the trade of
the country would bring ultimate success.
The establishment of a steamer-service, if only of one or two
steamers, is not the sole hazard by which Japanese competition
might be faced. The climate of Korea is peculiarly suited to fruit-
culture. If this work were taken in hand, the fruit might be tinned or
exported fresh to China, where it would find a ready sale. The
fertility of the soil near Won-san and the abundance of fish in the
sea off that part of the coast, would make that port a suitable export
centre for the creation of a fish and fruit-canning industry under
foreign management. Fish and fruit industries of this description in
Japan are profitable and very bad. Nevertheless, their output is
widely distributed over the Far East. The initiation of these industrial
ventures would require some time, for many difficulties oppress
foreigners, who are anxious to put capital into Korea. In the end, a
modest venture would reap sufficient success to justify the
speculation, while the returns would probably permit an immediate
expansion of the enterprise. There is no doubt about the fish; there
is no doubt about the fruit; but whatever investment of an industrial
character is made in Korea, close and high-class technical
supervision is the necessary accompaniment.
The British merchant in the Far East is the first to condemn his
own Minister and to abuse his own Consul, and he is the very last to
help himself. It may be, however, that the follies of the Imperial
Government, the unreasoning prejudices and foolish blundering of
the Foreign Office, have created this apathy. The drifting and
vacuous policy of Lord Salisbury made it impossible to avert the
decay of our prestige and trade which has set in throughout the Far
East. Official returns establish only too completely the unhappy
predicament in which trade and merchants alike are placed. There is
a general decrease in the volume of the one, and there has been no
sympathetic activity among those engaged in commercial interests
elsewhere to set against it. The deficiency is almost without solution,
so long as bounty-fed manufactures, carried in subsidised bottoms,
are set against the products of an unassisted trade. Competition is
increasing, and foreign manufacturers are themselves now meeting
the requirements of the markets of China. There is little prospect in
the future of the restoration of our former commercial superiority.
Much might be attempted, although it seems almost as if the British
merchant were so bent upon his own damnation, that little could be
done.
The decline of British trade cannot be attributed in any way to the
late disturbances in North China, to the decline in the purchasing
power of the dollar, or to the temporary rise in the market prices.
Japan has become our most formidable competitor. The decrease in
our trade is due entirely to the commercial development and rise of
Japan, who, together with America, has successfully taken from us
markets in which, prior to their appearance, British goods were
supreme. The gravity of the situation in which British trade is placed
cannot be lightly regarded. We still lay claim to the carrying trade of
the Far East; but the figures, which support our pre-eminence in this
direction are totally unreliable. If the true conditions were made
manifest, it would be seen that so far from leading the shipping of
the world in the Far East, Great Britain could claim but a small
proportion of the freights carried. Although we may own the ships,
neither our markets nor our manufactures are associated with their
cargoes. It would be well if the public could grasp this feature of the
China trade. Members of Parliament, ignorant of the deductions
which are necessary before claiming the carrying trade of the Far
East—much less of the Yang-tse and of the China coast—as an asset
in our commercial prosperity, and a sign of vigour of the first
magnitude, do not recognise how unsubstantial is the travesty of
affluence which they so constantly applaud.

BRICK LAYING EXTRAORDINARY

During 1901, owing to the Boxer disturbance, large numbers of

ships owned by natives were transferred to the British flag. The
ostensible decrease in the tonnage of British vessels, which entered
and cleared affected ports, was therefore less than that of other
nationalities. Similarly, there was a small increase in the duties paid
under the British flag during the same period, owing to the valuable
character of these cargoes. Under ordinary circumstances, the
comparatively small decrease in the British tonnage and the increase
of more than fifty thousand taels in the payments made to the
Imperial Customs at such a moment of unrest, would suggest the
stability of our trading interest, and afford no mean standard by
which to judge the capacity of the markets. Unfortunately, the two
most important counts in the returns, tonnage and duties, are no
criterion. It is necessary to inspect closely the individual values of
the different articles comprising the total trade. In this way the
general depreciation of our manufactures is at once apparent.
 A comparison of the American, Japanese, and German returns
shows which are the commercial activities that are threatening our
existence as a factor in the markets of the Far East. If, in the
returns, we were shown the relations between the duties paid under
each flag, and the tonnage of any particular country, besides the
source and destination of its cargo, the true condition of British trade
would be revealed at a glance. As it is, until a table is added to the
Maritime Report, which will supply this valuable and interesting
demonstration, the system of a separate examination is alone to be
relied upon. By this method we find that between the years 1891
and 1901 there was a consistent falling-off in British exports to the
Far East in almost every commodity in which the competition of
America, Japan, and Germany was possible. Since 1895, when Japan
began to assert herself in the markets of China, those articles which,
pre-eminently among the commercial Powers, she can herself
supply, have carried everything before them. Ten years ago the
British trade in cloths, drills, shirtings, cottons, yarns, and matches
had attained magnificent dimensions. In certain particulars, only, our
trade was rivalled by the United States of America, whose
propinquity gave to them some little advantage in the markets of the
Far East. Now, however, the trade has passed altogether into the
hands of the Japanese, or is so equally divided between Japan and
America, Japan and Germany, that our pristine supremacy has
disappeared.
 CHAPTER XIII
British, American, Japanese, French, German, and Belgian interests—Railways and
mining fictions—Tabled counterfeited Imports

With the exception of Great Britain, the example of the Japanese

in Korea has stirred the Western Powers to corresponding activity.
Every strange face in Seoul creates a crop of rumours. Until the
new-comer proves himself nothing more dangerous than a
correspondent, there is quite a flutter in the Ministerial dove-cots.
Speculation is rife as to his chance of securing the particular
concession after which, of course, it is well known he has come from
Europe, Asia, Africa, or America. The first place among the holders
of concessions is very evenly divided between Japan and America. If
the interests of Japan be placed apart, those of America are certainly
the most prominent. Germany and Russia are busily creating
opportunities for the development of their relations with the
industries of the country; Italy and Belgium have secured a footing;
Great Britain is alone in the indifference with which she regards the
markets of Korea.
In this chapter I propose to state briefly the exact position
occupied in Korea by the manufacturing and industrial interests of
foreign countries; adding a specific table, which, I hope, may attract
the attention of British manufacturers to the means by which the
Japanese houses contrive to meet the demands of the Korean
market. The competition of the Japanese has an advantage in the
propinquity of their own manufacturing centres; a co-operative
movement throughout the Japanese settlements against foreign
goods is another factor in their supremacy.
It may, perhaps, afford British manufacturers some small
consolation to know that there are still many articles which defy the
imitative faculties of the Japanese. These are, mainly, the products
of the Manchester market, which have proved themselves superior
to anything which can be placed in competition against them. It has
been found, for instance, impossible to imitate Manchester dyed
goods, nor can Japanese competition affect the popularity of this
particular line. Chinese grass-cloths have, however, cut out Victoria
lawns fairly on their merits. The Chinese manufacturer, unhampered
by any rise in the cost of production and transportation, produces a
superior fabric, of more enduring quality, at a lower price. Moreover,
in spite of the assumed superiority of American over English
locomotives, on the Japanese railways in Korea the rolling stock
produced by British manufacturers has maintained its position. It is
pleasing to learn that some proportion of the equipment of the old
line from Chemulpo to Seoul, and of the new extension to Fusan,
have been procured from England. Mr. Bennett, the manager of
Messrs. Holme Ringer and Company, the one British house in Korea,
with whom the order from the Japanese company was placed,
informed me that the steel rails and fish-plates imported would be
from Cammel and Company, the wheels and axles from Vickers, and
that orders for a number of corrugated iron goods sheds had been
placed in Wolverhampton. The locomotives were coming from
Sheffield. The Japanese company expressly stipulated that the
materials should be of British make; it was only through the extreme
dilatoriness of certain British firms in forwarding catalogues and
estimates, that an order, covering a large consignment of iron wire,
nails, and galvanised steel telegraph wire, was placed in America.
This dilatoriness operates with the most fatal effect upon the success
of British industries. The Emperor of Korea instructed Mr. Bennett to
order forty complete telephones, switch-boards, key-boards, and
instruments, all intact. Ericson’s, of Stockholm, despatched triplicate
cable quotations, forwarding by express shipment triplicate
catalogues and photographs, as well as cases containing models of
their different styles, with samples of wet and dry cables. One of the
two British firms, to whom the order had been submitted, made no
reply. The other, after an interval of two months, dictated a letter of
inquiry as to the chemical qualities of the soil, and the character of
the climatic influences to which the wires, switch-boards, and
instruments would be subjected!
A few years ago a demand arose for cheap needles and fish-
hooks. The attention of British manufacturers was drawn to the
necessity of supplying a needle which could be bent to the shape of
a fish-hook. A German manufacturer got wind of the confidential
circular which Mr. Bennett had prepared, and forwarded a large
assortment of needles and fish-hooks, the needles meeting the
specified requirements. The result of this enterprise was that the
German firm skimmed the cream of the market. The English needles
were so stiff that they snapped at once; and it is perhaps
unnecessary to add that, beyond the few packets opened for the
preliminary examination, not one single order for these needles has
been taken.
The position which Great Britain fills in Korea is destitute of any
great commercial or political significance. Unintelligible inaction
characterises British policy there—as elsewhere. Our sole concession
is one of very doubtful value, relating to a gold mine at Eun-san. In
the latter part of 1900 a company was formed in London, under the
style of the British and Korean Corporation, to acquire the Pritchard
Morgan Mining Concession from the original syndicate. In the spring
of 1901 Mr. E. T. McCarthy took possession of the property on behalf
of the new owners. Mr. McCarthy had had considerable experience
as a mine manager. The most careful management was necessary to
the success of this concern. The expenses of working were
extraordinarily heavy, as, owing to the absence of fuel, coal had to
be imported from Japan. A coal seam had been located upon the
concession, but nothing was then known as to its suitability for
steam purposes. It is impossible to consider the undertaking very
seriously. All surface work was stopped during my residence in
Korea, the operations for the past few months having been confined
to underground development and prospecting. There was talk of the
instalment of a mill. A vein of pyrrhotine, carrying copper for a width
of 13 ft., was regarded with some interest, but in the absence of
machinery nothing of much consequence could be done.
 Another concern, Anglo-Chinese in its formation, is the Oriental
Cigarette and Tobacco Company, Limited. The capital of this venture
is registered from Hong-Kong. Since May 1902, the company has
been engaged at Chemulpo in the manufacture, from Richmond and
Korean tobacco, of cigarettes of three kinds. At the present time it
possesses machinery capable of a daily output of one million
cigarettes. In the days of its infancy, the company was reduced to a
somewhat precarious existence—the early weeks of its career
producing no returns whatsoever. Now, however, a brighter period
has dawned, and an ultimate prosperity is not uncertain. Cash
transactions, in the sales of the cigarettes manufactured by the
company, began in July 1902, realising by the end of February 1903,
£1515 sterling; to this must be added credit sales of £896 sterling—
making a grand total for the first few months of its existence of
£2411 sterling. A large staff of native workers is permanently
employed.
Aside from this company and the mining corporation, British
industrial activity is confined almost exclusively to the agency which
Mr. Bennett so ably controls in Chemulpo, of which a branch is now
established in the capital, and the Station Hotel which Mr. Emberley
conducts at Seoul. Mr. Jordan, the British Minister in Korea, did
request in June 1903, a concession for a gold mine five miles square
in Hwang-hai Province. Apart from this, the apathy of the British
merchant cannot be regarded as singular when business houses in
London direct catalogues, intended for delivery at Chemulpo, to the
British Vice-Consul, Korea, Africa. Nor, by the way, is Korea a part of
China. Mr. Emberley has established a comfortable and very
prosperous hotel in the capital, while at Chemulpo Mr. Bennett has
opened out whatever British trade exists in Korea. British interests
are safe enough in his hands, and if merchants will act in co-
operation with him, it might still be possible to create good business,
in spite of the competition and imitation of the Japanese. In this
respect British traders are not unreasonably expected to observe the
custom, prevailing among all Chinese merchants, of giving Korean
firms an extended credit. Foreign banks in the Far East charge seven
or eight per cent., per annum, and the native banks ten to fourteen
per cent., which represents a very considerable advance upon home
rates. In the opinion of Mr. Bennett, who is, without doubt, one of
the most astute business men in the Far East, no little improvement
would be shown in the Customs return of British imports, if the
manufacturers at home would ship goods to Korea on consignment
to firms, whose standing and bank guarantees were above suspicion,
charging thereon only home rates of interest. An American company,
engaged extensively in business with Korea, never draws against
shipments, by that means deriving considerable advantage over its
competitors. I commend this suggestion to the attention of the
British shipper, particularly as trade in Korea is largely dependent
upon the rice crop. In the train of a bad harvest comes a reduction
of prices. Importers, then, who have ordered stocks beforehand, find
themselves placed in a quandary. Their stocks are left upon their
hands—it may be for a year, or even longer—and they are
confronted with the necessity of meeting the excessive rates of
interest current in the Far East. If the manufacturer could meet the
merchant by allowing a rate of interest, similar to that prevailing at
home, to be charged, the importer of British goods would be less
disinclined to indent ahead. Under existing circumstances the
merchant must take the risk of ordering in the spring for autumn
delivery, and vice-versâ; on the other hand, China and Japan, being
within a few days’ distance of Korea, the importer prefers to await
the fulfilment of the rice crop, when, as occasion requires, he can
cable to Shanghai, Osaka, or elsewhere for whatever may be
desired.
Attached to the English Colony in Korea, which numbers one
hundred and forty-one, there is the usual complement of clergy and
nursing sisters, under the supervision of Bishop Corfe, the chief of
the English Mission in Seoul. Miss Cooke, a distinguished lady doctor
and a kind friend to the British Colony, is settled in Seoul. A number
of Englishmen are employed in the Korean Customs; their services
contributing so much to the splendid institution which Mr. McLeavy
Brown has created, that one and all are above criticism. Mr. McLeavy
Brown would be the first to acknowledge how much the willing
assistance of his staff has contributed to his success.
The importance of the American trade in Korea is undeniable. It is
composite in its character, carefully considered, protected by the
influence of the Minister, supported by the energies of the American
missionaries, and controlled by two firms, whose knowledge of the
wants of Korea is just forty-eight hours ahead of the realisation of
that want by the Korean. This is, I take it, just as things should be.
The signs of American activity, in the capital alone, are evident upon
every side. The Seoul Electric Car Company, the Seoul Electric Light
Company, and the Seoul (Fresh Spring) Water Company have been
created by American enterprise, backed up by the “liveness” and
’cuteness of the two concessionaires, whom I have just mentioned,
and pushed along by little diplomatic attentions upon the part of the
American Minister. The Seoul-Chemulpo Railway Concession was also
secured by an American, Mr. Morse, the agent of the American
Trading Company, and subsequently sold to the Japanese company
in whom the rights of the concession are now vested. The charter of
the National Bank of Korea has also been awarded to these
Americans, and it is now in process of creation. The only mine in
Korea which pays is owned by an American syndicate; and, by the
way, Dr. Allen, the American Minister, possesses an intelligible
comprehension of the Korean tongue.
 THE CONSULTING-ROOM OF MISS COOKE

There is a large American colony in Korea, totalling in all two

hundred and forty. One hundred live in Seoul; sixty-live are
employed upon the American Mine at Un-san; thirty-four live at
Pyöng-yang. Five are in the service of the Korean Government; ten
are associated with the railway; the famous two are engaged in
business and the remainder comprise the staffs of the Legation and
Consulate, and a medley of missionaries. American trade with Korea
embraces kerosene, flour, mining machinery, railway and mining
supplies, household goods and agricultural implements, clothing and
provisions, drills, sheetings, cotton goods, and cotton yarn. The
American mine at Un-san employs seventeen Japanese and one
hundred and thirty-three Chinese, one hundred Europeans, of whom
thirty-five are American, and four thousand natives, whose wages
range from 8d. to 1s. 2d. daily. The private company that has
acquired this concession works five separate mines with enormous
success; four mills, two of forty stamps and two of twenty stamps,
are of long standing. An additional mill of eighty stamps is of more
recent construction. During 1901 gold to the amount of £150,000
was exported by the company, while in the year following this sum
was very vastly exceeded. The area of the concession is eight
hundred square miles.
The future alone can disclose whether Korea is to be absorbed by
the Japanese. At present, the Japanese population in Korea exceeds
twenty thousand, the actual estimate falling short of twenty-five
thousand. The Japanese control the railway between Chemulpo and
Seoul, as well as the important trunk line to Fusan, an undertaking
now in course of construction and under the immediate supervision
of the Japanese Government. The new company has since absorbed
the parent line from Seoul to Chemulpo. The capital of this company
is twenty-five million yen, £2,500,000, which is to be raised in
annual instalments of five million yen, counting from the time when
one-tenth of the first instalment of five million yen was found. As a
matter of fact, the preliminary turning of the first sods took place at
Fusan on September 21st, and at Yong-tong-po on August 20th, in
the summer of 1901. From that moment, the Japanese Government
made itself responsible for the payment of the debenture bonds, and
guaranteed six per cent. upon the company’s subscribed capital for a
period of fifteen years.[1] Each share is of the value of £5, the
money to be called up as required, each call being at the rate of ten
shillings per share. The whole of the 400,000 shares, which was the
original allotment, was at once taken up, Japanese and Koreans
alone being eligible as shareholders. The estimated cost of the line is
£9000 per mile. Work has been completed as far as Syu-won, a
distance of twenty-six miles, over which section trains are already
running. Construction is, of course, being rapidly pushed forward,
and working parties are engaged at a number of places along the
line of route.
The length of the Seoul-Fusan Railway will be 287 miles. It is
confidently expected that the undertaking will be completed within
six years. There will be some forty stations, including the terminal
depôts, and it is, perhaps optimistically, estimated that the
scheduled time for the journey from Fusan to Seoul will be twelve
hours, which is an average of twenty-four miles an hour, including
stops, the actual rate of speed being approximately some thirty
miles an hour. The present working speed of the Seoul-Chemulpo
railway requires a little less than two hours to make the journey
between Seoul and Chemulpo, a distance of twenty-five miles, from
which it will be seen that considerable improvement must take place
if the distance between Seoul and Fusan is to be accomplished
within twelve hours.
In the first few miles of the journey, the trunk line to Fusan will
run over the metals of the Seoul-Chemulpo railway. The start will be
from the station outside the south gate of the capital; the second
stop will be Yong-san, and the third No-dol. At the next station,
Yong-tong-po, the railway leaves the line of the Seoul-Chemulpo
branch to run due south to Si-heung, where it bears slightly
eastward until reaching An-yang and Syu-won, some twenty-six
miles distant from Seoul. At this point the railway resumes its
southerly direction and passes through Tai-hoang-kyo, O-san-tong,
and Chin-eui, where it crosses the border of the Kyöng-keui Province
into Chyung-chyöng Province, and reaches the town of Pyöng-tak.
The line then runs near the coast, proceeding due south to Tun-po,
where it will touch tide water, and, bearing due south, reaches On-
yang, sixty-nine miles from Seoul. It then proceeds in a south-
easterly direction to Chyön-eui, and once again turning directly
south crosses the famous Keum River and enters the important town
of Kong-chyu. From Kong-chyu, which is ninety-six miles from Seoul,
and by its fortunate possession of facilities for water transit, is
destined to become an important distributing centre, the line follows
its southward course towards Sin-gyo, where an important branch
line will be constructed towards the south-west to connect Kang-
kyöng, the chief commercial centre of the province, with the main
system. It is also probable that a further extension of the line from
Sin-gyo towards the south-west will be projected, in order to make
communication with Mokpo, the coast port through which passes the
grain trade of Chyöl-la and Kyöng-syang Provinces.