RELATIONS WITH COREA.

Mr. SARGENT asked, and by unanimous consent obtained, leave to introduce a joint resolution (S. R. No. 24) authorizing the President of the United States to appoint a commissioner to the King of Corea to arrange a treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and the King of Corea, and to appropriate the necessary expenses in making such treaty; which was read the first time at length, as follows:
Whereas the Kingdom of Corea is recognized as completely independent by the treaty of 1876, between Japan and Corea; and
Whereas the King of Corea has shown a disposition to enroll his great country among the family of nations, and to allow it to enjoy the reciprocal advantages of peace and commerce with other nation; and
Whereas the United States desires to remain in relations of peace with all peoples: Therefore,
Resolved by the senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be, and hereby is, authorized to appoint a commissioner to represent this country in an effort to arrange by peaceful means, and with the aid of the friendly offices of Japan, a treaty of peace and commerce between the United States and the Kingdom of Corea, and the sum of $50,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated to defray the expenses of said commission.
The joint resolution was read the second time by its title.
The VICE-PRESIDENT. The resolution will lie on the table, subject to the call of the Senator from California.
Mr. SARGENT. Yes, sir. I wish merely to remark that the population of that country is variously estimated at from twelve million to twenty million, and that, as this is a very important question, I want to present some considerations to the Senate before the joint resolution is referred.

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RELATIONS WITH COREA.

Mr. SARGENT. I should like to call up for reference the joint resolution which I submitted the other day in reference to relations with Corea. I want it referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, and I should like to occupy a few minutes of the time of the Senate in stating the reasons for the joint resolution.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the Senator from California? The Chair hears none.
Mr. SARGENT. Mr President—
Mr. BURNSIDE. I ask the favor of the Senator from California to allow Senate bill No. 178 to be taken up for a moment in order to see if I can get a vote upon it.
Mr. SARGENT. How much time does the Senator ask?
Mr. BURNSIDE. I do not know of any one who has anything further to say on the subject, and it would only require a yea-and-nay vote on the passage of the bill. I ask the Senator simply to yield for that purpose.
Mr. SARGENT. That bill will lead to some debate.
Mr. BURNSIDE. I beg the Senator from California to yield.
Mr. SARGENT. If my friend will allow me to proceed, I shall conclude my remarks in fifteen minutes, and there will then be fifteen minutes left of the morning hour. I am informed by Senators around me that the bill will lead to discussion.
Mr. BURNSIDE. The understanding was very distinct yesterday that the bill should be taken up to-day, in the morning hour. The Chair asked if there was objection to that arrangement and there was none.
Mr. SARGENT. Does the Senator simply desire a call of the roll? Is that all?
Mr. EDMUNDS. It will have to be debated a little, Mr. President. There will be time enough. The Senator from California has just had unanimous consent, which we never refuse, to submit some observations to the Senate. I am sure we ought to allow him to proceed.
Mr. BURNSIDE. Very well.
The senate, as in committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the joint resolution (S. R. No. 24) authorizing the President of the United States to appoint a commissioner to the King of Corea to arrange a treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and the King of Corea, and to appropriate the necessary expenses in making such treaty.
Mr. SARGENT. Mr. President, one of the most interesting events in the history of Pacific civilization was the opening of Japan to the five great western powers by the American treaty of March 31, 1854, the result of the United States expedition under Commodore Perry. On the 6th of January, 1869, the Mikado, or Emperor, emerged from his seclusion, and disregarding the tradition which forbade the “barbarian” to gaze on his face, received in state the foreign ministers residing at Yeddo, and exhibited a desire to maintain friendly relations. From 1858 to 1869 followed American, English, French, and Austrian treaties. As a result a great trade has sprung up, principally valuable to the United States, partly on account of our proximity and partly from the friendly feelings with which we are regarded by Japan. It is a fact that in those waters alone, of all the waters of the world, our tonnage exceeds that of all other nations. It is the only place where we have a fine American trade carried on in American bottoms.
But a still more striking result has been witnessed in this nation of thirty million people suddenly dropping a proud, isolation policy, opening relations with the civilized world, and rapidly adopting the appliances and modes of advanced civilization. Before that period all authorities concurred in depicting the Japanese as an effete, nonprogressive race, sunk in superstition, with strange customs and sanguinary laws, but with considerable excellence in the mechanical arts. By the wise action of our predecessors this great people have been brought into friendly relations, have developed into a civilized nation, and vindicated themselves as the possessors of a stalwart manhood and an enlightened, enterprising spirit. The apparent transformation has been wonderful; but the change has been one of development only, not of creation. All the elements of a great people must have been there; they had opportunity and expression when centuries of isolation terminated.
Neighboring to Japan on the mainland is another people, with most of their characteristics, perhaps all, treated of by the encyclopedists as they formerly treated the Japanese, now waiting for us to extend to them a friendly hand as we formerly did to Japan, and promising as noble reward for the service. I ask the attention of the Senate, and of the Committee of Foreigns, to whom I shall have this bill referred, to the promise held out to us by Corea if we know how to avail ourselves of our opportunity as our immediate predecessors did in the case of Japan.
Corea is described by Zell’s Encyclopedia Dictionary as a maritime country of Northeastern Asia, consisting of a vast oblong peninsula with an adjoining portion of the continent and a great number of islands. Appleton’s Cyclopedia states that it is bounded on the north by Manchooria, northeast by the Russian Amoor country, east by the Sea of Japan, south by the Strait of Corea, and west by the Yellow Sea and the Chinese province of Liaou-Tong, with an area of ninety thousand square miles. The population is estimated by various authorities from eight millions to twenty millions, and is probably about twelve millions. Its length is, from north to south, about six hundred and sixty miles, and the breadth is about one hundred and fifty miles. Its principal river is navigable for large ships twenty two miles, and for smaller vessels one hundred and twenty miles above its mouth. The climate in the north is severe, but temperate in the south. The mountains are covered with forests, and pine is common on the coasts. Most of our domestic animals are reared in Corea. The people are superior to the Japanese in strength and stature. Their dress is similar to that of the Chinese, but they do not cut their hair or wear a cue. They have a literature, a monosyllabic language; are generally educated; are fond of reading, music, dancing, and festivities. The government is jealous of intercourse with foreigners, and these are not allowed to land on their coasts, and the accounts of the treatment of shipwrecked persons are conflicting. In 1876 a treaty of amity of the people of any nation, friendly with Japan, they shall have kind treatment. And, I think, that illustrates the wisdom of our former action in opening intercourse with Japan. They have reached such a stage of intelligence and civilization, or development thereby, that they treat with a nation reputed barbarous, as they were at the time this intercourse was opened, for the purpose of protecting the lives and property of shipwrecked vessels of nations with which they are at amity. Of course that embraces the shipwrecked people of all nations, because Japan is in a state of peace with all the world.
The trade of Corea is with Japan almost wholly. No Chinese are allowed to settle in Corea, or any Coreans to leave their country. The northern frontier is abandoned for several miles to prevent any intercourse with the Tartars. The country is divided into eight provinces; the capital is on the Han or Kiang River, about the center of the Kingdom, and the government is despotic and the laws severe. Gold, silver, iron, and salt are said to abound, but mining is restricted by the government to its own requirements. The principal manufactures are silk, cotton, cotton-paper, grass-cloth, ricepaper, arms, and horse-hair caps. European manufactures to a limited extent reach Corea, and only through Japan. The Coreans live in a frugal manner, and articles of daily necessity to the Japanese and Chinese are still unknown among them.
In 1866 a French expedition sought redress for the execution of two Catholic missionaries, but were repelled with loss. These missionaries, contrary to the laws of the country, had penetrated into the interior of Corea, and it is said had succeeded in converting to the Catholic religion the queen mother. The king, fearing cabals in his home and that they might try to dethrone him, had them arrested. One account says they were all slain and another that two of them were slain the latter being the most probable fact.
Mr. CHAFFEE. What is their religion?
Mr. SARGENT. In religion they are Buddhists, I will say in reply to the question of the Senator from Colorado.
In that same year an American trading-ship, as it pretended to be the General Sherman, went into one of the rivers of Corea. The captain was an American, and she had a consul's trading register, a register given by a consul to trade. Perhaps she was American built. Of that I am not certain, but the presumption is that she was. She was manned by Chinese principally, and there were three other foreigners on board of her, one a Frenchman. A difficulty arose with the natives, and the vessel was burned, and they were all killed. Our commander in the Japanese waters went the United States ship Wachusett, under the command of their captain, now Commodore Shufeldt, to inquire into this affair. He penetrated into one of the rivers and addressed a communication to the king of the country, and I call attention to his correspondence and especially to the reply emanating from the King to show the sentiments which it contains―the sentiments of enlightened statesmanship and humanity which it contains, and that the people from whom such a document can emanate are worthy of our consideration, and that our recognition as a safeguard against the aggression of Russia or any other power, and also for the purpose of trade.

[Translated from Chinese document a copy of which is attached to this.―N.B. Chinese copy sent with original.]