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August 14, 19121 THE !
Cicero, all advocated suicide as a worthy ending
to life. Cato praised Plutarch for ending his
own life. Plutarch commended Attalus, king of
Pergaraos for killing his own children in order
that he might give the crown to his nephew.
Solon, most celebrated sage of Greece gave consent
for parents to murder their children. Confucius
taught it was no sin to lie under certain
circumstances; he himself did it, and the Chinaman
is an artistic and finished liar. Marcus
Aurelius taught it was right to murder Christians.
Seneca, Cotta, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle,
and Socrates were guilty of the most in
ramous ana degrading vices.
Consider the pure morality of the Bible, anil
consider Christ who not only taught a morality
that was without a flaw, but himself lived a life
in perfect keeping with his doctrines. We give
thanks at every remembrance of a teacher who is
flawless and who has emancipated the human
spirit from error wherever and whenever his
teachings have been followed.
The holiness of God is causo for
Holiness thanksgiving because, further, it exa
Force, erts a positive force for righteousness
in his disciples. In the Bible we have
the holiness of God revealed; the reading, that
is, the study of the Bible in a reverent spirit
brings the human spirit into such contact with
that Divine holiness that it enters into and transforms
it, and develops it into still higher degrees
of holiness. The only thing that can spiritually
lift men is the continued and reverent contemplation
of the character of God in Christ. The
effect of such contemplation is to wed one completely
away from all pleasure in the things of
sin. And surely this is true ground for thanksgiving.
THE KOREAN PERSECUTION.
There have of late been startling reports of
the persecution of Christians in Korea. Alleged
confessions of Koreans were published, implicating
about twenty American missionaries of the
highest standing. The reported confessions were
to the effect that Korean Christians and American
missionaries had conspired to assassinate
Count Terauchi, the Japanese governor-general
of Korea. It now appears that no such conspiracy
existed and that not only the missionaries
but the native Christians are innocent.
The supposed evidence in the case was either invented
by Japanese officials or was secured by
extreme torture of the Christians.
"The New York Herald," one of the most influential
papers in America is investigating the
case. It is now probalble that the State Department
will be asked to institute a thorough iovestigation.
The Herald has published the following
details of the barbarous processes by
which the Japenese officials secured so-called confessions
from Korean Christians:
Vivid descriptions of the torture alleged to
liave been employed fey the Japanese officials to
extort confessions implicating the American
missionaries as the instigators of or accessories
in the alleged plot against Count Terauchi's life
are furnished in the testimony of the Korean
defendants.
With remarkable fearlessness, under the most
searching cross-examination by Presiding Judge
nv i i .1 i? i.i
i?uKanara, tne prisoners nave repudiated tnose
confessions in detail, the great majority testifying
in open court that under the torture they
finally assented to the questions as propounded
by the police examiners.
The prisoners have been in the hands of the
police from three to eight months. One man testified
that he endured the torture -for more than
a month, and only when his body broke down, he
assented^ to the false statements demanded of
him.
Others, in detailing the merthods employed, described
how they had been beaten into insensi
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE S<
bility, how they had been tied up for hours, their
hands trussed behind their backs, and then raised
to a tip-toe in a manner scientifically designed,
physicians tell me, to put every muscle of the
body under the severest possible strain; how they
had been fried by hot irons held close to the
body in such a way as to produce the sensation
of being toasted alive without leaving a scar on
the skin.
"I was killed and brought back to life three
times," said one man, "and my wrist was
broken."
"Why not have a surgeon examine it?" another
asked the Judge.
"I would not have had a chance to testify to
my innocence in this court if I had not admitted
complicity when tortured, for 1 would have
died," testified another.
One man, pointing out the police examiner sitting
by the Judge, said:
4 ' There sits the honorable examiner. How terrible
was liis torture it is impossible for me to
describe.''
Anothr man told how he was forced to admit
having pistols in his possession.
44 When questioned," he said,441 first answered
4No,' which is the truth. Immediately I was
tortured again and questioned until unable
longer to bear the torture. Then I said, 4 Yes, I
had one hundred.' The examiner said; 'You
scoundrel, you, that is too many!' I said, 'Well,
it was fifteen.' That didn't suit him. 'Don't
you know that is not enough? Now, wasn't it
twenty-seven?' That, Your Honor, is the reason
I admitted having the pistols, though it
was untrue. I was tortured and told what to
say."
This nauseous tale of wholesale torture, forming
as it does a serious indictment of the Japanese
administration in Korea, seems to have made
no impression upon the court officials. The law
T A - - - -
ui uupan aoes not permit torture, an<l it was one
of Marquis Ito's proudest boasts that he had
stamped out torture in Korea.
Only last February, Count Terauchi assured
the missionaries:
'If any confession or statement be taken under
torture, it would serve no purpose at a trial
in court."
Despite these declarations of Japan's assumed
policy, the Judge throughout not only did not attempt
to ascertain from the defendants the manner
and means or the agents of torture, but every
effort was made to prevent the giving of testimony
on this point. This testimony was wedged
in by the defendants between the constant efforts
of the Judge and the interpreters to make them
stop.
The Judge has refused the request of the defendants'
attorneys that the police examiners be
placed upon the stand, and yet the scandalous
charges against the American missionaries rest
whoPy upon the confessions now alleged to have
been extorted by torture.
It is difficult to see how the American government
can avoid making strong representations to
Japan regarding the serious plight of the Ameri("Jins.
who flTA not. nprmittafl to taotifw in tVinii
own behalf."?J. K. Ohl.
In view of the situation the religious press is
stirred to strong protest and is demanding that
the matter <be sifted to the bottom that the real
conspirators, who are believed to be Japanese
officials, may be punished. The Herald and
Presbyter says: "There is, however, evidence
of a conspiracy, not involving missionaries and
Korean Christians, but intended to involve them;
not to assassinate Japanese officials, but to assassinate
politically by apparently letral methods.
American and Korean Christians who were obnoxious
to the conspirators. Who are these conspirators!?That
is the thing the Japanese government
should find out." The Presbyterian
(Phila.) says: "Our nation should be stirred
up to protect our people and other innocent ones
from this fearful cruelty of the Japan\?se. It is
too late in the history of the world to allow such
things as are reported to be going on in Korea."
It is made evident from an article entitled
"Ominous Omens in Korean Trials," that the
government authorities are shy of allowing the
) UTE (945) 11
whole truth to be known. Information is given
to the effect that just before the present trial of
Korean Christians began in Seoul, Japanese authority
removed from his position Justice
Watanabe, a Presbyterian elder, who was five
years ago appointed Chief Justice of Korea. It
was in this just man in whom the accused Koreans
placed their principal hope of justice in
the trials that are now in progress. The reader
will be interested in the article referred to,
which is published on another page of this issue.
The prayers of the American people should be
offered fervently in behalf of the missionaries
and native Christians in Korea, in this distressing
crisis.
TUf TTQ T AV UA1TBV
Aim wujci v? luvrncix.
There is nothing inherently wrong in money.
It is the attitude of the heart towards it that
is the trouble. It is not money, but the love of
money, that is a root of all evil. So says' the
apostle. As the representative of value and as a
medium of exchange, money is one of the great*
est inventions of man.
It is what money stands for that excites inordinate
desire and leads to unholy love and that
covetousnees which is idolatry. "Charge them
that are rich in this world, that they be not
high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but dn
the living God, who givetb us richly all things
to enjoy." "Make money your tool, and money
will not make you its tool."
The right use of money will begin in a proper
appreciation of two facts: First, that it is an uneertiUn
nnsu>?sinn on/1 QAnnnJl" aU?a ?i? a
uuu kvuuuijt, mat *VII ill CV CI
a man has he has received, and hence ail occasion
for boasting or for high-mindedness is excluded.
The right use of money, again, will be found to
from a becoming attitude towards its giver. Its
possessors are simply 'his stewards, entrusted for
a time with a treasure which belongs to another
and which is to be used as he directs. The finest
method of delivering oneself from the domination
of gold is to be under the domination of the
Lord. The right use of money also contemplates
the purpose for which it is given, as well as the
attitude of the recipient. The purpose is, "that
they do good, that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate."
This is God's statement, not man's.
xhe best possible suggestion as to the right
use of money is that of the Bible. "Baying up
in store for themselves a irood t*oiir?d*tn?n n cm-in at
the time to come, that they may lay hold on
eternal life." .Let one be so "ready to distribute,
'' so willing to communicate," that he
will be found using whatever he possesses as a
means of glorifying God and laying foundations
for the future. Not that wealth will purchase
redemption. The very thought of such a thing
would be an offence to God. But riches may
be used as the happy means of expressing the
life of the soul, and of carrying the good news
of salvation to others, and of bringing comfort
and help to those who are in need. "He that
hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord." The
Lord will pay back all the loans made to him by
loving faith and consecrated hearts.
Those who have not money probably do not
sympathize with the rich as much as they should.
The latter have real needs peculiar to their position,
and some temptations unknown to their
"less fortunate" friends as we are accustomed
to call the former. Perhaps the owners of large
riches would make better use of wealth if they
had more loving sympathy.