Page:Korea (1904).djvu/254

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202
KOREA

2. The boundaries of the said district shall be defined by the Russian Minister and the Minister in charge of the Foreign Office of the Korean Government.

3. The Russian company shall pay a land-tax to the Korean Government.

4. If the owners of tombs within this district wish to remove them, the expense of removal shall be borne by the Russian company.

5. If the company wish to utilise wood which Koreans have cut and are bringing down the river, it must reimburse the owners with a fair and proper price.

6. The Russian company shall not raise any stock within this district except what is to be used therein.

7. Korean offenders within this district shall be dealt with by the Korean courts. Russian offenders shall be dealt with by Russian civil officers.

These contracts were signed on July 20th, 1903, by the Korean official Cho Sung-hyup and the Russian Inspector Bojisco.

Meanwhile, however, in May 1903, prior to the decision of the Korean Government in the matter, the prefect of Wi-ju reported the concentration of Russian troops at An-tung for the purpose of crossing the Yalu. A few days later, a detached party of forty of these men crossed the stream, halting on a small island in mid-river to discard their uniforms, so that they might enter Yong-an-po in private clothes. From Yong-an-po they moved to Yong-chyön, near Wi-ju, where, accompanied by one hundred Chinese and eighty Koreans, they founded a lumber settlement, buying seventeen houses, with twelve acres of land attached, in the name of two of their Korean employés. The presence of the colony was at once objected to by the