The shipping which entered and cleared at the port during 1900 was 370,416 tons, realising a small increase upon previous years ; of these, 500 steamers with 287,082 tonnage were Japanese, 261 steamers with 45,516 tons were Korean, forty-one steamers of 27,999 tons Russian, two steamers of 4416 tons British, four steamers of 2918 tons German. The complete return of all shipping entered at the open ports of Korea during the year 1902 — the latest under review — is added as a separate table at the end of this book.
In Chemulpo, as in all the ports of the kingdom which are open to foreign trade, there is a branch of the Imperial Korean Maritime Customs, an offshoot of the excellent service which exists in China under the administration of Sir Robert Hart. The working of the Korean Customs, for which Mr. McLeavy Brown is primarily responsible, is singularly successful, and redounds greatly to the credit of the comptrollng power. In an epoch characterised by the extraordinary ineptitude, indifference, and weakness of our public men, it is much to be deplored that the services of this distinguished Englishman are not more directly dedicated to the needs of his country. The careers of these two admirable officials fill me with mingled regret for the remoteness of their sphere of action, and high appreciation of their unremitting zeal — feelings few public servants may more fitly inspire than these two isolated, hardworking chiefs of a sister service, whose work, carried on in an atmosphere of treachery and deceit, too often meets with the blackest ingratitude.
The advance which the trade of Korea has made is proof sufficient of its innate possibilities under honest administration. If the revenues of the Customs are not diverted in the meantime to less important objects, there is every hope
