heads of the Government were in attendance. The Emperor, who stood on a
specially built platform, received the leaders of the Independents, and
listened to their statement of their case. They asked that the monarch
should keep some of his old promises to maintain the national integrity and
do justice. The Emperor, in reply, presented them with a formal document,
in which he agreed to their main demands.

The crowd, triumphant, dispersed. The organization of the reformers
slackened, for they thought that victory was won. Then the Conservative
party landed some of its heaviest blows. The reformers were accused of
desiring to establish a republic. Dissension was created in their ranks by
the promotion of a scheme to recall Pak Yung-hio. Some of the more extreme
Independents indulged in wild talk, and gave excuse for official
repression. Large numbers of reform leaders were arrested on various
pretexts. Meetings were dispersed at the point of the bayonet, and the
reform movement was broken. The Emperor did not realize that he had, in the
hour that he consented to crush the reformers, pronounced the doom of his
own Imperial house, and handed his land over to an alien people.

Dr. Jaisohn maintains that foreign influence was mainly responsible for the
destruction of the Independence Club. Certain Powers did not wish Korea to
be strong. He adds:

"The passing of the Independence Club was one of the most
unfortunate things in the history of Korea, but there is one
consolation to be derived from it, and that is, the seed of
democracy was sown in Korea through this movement, and that the
leaders of the present Independence Movement in Korea are mostly
members of the old Independence Club, who somehow escaped with
their lives from the wholesale persecution that followed the
collapse of the Independence Club. Six out of the eight cabinet
members elected by the people this year, (1919) were the former
active members of the Independence Club."

Among the Independents arrested was Syngman Rhee. The foreign community,
which in a sense stood sponsor for the more moderate of the Independents,
brought influence to bear, and it was understood that in a few days the
leaders would be released. Some of them were. But Rhee and a companion
broke out before release, in order to stir up a revolt against the
Government By a misunderstanding their friends were not on the spot to help
them, and th