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 KO R E A’ S Q U E S T
FOR ECONOMIC
D E M O C R AT I Z AT I O N
Gl o bal iz ation, Pola rization
and Co ntention

EDITED BY YOUNGMI KIM

Korea’s Quest for Economic Democratization
 Youngmi Kim
Editor

Korea’s Quest
for Economic
Democratization
Globalization, Polarization and Contention
Editor
Youngmi Kim
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, UK

ISBN 978-3-319-57065-5    ISBN 978-3-319-57066-2 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57066-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017943639

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction
on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in
this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names
are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general
use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication.
Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied,
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Printed on acid-free paper

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The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Acknowledgements

I would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the Academy of

Korean Studies (AKS), whose Korean Studies Promotion Service (KSPS)
Grant (AKS-2011-BAA-2105) made this book project possible. Drafts of
the chapters were presented at the Korean Studies conferences held at
Central European University in Budapest (Hungary) in 2013 and 2014,
organized as part of the ‘Global E-School in Eurasia’ project supported
by the Korea Foundation.

Note on Romanization
In rendering the Korean language in the Latin script, we use the Revised
Romanization of Korean approved by the Ministry of Culture of the
Republic of Korea in 2000. However, when historical material is pre-
sented the McCune-Reischauer system is also used.

v
 Contents

1 Hell Joseon: Polarization and Social Contention

in a Neo-Liberal Age   1
Youngmi Kim

2 Globalization, Democracy and Social Polarization

in South Korea   21
Hyug Baeg Im

3 Democracy Disenchanted and Autocracy Glamorized

in Korea   41
Doowon Suh

4 Emerging Cleavages in Korean Society: Region,

Generation, Ideology, and Class   63
Youngmi Kim and Sunhee Park

5 Korea Tripartism in Retrospect   89

Hyug Baeg Im

6 Labour Polarization: Labour Aristocracy Versus

Irregular Workers in Post-development Korea   119
Hyung-A Kim

vii
viii Contents

7 Civil Society and Democracy in South Korea:

A Reassessment   141
Antonio Fiori and Sunhyuk Kim

8 The Parallax Visions of Economic Democracy

in South Korea: A Critique   171
Albert L. Park

9 Citizenship and Migration in South Korea.

In the Forefront of Democracies?   209
Luicy Pedroza and Hannes B. Mosler

10 Female Immigration by Cross-Border Marriage:

A New Political Issue in South Korean Society   233
Kyungmi Kim

11 The Coming Age of South Korea: Power, Influence

and Implications   257
Virginie Grzelczyk

12 Conclusion: The Promise of People-Led Change

and the Prospect of a New Transition   281
Youngmi Kim

Index  
297
 Editor and Contributors

About the Editor

Youngmi Kim is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies
at the University of Edinburgh (UK). She previously worked at Central
European University and University College Dublin. Recent publications
include articles in Electoral Studies and the monograph ‘The politics of
coalition in South Korea: Between Institutions and Culture’ (Routledge,
2011).
Email: youngmi.kim@ed.ac.uk

Contributors
Antonio Fiori is Associate Professor and Delegate for Asia and Oceania
at the University of Bologna (Italy). His articles include “Hedging in
search of a new age of non-alignment: Myanmar between China and
the USA” (The Pacific Review, 2015), “Seventy Years after World War
II: Comparing Europe and Northeast Asia’s Security Architectures”
(Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, 2015).
Email: antonio.fiori@unibo.it
Virginie Grzelczyk is a lecturer in international relations at Aston
University, UK and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of
Maryland. Her book ‘North Korea’s New Diplomacy: Challenging Political
Isolation in the 21st Century’, will be published by Palgrave in 2017.
Email: v.grzelczyk@aston.ac.uk

ix
x Editor and Contributors

Hyug-Baeg Im is Professor at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea. He

received his MA and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.
He went on to serve as an EC Member, IPSA, the Director of Institute for
Peace Studies and the Director of BK21 Research Corps at Korea University.
Email: hyugbaeg@daum.net
Hyung-A Kim is Associate Professor, School of Culture, History and
the Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National
University. Recent publications include, “President Roh Moo-Hyun’s
Last Interview and the Roh Moo-Hyun Phenomenon in South Korea”,
Journal of Contemporary Asia, (Dec. 2016).
Email: hyunga.kim@anu.edu.au
Kyung-Mi Kim received her Ph.D. from EHESS (School for Advanced
Studies in Social Sciences) in France. She is teaching at Paris Diderot
University (Paris VII). Her research focuses on the role of the State
defining the “mixedness” in the Korean family institution.
Email: kyungmi@wanadoo.fr
Sunhyuk Kim is Professor and Vice President for International Affairs
at Korea University. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in
1996. His articles include “Administrative Reform in South Korea: New
Public Management and the Bureaucracy” (2015) and “NGOs and
Social Protection in East Asia: Korea, Thailand and Indonesia” (2014).
Email: sunhyukk@korea.ac.kr
Hannes B. Mosler is Assistant Professor at Freie Universität Berlin. He
holds a Ph.D. in political science from Seoul National University. His
recent publications include the co-edited volumes Quality of Democracy
in Korea (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming), Facets of 130 Years
German-Korean Relations (Peter Lang, 2017), and Länderbericht Korea
(bpb, 2015).
Email: Hannes.Mosler@fu-berlin.de
Albert L. Park is associate professor of history at Claremont McKenna
College (Claremont, CA). He is the coeditor of Encountering Modernity:
Christianity in East Asia and Asian America and the author of Building a
Heaven on Earth: Religion, Activism and Protest in Japanese Occupied Korea.
Email: Albert.Park@ClaremontMcKenna.edu
 Editor and Contributors xi

Sunhee Park is Assistant Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark.

She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Florida State University.
Her publications appear in the American Journal of Political Science and
International Studies Quarterly.
Email: sunhee.park@ps.au.dk
Luicy Pedroza is a Research Fellow at the GIGA ---German Institute
of Global and Area Studies. Her research focuses on the political inte-
gration of migrants. She is leading the Project Every Immigrant Is an
Emigrant: How Migration Policies Shape the Paths to Integration. She
holds a Ph.D. from University of Bremen and Jacobs University.
Email: Luicy.Pedroza@giga.hamburg
Doowon Suh is professor and a chair of the Korean Studies Program
of the Graduate School of International Studies at Korea University. He
was awarded Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago, M.Sc.
from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and MA
and BA from Korea University.
Email: dwsuh@korea.ac.kr
 Acronyms

3D Difficult, dangerous, dirty

CCEJ Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice
CSGE Citizens’ Solidarity for the General Elections
CVT Continuous Vocational Training
DUP Democratic United Party
EPS Employment Permit Scheme
FKTU Federation of Korean Trade Unions
FTA Free Trade Agreement
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GNI Gross National Income
GNP Grand National Party
GWS Great Workers’ Struggle
HCI Heavy and Chemical Industries
HMWU Hyundai Motors Workers’ Union
ILO International Labour Organization
IMF International Monetary Fund
ITS Industrial Training System
KBS Korea Barometer Survey
KCTU Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
KFEM Korean Federation of Environmental Movement
KOICA Korea International Cooperation Agency
KPL Korean Peasants League
KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute
KWHL Korean Women’s Hot Line
KWPA Korean Woman’s Peasant Association
MIKTA Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia

xiii
xiv Acronyms

MTU Migrants’ Trade Union

MWKW Migrant Women, Korean Women
NBLS National Basic Livelihood Security Act
NCOTU National Council of Occupational Trade Unions
NCTU National Congress of Trade Unions
NCTUR National Conference of Trade Union Representatives
NFP New Frontier Party or Saenuri Party
NIS National Intelligence Service
NLL Northern Limit Line
NPS National Pension Service
ODA Overseas Development Assistance
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
PSPD People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy
RDA Rural Development Administration
THAAD Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence
TINA There Is No Alternative
UPP Unified Progressive Party
USAMGIK American Military Government in Korea
WMHC Women Migrants Human Rights Centre
 List of Figures

Fig. 4.1 Percentage of self-employed out of total employed

labourers  66
Fig. 4.2 Parents’ jobs of 1st year students at Seoul National
University  67
Fig. 4.3 Voter support breakdown by generation in the 2002
presidential elections  72
Fig. 4.4 Voter support breakdown by generation in the 2012
presidential elections  73
Fig. 4.5 Predicted probability of supporting conservative party
(Gyeongsang province vs. Jeolla province)  80
Fig. 12.1 Wealth share of top 10% for regions and selected
countries, 2016 286

xv
 List of Tables

Table 4.1 First-year students from special/independent

private schools   68
Table 4.2 South Korea’s presidential elections: Regional
votes breakdown   71
Table 4.3 Monthly household income distribution   75
Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics   77
Table 4.5 Logistic regression result of party support   78
Table 4.6 Logistic regression result of party support
for two regions   83
Table 10.1 Number and percentage of cross-border marriages
1990–2014  234
Table 10.2 Number of Korean cross-border marriages according
to nationalities of foreign spouses 2000–2014   236
Table 12.1 Wealth pattern within countries, 2016   284
Table 12.2 Wealth shares and minimum wealth of deciles
and top percentiles for regions and selected
countries, 2016   285

xvii
 CHAPTER 1

Hell Joseon: Polarization and Social

Contention in a Neo-liberal Age

Youngmi Kim

Innovations in information technology and the greater availability of

social media and applications such as Kakaotalk (the Korean instant-mes-
saging application used by tens of millions in the country and globally),
Twitter, Snapchat and Line have transformed not only how Koreans
communicate, but also the way in which grievances are aired and discon-
tent is channelled from virtual discussions to demonstrations in public
spaces, ultimately blurring the divide between online and offline politics
(Kim 2009). Metaphors have been drawn between the contemporary ail-
ing and the conditions of many Koreans under the late Joseon dynasty,
which ruled the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1910. Hell Joseon is the
widely-used pejorative term used to compare current societal structure to
class-based Joseon (also spelled as Chosun) Korea in the 19th and early
20th centuries. The gap between haves (kap, indicating those with power
in society) and have-nots (eul), or those ‘born’ into eating with golden
or silver spoons and the increasingly larger segment of society eating
with ‘clay spoons’ (heuksujeo), is becoming wider. These terms are used
to express the popular anger at the divisions within, the polarization of

Y. Kim (*)
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
e-mail: youngmi.kim@ed.ac.uk

© The Author(s) 2018 1

Y. Kim (ed.), Korea’s Quest for Economic Democratization,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57066-2_1
2 Y. Kim

and the deepening inequality in society. The scandal of the ‘nuts rage’1
and the ‘ramen incident’2 well illustrate both the sense of entitlement
and privilege of the ‘very few at the top of society’ and the widespread
outrage such conduct sparks among ordinary citizens. Though much
larger in magnitude and in its political significance and implications, the
‘Choi Soon-sil gate’ of 2016–2017, where the embezzlement of former
Park Geun-hye’s confidant of several decades and the briberies compa-
nies had to pay for access and favour, is ‘merely’ the latest episode in a
series. The impeachment of the former president, which was prompted
by the scandal and demanded by millions of citizens that took the streets
of Seoul every Saturday over several cold weeks in the fall and winter of
2016, is of high symbolic significance. Privilege, entitlement and abuse
are widespread and lie at the very top of the Korean political and eco-
nomic system; however, justice and change can be brought about from
below.
Korean society is changing rapidly. It is also becoming more unequal
and polarized. Debates over democratization and democratic consoli-
dation have given way to others questioning the quality of democracy
in the country. Starting from 2012 the term economic democratization,
Gyeongje Minjuhwa (to complement the political transition which took
place in 1987) has become a common expression in Korean politics and
society. Former President Park Geun-hye made achieving economic
democracy a central feature of her electoral manifesto back in 2012
(Kim 2014).
The demand for economic democracy and more shared welfare is now
the Zeitgeist in Korea (Yu 2013: 83). And yet, questions remain about
how much Korea’s governments are actively engaged in addressing this
issue and what the implications of growing societal divisions are for the
social fabric. Can Korean society stick together or is it already made up
of different segments that are increasingly disconnected from each other?
This book is concerned with understanding the sources of polari-
zation in Korean society and the broader political and social dynamics
this engenders in order to interrogate the state of Korea’s transition to
democracy. This is especially timely in light of the scandals that engulfed
the higher echelon of Korea’s political establishment and the large
industrial conglomerates between late 2016 and early 2017. The con-
nivance of politics and business, shady interference from non-elected
and non-accountable individuals in policy decisions by the head of the
country’s executive and the evolution of ties between politics, business
 1 HELL JOSEON: POLARIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTENTION … 3

and the media have all been exposed. Through vast demonstrations in
Gwanghwamun square, not far from the Blue House (the president’s
official home), sustained over several weeks and growing in numbers
each time, the public, in turn, reminded outside observers of the con-
tentious nature of Korean society and the potential for change that mass
popular protests can generate. Eventually Korea’s political system was
plunged into a deep crisis. South Korea experienced the first removal
of a sitting president through an impeachment, and the country went
through a void of political leadership at a time of growing tensions with
the North and uncertain relations under the new Trump administration.
The individual contributions reflect how it has changed especially since
political democratization and how the deepening inequality is affecting
Korean democracy in such crucial times.

Wealth Concentration, Polarization and Contention

In South Korea the largest 10 corporations contribute more than 76%
of the country’s total GDP while more than 80% of the country’s GDP
is contributed by small- and medium-sized businesses in Japan. Again,
in Japan, conglomerates like Sony, Toyota and Panasonic contribute
less than 20% of the total GDP (Kwon 2013: 19). On the surface level,
the GDP seems to closely follow the trajectory of the Chaebols’ per-
formance, which may give the impression that all is well in the Korean
economy. Below the surface, however, a growing number of citizens
seem to be struggling to cope with serious economic hardship, as wealth
is concentrated in very few hands. According to Nam, 68.5% of the pop-
ulation belonged to the middle class in 1996; figures dropped to 58.5%
in 2006 (Nam 2009: 6). Before the financial crisis, 70–80% of Koreans
believed they belonged to the middle class; after the financial crisis this
dropped to 28% (Nam 2009: 9).
Much of the scholarly and policy discussion about the decline of the
middle class (and the related aspect of the rise of new classes) revolves
around the role and impact of the large industrial conglomerates, the
Chaebols. The origins of the ‘Chaebol economy’ go back to the poli-
cies of the Park Chung-hee administration in the 1960s. During this
time Chaebols collaborated with the state and the Chaebols could lead
the way in the making of Korea’s ‘economic miracle’ thanks to state aid
and special benefits and loans allowed by the state, as well as to the sacri-
fice of labour in 1970s and 1980s. Chaebol business moved from heavy
4 Y. Kim

chemical industry to services and IT industries. As the Chaebols’ grip on

the market becomes pervasive and manifests itself in every area of daily
life from cars and electronics to coffee and bakeries, many now hold
the belief that the power of the Chaebols is beyond the state’s control.
As former president Roh Moo-hyun mentioned at his annual speech in
2005, ‘power is handed over to market […] and the Chaebols hold a
monopolistic position in the market’ (Yu 2013: 79).
This is not to say that wealth is not generated outside of the Chaebol
economy, but those who do accumulate wealth tend to do so riding the
property market boom. Research on income polarization confirms that
the polarization is led by non-labour income (Shin and Shin 2007 cited
in Nam 2009). According to the 2007 income inequality index, non-
labour income inequality was 0.7069, twice higher than that of income
inequality (Kang 2012: 156). Those who belong to the top 20% of asset
owners have a staggering 474 times more assets than those who belong
to the lowest 20% (Ibid, 156). In his research Nak-Nyeon Kim meas-
ured wealth by the inheritance tax and estate multiplier method, which
also shows the top 10% Koreans owning 66.4% of the wealth, while those
below 50% owning only 2% of the total (Business Post October 29, 2015;
Kim 2015: 1).
To be clear, the current predicament has not emerged overnight.
Polarization in Korean society dates back at least as far as the restructur-
ing project adopted under the guidance of the IMF following the Asian
financial crisis that engulfed the Korean economy in 1997. Neither are
inequalities and segmentation unique to Korean society. That said, the
gap between the poor and the rich has widened considerably as a result
of specific government policies.
During the Asian financial crisis the bankruptcies of many large indus-
trial conglomerates such as Daewoo, Kia and Hanbo led not only to
layoffs and vast unemployment at the time, but also to the shrinking of
a middle class where those who lost jobs, security and their position in
society could not ‘bounce back’ and lay in a socio-economic limbo in
the following decades. Some sought to cope by opening small businesses,
which engendered a race to the bottom on profit margins and fierce
competition in the small business sector, which led to additional losses.
Lack of start-up capital meant many borrowed large sums of money,
incurring significant debt. Subsequent business failure translated into
even bigger losses and pain. This was a predicament that each adminis-
tration inherited from its predecessor and one which all failed to tackle.
 1 HELL JOSEON: POLARIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTENTION … 5

From rags to riches: Government-labour relations in Korean post-war

history and the advent of neo-liberal policies
Some context as to why and how the Korean government and society has
come to this point is needed to understand the discussion that follows.
Under authoritarian rule workers are not allowed to form organized
unions. The Chun Doo-hwan government (1980–1988) was determined
to deter unions from political participation, cracking down on their col-
laboration with political actors such as student activists, opposition intel-
lectuals or political parties. However, this did not prevent unions from
resorting to strikes, demonstrations and a whole variety of repertoires of
contention to voice its demands (Im, this volume, Chap. 2). In fact, the
contentiousness of Korea’s labour and its contribution to the country’s
democratization is well noted in the literature (Lee 2011). The civilian
(but former military) government of Roh Tae-woo (1988–1993) made
some concessions to the workers, while maintaining the pluralist com-
pany unionism introduced by Chun Doo-hwan. Because of the inter-
nal fragmentation of the unions each of them had to negotiate with its
own firm to improve the workers’ conditions and work environment.
Under the highly pluralized unions the Chaebols become responsive to
the militant unions within their own companies and provided an occu-
pational welfare system in the form of housing or subsidizing children’s
education or offering extra training and leisure. This fragmented union-
ism and the Chaebols’ response resulted in large gaps in the welfare sys-
tem between what was happening in large firms and situation with the
small and medium-sized companies that could not afford such schemes
(Kim and Lim 2000 cited in Im, this volume, Chap. 5). As Im notes,
Korea’s labour unions came to be characterized as ‘a mixture of plural-
ist company unionism and paternalistic company welfarism’ (ibid.).
During the Kim Young-sam administration (1993–1998) wages contin-
ued to rise through the unions’ negotiation with the Chaebol compa-
nies; the wage rate in heavy and chemical industries reached such a level
that it started to hamper the sector’s competitiveness in the export mar-
ket. As the Korean economy became more integrated into the global
economy, labour reform became necessary to meet the standards of the
International Labour Organization (ILO) and OECD (Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. With the
reform initiatives, the KCTU (the Korean Confederation of Trade
Unions) led by Chaeya (or known as Jaeya, extra-institutional) labour
6 Y. Kim

movement activists were also invited alongside the main union (FKTU—
Federation of Korean Trade Unions), which is recognized by the gov-
ernment and business, to meet in the Presidential Commission on the
Labour-Management Relations Reforms, though this failed to bring
about effective labour governance to manage challenges from democra-
tization and globalization (Im, this volume, Chap. 5). The Kim Young-
sam administration’s rigorous implementation of such policies ended
with the Asian financial crisis and a number of large companies such as
Hanbo Steel, Kia Motors and Halla Heavy Industry went bankrupt.
The crisis changed the politics of Korea (Kim 2011). The pro-labour
presidential candidate Kim Dae-jung (1998–2003) adopted an ideology
built on a neo-liberal social and economic model as a way proposed by
the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to handle the financial crisis in
South Korea. Although Kim Dae-jung promised market liberalization
and democratization, the match between the two was far from unprob-
lematic. Market liberalization needs a flexible labour market, while an
insecure labour environment undermines democracy. The Kim admin-
istration launched a tripartite commission as a forum where labour,
business and government were supposed to deal with the demands of
a globalized economy, labour rights and democratized work relations;
however, the restructuring program was mostly focused on business effi-
ciency, sacrificing labour rights. The administration ran out of alterna-
tives. Despite the electoral promises, Kim Dae-jung was unable to side
with the labour union and followed the IMF-guided restructuring pro-
gram. The IMF had its way and the Chaebols also benefited as flexibility
was introduced into the labour market. At this point the unions faced
a dilemma, especially the more ‘outsider’ union, the KCTU, as on the
one hand they could have joined the commission, while on the other,
they would have become a partner in an effort that saved the Chaebol-
centred economy. The commission reached an agreement in early 1998
on major issues such as flexible layoffs, legal union activities, recognizing
the teachers union and providing social safety nets. Foreign investment
started to flow into the Korean economy again, and the country was
seemingly over the financial crisis within 6 months of its outbreak (Im,
Chap. 5). Although the state successfully dragged the economy out of
the crisis, it came at a cost. The neo-liberal policies that were seen as the
recipe for doing so actually precipitated fissures within society. Regular
workers who had secured permanent job contracts with big firms were
safe in their positions and had high incomes and a welfare system,
 1 HELL JOSEON: POLARIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTENTION … 7

whereas irregular workers with short-term contracts had low wages and
a less-certain welfare provision. This polarization existed not only within
large firms, but also between large firms and small and medium-sized
companies.
To tackle this issue the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003–2008)
launched a ‘Social Pact for Job Creation’ in early 2004; however the
social dialogue between the government, management and the union
came quickly to a stalemate. The unions suffered from a weak and frag-
mented leadership and were unable to represent all the workers since the
regular workers were unwilling to negotiate benefits for irregular work-
ers. Neo-liberal economic policies, already de facto embraced by the
Kim and Roh administrations gained even further traction during the
Lee Myung-bak administration (2008–2013), himself a former CEO of
Hyundai. The Lee administration became infamous for its pro-Chae-
bol business-friendly policies. In order to boost a shrinking economy,
it implemented neo-liberal business-friendly policies, which resulted in
stronger Chaebols. The alleged benefits were not felt by ordinary peo-
ple who believed their lives had not improved. In actuality, it was quite
the contrary; the size of the middle class shrunk and Korea’s social struc-
ture now looks like an ‘hourglass’ instead of being diamond-shaped (Im,
Chap. 5). Hyung-a Kim (2004), in Chap. 6, calls this condition ‘super-
capitalism’. Some labour unions became accomplices in the perpetuation
of the system. Park Geun-hye (2013–2017) was elected on a platform of
tackling the social impact of such policies. During the presidential cam-
paign on economic democratization, the camp of the ruling party candi-
date, Park Geun-hye, promised banning unfair contracts and regulating
work relations in order to reduce differences between large and small
companies, while Moon Jae-In, the opposition candidate, advocated fur-
ther Chaebol reforms in order to give some breathing space to small and
medium-sized companies. While the two competitive parties both used
the buzzword ‘economic democratization’ in their campaign, the way the
term was understood, let alone the way this might have been achieved,
was clearly very different and contested. The conservative Saenuri Party
saw the Chaebols as playing a major role in boosting the nation’s econ-
omy by expanding business and thus creating jobs. In contrast, the pro-
gressive parties such as the Democratic United Party (DUP) and the
Unified Progressive Party (UPP) considered the Chaebols to be a major
source of problems in a hugely polarized society. They believed that this
situation could only be addressed if the Chaebols and their influence
8 Y. Kim

were reined in. In the end, however, the labour policies adopted by the
Park administration still treated a flexible labour market as an unquestion-
able dogma. The regular workers employed in large heavy and chemical
industries found themselves at the top social strata having secured income
and benefits, while the majority of workers are irregular, including young
part-timers who are exploited by the so-called ‘labour aristocrats’ in the
same company. Part-timers receive less than half of regular workers’ salary
with fixed term contracts. This is not just about job security and income
gaps, of course. Inequality and polarization, as this volume demonstrates,
influence the workers’ social-cultural aspects, as irregular workers cannot
afford private education for their children (a ‘must’ in Korean society)
after regular public school tuition. This in turn undermines any prospect
of upward social mobility.
Inequality and social polarization are issues that Koreans care about
deeply. As Suh notes in his chapter in this volume (Chap. 3), a recent
survey showed that 35.7% of Koreans consider economic equality to be
most essential for democracy. Suh contends that Koreans see communi-
tarian and egalitarian welfare as more important than political freedom or
individual liberty. According to the World Values Survey in 2005–2008,
Koreans see egalitarianism as more important than individualism (51%), a
higher value than in other neighbouring countries in Asia. Koreans also
consider income differences as too wide (75%). Inequality feeds polari-
zation which produces a segmentation of society. Might Korea be mov-
ing to a class-based system? Evidence to that end, based on the available
survey data, is inconclusive, as Youngmi Kim and Sunhee Park show
in Chap. 4. Anecdotal evidence suggests that class is re-emerging as an
important social category, and a category of analysis in understanding
Korea’s socio-political dynamics, but more work is needed in that regard.
At the same time, many Koreans see that ‘exiting’ the (political) system is
no longer an option for getting their interests represented or for address-
ing their grievances. What are the consequences for Korean democracy
then? The civil revolution that was sparked by the outrage over the
Choi Soon-sil scandal in the fall of 2016—examined in greater detail in
Chap. 7 and the concluding chapter of this volume—gives some hope.
Outrage-fuelled demonstrations of over a million citizens in the streets of
Seoul and other cities and eventually, in the face of popular pressure the
legislature, including many MPs of Park Geun-hye’s own party, passed a
motion to impeach the (former) president (technically suspending her),
herself reluctant to either explain her own view or to resign. In March
 1 HELL JOSEON: POLARIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTENTION … 9

2017 the Constitutional Court upheld the motion with a ruling that for-
malized the impeachment, removing her from office and paving the way
for the presidential elections. In the face of privilege, entitlement and
abuse of power, ordinary Korean citizens rebelled, bringing about politi-
cal change.

Aims and Contribution
This edited collection, which grows out of two conferences on this topic
held at Central European University, Budapest (Hungary) in 2013 and
2014, aims to investigate the sources of polarization in contemporary
Korea, the political contention this fuels and the way this is reshaping
society. To do so, it adopts a dual focus. The first is on the agency and
the specific policies of successive administrations. While structural con-
straints, including international ones, certainly do account for Korea’s
embrace of neo-liberal economic and social policies, the story the vol-
ume’s contributors tell is one that emphasizes agency over structure.
Policies do not just happen. They are made. The contributors focus on
various administrations, some (Im and Suh) through a more historical
overview, others zooming in on specific presidencies (Kim). The second
focus is on different social groups, their experiences, voices and impact
on government and society at large. Again, these are not conceived of
as passive recipients of government policies. Rather they are a complex
and internally fragmented ensemble, with internal agendas, preferences
and divisions. Moreover, the contributors show that while some groups,
from immigrants to militant unions, have sought to counter government
policies and in some cases even change them, others (regular workers
and the unions protecting their interests) have joined efforts with the
government in the preservation of privilege and a ‘labour aristocracy’, as
Hyung-a Kim notes in Chap. 6. Government and society (labour, immi-
grants) are not worlds apart though, and the book examines a conten-
tious government-society relationship through a series of in-depth case
studies (tripartite commissions; legislative changes allowing voting rights
to immigrants in local elections). What emerges is a picture of a complex,
increasingly segmented society, but one that is still contentious, where
the groups on the losing side do not give up and have scored some victo-
ries against all odds.
The volume’s contributions, coming from scholars with various dis-
ciplinary backgrounds (from history and sociology to international
10 Y. Kim

relations, from political science to economics) fundamentally deal with

and seek to bring two strands of scholarship into a conversation. The first
one is the work on the political economy of development, and specifically
of Korea’s economic and democratic development, which has devoted
more attention to macro-economic processes (Sun 2002; H. Kim 2004;
Lew 2013; Kim and Shin 2004; Yap 2013; Gray 2014; Mathews 1998;
Lim and Chang 2007). The second is scholarship on social contention
and its impact on (the quality of) Korea’s democracy (S. Kim 2000,
2002, 2003; Choi 2002; Koo 2001; H. Kim 2013; Shin 2006; Moon
2002; Koo 1993; Cho 1998, 2006; Lee 2014, 2015; Yap 2013). In their
chapters, the contributors draw on the growing scholarship on the active
social and political role of labour and the contentious nature of the rela-
tionship between government and unions (Lee 2011; Gray 2007a, 2014:
H. Kim 2004; Kim and Sorensen 2015), including that on issue-based
activities of grassroots digitally-enable movements (Kim 2008; Shin
2005; Min 2003, Hauben 2005; Chang and Lee 2006). Thus, the vol-
ume seeks to intervene to the debate on the effects of growing inequali-
ties on Korean society and the rise of a poorer, alienated and aggrieved
‘under-class’ (Chang 2007, 2012; Shin and Shin 2007; Nam 2009;
Kwon 2013; Keum 2011; Kang 2012; Gray 2007a, b, 2008).

Argument
The story the books tells is one of a society acutely divided by the neo-
liberal policies that accompanied the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the
intervening years. Rescuing the Chaebols at all costs was seen as the only
feasible way to salvage first and boost the economy later. A set of neo-
liberal social and economic policies reshaped the labour market around
the dogma of flexibility and had wide-ranging social, economic and politi-
cal consequences. As part of this bigger picture, the various contributions
develop three distinct arguments. The first one is about the long-term
continuities of successive governments which, even before the 1997 cri-
sis, had embraced the ideology of labour market flexibility along with the
social and economic costs that came with it, excluding possible alterna-
tives built around cooperation and concertation (Im in Chaps. 2 and 5)
or looking back into the communitarian roots of Korean agricultural
society (Park in Chap. 8). The second is about the contentious nature
of Korean society, which emerges strongly in all contributions. In their
appraisal of civil society, Fiori and S. Kim (Chap. 7) argue that this has
 1 HELL JOSEON: POLARIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTENTION … 11

changed considerably since democratization, and not for the better, as

civil society organizations replicate the problems plaguing political par-
ties. They are torn by ideological strife, are increasingly decoupled by
ordinary citizens and their relationship with the government has also
deteriorated. Their role and impact is being questioned. H. Kim’s analysis
in Chap. 6 unpacks organized labour, showing intra-labour divisions and
the formation of a faction-prone elitist union in Korea, keen on coop-
erating with large firms and the government. The role of government
and intelligence services in manipulating the official union was crucial to
ensuring a split among the likely sources of opposition to authoritarian
rule. This split led to the creation of a labour aristocracy, as Kim calls it,
whereby a small circle of union-affiliated regular workers employed by
big firms came to enjoy the security and the benefits reserved for few.
Youngmi Kim and Sunhee Park’s chapter use data from Korea’s elections
to reflect on the emergence of new social and political cleavages and the
possible—and widely expected—emergence of class as a key concept to
understand contemporary Korean society. The third is that of a changing
face of Korean society brought about by growing immigration (Pedroza
and Mosler, Chap. 9) and international marriages (Kim, Chap. 10).
Though still small in scale, collective action has brought about some
unexpected changes in voting rights for immigrants, as Pedroza and
Mosler nicely show in their contribution. Taken together, this volume’s
contributions suggest that dealing with inequalities and polarization are
challenges that Korean policy-makers can no longer postpone. The solu-
tion, however, cannot be, once again, one that is imposed from the top
down, but instead needs to arise from a broad conversation that includes
all segments of Korean society, not just the privileged ones. Korea is
indeed at a crossroads.

Book Overview
In Chap. 2 Hyug-Baeg Im contextualizes his discussion of the effects
of neo-liberalism in the debate over the three-corner relationship with
globalization and democracy. While proponents of neo-liberal policies
believed that globalization would promote democracy and democracy, in
turn, would enhance globalization, critics countered that globalization
can also undermine democracy, while others suggested that democracy
could also obstruct the globalization of national economies. The ques-
tion Im engages with in his contribution is the following: under what
12 Y. Kim

circumstances does globalization deepen social polarization, ultimately

weakening democracy? The contribution focuses on the case study of the
Lee Myung-bak administration as this, more than its predecessors, has
been when neo-liberal policies favoured the large industrial conglom-
erates and rendered social polarization more acute. The net result was
the emergence of new polarized classes, different income groups and a
polarized education environment, and a stark divide between regular and
irregular workers. In his pursuit for a way out of the status quo, Im calls
for policy innovation ‘for a fair society’ aimed at expanding the size of
the middle class, extending and bettering the welfare system to include
irregular workers while also supporting development and growth. Im
draws on Hirschman’s work on ‘possibilism’ (Hirschman 1971; Adelman
2013) and reform mongering (Hirschman 1963) as he proposes any
alternative solutions for growth and welfare society. In his chapter Im
argues that it is not necessarily globalization that induces social polariza-
tion, but rather that agency lies with those political actors adopting spe-
cific policies. The Lee Myung-bak administration, whose starting point
was that pro-business policies would generate growth and create jobs, is
thus a case in point of a government that would not provide policies for
fair society but relied on neo-liberal policies focusing on the supply side
only. However, an expanded Chaebols-centred economy did not guar-
antee more jobs for ordinary people nor did it set in place a fair business
environment. As neo-liberal policies pushed for state downsize and with-
drawal, the reduction of social services, deregularization and privatiza-
tion, Im argues this led to a more technocratic government which lacks
deliberations with the National Assembly. The consequences extend way
beyond the Korean case, with the legitimacy of representative institutions
being eroded and called into question (Wuger 1998).
Chapter 3 provides a historical tour d’horizon of economic and demo-
cratic development in Korea, starting from the economic miracle under
the Park Chung-hee administration, to democratization and democratic
consolidation, the financial crisis and its aftermath. Doowon Suh argues
that electoral democracy did not lead to economic and cultural democ-
racy. Because of the severe income inequality and disappointment with
the government’s failure to tackle this issue, Korea is further divided by
region, ideology, generation and now by an emerging class division. Suh
warns that democracy is backsliding as the 2012 presidential election
shows nostalgia for the authoritarian government and its efficacy. The
export-oriented industrialization in general can, of course, result in high
 1 HELL JOSEON: POLARIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTENTION … 13

inequality; however, the Park administration’s careful mixed effective gov-

ernance encouraged a vocational welfare system that narrowed social and
income inequality. Unlike in the well-known U-shaped theory, the rela-
tionship between economic growth and inequality in Korea showed the
reverse outcome: higher economic growth and less inequality. Suh con-
cludes that the neo-liberal reform during the financial crisis created a more
harmful environment for democracy. Furthermore, Suh argues that a capi-
talist market needs institutionalized market regulation to correct inequali-
ties and the increased poverty resulting from free competition and the
monopolization of the market. Drawing on the Korea Barometer Survey
(KBS) data in Chap. 4, Youngmi Kim and Sunhee Park examine the
determinants of party support over a period of two decades (until 2010,
when the latest data were available). Analysis confirms the persistence of
old cleavages (region, ideology, age), whereas evidence concerning the
possible rise of new ones (class, most notably) is at present inconclusive.
The next two chapters shift the attention from government policies to
labour, labour unions, and the deepening gulf between government and
labour on the one hand and between regular and irregular workers on
the other. In Chap. 5 Im provides a historical trajectory of labour union
movements from the authoritarian period through democratization up
to the present day. What emerges is a bleak picture of polarized labour
unions against labour aristocrats, who enjoy welfare protection and a reg-
ular and high income but are outnumbered by irregular workers who are
on short-term contracts and have no social welfare support. Im argues
that the labour unions such as Korea Trade Commission (KTC) should
engage in a social dialogue on the issue of the insecure work environ-
ment of irregular workers, though this is not happening due to the mon-
olithic, centralized and internally non-democratic structure of the unions.
In Chap. 6 Hyung-a Kim discusses detailed cases of labour polariza-
tion between what she terms the labour aristocracy and irregular workers
in post-developmental Korea. Kim appraises the origins, evolution and
splits within Korea’s labour unions, and the problematically close rela-
tionship some of these have enjoyed with the authoritarian government
and even the intelligence services. Borrowing the concept of Reich’s
‘supercapitalism’, which states that ‘democracy may not be essential to
capitalism (Reich 2007: 9)’, Kim argues that a focus on state-led devel-
opment and an ‘economy first’ mentality continued in the post-Asian
financial crisis period, with a flexible labour market rendering workers,
most notably the irregular ones, especially vulnerable. Kim concludes
14 Y. Kim

three main features on the polarization of the labour aristocrats and the
non-regular workers. First the labour flexibility that accompanied neo-
liberal globalization and the financial crisis led Korea into the Chaebol-
centred economy with supercapitalism. As a result, the Chaebol economy
is competitive in the global market but this is only due to the sacrifice of
the majority of irregular workers. The cooperation between management
and the past militant labour union is achieved on the basis of exploita-
tion of irregular workers within each company-based union. Second,
supercapitalism allowed the Chaebol companies to be highly influential
in politics, policies, and society, and now they are beyond the control of
the state. Chaebol firms have relatively good relations with the militant
union within their own company, but they do allow the system where
regular workers exploit irregular workers at the same firm for their own
interest, and thus the irregular workers’ conditions become the buffer
between the management and the militant union. Finally, Kim argues
that while the labour aristocracy seems to enjoy their secure job, high
income and benefits of social welfare, they comprise only 10% of the
total labour force; the militant labour union is also ageing.
In Chap. 7 Antonio Fiori and Sunhyuk Kim assess the relationship
between the state and civil society since democratization. Looking at six
governments after democratization the authors examine how the role of
civil society has changed and how it has interacted with different gov-
ernments. Social movements during the authoritarian regimes primarily
sought to achieve democratization. After democratization, civil move-
ments have moved away from being ‘people’s movements’ (Minjung
undong) and towards ‘citizens’ movements’ (Simin undong), which are
more moderate and diversified movements. Citizens’ movements played
their role as ‘policy entrepreneurs’ (Fiori and Kim 2011; Kim 2013) rais-
ing issues on environment and gender equality, among others. Fiori and
Kim argue that the previous two progressive governments had main-
tained close relations with civil society; however, since the conservative
Lee Myung-bak administration, the relationship has deteriorated sharply.
Furthermore, civil society has become ideologically polarized since the
Roh Moo-hyun administration took over North Korea, especially in
relation to their policies towards the Chaebols. This chapter illustrates
some of the recent failures in the evolution of Korean civil society, its
being mired in ideological battles, its gradual detachment from ordinary
citizens and its reliance on financial support from the state. In Chap. 8
Albert Park argues that even an economic democracy-centred critique
 1 HELL JOSEON: POLARIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTENTION … 15

of the current development path does not actually propose any alterna-
tive to the status quo. Rather, he maintains, a possible option requires
looking at Korea’s experience with agricultural cooperatives. This has the
advantage of shifting the focus away from the attainment of individual
benefits to the pursuit of the common good and the idea of commu-
nity. Park uses the case of modern Korea’s experience of grassroots-level
cooperation within an agricultural society to advance an idea of a com-
munity-centred society (as opposed to individuals and consumers).
Looking at the cooperative movements of the YMCA, Presbyterian and
Cheondogyo (indigenous religion) in 1920s and 1930s, Park examines
how agricultural societies were built around notions of community ethics
and cooperation. Next, he turns to the contemporary cooperative move-
ment in which the Korean Peasants League (KPL) and Korean Woman’s
Peasant Association (KWPA) organized agricultural cooperatives such as
iCOOP Korea, Hansalim and Dure as concrete ways of actualizing the
idea of economic democracy.
Chapters 9 and 10 shift the attention to another area in which
Korean society is changing: immigration, and its demographic impact
on a society that has long been almost mono-ethnic and is now becom-
ing increasingly plural. In Chap. 9 Luicy Pedroza and Hannes Mosler
focus on one aspect of this diversity by bringing attention to the issue
of migrants’ voting rights in the local elections. Though a noteworthy
achievement, the impact is still small as only a fraction of the population
received the benefits from this legislative change. Among the migrants,
only the F-5 visa holders were afforded voting rights, which is less than
10% of the total migrants. The enfranchisement of migrants is the result
of a diplomatic strategy to influence Japan’s reform of its own legisla-
tion to ensure voting rights to local Koreans. Specifically, the authors
argue that Mindan, the ethnic Koreans’ civil society organization in
Japan, was most active and influential in bringing about the migrant
enfranchisement reform in South Korea. Mindan was active in push-
ing for voting rights lobbying legislators in Japan as well as the Korean
government. Minbyon, the ‘lawyers for a democratic society’, based in
Korea also played crucial role in bridging Korean and Japanese activi-
ties over enfranchisement and migrants’ human rights with voting rights
for immigrants in Korea. An important point made by Pedroza and
Mosler in their chapter is that while NGOs have been actively pushing
for reforming the law to grant voting rights, this did not alter the ethno-
centric view of South Korea’s, nor did the new law engender a higher
Another random document with
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 De sorte que plus que tout, je crois le sentiment de ma dignité
arrêta mon élan.
Slang achevait tranquillement sa toilette qu’il compléta par une
cravate écossaise, un gilet de piqué blanc, un veston de cheviotte
bleue ; il coiffa un chapeau melon en feutre gris, prit une badine de
bambou puis sortit d’un tiroir une paire de gants jaunes qui n’avaient
jamais été ouverts et que, précautionneusement, il garda à demi
ployés dans sa main.
Cependant, il se souvint qu’il avait oublié quelque chose dans
ses vêtements de travail : c’était un portefeuille en cuir fauve, tout
bourré de papiers qu’il glissa furtivement dans sa poche comme s’il
eût craint que je pusse apercevoir ce qu’il contenait.
Puis il consulta sa montre :
— Hurrah ! s’écria-t-il, j’ai encore le temps de prendre le train de
onze heures quarante-six… Au revoir, fellow !… Va déjeuner dans le
pays… tu trouveras à l’angle de Sussex-Street et de Wimbledon-
Place un petit restaurant pas cher où le stout est excellent… Je te
dirais bien de rester ici… mais tu comprends, ce n’est pas
possible… Tant que je suis là, ça va bien, mais en mon absence,
Betzy pourrait trouver cela drôle… Je rentrerai probablement vers
cinq heures… six heures au plus tard… Allons ! good bye ! tâche de
ne pas t’enivrer…
Et Slang, après m’avoir donné une vigoureuse poignée de main,
partit d’un pas rapide.
Du seuil de la grille, je le vis s’éloigner, s’engager dans l’avenue
qui conduit à la gare, puis disparaître entre les arbres.
Mes yeux n’avaient pas quitté ses semelles. Il me semblait
qu’avec elles cet homme emportait tout mon bien !
Ce que l’on va lire maintenant paraîtra peut-être invraisemblable
à certains lecteurs. Je les supplie, ceux-là, de me faire crédit de
quelque confiance ; ils verront par la suite si j’ai dénaturé ou surfait
quoi que ce soit dans une affaire qui fut certainement la plus
compliquée de toutes celles que j’eus à instruire, durant ma carrière
déjà longue de détective amateur.
 V
MAUVAIS DÉPART

Sans perdre une minute, je pris, comme on dit, mes jambes à

mon cou dans la direction du petit bois qui m’avait déjà servi d’asile
et j’en sortis presque aussitôt transformé en parfait gentleman.
J’avais même eu la chance de retrouver mon chapeau.
Au lieu de rentrer chez moi, je me dirigeai précipitamment chez
un marchand d’automobiles nommé Bloxham qui demeurait à
l’entrée de la ville et je pénétrai dans son garage en hurlant :
— Bloxham !… Bloxham !…
Un petit homme aux yeux bigles sortit de derrière une auto dont il
était en train de regonfler les pneus et me regarda d’un air ahuri :
— Qu’y a-t-il pour votre service, monsieur ? demanda-t-il en se
découvrant.
— Voyons… avez-vous donc perdu la tête, Bloxham ?
Comment ? vous ne me reconnaissez pas ?
— Non monsieur… c’est-à-dire qu’il me semble bien vous avoir
déjà vu quelque part… mais…
Je songeai aussitôt à mon maquillage que je n’avais pas eu le
temps d’enlever :
 — Je vous dirai mon nom tout à l’heure… pour le moment
contentez-vous de savoir que j’exige de vous un service… il faut que
j’arrive à Melbourne avant le train qui part de Broad-West à onze
heures quarante-six.
Le petit homme tressauta comme s’il eût été surpris par un
courant électrique, et ses deux pupilles vinrent affleurer la racine de
son nez.
— Vous n’y pensez pas ! s’écria-t-il en se retournant vers
l’horloge placée dans le fond du garage… il est exactement onze
heures quarante-deux ; le train va partir dans quatre minutes.
— Il le faut, vous dis-je… Je paierai ce qu’il faudra… et d’avance
encore… Avez-vous une voiture prête ?
— Celle-ci… mais il faut que je regonfle un pneu…
— Faites vite alors !…
— Je vous assure, monsieur…
— M’avez-vous entendu, Bloxham ?
— Vraiment c’est impossible… oui, c’est réellement impossible…
grognait le petit homme en ajustant son raccord sur la valve… il
faudrait faire du quatre-vingt-dix de moyenne…
— On fera du cent s’il le faut ! m’écriai-je…
Et pendant que le pauvre Bloxham actionnait désespérément sa
pompe, je pris un seau, allai le remplir à une fontaine et, me servant
de mon mouchoir en guise de serviette, j’enlevai rapidement l’affreux
enduit qui me barbouillait le visage.
— Eh bien ! me reconnaissez-vous maintenant ? demandai-je en
m’approchant.
— Oh ! Monsieur Dickson… Quelle surprise !… Ah ! par
exemple !… Si jamais j’aurais pu penser que c’était vous, ce vilain
individu… pardon… je voulais dire…
— C’est bon… hâtez-vous…
— Du moment que c’est pour vous obliger, monsieur Dickson, je
ferai l’impossible…
 Et de fait, Bloxham se mit à pomper avec une énergie
désespérée.
Cet homme me devait quelque reconnaissance, car je m’étais
récemment occupé pour lui d’une affaire assez embrouillée, dans
laquelle il se trouvait compromis, quoiqu’il fût tout à fait innocent, et
j’avais fini par mettre la main sur les vrais coupables.
J’avais sauvé la réputation de Bloxham et j’étais sûr qu’il ferait
tout pour sauvegarder la mienne.
— Vite !… vite !… activons, m’écriai-je après avoir regardé ma
montre… nous n’avons plus qu’une minute…
— C’est prêt, monsieur Dickson, répondit Bloxham en dévissant
son raccord… Montez, nous allons partir aussitôt.
Et il appela :
— Jarry ! Jarry !
Une figure cramoisie s’encadra dans un guichet.
— Surveillez le garage… Jarry… je m’absente pour quelques
heures… et surtout si M. Sharper veut encore essayer la vingt-
quatre chevaux, dites qu’elle est en réparation.
— All right ! répondit l’individu qu’il avait interpellé… on aura
l’œil…
Déjà, Bloxham avait donné un tour de manivelle et le moteur
battait avec une trépidation sonore.
Il sauta au volant, actionna le levier de mise en marche et nous
partîmes.
A ce moment même, un coup de sifflet strident nous annonçait
l’arrivée en gare du rapide de onze heures quarante-six.
La distance qui sépare Melbourne de Broad-West n’est que de
quarante-deux kilomètres par chemin de fer, mais on en compte
cinquante-trois par la route qui décrit de nombreuses courbes et au
milieu de laquelle se trouve une côte de douze cents mètres
excessivement rapide.
 De plus, — et là était la difficulté — le rapide qui ne s’arrête plus
entre Broad-West et la capitale de l’État de Victoria met juste vingt-
cinq minutes pour effectuer le parcours.
Il fallait donc que nous le gagnions de vitesse.
Avec une quarante chevaux comme celle que nous montions, la
chose était facile, en admettant que nous ne rencontrions sur la
route aucun encombrement et que nous traversions à toute allure
Long-House et Merry-Town, deux petites localités assez désertes,
situées sur notre passage.
Pendant sept kilomètres environ, nous longeâmes la voie du
chemin de fer et je pus constater avec un vrai bonheur que nous
« semions » le rapide, mais il nous fallut bientôt nous engager dans
un chemin sinueux et aborder la fameuse côte de Devil, dont la
pente, d’après les cartes, est de vingt pour cent !
L’auto de Bloxham enleva la rampe en troisième et dévala
ensuite vers Long-House à une allure fantastique.
Le rapide devait être à cette minute très loin derrière nous et je
jubilais intérieurement, en songeant à la tranquillité de Slang, qui
était à cent lieues de se douter qu’un détective allait le prendre en
filature au débarcadère de Melbourne pour ne plus le lâcher d’une
semelle.
Mon plan était simple.
Je m’attacherais à ses pas, ou si besoin était, je le ferais suivre
par des agents secrets, ma modeste personne, quelque active
qu’elle fût, n’étant pas encore parvenue à se dédoubler.
Il fallait, en effet, avant de mettre les menottes à mon « pseudo-
cousin », recueillir certains indices qui m’étaient indispensables.
L’assassin de M. Ugo Chancer pouvait avoir des complices. Je me
trouverais alors avoir affaire à une bande puissamment organisée
pour le cambriolage et le vol.
Si cela était, la découverte d’une association de malfaiteurs, sur
d’aussi faibles indices, me classerait définitivement parmi les plus
fins limiers de police et une pensée d’orgueil intime, autant que de
curiosité professionnelle, m’aiguillonnait de plus en plus à mesure
que nous approchions de Melbourne.
Oui, plus je réfléchissais, plus j’arrivais à me persuader que
j’allais me trouver en présence d’une sorte de Robber’s Company
semblable à celle de Brisbane.
Slang paraissait trop sot pour avoir conduit seul cette affaire…
Cependant il était l’instrument du meurtre, tout en témoignait et il
importait d’élucider promptement ce qui restait de ténébreux dans
l’exécution d’un crime aussi habilement conçu.
Et d’abord, il n’était pas admissible que le voleur-assassin s’en
fût allé sans tirer aucun profit de son crime.
Nous avions trouvé dans le secrétaire de M. Ugo Chancer une
forte somme en or, mais il n’était pas croyable que la fortune du
vieux de Green-Park se réduisît à cent quatre-vingt-trois livres en
monnaie courante.
Il devait avoir des titres déposés chez un ou plusieurs hommes
d’affaires, comme l’insinuait le chief-inspector Bailey.
Peut-être ?
Mais cela n’expliquait pas le geste, véritablement par trop
désintéressé, du cambrioleur assassin.
De toute façon, il était urgent que j’entrasse en relations avec
l’homme d’affaires de la victime ; or un hasard providentiel m’avait,
on le sait, livré le nom de M. R. C. Withworth, 18, Fitzroy Street, à
Melbourne.
Je devais donc m’adresser à ce M. Withworth qui envoyait au
défunt des plis cachetés et semblait être, sinon le confident, du
moins l’intermédiaire entre M. Ugo Chancer et les différentes
banques d’Australie.
Nous venions de dépasser Merry-Town et nous apercevions déjà
les premières maisons de Melbourne, quand notre automobile eut
soudain des ratés.
Cela se traduisit d’abord par quelques explosions rapides et
bruyantes qui peu à peu s’atténuèrent pour se changer en un
pénible crachotement de valétudinaire.
C’était la panne ! l’affreuse panne devenue pourtant si rare
aujourd’hui grâce aux merveilleux perfectionnements de l’industrie
automobile.
J’avais pâli et Bloxham avait proféré un mot énergique que la
bienséance ne me permet pas de reproduire ici…
— Voyez vite ce que c’est ! m’écriai-je en secouant mon
malheureux conducteur par le bras.
Bloxham sauta sur la route, releva le capot de la voiture et se mit
à examiner les quatre cylindres.
— Eh bien ? demandai-je…
— C’est l’allumage qui ne se fait plus, répondit-il, le nez sur le
moteur.
— Vérifiez vite… by God !
— Les bougies sont en bon état…
— Votre huile donne bien ?
— Oui…
— Alors ?
Tout à coup, il se frappa le front d’un geste désespéré, courut au
réservoir de cuivre placé à l’arrière de la voiture, en dévissa
rapidement le bouchon et s’écria, après avoir jeté un coup d’œil
dans l’intérieur :
— Il n’y a plus d’essence, monsieur Dickson !…
J’eus envie de sauter sur cet homme, de le prendre à la gorge et
de l’étrangler comme un poulet…
Fort heureusement, je me contins et ma rage s’exhala en injures
et en imprécations.
— Je croyais que nous aurions assez d’essence, monsieur
Dickson, balbutiait Bloxham en se frappant la poitrine à coups
redoublés comme un gorille aux abois.
 — Vous croyiez ! vous croyiez !… Ah ! idiot ! crétin ! triple brute !…
Vous mériteriez… A cause de vous un assassin des plus dangereux
va m’échapper… Je vais être perdu de réputation… Je…
Le sifflet narquois du rapide passant à quelques mètres de la
route me coupa la phrase sur les lèvres et me jeta dans un état de
fureur indescriptible…
Si encore j’avais pu télégraphier, téléphoner à la gare de
Melbourne… Mais non, nous étions à trois milles au moins de Merry-
Town et le train serait arrivé avant que j’eusse atteint le bureau de
poste de cette localité.
J’étais hors de moi… Je trépignais comme un enfant à qui on a
volé ses billes, et un facteur qui passait sur la route me prit sans
doute pour un fou, car il s’enfuit de toute la vitesse de ses jambes.
Quant à Bloxham il s’était accroupi dans la poussière et poussait
des cris déchirants.
Je regrette qu’un photographe amateur ne nous ait pas pris à ce
moment avec son kodak car cela aurait fait un cliché des plus
amusants pour le Great Humoristicou l’Australian Jester.
Enfin je me calmai et regardai ma montre.
Il était exactement midi dix et l’express allait entrer en gare de
Melbourne…
— Tout n’est peut-être pas perdu… pensai-je. Il se peut fort bien
que mon Slang revienne à la villa Crawford… Somme toute, il n’a
aucune raison de se méfier… Pourquoi s’enfuirait-il ? Ce serait
avouer son crime…
Et j’en arrivai presque à me persuader que je le retrouverais le
soir, dans le petit pavillon dont il m’avait fait les honneurs avec une
cordialité si touchante.
En tout cas, puisque je l’avais laissé échapper, il fallait que je
continuasse mon enquête, que je visse M. Withworth et le chief-
inspector de Melbourne. Et qui sait si je ne rencontrerais pas ce
bandit de Slang dans quelque rue de la ville ? C’était un alcoolique
invétéré et il serait bien surprenant qu’il ne fît pas de nombreuses
stations dans les bars de Collingswood ou de Northcote.
— Combien d’ici à Melbourne ? demandai-je à Bloxham qui se
lamentait toujours dans la poussière.
— Quatre milles, monsieur Dickson… bégaya le pauvre homme
en agitant ses petits bras pareils à des ailerons.
— C’est bien… je vais les faire à pied. Excusez-moi, Bloxham, si
je vous ai un peu malmené tout à l’heure, mais je ne vous en veux
plus… Combien vous dois-je ?
— Vous plaisantez, monsieur Dickson… D’ailleurs je n’accepterai
jamais de vous quoi que ce soit… je vous dois trop pour cela… Ah !
quelle fatalité, by God ! quelle fatalité ! Pour une fois que je voulais
vous être agréable !
— L’occasion se représentera, Bloxham, soyez-en sûr… Et
tenez… puisque vous désirez m’obliger, il y a un moyen…
— Oh ! dites, monsieur Dickson !
— C’est d’avoir toujours dans votre garage de Broad-West une
voiture prête à partir… une voiture avec de l’essence… par
exemple…
— Comptez sur moi, monsieur Dickson… et veuillez encore une
fois agréer toutes mes excuses…
— Vous êtes tout excusé, mon ami, répondis-je en donnant au
malheureux chauffeur une tape amicale dans le dos — ce qui eut
pour effet de soulever un affreux nuage de poussière — et croyez
que je regrette vivement les qualificatifs un peu désobligeants dont
je me suis servi à votre endroit… Allons, good bye !… J’irai
probablement vous rendre visite ce soir…
Et après m’être épousseté tant bien que mal avec mon mouchoir,
je me dirigeai pédestrement vers Melbourne.
 VI
L’HOMME D’AFFAIRES DE FITZROY-
STREET

Je ne sais s’il est arrivé à quelqu’un de mes lecteurs de quitter

tout à coup, pour cause de panne, une confortable automobile et de
faire dans la poussière, sous un soleil de plomb, quatre milles
anglais, ce qui représente exactement quatre fois seize cent neuf
mètres, c’est-à-dire une bonne lieue et demie de France.
Cela manque de charme, surtout pour un détective qui a caressé
un instant l’idée de « pincer » un criminel et qui voit soudain ce
criminel prendre sur lui une avance considérable.
La nature m’a heureusement doué d’une certaine dose de
philosophie, sans quoi, dans différentes circonstances, j’aurais,
comme on dit, jeté bien souvent le manche après la cognée.
Mais j’ai du ressort : je ressemble un peu à ces stayers qui
reprennent de la vigueur et de l’énergie en apercevant le poteau… et
dont les superbes efforts déconcertent toutes les prévisions.
Mon overcoat sous le bras, j’avalai donc mes quatre milles et
quand je pénétrai dans le faubourg de Richmond qui mène à
Melbourne-Ville, il était exactement une heure trente-cinq.
 Hélant alors un hansom qui maraudait en cherchant l’ombre, je
me fis conduire à Wilson-Hall, dans une petite rue où je savais
trouver un lavatory.
Une fois rasé, coiffé, brossé, ciré, je remontai en voiture en jetant
cette adresse au cabman :
— 18, Fitzroy-Street.
L’homme acquiesça d’un signe, éteignit sa pipe qu’il avait
allumée pendant que je me faisais bichonner et enleva son cheval
d’un vigoureux claquement de langue.
Le hansom partit comme un trait, traversa à toute allure Victoria-
Parade, longea la cathédrale Saint-Paul, Albert-Park et Gressington,
puis ralentit brusquement devant un immeuble de huit étages.
— Stop ! dis-je au cabman.
— Well ! fit l’homme en rallumant sa pipe et en tirant de dessous
son siège un numéro du Melbourne Magazine.
La maison devant laquelle je me trouvais semblait de haut en bas
être habitée bourgeoisement.
A ma grande surprise, je ne voyais ni sur la porte d’entrée ni sur
les balcons de la façade aucune de ces plaques de tôle vernie ou
émaillée qui signalent ordinairement les maisons de banque et
d’affaires ou les officiers ministériels. Je ne découvris rien autre que
la lanterne rouge d’un médecin [5] .
[5] En Angleterre et en Australie les médecins mettent
à leur porte une lanterne rouge semblable à celle de nos
commissariats.

N. de l’A.

Pourtant, je pénétrai sous le vestibule afin de consulter la liste

des locataires, et j’y trouvai, à ma grande satisfaction, l’indication
que je désirais.

Third floor. — C. A. Withworth.

 Agent.

Je grimpai quatre à quatre les escaliers et sonnai à une grande

porte brune à deux battants.
Une accorte petite bonne vint m’ouvrir. Je lui remis ma carte
qu’elle lut aussitôt avec un sans-gêne qui me surprit un peu, puis
elle disparut dans un couloir très sombre, éclairé par une lanterne en
fer forgé représentant un satyre jouant de la flûte.
Quelques instants après, elle reparaissait, me faisait signe de la
suivre et m’introduisait dans un cabinet de travail où un
amoncellement d’objets de toutes sortes que je distinguai mal en
entrant, interceptait ou plutôt absorbait la lumière.
Un vieillard de petite taille se tenait debout dans la partie la plus
éclairée, devant une table de vieux chêne : il était chenu et très
barbu, à la façon de ces singes de l’Inde qu’on appelle gibbons.
C’est du moins l’impression que j’en eus tout d’abord.
— Monsieur Withworth ? demandai-je.
— C’est moi, répondit le vieillard en me désignant un siège.
Je m’assis.
Le haut fauteuil sur lequel j’avais pris place me paraissait être un
de ces meubles de musée disgracieux et incommodes auxquels
l’ancienneté seule donne quelque valeur.
L’occupant du lieu me faisait aussi plutôt l’effet d’un
collectionneur que d’un businessman, car je distinguai, derrière lui,
entre deux bahuts en bois sculpté, la haute silhouette d’une armure
érigée toute droite, une hallebarde au gantelet.
M. Withworth attendait que je l’instruisisse du motif de ma visite
et il me faisait de petits signes interrogateurs tout en rajustant sa
robe de chambre.
— Vous savez qui je suis ? dis-je d’un ton confidentiel.
Mon interlocuteur inclina la tête.
 — Et vous savez également que M. Ugo Chancer, de Green-
Park, est mort ?
— J’ai fait frapper d’opposition tous les titres que possédait le
défunt.
— Vous allez au-devant de ma question, monsieur ; ainsi vous
étiez l’homme d’affaires de ce pauvre M. Chancer ?
— Son homme de confiance, oui… je m’occupais de ses
placements… M. Ugo Chancer était mon meilleur ami.
— Tout va bien alors et je me félicite du hasard qui m’a mis en
possession de votre adresse… Vous voyiez souvent M. Chancer ?
— Il y a vingt-cinq ans que je ne l’ai vu ; mais il était, je vous le
répète, mon meilleur ami ;… nos relations s’entretenaient par
correspondance.
— Alors vous êtes absolument au courant de la situation de
fortune de M. Chancer ?
— Oui… j’opérais en son nom toutes les ventes et tous les
achats de valeurs.
— Vous devez avoir les numéros de ses titres ?
— Tous, oui monsieur.
— Mais pas les titres ?
— Non… M. Ugo Chancer les gardait chez lui.
— Ils ont donc été volés ?
— Je l’ai pensé, c’est pourquoi je les ai fait frapper d’opposition.
— C’est une sage précaution qui pourra nous être fort utile pour
la suite de l’affaire. Excusez-moi, monsieur, mais votre opinion n’est-
elle pas que M. Ugo Chancer a été assassiné ?
— Je n’ai pas d’opinion… c’est à la police de m’en faire une… j’ai
agi comme je croyais devoir le faire… voilà tout.
— Et vous avez été très bien inspiré, monsieur… Mon avis à moi
c’est que M. Chancer a été victime d’un cambrioleur-assassin… et je
suis en ce moment sur une piste.
 — Que vous croyez bonne ?
— Oui…
— Allons, tant mieux !
— Je dois d’abord vous dire que je me suis livré à une
perquisition chez le défunt et que je n’ai trouvé en tout et pour tout
que cent quatre-vingt-trois livres en or.
— M. Chancer, je vous le répète, gardait par devers lui tous les
certificats de ses actions et obligations. Mon honorable ami était fort
imprudent… Il n’avait pas même de coffre-fort. Je sais qu’il serrait
ses papiers dans un petit meuble de son cabinet de travail, meuble
très rare que je lui vendis autrefois pour un prix dérisoire.
— Un secrétaire en bois de rose ?
— Parfaitement… un secrétaire qui provenait de la succession de
sir Walter Raleigh…
— C’est bien en effet dans l’un des tiroirs de ce meuble que j’ai
découvert les piles d’or dont je vous ai parlé.
— Les titres devaient s’y trouver également… Vous êtes
détective… concluez…
— J’ai toujours cru à un vol.
— Oui, l’argent monnayé que vous avez vu chez ce pauvre
Chancer a été abandonné à dessein… pour donner le change.
— C’est aussi mon avis, monsieur.
Le petit vieux parut réfléchir un instant puis il reprit :
— Une chose me frappe en outre dans ce que vous m’avez dit…
c’est le peu d’importance de la somme trouvée dans le secrétaire.
— Cent quatre-vingt-trois livres.
— Je sais… M. Chancer qui était un original conservait toujours
chez lui dix ou quinze mille livres en or… et chose qui est à retenir, il
marquait toutes ses pièces… c’était une manie… qu’il avait !… Ah ! il
était si bizarre, ce pauvre ami !
Je tendis à M. Withworth les quatre souverains que j’avais, la
veille, glissés dans la poche de mon gilet.
 Le vieillard s’approcha de la fenêtre et les considéra longuement
au jour.
Ensuite, il prit une grosse loupe sur la table et examina
minutieusement chaque pièce.
— Ces souverains n’ont jamais appartenu à M. Chancer, déclara-
t-il.
— Comment cela ?
— C’est la vérité… Je vous l’ai dit, mon honorable ami avait une
manie : il marquait tout son or d’un signe à lui.
M. Withworth m’appela près de la fenêtre et me mettant en main
la loupe et une des pièces d’or :
— Remarquez, dit-il, qu’il n’y a rien sur le cou de la Reine…
— ??
— Oui… M. Chancer avait un poinçon très fin, une imperceptible
étoile à six branches qu’il gravait sur toutes ses pièces du côté face,
à la section du cou et de la figure.
J’admirai le stratagème du défunt et lui décernai mentalement
des louanges posthumes pour m’avoir fourni ainsi des armes de
premier ordre.
M. Withworth jeta violemment l’une après l’autre les quatre
pièces sur un petit meuble d’ébène.
— D’ailleurs, dit-il, ces souverains sont faux…
Et il fit dans l’un d’eux une petite incision avec la pointe de son
canif.
— Ils sont, poursuivit-il, composés d’un alliage sans valeur, mais
assez bien imités… c’est du beau travail de faux-monnayeur…
Si mon opinion n’avait pas été faite, je n’aurais plus eu de doutes
à cette heure ; Slang n’était pas de taille à avoir combiné seul un vol
aussi savant.
Slang n’était qu’un comparse, l’exécuteur d’une association de
malfaiteurs adroits qui préparaient leurs coups dans l’ombre avec
toutes les ressources de la science et d’une imagination cultivée.
 Il paierait cet honneur de sa tête… soit… mais c’était insuffisant.
Je devais à l’honneur de mon nom de démasquer les véritables
coupables, c’est-à-dire les bénéficiaires de cet attentat sans
précédent.
J’eus tout de suite dressé mes batteries.
— Voulez-vous me permettre, dis-je à M. Withworth, de relever
les numéros des titres qui étaient la propriété de M. Chancer ?
— Mais certainement, monsieur, me répondit le vieillard en se
dirigeant vers un cartonnier surmonté d’une potiche japonaise.
Et il me soumit un registre où se trouvaient méthodiquement
consignées les particularités afférentes à chaque valeur : séries,
numéros d’ordre, dates et prix d’achat, montant du revenu, nombre
de coupons demeurés au titre lors de l’acquisition, etc…
Ces renseignements étaient précieux et je les consignai
scrupuleusement sur mon calepin.
Tandis que j’écrivais, d’un rapide calcul de tête j’évaluais le
chiffre de la fortune de M. Chancer.
Elle se montait à quatre cent mille livres sterling !…
Il était évident que ce Pactole ne s’était pas englouti dans la
poche du seul Slang, chauffeur.
Après avoir remercié M. Withworth de l’amabilité avec laquelle il
s’était mis à ma disposition, je m’apprêtais à prendre, congé, quand
il me retint par la manche :
— Vous savez, dit-il, j’ai ici des objets merveilleux que vous ne
trouverez nulle part, pas même à Londres… Voici un buste de
Napoléon attribué à Hudson Lowe, une statuette de Nelson par Van
den Brocke, un chiffonnier ayant appartenu à Marie-Antoinette… un
manuscrit de Cromwell… le portrait du prince Albert, par Sweet…
J’ai aussi de fort jolis meubles moyen âge, des faïences italiennes
du seizième siècle et tenez… voici quelque chose qui ferait très bien
sur la cheminée de votre bureau : la tête de James Blomfield Rush,
pendu à Norfolk en avril 1849… Cette tête a été moulée par
Higghins, une heure après l’exécution…
 — Merci… fis-je… une autre fois… très curieux, en effet… Je
reviendrai certainement vous rendre visite, quand je serai moins
pressé…
— Dans l’attente de vos ordres, monsieur Dickson, répondit le
petit vieux en me remettant sa carte… Ici tous les objets vendus sont
garantis authentiques… et comme vous vous occupez de l’affaire de
Green-Park je vous ferai exceptionnellement des prix d’ami…
Décidément, quoiqu’il s’en défendît, ce M. Withworth était un
homme d’affaires et il savait profiter de toutes les circonstances.
Malheureusement il tombait mal, car j’avais d’autres
préoccupations en tête.
— Ah ! s’il eût offert de me vendre la piste de Slang, je la lui
aurais payée à prix d’or !
Muni des précieux renseignements qu’il m’avait donnés en ce qui
concernait les titres et les souverains de M. Chancer, je me rendis
en hâte au Police-Office, certain que j’allais émerveiller le chief-
inspector et l’édifier une fois de plus sur l’incapacité de ses agents.
 VII
CHEZ MR COXCOMB, CHIEF-
INSPECTOR

— Le chief-inspector ? demandai-je à un policeman qui somnolait

sur une chaise.
— Il est occupé, sir.
— C’est très urgent… faites-lui passer ma carte.
Le policeman eut un bâillement, se frotta les yeux de ses grosses
mains rouges, prit ma carte et disparut derrière une porte
capitonnée.
Quelques instants après, il revenait et me disait d’un ton
maussade :
— M. le chief-inspector est avec quelqu’un…
— En a-t-il pour longtemps ?
— Je n’en sais rien…
— C’est très urgent, insistai-je…
Cette fois le policeman ne répondit pas.
Je compris à son attitude que le chief-inspector avait dû, en
recevant ma carte, se livrer sur mon compte à quelque réflexion
désobligeante et le sous-ordre, persuadé que je n’étais qu’un
personnage de médiocre importance, en prenait maintenant à son
aise avec moi.
Au bout de trois quarts d’heure d’attente, je fus cependant admis
dans le bureau de M. Coxcomb, le grand maître de la police de
Melbourne.
C’était un homme d’un certain âge, à l’air intelligent, mais qui
était affligé d’un tic plutôt bizarre : une sorte de moue dédaigneuse
compliquée d’un plissement de la joue, de sorte qu’à certains
moments la pointe de sa moustache allait caresser son oreille droite.
Je déclinai mes nom et qualité, mais dès les premiers mots il
m’arrêta :
— Cela suffit, dit-il… quels renseignements venez-vous
m’apporter ?
— Je me suis occupé de l’affaire de Green-Park et…
Le chief-inspector eut un imperceptible haussement d’épaules :
— Nous sommes fixés sur cette affaire, monsieur… et j’ai
quelques raisons de croire que l’instruction va en être close… Il n’y a
eu ni assassinat ni vol…
— Pardon… fis-je avec énergie.
Le magistrat ne me laissa pas achever.
— Oui, je sais… vous appartenez à la police privée, monsieur
Dickson, et si l’on écoutait tous les rapports de la police privée, nous
arrêterions une bonne moitié de Melbourne.
J’insistai :
— Excusez-moi, monsieur, mais je ne partage pas votre avis en
ce qui concerne l’affaire de Green-Park…
— J’en suis fâché, monsieur, mais notre opinion est faite…
— Et si pourtant il y avait eu crime ?
— C’est vous qui le supposez…
— Je ne suppose pas, j’affirme.
 Et ma main gantée s’abattit péremptoirement sur la table du
chief-inspector.
— Les rapports des autorités sont là, dit-il en me regardant
ironiquement ; permettez que je leur fasse l’honneur de les prendre
en considération.
Et le chief-inspector se leva pour me reconduire, mais je ne suis
pas homme à me laisser congédier ainsi.
— Vous m’entendrez… insistai-je… oui, vous m’entendrez,
monsieur, en vertu du droit qu’a tout citoyen de déposer devant un
magistrat… Quand je vous dis : « M. Ugo Chancer a été assassiné »
c’est que je suis en mesure de fournir la preuve de ce que j’avance.
— Et cette preuve, monsieur ?
— Est là, dans ma poche.
Cette fois le magistrat se rassit et son tic s’accentua de telle
façon que la pointe de sa moustache dépassa certainement le lobe
de son oreille droite.
Je le sentais toujours hostile, mais mon ton avait fini par lui
imposer quand même.
— Je vous écoute, fit-il.
Je repris lentement :
— Bailey, le chief-inspector de Broad-West qui a fait les
premières constatations au domicile de M. Ugo Chancer n’a relevé
aucune trace d’effraction et il a retrouvé dans le tiroir du secrétaire
une somme de cent quatre-vingt-trois livres…
— Ce sont en effet les termes du rapport.
— Je n’y contredis pas, mais j’ai examiné les lieux, moi aussi…
or j’ai découvert les traces d’une effraction et cela en présence d’un
habitant de Broad-West, M. Gilbert Crawford qui pourra en
témoigner, sous la foi du serment.
— Bien… après ?
— Quant à la somme de cent quatre-vingt-trois livres, elle
n’existe pas…