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STEPHEN UHALLEY, JR.
generals were invited to dinner. And horror was expressed at instances of foreign mistreatment of the Taipings. As late as May 1862, for example, The China Mail carried an article expressing wonder how the Taiping chief at Ningpo managed to keep such good control over his men, especially when they had been abused by foreigners. The account described, among other examples, how one foreigner had cut off the finger of a Taiping in order to rob the unfortunate man of his ring.
Much of the favorable attitude on the part of foreigners may be attributed to the Taiping policy on trade. Soon after taking the city, the new administration began making arrangements conducive to trade. They established a customhouse and appropriate regulations at Ningpo, in order to organize and encourage orderly commercial intercourse. It is said that the Taipings' tariff rivaled in minuteness that of the old English customs tariffs.10 Reflecting the success of these efforts, the China Overland Trade Report of February 28, 1862, reported:
Since the capture of Ningpo the Taipings have conducted themselves there in a very exemplary manner; so much so as to gain the confidence of the people, who are returning in numbers. The trade of the port is reviving, and there seems a fair probability of its entirely recovering itself.11 There is other strong evidence to corroborate this view on the Taiping support of trade at Ningpo. For example, there is the diary of a European agent of the firm of W. and G. M. Hart of Ningpo, which records a silk-purchasing trip he made in areas under Taiping control.12 The company made the diary public apparently as a protest against the intervention policy.
The diary discloses that the agent left Ningpo on March 18, which was then under Taiping authority. He wandered about the province, with cash on his person, until April 14, a total of twenty-seven days. On the 16th he arrived back at Ningpo with his silk. On the 19th he again left Ningpo with more money to purchase additional silk. On the 23rd he reported: "Purchased a large quantity of silk, and more expected. The country about here looks most beautiful, and the crops in a very flourishing condition. There are a few rebels stationed here; they have visited me and are very friendly, offering us assistance if we require." On May 15 the agent learned that the Taipings had been driven out of Ningpo. His entry on this date is significant: "Determined on going to