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REPORT ON CHUSAN.
But the assertion, even if substantially correct, would be no justi- fication for our resigning Chusan; our occupation of that island could not accelerate the dissolution of the Chinese empire, on the contrary, it might be made the means of retarding such an event; and even should it occur, our position near the Yang-tze-kiang would enable us to retain any commerce we had established, and to carry on the tea trade, should it be driven from Canton.
In conclusion, there are, I respectfully submit, many cogent argu- ments of the highest state policy for our continued and permanent occupation of Chusan, and but one reason assigned for its evacuation in December 1845, namely, that we have promised to do so on the fulfilment of the terms of the treaty of Nankin. But have these terms been fulfilled in the letter and spirit in which they were framed by the British? Has diplomacy lost all power, that it cannot be exercised in the intervening period assigned for the evacuation ? ready, if required, to lay before Her Majesty's Ministers my reasons
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bands, commit suicide in such a manner that their spouses may be charged with murder. The police and Tartar troops hold the lower classes in complete subjec- tion. The whole system has been aptly compared to a railroad carriage, which moves well so long as there is no impediment, but a pebble on the rail destroys all. Whatever be the result, the English and the other western nations have now become the pebble on the rail.
The humiliation of the Government of China has reduced to a low scale all the inferior grades of officials in their intercourse with foreigners; and we are cordially hated by the Tartars and all officials, who feel that the terror inspired, and the fame of the Mantchoos in particular, is entirely gone. The people at large, there- fore, have reaped great benefit from the change; there is now a certain acknow. ledgment of their rights, arbitrary oppressions and seizures are of much rarer occurrence, and the exactions are considerably reduced.
The Chinese Secretary who makes these remarks, proceeds to observe, that "It cannot be expected that the old system will stand long, because the shocks with which it has been assailed, and will be assailed, are rude and overwhelming, and the pressure from within and without fearful. Great and awful will be the crash- terrific the shaking. It is a mighty colossus, put together with much care, pro. tected by antiquity, by narrowmindedness, by old custom, by an extensive Govern- ment. But the foundation is undermined, and there is a cancer-worm eating its very supports.
China has no serfs, and slavery only in name. The inhabitants are ready in devices, and unwearied in the execution. From such a nation great things may be expected. What they most want is the introduction of Christianity, founded upon individual conviction.
"Whatever now may happen, one or other foreign power will advocate the interests of one party, because China has ceased to be a terra incognita, and exhibited a large field for diplomatical skill, so that the foreign influence of some nation will grow with its own helplessness. How much soever this state of things may be deprecated, how much soever the Chinese Government may be averse to such an intercourse, there appears to be no alternative. With Great Britain's commanding position at Chusau, however, even if Pekin becomes another Con- stantinople, she will always command respect and realize her wishes. An impulse has now been given to the whole empire, such as it never before received. No retrogression is practicable. It is for us to determine whether the future shall be in our favour or otherwise.”
+ The attacks on British subjects at Canton, Foochoofoo, &c.-the refusal to open the city of Canton-the subtle evasions of the spirit of the treaty--and the constant correspondence carried on for the last twelve months by Governor Davis and the Consuls of Her Britannic Majesty with the Chinese authorities, substan- tially prove the truth of this remark.-March, 1846.
HONG KONG AND CHUSAN COMPARED.
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for entertaining a strong opinion that, without any violation of the 495
treaty of Nankin, and without any fraud or force, Chusan may be retained and become, as it assuredly would, one of the most valuable and important colonies of the British Crown.
Friday, August 30, 1844.
R. M. MARTIN,
Remarks on Sir Henry Pottinger's reasons for retaining Hong Kong and rejecting Chusan, stated at the Manchester Dinner, 20th December, 1844 *. -(Transmitted to Lord Stanley.)
I. “I cannot say that Hong Kong was selected by me.” [SIR H. POTTINGER.]-In the Draft Treaty sent out to China from the Foreign Office, printed, there was a blank after the word "islands." Sir Henry Pottinger had only to name the word Chusan, and England would have obtained that valuable possession; or he might have written after "islands Hong Kong and Chusan. When Captain Elliot temporarily located at Hong Kong we had not occupied Chusan; Sir Henry Pottin- ger had resided on both islands then in our possession, and made Hong Kong as his choice. Several of Sir H. Pottinger's suite, officers, and friends bad selected Hong Kong, and secured the most valuable sites for building previous to the Treaty of Nankin, viz., Lieut.-Colonel Malcolm, his Secretary, and Mr. Woosnam, his Doctor; Mr. Johnston, Deputy Superintendent and Lieut.-Governor; Major Caine, &c. The Malcolm, Morgan, and Ochterlony bazaars were then, and are still, the best positions and property in Hong Kong.
II. "If the two places, Hong Kong and Chusan, were at my dis- posal to-morrow, I should prefer Hong Kong."—I do not think there is one disinterested person, who has seen both islands, who would give the preference to a small, barren, unhealthy, traffickless rock-producing nothing commanding nothing, not even the mouth of the Canton river ---devoid of European or native commerce-with a thieving, piratical population, and situated disadvantageously at the southern end of China,
* See "Times" dated London, 23rd December, 1844.
+ The treaty of Nankin verbatim, nearly as executed, was originally prepared at the Board of Trade department, by the late Lord Sydenham and Mr. Deacon Hume, to whom the points were given by certain merchants in the city of London.