CO129-018 - Others - 1846 — Page 467

LONDON.

HARBIBAN AND CO., PRINTERS,

ST. MARTIN' LANE,

+

460

TO THE

MEMBERS OF HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT.

THE undersigned has the honour to submit, for the consi- deration of Her Majesty's Government, the accompanying papers on our present position and prospects in China, which have been confidentially printed for their more ready perusal and reference.

When the undersigned was selected for office in China, it was stated that the field of observation was of great magnitude and importance; that the attention of Europe was fixed on our conduct; and that a knowledge of our colonial and commercial affairs would be practically useful,

Imbued with these views, he broke up his arrangements here, proceeded to China, and devoted every energy and faculty to an attentive examination of the financial and commercial interests of a position unprecedented in the history of any age or country.

Conformable to the suggestion that all information acquired was to be devoted to the service of Her Majesty's Government, the annexed documents were, from time to time, transmitted to the different departments of the state, as it was found impos- sible to analyze financial affairs and commercial prospects, without discussing foreign relations and colonial proceedings.

In the progress of investigation, a conclusion was irresistibly formed that the Treaty of Nankin, and the Supplementary Treaty of October 8, 1843, were susceptible of considerable improvement; that peaceful and profitable intercourse with the whole of the vast Chinese empire, would be of great advan- tage to England and to China; that a most ill-judged selection had been made for the foundation of a British colony; that our trade could be best expanded and rendered permanent only by a fair, wise, and honourable modification of our position previous to the final arrangement of the Treaty of Nankin in