CO129-018 - Others - 1846 — Page 512

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BRITISH POSITION

of subsistence; by the invention of machinery, which daily diminishes the demand for human labour; by a constant accumulation of capital which requires profitable investment; and by a general system of educa~ tion, which, while elevating the whole of the nation, renders mere animal toil irksome, and demands a higher grade of occupation, at home or abroad, for the intelligent masses of society.

The premises thus set forth being granted, a statesman will survey the field on which he has to operate. He beholds in Europe and in America a career of successful competition with Britain in the manufac- tures and produce which the British empire can abundantly furnish; he sees little or no reciprocity of free trade; but on the contrary, the adoption of a more exclusive system; he ascertains that foreign manu- factures now not unfrequently displace our goods in distant markets, of which we had heretofore a complete monopoly.

To the British colonial possessions, and to new and unexplored regions, must England look for the increase of her commerce. The East and the West Indies, the Canadas, Australasia, and Africa, afford valuable and permanent markets within our controul; but, excepting India, their expansion is of slow growth, and inadequate to meet increasing exigencies; the opening, therefore, of the vast and populous territories on the borders of the Northern Pacific, is a matter of vital consequence to Britain.

Have we availed ourselves of the advantages which this opening affords? Have we not by a mistaken policy, and by a non-appreciation of the true interests of England, almost shut the door against ourselves which we had been so long anxious to open, and voluntarily excluded the British nation from a country where it is palpably our interest to have a decided permanent influence, and where by our science, inter- conrse, and commerce, we may exert a beneficial effect on many millions of mankind?

The solution of these questions is deserving of early and serious investigation.

At the close of a desolating and expensive war, in August, 1842, in a position to dictate our own terms, and when all negotiation was un- necessary and set aside by the Chinese authorities themselves*, the British plenipotentiary adopted the printed draft of a treaty framed in Downing-street, and sent out to Captain Elliot for his guidance at Canton. This treaty was prepared at a time when we were ignorant on various points connected with China, and great allowance must be made for its framers. Without therefore that diplomatic tact or foresight which an acquaintance with European policy, and British domestic, as well as foreign interests would have conveyed, and without reference to the new position in which we were at Nankin, and to the greater know- ledge we had obtained of the people and country in the north of China, we imposed only the terms sketched in the draft treaty, and filled up the blank after the word "islands" in the draft with "Hong Kong," and

It is perfectly well known that when Lieut.-Colonel Malcolm was sent on shore at Nankin, with the terms on which peace would be granted, the imperial Commissioner was surprised that so little was asked, and inquired, "Is that all ?" which being answered affirmatively, he immediately replied, "All shall be granted."

AND PROSPECTS IN CHINA.

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excluded Chusan-the only valuable island on the coast of China, adapted for the purposes which England ought to have had in view.

A primary condition of the treaty was the payment by the Chinese Government of a sum of money then deemed adequate to the expenses of the war; it is now, however, confidently stated by commissariat officers, that the sum of money thus obtained will not cover the mere pecuniary expenditure incurred by Great Britain, after paying for the alleged destruction of opium, for the Hong debts, and the prize-money to the army and navy, and irrespective of the loss of troops by sick. ness, each of whom costs the state 100. But it having been agreed that the so-called indemnity money should be paid by the Chinese Government in half-yearly instalments, spreading over a period of three years and a half, the maintenance of a naval and military force in China, at a cost of nearly 500,000l. sterling annually, was deemed necessary. It can scarcely therefore be contended that the "indemnity money" was to the extent alleged of such great advantage, and that the British exchequer has not suffered considerable diminution by the war with China.

The next great advantage which it was supposed we had gained, was the establishment of four new ports for British trade, as named in the printed draft treaty sent from Downing-street.

Our obvious and natural policy was to cause every port in China to be opened to us, and to have obtained perfect freedom of ingress and egress to and from any city, town, or place in China, with secure guarantees for life and property, and the peaceable and unrestricted prosecution of commerce. This would have enabled our traders to seek out the best spots for mercantile settlements, and time and circum- stances would thus have indicated and proved the most suitable marts for extended traffic.

But if it had even been resolved to restrict the maritime trade to a few ports, in order that the Chinese customs' revenue might have been more readily collected, it was our duty to have selected very different ports from those which, through want of information, were selected in Downing-street, and which, at any rate, ought to have been preceded by a commission of inquiry as to their eligibility for European

traffic.

Nankin, the great central mart of the Chinese empire,-Yang-choo- foo on the north bank, and Chin-kang-foo* on the south bank of the great Yang-tze-kiang, were neglected, together with the numerous cities and towns bordering on this vast artery, which it is said extends through the richest regions of China for 1800 miles; so also Chapoo, the port of Hang-chow, as large as Canton, and the seat of trade with Japan; Kaou-choo-foo on the northern, and Ting-choo-foo on the southern part of the Shantung promontory; Tientsin on the Peiho, the port of Pekin; Kichu and Kinchu on the northern part of the Gulf of Petchely in 40° to 41° north, rich in agricultural productions, and good stations for trade with Tartary.

* These cities communicate with the richest and most populous districts, by means of the great canal, which is 900 miles long and 35 feet broad. Reckoning the southern with the northern branch, it is 1300 miles long. This will indicate the great importance of our having a Consular station at its central port.

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