JOBS AND BLUNDERS IN THE REGULATION OF TIIE NEW CIIINA

TRADE.

Wnsos a great job has existed under the Tories, the Whigs apply the precedent to justify a lesser job; and having I erpetrated such lesser job, they turn round to the people with an au' a triumph, exclaiming, "See what a wonderful saying we have model- In this manner, they refer to a reduction of 2,700,000/. in the public expenditure during their three years of office: assuring us that it is more than the Committee of an Unreformed 11 ouse of Com mons, appointed under Tory auspices, imagined to be practicable sixteen years ogo,—or, for that matter, than JosEen It II ME bitlISCif PX- pected twelve years back, when he was struggling, with the Tories for shillings, pence, and farthings. In the same manner, the East India Company, having been in the habit of wasting from 100,0001. to 120,000/. a year of the public money upon their supercargoes in China, his Majesty's Ministers think themselves entitled to waste some 40,000/. The Company's affitirs were managed by what is called a Select Committee, consisting of three members, who genet ally divided between them about 24,0001. a year : why, then, should not affairs be managed under the Crown by three Superintendents, with a net saving to the nation of 12,0001. a year? Sir JAMES BRAHAZON URMSTON, Mr. CHARLES MARJO- RIHANKS, and Mr. JOHN FRANCIS DAV IES, as Chiefs of the Chi- nese Factory, drew from 9,000/. to 11,000/. each per annum : what harm, then, in giving Lord NA PIER 7,0001., which is no less than 2,000/. below the smallest sum drawn by the fortunate sons and nephews of the Directors,—although at the same time it must be admitted, that it is by exactly the same amount larger than the salary of' the President of the United States ?

The Chinese affair is not only a job, but an exceedingly mis- chievous job. In the first place, it plants an expensive and osten- tatious establishment, where there ought to be a cheap, unobtru- sive one. For the last half century, the Americans have carried on a prosperous and increasing trade, considerably larger than the East belie Company's, without any other establishment than that of Consul,—a respectable merchant, serving for the honour of the title, without salary and without flees. In all that period, they have had but one small squabble with the Chinese, touching a homicide, and this lasted but ten days,—a ten days' quarrel out of' fifty years' traffic. Our ostentatious establishment, 'more political than commercial, from its pampered magnitude, has been constantly provoking the sensitive jealousy of the Chinese Government; and such provocation has led to repeated breaches of the peace, and to long suspensions of commercial intercourse ; which, during tl:e last thirty years, cannot have cost the nation less than a couple of millions sterling. In the teeth of this expe- rience, his Majesty's Ministers appoint a diplomatic agent of' the Crown, establish a court of criminal jurisdiction within the Chi- nese territory, and plant a customhouse in the principal port of foreign trade, with full powers to levy import, export, and tonnage duties, to grant port clearances, passports, and the Lord knows what all,—in short, virtually to exercise a very considerable share of the prerogatives of Chinese sovereignty. Alas for the law of nations, when Lord PALMERSTON gets his hand in ! The Superintendents of the Crown at Canton are not only vested with diplomatic and consular authority, but they are also constituted Customhouse-officers, Oyer and Terminer and Admi- ralty Judges, and even legislators so far as concerns the making of regulations for the Criminal and Admiralty Court and for the local British trade,—a precious jumble of powers this to be in- trusted, and in a strange land, to private gentlemen, not one of whom has ever had an hour's discipline or experience in any one of the departments in question! We shall first advert to the Customhouse department. The Act of' Parliament empowers the King in Council to levy,

through officers named by the Crown, a tonnage-duty equal to 5s. per ton, and an import and export duty each equal to 10:. per cent. This is the extreme limit. The Orders in Council in

the meanwhile take 2s. for the tonnage-dues, and 7:. per cent. on the import and export cargo, bullion excepted. Let us see the amount of the fund that will be thus placed at the disposal of the Crown, or the amount o: the imposition which the Mi

'sisters have the power of levying upon British commerce, and of disposing of as they may think meet, without the control of Par-

liament. The present amount ofthe British trade with China, un- der the system of restriction, is 70,000 tons or thereabouts. This gives at once 7,000/. of tonnage-dues. Exclusive of bullion, which is altogether confined to the export trade, the present value of the export and import trade may be moderately taken at 9,000,0001. This gives 31,500; and the whole elves at once a fund of 38,5001.

at the disposal of the Minister. Without any reference to Parlia-

ment, this may be increased to 17,500/. of tonnage-duty,. and to 45,000/. of customs; or to a total of 62,500/. This is pretty well

14 the Reform Ministry in setting out; but the trade, in spite of the ohstruetions time wantonly and shamefully thrown in its way, will increase; and in a few years the augmentation, if it bear any

thing like a ratio to that which followed the first opening of the India trade in 1814, will raise the tonnage to 100,000 tons and the value to 12,000,000/. At the existing rate of impost, we shall then have at the disposal of' the Crown, without the control of Parliament, 52,0001. per annum, with full power to raise the 52,000/. to 85,0001. In short, the affair bears altogether a very snug aspect : it will, no doubt, enable the Whig Aristocracy in no very long time to quarter as many sons, nephews, and grandsons, upon the tea trade, as did the Directors of the East India Com- pany themselves. The trade with China, the reader will understand, is of two deseriptions,—the regular trade, of which the seat is at Canton, and within the river on which that town stands; and the contra- band trade, of' which the seat is at the islands about the month of the river. Both were intended by the Order in Council to be subjected to the duties, as far at least as can be discovered, through the very indistinct and indefinite language of the Orders in Council,—corresponding, very appropriately, with the vague no- tions of the framers. The Act of Parliament empowers the levy- ing duties at any port or place where the Superintendents or any of them shall be stationed. The Order in Council proceeds to say, that it shall be lawful for the Superintendents, or any person or persons duly authorized by them, to recover and receive the duties from all officers whatsoever of all British ships " which may enter the port of Canton, or may be trading at that port.- The question then is, what does the port of Canton include? At- tholes!' his Majesty's Ministers planted a customhouse at said port, and established there a court of Criminal and Admiralty jurisdiction, it never once occurred to them, in three consecutive Orders in Council, to define the limits of the port of Canton. It did, however, occur to the Committee of Lloyd's, who are men of business, to put the question: and then, for the first time, and in the shape of an afterthought, it comes out that the port of Canton means the river of Canton south of a certain narrow passage called the Bocca Tigris, or Tiger's Mouth. This is a tolerably sweeping range ; but still, it excludes the smuggling trade in opium, carried on at Lintin and other islands. Whether it is really, however, intended to do so or not, the words of' the Order in Council still leave very doubtful; because, according to that order, the duties may be levied from the masters or other officers of ships, even when the ships themselves do not enter the port of' Canton. Now it is well known, that the real smuggling transac- tions are negotiated at Canton, and that the masters of the smug- gling-vessels are in the practice of repairing thither for that pur- pose. Indeed, according to the wording of one part of the Orders in Council, duties may be levied at any other port of China as well as Canton,—judging from the use of the expressions, "the port of Canton, or any other port at which such duties as afore- said ought to have been paid. Such are the perplexing results of foolish legislation upon a question which the legislators did not understand, and which if they had understood, they would not have legislated upon at all.

Now for the effects of these duties upon the British trade. If the contraband trade be meant to be included, then his Majesty its Council recognizes the legality of smuggling in the Chinese empire; and the Chinese Government will make his Majesty's Su- perintendents at Canton responsible, while the smuggling trade— a e •y prosperous and beneficial one hitherto, although unacknow- ledged—will be placed under restraints that will inevitably impede its progress. If, on the contrary, the contraband trade be not in- cluded, then the regular or legal trade—the only one at present oppressed by the weight of Chinese duties and Chinese restrictions —will be further oppressed by English duties and English restric- tions ; while the smuggling trade will be wholly exempted, as it is now.

The next effect of these duties will be to favour the trade of all foreign nations at Canton, at the expenee of the English. This more particularly refers to the American trade, which receives, as it were,a protective duty equal at once to near 40,0001. per annum;

and which, considering the bad spirit that has dictated the first imposition, we may safely conclude there will beino %lain of incli- nation to raise to the highest amount—or, in a very short time indeed, to between 80,0(0!. and 90,0001.

The next bad effect likely to result front the imposition of these duties, is that of driving the trade into indirect and less convenient channels. The British trade will be forced from Canton, and per- haps, as now under the operation of the monopoly, driven to Singapore or some such place. But under the operation of the Orders in Council, this cannot be done in British ships; because it directs that no British ship shall be admitted to enter at any part in any part of his Majesty's dominions, unless the master shall produce to the proper officer of the Customs certificates of having paid the duties at Canton. Under these circumstances, the tea, raw silk, and other Chinese produce, will be carried to Singapore, or other British ports, in foreign bottoms,—Portuguese, Dutch, Danes, and even Chinese junks. So much for the attention of his Majesty's Ministers to the interests of British navigation.

We shall now give an example of the practical operation of the new regulations. Suppose an English ship of 500 tons exports from London or Liverpool a cargo worth 100,000/..sterling, she will import to the same value, chiefly in teas and raw silks, with little or no bullion, which rarely conies direct from China to Eu- rope. While a cargo is preparing, she would perhaps find it pro- fitable, in imitation of the Americans, to run across to the Phillip- pines, and bring over a cargo of grain, which in China pays neither port-charges nor custom-duties. The detail of charges will be as follows—exclusive of the Chinese export and import duties ; which being always paid by the Chinese merchant, are very diffi- cult to ascertain.

Tonnage-duty at Canton, on entrance from England, at 2s. per ton .1:50 0 0

Duty of 7s. per cent, on inward cargo of 163,000/ 350 0 0

Ditto on outward cargo of ditto 350 0 0 Tonnage-duty at Canton on entrance from Manilla 50 0 0 Duty on cargo of grain from Manilla, worth 4,000/. 14 0 0 Chinese port-charges on ship of 500 tons 1,000 0 0

£1,814 0 p The Chinese charges, it will be seen, are in this case sufficiently heavy, while the Engli-h charges add above 80 per cent, to them. Besides the vexation, trouble, and delay, attendant upon the col- lection; the English vessel in this case pays upwards of 800/. be- yond what an American vessel would pay under the same circum- stances. The English resident merchants at Canton complained, in their petitions to Parliament presented only two years ago, that the Chinese charges were already exorbitant and oppressive. The redress afforded by the Parliament, under the dictation of the Reform Ministry, is nearly to double the oppressive duties, and to more than double them if the additional inconvenience and vex- ation attending the collection of the new duties be superadded. It must occur to every' person of common sense and ordinary expe- rience, that any moderate charge for the protection of British local interests in China ought to have been defrayed from the general taxes, in the same manlier as our Consular establishments in every other part of the world. Even if a specific tax upon the Chinese trade had been thought eligible, it is very clear that it might have been levied in England, and in British India, better and more cheaply than at Canton ; for this obvious reason, that in the first, the establishments necessary for its collection already exist, and in the last are to be created. But a rich precedent for perpe- trating a job and exhibiting a crotchet was on the file, and the temptation was irresistible. The first is in the department of Lord PALMERSTON ; and Mr. CHARLES POULETT THOMSON has the credit of the last,—that Mr. THOMSON who was once a great political economist and a friend to free trade, but who now, fairly initiated into the mysteries of the Bureaucracy, sees that it would be absurd in the people to expect cheap bread, and that the Coin-laws ought not to be abolished by Whigs in power. The most scandalous part of the whole transaction is, that the East India Directors upon this occasion remonstrated against the impo- sition of the duties, according to the public declaration of their Chairman, and that both personally and in writing.

Now a few words on the legislative and judicial powers con- ferred upon the Superintendents. The pretext for these powers is in itself exceedingly droll.

" And whereas," (his Majesty is, somewhat irreverently and somewhat un- truly made to say,) "the officers of the Chinese Government, resident in or near Canton, in the empire of China, have signified to the Supercargoes of the East India Company at Canton, the desire of that Government that effectual provi- sion should be made by law fo: the good order of all his Majesty's subjects re- sorting to Canton, and for the maintenance of peace and due subordination amongst them ; and it is expedient that effect should be given to such reasonable demands of the said Chinese Government ; now therefore," &c. &c. &c.

From a perusal of these words in the Order of Council, the reader will naturally suppose that the Court at Pekin has directed one of its Secretaries of State to make an official communication. Nothing of the kind, and nothing like it. Half-a-dozen of the Hong merchants address a petition to the Viceroy of Canton, telling him that the dissolution of the East India Company is close at hand ; and entreating him to issue an ed ct or command to the Company's chief factor, directing him to solicit his King as hereto- fore "to appoint a chief to come to Canton, to have the general management of the affairs of the said nation's barbarian merchants and ships." The Viceroy replies, on his own proper authority, and without any communication with his Court— "If indeed, after the thirteenth year, the time of the Company be fulfilled, and i be dispersed, the said nation no doubt ought as before to appoint a chief to c to Canton to manage. As the above statement has been preen ed, 1 unite the circumstances ; and hereby issue an older to the said Hong merchants, that they may forthwith enjoin my commands on the said nation's chief, early to send a letter home, that it indeed, after the thirteenth year of Taou-kwang, the Company be dissolved, it will as heretofore be incumbent to deliberate and ap- point a chief who understands the business, to come to Canton, for the general management of the co,iiiiiercial dealings ; by which means affairs may be pre- vented from going to confusion, and benefits remain to commerce."

Such are the grounds on which his Majesty in Council is made to say that there has been a direct communication from the Chinese Government. Such are the grounds on which his Ma- jesty has created a court of justice, with Criminal and Admiralty jurisdiction, " within the dominions of the Emperor of China, and the ports and havens thereof, and on the high seas within one hundred miles of the coast of China."

Nothing can be more ludicrous than this pretext for solemn acts of legislation. It is as if the Emperor of Russia, on the au- thority of a correspondence between some City traders and the Lord Mayor, in which the former had insisted upon and the latter admitted the utility and necessity of having a respectable and in- telligent Russian Consul in London, had proceeded at once to publish an ukase establishing a court with Criminal and Admi- ralty jurisdiction over all Russian subjects in Great Britain and eland, within the narrow seas and one hundred miles of the coast of the same. Hit Majesty's Ministers have acted in direct oppo- sition to the only distinct recommendation in the Viceroy's letter, —to appoint a " chief who understands the business." Lord NAPIER is a most respectable Peer; but he has certainly never been in China—knows nothing of the Chinese, and has never been employed either in diplomatic, fiscal, or judicial situations. With all these drawbacks, we have not the least doubt but he would have made an excellent Consul-General ; and, from his habits as a naval commander, and his known discretion, even one Peculiarly suitable to Canton,— provided always that his services cauld have been obtained for the usual and very adequate salary of a Consul- General, which we believe to be 1,500/. per annum.

The two junior Superintendents are very remarkable selections. They are the only two survivors of those Supercargoes who were brought forward by the East India Company to give eviderce in favour of the monopoly. They are now appointed the guardians of that free trade, the policy of which they strenuously deprecated ! But those gentlemen happen not to be in a capacity to accept the proffered trust. Their salaries are to be respectively 3,000/. and 2,000/. per annum. The youngest of them in station has been in the receipt of more than the salary now offered to him for the last ten years. For the last five years he has been in the receipt of more than twice as much, and for the last three years of more than four times as much. Both these gentlemen will of course refuse their appointments,—of course, it is most likely expected ; and, of course, two flit appointments will be at the disposal of his Majesty's Ministers.

The salaries of the three Superintendents will amount to 12,000/. between them; but there will come a host of subordinate officers of Customs and officers of the Court ofJustic,g, both of which are re- ferred to, with Secretaries of Legation, Masters Attendant, Interpre- ters, house-rent, court-rent, and many other etceteras. Every far- thing of the duties will of course be expended. In lieu of this mon- strous establishment, one Consul-General ought to have sufficed. Instead of the Court ofJustice, which will be highly offensive to the Chinese, it would have been quite sufficient to have given the Consul power to arrest British subjects guilty of felony, and send them for trial to the Court already established at Singapore, which is within seven days' sail of Canton ; while for breaches of the peace, he might, with the assistance of one or more British re- sident merchants in the commission of the peace, have the power of summary punishment. Such a plan as this would have been simple, cheap, and efficacious. But the job would have been good for little or nothing. And the salary of 1,500/. would have to be paid under the eyes of Parliament ; whereas the 40,000/. is to be levied and disbarsed without control at fifteen thousand miles' distance.

It will be strange indeed, if all this national parade—diplo- matic, fiscal, magisterial, and judicial—does not alarm the already half-affrighted Chinese Government, and produce in due course as pretty a little quarrel as could be desired; which pretty little quarrel will render eligible the presence of a large fleet and army; vinch fleet and army will find, first the capture of a town or two, then the occupation of a province, and finally the conquest of an empire, not a difficult and certainly an agreeable employment.

Your long-famished Whig is, after all, the true glutton when a rich job offers itself; and compared to him, the pampered Tory is but a poor nibbling creature. Certainly there is no Tory Admi- nistration that would have ventured upon so intrepid a job as the one which we have now described. In due time, to be sure, such, and perhaps worse too, would have been accomplished by the Tories ; but they would have perpetrated this corruption "bit by bit," and we should have seen none of the voracious "bolting' exhibited upon the present occasion.