John Watson Foster

“ Americans have been engaged in the trade in common with other foreigners; but the United States, by a bold and noble declaration against opium, now stands in the right before the world and the God of nations. It has, he writes, encouraged long deferred hope, confirmed oft-defeated determination; it has nerved the arm of the government with new strength, and we shall see China once again grappling with the monster that is stealing away the prosperity and energies of her people. ”

“ The argument set up in favor of this was precisely what was so long used to excuse or justify the same policy in China and Japan, viz., that the admission of foreigners tended to interfere with their trade and the labor of their people, and to corrupt their morals and degrade their religion. Our only absolute security, he said, consisted in devotion to the doctrines upon which the government was founded, and that the profound conviction that the rights of men are not conferred by constitutions, which may be altered or abolished, but are God-given to every human being. ”

“ The war with China had thrown a fresh light on oriental affairs. A new people had appeared above the horizon of international politics, not only able to defend their independence, but to make their power felt in the counsels and contests of the nations. Russia, Germany, and France had combined to rescue China from Japanese control, and Great Britain, separated from the great continental powers, found in Japan a convenient and useful ally. The British government was not slow to realize the situation. ”

“ Unquestionably the adhesion of the government of China to these liberal principles of freedom in emigration, with which we were so familiar and with which we were so well satisfied, was a great advance towards opening that empire to our civilization and religion, and gave promise in the future of greater and greater practical results in the diffusion throughout that great population of our arts and industries, our manufactures, our material improvements, and the sentiments of government and religion which seem to us so important to the welfare of mankind. ”

“ Japan is anxious to press forward. The red disk in the centre of our flag shall no longer appear like a wafer over a sealed empire, but henceforth be in fact what it is designed to be, the noble emblem of the rising sun, moving onward and upward amid the enlightened nations of the world. ”

“ It is pleasing to have the testimony of so high an authority to the efficient and useful service of an American officer.
In accordance with the British treaty, the new tariff, averaging the low rate of about five per centum, and the trade regulations, were put into operation by a notable proclamation of the imperial commissioner. "The tariff of duties," he announced, "will take effect with reference to the commerce with China of all countries, as well as of England. Henceforth the weapons of war shall forever be laid aside, and joy and profit shall be the perpetual lot of all." ”

“ The situation and resources of the Hawaiian Islands pointed them out to early navigators as destined to play an important part in the commercial and political affairs of the Pacific. Standing alone in the great ocean, the group must necessarily act as an outpost of the North American continent. Lying in the track of navigation from the central part of that continent to the great islands in the South Pacific, and in the direct course from the Isthmus of Panama to Japan and China, it was plain their harbors would become the resort of the shipping of the world. ”

“ Far remote from the dominions of European powers, its growth and prosperity as an independent state may yet be in a high degree useful to all whose trade is extended to those regions; while its nearer approach to this continent, and the intercourse which American vessels have with it,—such vessels constituting five sixths of all which annually visit it,—could not but create dissatisfaction on the part of the United States at any attempt, by another power, should such attempt be threatened or feared, to take possession of the islands and colonize them, and subvert the native government. ”

“ In the course of time, however, the character of the commerce and intercourse with the islands changed. For various reasons the fur trade lost much of its value, and the supply of sandalwood began to be exhausted. In this languishing state of trade, an industry, new to the North Pacific, suddenly sprang into importance, but fortunately for the American supremacy in the islands it was one in which they had long held preeminence in other parts of the world. ”

“ The reply of Japan to this overture was that it appreciated the amicable sentiments which prompted the United States, but that the universal success of the arms of Japan seemed to relieve its government of the necessity of resorting to the cooperation of friendly powers for a cessation of hostilities; that it would not press its victories beyond the limits which would guarantee to it the just and reasonable fruits of the war; but that those limits would not be reached until China herself should approach Japan directly for peace. ”

“ It is gratifying to record that the government of the United States from the beginning has sought to discountenance the traffic. In the first treaty with China, that of 1844, it was provided that "citizens of the United States . . . who shall trade in opium or any other contraband article of merchandise, shall be subject to be dealt with by the Chinese government without being entitled to any countenance or protection from that of the United States." ”

“ Mr. Reed, after his cavalier treatment by Yeh, and after a brief experience in Chinese affairs, was led to the same conviction as his predecessors,—that only coercive measures would be effective in bringing the imperial government to terms. In his review of the situation to the Secretary of State he said: "I do not hesitate to say that a new policy towards China ought to be . . . initiated, and that the powers of Western civilization must insist on what they know to be their rights, and give up the dream of dealing with China as a power to which any ordinary rules apply." ”

“ The trades unions joined in sounding an alarm that the myriads of people from the crowded and half-starved homes of China were likely to come to the country in such numbers as to drive out entirely the white laborers. The Chinese in California and adjacent sections segregated themselves from the other inhabitants, living together in cheap, ill-constructed, and uncleanly houses, took no part in local or public affairs, did not assimilate with the mass of the people, and observed their pagan or superstitious rites. ”

“ It brought to the attention of the world a new factor not only in the Far East, but in the policy of the Western nations. Japan had demonstrated not only that its people were patriotic and warlike, but that its generals possessed a knowledge of strategy, that it had a well-equipped system of sea transportation, and an advanced knowledge of the methods of supplying and moving large armies, and that it contained within itself the financial resources to maintain a great and expensive war. ”

“ The English historian Creasy, in tracing the rapid growth of the United States and its recent great development on the Pacific coast, writing in 1851, predicted the forcible opening of Japan by this government, and, misinterpreting its spirit, which he characterized as "bold, intrusive, and unscrupulous," he added: "America will scarcely imitate the forbearance shown by England at the end of our late war with the Celestial Empire." ”

“ But the Chinese government had shown such a deep-rooted prejudice against foreigners and so determined a policy of exclusion that it seemed useless for the United States to attempt to open up political relations, notwithstanding the great necessity felt by American merchants for better protection and freer commerce. But the trade with the Pacific countries had become so important and profitable, and was in such an unprotected condition, that the government found itself impelled to the adoption of measures for the improvement of its commercial relations with these countries. ”

“ The same is true in the great world of commerce. He who first enters a new field which gives promise of extensive trade is remembered and honored by future generations, while the man who comes after him and by persistent effort, unadorned with adventure or novelty, makes possible the development of a profitable commerce, receives but slight commendation as recompense for faithful service. So it was in the case of Japan. ”

“ The leading nations of the earth were to have their share in advancing or retarding the development of the country, and in enabling it to attain the goal of the patriotic ambition of its people. The United States had been foremost in leading Japan out of its seclusion. The part which it was to play in the development of the new order of affairs will form the subject of a later chapter.
What the country had already accomplished commanded the respect of mankind. The people of the Western world especially were prepared to welcome the dawning of a new era in the East. ”

“ Burlingame's career in China will always be regarded as an extraordinary event, not to be accounted for except by conceding to him a peculiar power of influencing those with whom he came in contact; a power growing out of a mysterious gift, partly intellectual, partly spiritual, and largely physical." The imagination may well speculate upon what might have been the later history of China, if his life had been spared to conclude his mission and to return to Peking to exercise his unusual personal influence upon the imperial court. ”

“ The Chinese plenipotentiaries who negotiated the first treaty with Great Britain gave the emperor the following reason for this concession: "The barbarians are influenced by their women, and governed by natural affection. The presence of females at the ports would therefore soften their natures, and give us less anxiety as to outbreaks. If they are settled at our ports with all that is dear to them, and with storehouses full of goods, they will be in our power and prove more manageable." ”

“ From the beginning European commerce encountered two serious obstructions. The emperor and the ruling classes recognized no equality in other nations, and all who held intercourse with them were regarded as subjects of vassal nations, and their envoys as tribute-bearers. This led to very humiliating demands upon foreigners, and in part explains the early conflicts. The Europeans, also, in their contact with the Chinese officials, found in existence a system of bribery and corruption which constituted a heavy tax upon trade, and was the cause of much dissatisfaction. ”

“ This course had been already marked out by the emperor. In a banquet which he gave his nobles just before the departure of the embassy in 1871, he foreshadowed his policy for the reorganization of the government, and appealed to them to lead and encourage the people "to move forward in paths of progress. ... With diligent and united efforts we may attain successively the highest degree of civilization within our reach, and shall experience no serious difficulty in maintaining power, independence, and respect among nations." ”

“ The United States government in their treaty with China, and in vigilant protection of their subjects at Canton, have evinced far better diplomacy, and more attention to substantial interests than we have done, although it has not cost them as many groats as we have spent guineas, while their position in China is really more advantageous and respected than that of England, after all our sacrifices of blood and treasure. ”

“ The government of that great and expanding empire, as its first act of interference, compelled Japan to surrender the best fruit of the war in the retrocession to China of the Liao-tung Peninsula. And since that date it has been a constant competitor with the island empire for favor and privileges at the court of Seoul. It may be that this competition in Korea will bring about the next conflict in the Pacific, and even menace the peace of the world. ”

“ They are members of an old and immutable civilization. They never can form a part of a body of American citizenship. They do not wish to do so. They would not do so if they could. They have come here simply for profit. A great race that means to do that and nothing else in the United States is better outside the line than inside. And, second, I am in favor of Chinese exclusion because the Chinese can create economic conditions in which we cannot survive. It is not a question of the fittest surviving, but a question of the survival of the fittest to survive. ”

“ While the dispute was pending the American trade was suspended. After the execution, the viceroy of Canton issued an edict, saying that as the Americans had "behaved submissively, it is proper to open their trade in order to manifest our compassion. The Celestial Empire's kindness and favor to the weak is rich in an infinite degree; but the nation's dignity sternly commands respect, and cannot, because people are foreigners, extend clemency. ... Now it is written in the law when persons outside the pale of Chinese civilization shall commit crimes they too shall be punished according to law. ”

“ But the hardy American mariners, who had been trained in the fisheries and the colonial trade, and had had their courage tested in the Revolutionary War by a contest with the greatest maritime power of the world, entered upon this competition with a spirit of enterprise rarely equaled. ”

“ The Spaniards occupied the Philippines in 1543, and their cruel treatment of the Chinese who were established there operated to the great prejudice of the former at Canton and other ports, and their trade with the country never was of any considerable value. The French, in the early European intercourse with the East, never sought to establish trade with China; but the French missionaries entered the country more than two centuries before the European vessels reached it. They were not only successful in their missions, but had attained much influence with the authorities of the empire. ”

“ The highest ambition of that empire was to secure release from the bondage in which it was held by the treaties with the Western powers. No nation could be its friend and ally which was not ready to yield that point. The British government signified its readiness to take up the revision, and, from being the recalcitrant power, it became the one most prompt to accept the conditions proposed by Japan. ”

“ One of the presidents of the Dutch factory, in giving an account of his visit to the Shogun, states that there were as many as a thousand vessels in the bay of Yedo.
The measures of exclusion adopted had the effect to deter the European nations from further attempts at intercourse, either commercial or political, with Japan, but not so as to China. The trade of that vast empire was greatly coveted, and the profits which were derived from the limited commerce through Canton, even with its burdensome conditions, only whetted the appetite of the avaricious merchants for greater facilities. ”

“ Death is their sole relief. . . . Alas! those who living were denizens of the central flowery country, dead, their ghosts wander in strange lands. O, azure Heaven above! in this way are destroyed our righteous people."
Realizing the friendly attitude of Americans towards their country, the Chinese coolies in Peru sent to the American legation in Lima a curious and affecting petition, setting forth their pitiable condition, and praying that through its government the emperor of China might be moved to intervene in their behalf. ”

“ From the United States alone had the embassy received any well-grounded hope of release; and on his return to Japan the chief ambassador expressed to the American minister in a heartfelt manner his deep sense of obligation to the government for its reception and treatment.
Prince Iwakura was a noted character in Japanese history. He is held in esteem by Americans because of his high appreciation of the friendship of their country for his nation, and for the partiality shown by him to the United States in educating three of his sons in its institutions. ”

“ An attempt had been made by treaty between China and Japan in 1885 to regulate their conflicting relations as to Korea. While denying responsibility for the acts of that government towards foreign powers, China was constantly seeking to control its intercourse with them.
The king of Korea, alarmed lest China should make his action a pretext for war, sent a humble petition to the emperor asking for his gracious approval of the appointment of the two ministers to the United States and Europe, at the same time assuring the American representative at Seoul that he was resolved to send them. ”

“ Members of the embassy to Japan, after seeing the advance of that country under foreign influence, had returned with modified views as to the true interests of their people. The presence at Seoul of Japanese and Chinese diplomatic officials and of soldiers armed and drilled in Western style were affording an insight, even though imperfect, of the benefits of modern civilization. ”