The reports on the Commercial Relations of the United States, presented by the various Consuls to the Secretary of State, have this remarkable peculiarity, when compared with other official documents, that they are issued reasonably within time, 10 thus made up to September 1873, and con-ornis tohave been taken i it preparation, As is meet, the reports of the Consuls in China are preceded by two dispatches from Mr. Low, late U. 8. Ministerat Peking. Neither contains very valuable information, while the first is mainly devoted to an attempted exculpation of the present Inspector-General of Foreign Customs, In the volume of Commercial Relations" for 1871, the U.S. Consul at Amoy had made certain strictures against that gentleman, and had fallen into an error very usual at that time, and since, of over-estimating the importance of office. Tt is satisfactory to find Mr, Low defining his position thus:—* Mr. Hart isan official employed and paid by the Chinese Government to superintend the collection of the revenue from foreign trade, and to perform - other kindred duties." Mr. Low then goes on to state, that, "if the Inspector-General of Maritime Customs is the high officer referred to in the treaty, of which there can, imagine, be no question, Lam unable to discover," &e, Now Mr. Hart is, we are very sure, nut the High Officer referred to in the treaty, which evidently contemplates the appointment of a Chinese Superiatendent of Foreign Trade, But the error was one into which an ordinary Consul was very likely to fall. Whateverhis own opinions, he found Mr. Bart accepted by his superiors at Peking as the all-powerful confidential right arm of the Chinese Government, and he simply followed the lead of his superiors. Mr. Low, in his second despatch, discovers that "the foreign and coastwise trade of the United States" constitutes 36 88 per cent. of the whole foreign trade of China, and contributes 23.66 per cent. of all the revenue collected by the Foreign Customs department." It. is somewhat difficult, however, to reconcile this statement of the Minister with the facts, Indeed, in the very next page it appears that of the 160 rullions of taels returned as the total trade of the treaty ports of China with the world, less than 14 millions are credited to the United States; and accepting Mr. Low's complaints as to Hongkong taking away a great deal of legitimate American trade, we will throw in the whole lump of the colonial trade, 36 ma, and still ind that Mr, Low's estimates are exaggerated, We do not wish to depreciate se of our fellow-residents, but tatements like these are likely to feeling, when repeated, in the firatinstanee. general results of the tables of foreign trade in China, we do not now intend to comment, Great care has evidently been taken in their compilation, and for residents in the United States, to whom the statistics published by the Foreign Customs in China are not readily access: sible, they are no doubt invaluable, Many of the remarks and suggestions pnt forward by the various Consuls are excellent, and deserve notice at the hands of the U.S. Government. Many, again, are re-statements of facts with which we are perfectly familiar; but which, judging from results, do not seem to be ajypreciated at their full value by those concerned. Mr. Henderson, at Amoy, finds that the Qhinese have an "uniform system of bankruptey." This, however, consists in the mandarins getting hold of the money to be realised—keeping it. Doubtless, they do so when they can, and occasionally something not very unlike this happens in other countries, Mr. Jewell, at Canton, gives an elaborate sketch of the city and country around, and well compiled tables of the trade of the port, which may be rend with interest and instruction even by residents, It seems a pity that the disjointed tenure of office in the U. S.
Service should result in the removal of an efficient officer at the moment when experience of office was coming to his aid. We do not endorse Mr. Jewell's remarks about the opium trade; but seen from his standpoint, and with his comparatively.imited experience of China and CI in ese trade, we perfectly sympathise with his arguments. If opium smoking, and its consequent evils, were to be put an by the stoppage of the foreign trade in the article, there might be some practical utility in these efforts of philanthropists, But in the first place, our statistics show us that the only effect of stopping foreign import would be to increase in the same proportion the native production; and in the second place, we would hesitate to state that opium, with all its wndonbtedly bad consequences, is an unmitigated evil. Colonel Flint's remarks about the trade of Chinkiang are so well put together, and so true in point of fact, that it seems a pity personal circumstances Prevented his views from gaining the ready acceptance to which they were entitled, Colonel Flint points out the undoubted advantage accruing to native and foreign trade by the short relaxation "which permitted fora time internal produce to yet toa reasonable market, Ho makes sensible remarks, too, as to the advisability of the U.S. Government obtaining the services of responsible interpreters, There is little doubt that American influence in China fers through the want of organisation its Consular service. Mr, Seward's report, on the trade of Shanghai and the general interests of foreigners in int, deserves notice as a statesmanlike essay on the entire subject. Mr. Seward, with the additional experience which a further term of office has given him, is prepared to modify his former views, The time has come, he tells us, that some modification should tike place in the policy advocated by Sir Frederick Bruce and Mr, Burlingame, At the time that policy was introduced, China was in great straits, and "a policy of generosity, of forbearance, and of cordial support, was altogether appropriate." Now, the position of affairs is altogether different, and different mea sures are needed. "The duty, then, was to tide over the period of difficulty. The duty, now, is to fulfil the natural and right duties of Government, These consist, amongst other things, in the promotion of commerce, mining and manufactures; the establishment of highways, canals and rai roads; the diffusion of education, &c." We need not say that we fully endorse Mr. Seward's views on these important matters, yet we have our own doubts as to whether the policy of Sir F, Bruce and Mr. Burlingame did not really lead li measure to the present stagnant affairs in Chi had it in their power, as no to urge on the Chinese the necessity of undertaking practical reforms, Those reforms at the time would have conduced to the rapid settlement of affairs, and must ere this have produced a real and living change. That opportunity was neg: lected; the car of state has got again into its old ruts, and the gentle pressure which then would have turned it into new ways must now probably, tobe efficient, be supple-ented by force. The objects enumerated by Mr. Seward as amongst the first duties of government, are those very things against which the Chinese Government as, as a matter of steady and consistent policy, set its face. In fact, they are
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.