Page 110 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

96.

If a man resided at Canton and worked hard at the trade, he

believed (with good reason) he would come home financially well­

off. So a residence at Canton became a temporary stay. When an

American made his fortune or recouped his debts, he knew he would

leave. Such knowledge enabled the Americans at Canton to endure

a lot of hardships. They even took the attitude that without

temptations and amusements, a man would have to concentrate on

his business. He could make more money in a shorter period.
79
The implication was that he could leave sooner.

This emphasis on the temporary aspect of life at Canton

is very important to understanding American relations with the

Chinese. American attitudes toward China, the Chinese and the

American trade at Canton stemmed from their stress on residing
at Canton only long enough to gather sufficient profits from

the trade to go home. As a result they were more tolerant of

the Chinese and their commercial system. An expeditious trade

was far more important to American merchants than Western

principles of international relations. They therefore willingly

acceded to the regulations and restrictions of the "Canton sys­

tem," although the Imperial government treated them as in­

ferior "barbarians." In turn their attitude helped create a

friendly response from the Chinese, who developed a special

79
Letter, A. Heard to S. Brook, Oct. 18, 1841, Heard
MSS. Letter, R.B. Forbes to S. Cabot, Mar. 3, 1840, Samuel
Cabot MSS. "The Canton Letters, 1839-1841, of William Henry
Low, 11 ed. by James Duncan Phillips, Essex Institute, Historical
Collections, LXXXIV (1945), 223-24, 304, 323-24. R.B. Forbes,
Remarks on China (Boston, 1844), pp. 164-65. Forbes returned
to Canton twice and recouped his losses.