Page 120 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

106.

members of the house, pursers and partners, gathered to eat

together and to discuss the daily business of the house. "All

affairs, past, present, and future, were discussed at the table,
and became as familiar to the clerks as they were to the part­

ners." No matter connected with the trade was ever considered

too important to be withheld. The partners related all they

knew about the China trade and foreign commerce in general to

their pursers. Profits at Canton depended on skill in decisions

over what commodities to buy or sell at a given time and at a

given price. This skill did not come easily. Pursers were

equal to their partners at the dinner table and were encouraged

to ask questions. As these young men acquired the knowledge

and methods of business from the experienced partners, they

were able to contribute to "a more intelligent co-operation"
10
in the business of the house.

Besides being small and close-knit� the American com­

munity tended to be closed and elitist. The myth of the huge

numbers of fortunes acquired in the China trade remained a

myth. Many merchants did return from Canton wealthy. John

Perkins Cushing retired at forty-one a millionaire. More than

a few Americans returned after seven years worth one-hundred-
11
thousand dollars. But going to China did not ensure every

young man a fortune. Many pursers did not rise to partnership,

lO
·
·
Wi 11 1am C. Hunter, T h e 'Fan Kwae' at Canton b efore
Treaty Days, 1825-1844 (London, 1882), p. 124.
11
These are in terms of the actual amounts these men made.
In today's monetary value, $100,000 would be worth close to a
million dollars. These men who made that much were considered
millionaires in their day.