Page 121 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

107.

especially those who had no influence with the partners. A

great number of young men sought employment at Canton, but the

hierarchy kept them out. Partners often decided whom they

would take into the house years in advance of the actual pro-
. 12
mo tion. They generally passed their share on to brothers,

sons, nephews or at least good friends. The commission houses,

moreover, were limited to two to four partners and three to

six pursers. Since these houses accounted for the majority

of American residents before 1840, the room for entry and ad­

vancement in the trade was necessarily restricted. The nature

of the trade itself precluded unlimited expansion and therefore

ensured the closely-knit and tightly-controlled character of

the merchant corrununity.

Given the limited size of the American population at

Canton before 1844, their homogeneous characteristics as Ameri­

can merchants bound them together. These merchants' cohesive­

ness shaped the attitudes they formed and the policies they

pursued in China. Their leaders and spokesmen were the tai­
pans or chiefs of the major houses, Russell & Co., Wetmore &

Co. and Olyphant & Co. This unity became more noticeable with

the growth of these houses. The ascendancy of these houses in

the China trade fostered and enhanced the homogeneous character

12
Letter, N. Kinsman to A. Chase, Jan. 31, 1844, Salem,
Essex Institute, Kinsman Family MSS. The partnership papers for
Russell & Co. also reflect this trend, as seen in Russell & Co.
MSS. This system of selection also operated as a detriment to
a house. On occasion partners in the United States sent out sons
and nephews who either had no business skill or did not wish to work
to acquire it. The house had to ease out such a person in a way
not to insult the merchant who had sent him. Letter, W.H. Low to
S. Russell, Aug. 28, 1831, Russell & Co. MSS.