Page 177 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

163.
in the China trade, especially in the establishments at Can­

ton.

Actually in contradiction to all their complaints and

dire warnings of financial losses, resident agents who had

been at Canton since the end of the War had profited consis­

tently. One young American who clerked at Perkins & Co. man­

aged to notice this in spite of the pessimism that character­

ized his superior's communications to the United States.

Writing to a friend in 18 25, he remarked that "notwithstanding

all that was determined upon by the croakers in Canton the
23
voyages from China have turned out well last year.11 For Per­

kins & Co. and other resident agents, the same conclusion seemed

to be true every year. After 18 26 these merchants developed

their establishments into commission houses and organized the

trade into a specialized and tightly-structured business. The

four major houses that later dominated the American China trade

all traced their origins back to 18 26. For these merchants

the economic disruption of that year was beneficial, as it

forced out of the trade those merchants whose operations were

financially unstable. The China trade,vvhich never fulfilled

the potential Americans �onstantly attributed to it, was very

successful for a limited number of merchants who were knowledge­

able of the unique facets of the "Canton system" and skilled

in dealing with them.

23
Letter, T.T. Forbes to S. Dorr, Nov. 6, 18 25,

Forbes MSS.