Page 195 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

181.

While sending China exports to the Continent, Perkins & Co. was

also moving into the English markets. The house could not inter­

fere with the East India Company's monopoly in teas and silks,

but Cushing had discovered the possibility of importing

English-manufactured woolen and cotton cloths to Canton in

American vessels and consigned to American merchants. Aided

by the world-wide network of agents of the Perkins �amily

or ''Boston Concern," Cushing by 1820 had contacts with English

merchants willing to send English woolens to Canton through
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Perkins & Co. 4 These woolens, usually known as Long Ells to

describe the length in which they were sold, composed roughly

one-half of the import trade at Canton of the East India Com­

pany. When Company agents at Canton saw American merchants

selling English Long Ells, they were "all up in arms." Cushing

did not doubt that the Company would try to force Americans out

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of carrying woolens, but such a prospect did not alarm him.
Within a few months other American merchants joined Perkins &

Co. in importing English textiles to Canton. These men also
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found the trade in woolens and cottons very profitable.

5 4
d
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Cus h • ing s cousin Fre eric� W. Paine, nep ew OL James
•
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Perkins, was the ''Boston Concern s" agent in London. Letter,
Perkins & Co. to C. Everett, Sep. 26, 1820, Perkins & Co. MSS.
55 1
L tt er, P er�ins & Co. to F.W. Paine, Nov. 15 , 1820 .
e
.
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Perkins & Co. MSS. Cushing kept detailed statistics on Company
trade at Canton. Letter, Perkins & Co. to J. & T.H. Perkins,
Oct. 25, 1820, Perkins & Co. MSS.
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Letter, Perkins & Co. to J. & T.H. Perkins, Jan.
21, 1821, Perkins & Co. MSS.