Page 286 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

272.

After December 6, although the English was officially

closed, the Americans were able to continue their services.

They merely changed their operations to make them legal. In­

stead of running transshipped cargoes direct to Whampoa, Amer­

ican masters took them to Manila for fresh bills of lading.

These new bills made the cargoes legally appear as American

property. The vessels then returned to Whampoa to trade

their "American" cargoes for Chinese exports. Singapore and
90
Penang were other ports utilized for the same purpose. The

Chinese were quick to discover the false use of bills of

lading to legalize transshipment of British cargoes. Although

vessels from these ports with bills of lading claiming the

cargo to be American property were allowed to trade at Canton,

the Commissioner tightened the regulations concerning trans­

shipment. Not accepting Consul Snow's explanation as to the

legality of changing bills of lading, Lin issued a further pro­
hibition of transshipment of English goods at the ports of

Manila, Singapore and Penang. He also required that every
American master swear to the American consul "that his ship

91
has no transshipped British property onboard." These new

restrictions did not stop the Americans from continuing their

90
Nye, Peking the Goal, pp. 42-43. Forbes, in Journal
of R.B. Forbes, Dec. 1, 1839, Forbes Family MSS, noted as soon
as he heard of Lin's closing the English trade that transship­
ping operations could be switched to Manila.

91
Snow's despatch and the Chinese edicts of Dec. 29 are
in Consular Despatches: Canton, P.W. Snow, Jan. 11, 1840.