Page 371 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era
P. 371

357.

                  the  institution  of  salaried  consuls  at  Canton,  men  who  need
                                                                       36
                  not  involve  themselves  in  the  trade.                  But  the  appointment

                   of  consuls  did  not  change  throughout  the  nineteenth  century.

                              At  Canton,  although  the  consuls  were  not  exceptionally

                   honest,  their  relations  with  the  American  residents  generally

                  were  mutually  friendly.  For  the  most  part,  Americans  at  Canton

                   felt  that  consular  affairs  "are  of  trifling  importance  to  those

                  at  home  &  in  fact  to  us  here.              • 11  37  Most  consuls  or  consular-

                  agents  did  not  serve  more  than  a  few  years.  Besides  Wilcocks,

                  who  actually  held  the  position  for  nine  years  1814-23,  only

                  two  other  consuls  resided  at  Canton  for  more  than  four  years

                  before  1844.  These  included  Samuel  Snow,  at  Canton  1794-1801,


                  �nd  his  son  P.W.  Snow,  at  Canton  1835-40.  Not  much  evidence

                  exists  concerning  Samuel  Snow,  but  one  can  safely  assume  that

                  Wilcocks  and  P.W.  Snow  utilized  their  position  for  personal



                              36
                                 Emory  R.  Johnson,  et.al.,  Historv  of  Domestic  and
                  Foreign  Corrunerce  of  the  United  States-(2  vols.;  Washington,
                  19lj),  II,  271-74.  Letter,  American  merchants  to  President
                  of  the  United  States,  n.d.,  in  Consular  Despatches:  Canton.
                  Letter,  J.  Neal  &  Son  to  N.  Silsbee,  Jan.  18,  1834,  Harvard
                  Business  School,  Baker  Library,  David  Neal  MSS.

                              37
                                 Letter,  T.T.  Forbes  to  T.H.  Perkins,  Nov.  1,  1824,
                  Harvard  Business  School,  Baker  Library,  Forbes  MSS.  The  worst
                  port  in  terms  of  flagrant  consular  misconduct  was  Honolulu.
                  Complaints  were  so  bad  that  several  times  naval  vessels  were
                  sent  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  to  settle  matters.  Harold  W.
                  Bradley,  The  American  Frontier:               The  Pioneen:;,  1789-1843
                   (Stanford,  1942),  pp .. 90-91.           W.S.W.  Ruschenberger,  A  Voy-
                  age  around  the  World:          Including  an  Embassy  to  Muscat  and
                  Siam  in  1835,  1836,  and  1837            (Philadelphia,  1838),  p.  491.
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