Page 397 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

383.
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trade, the Americans would obey its regulations.

When Congress received the merchants• memorial, the

issues of American trade at Canton and the opium crisis were

new and uncommon. The House had not discussed China since the
1
1820 s and only then in the context of the Pacific Northwest.

Although the Representatives agreed to print the memorial

submitted by Lawrence, they quickly shunted the letter to the

Committee on Foreign Affairs for consideration. Whether the
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Committee discussed the matter at all is not known, but a

1
month after Lawrence s resolution a member of the Committee
.rose in the House with further resolutions. On February 10,

1840 Francis S. Pickens resolved that the House request from

the President any information "relating to the condition of the

citizens of the United States doing business during the past
year in China, the state of the American trade in that country,

and the interests of the people and commerce of the United States,

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At the same time that Forbes signed the memorial to
Congress, he noted in his journal the separate identity pos-
.:essed by Americans at Canton as favorable and profitable. He
advocated the Americans• maintaining a position that avoided
any connection with the English. In this way the Americans
could remain at Canton, trade under the old system, and reap
tremendous profits. Journal of R.B. Forbes, Apr. 19, 1839,
May 25, 26 and 28, 1839, Forbes Family MSS. The journal gives
a truer indication of American attitudes in 1839. In sending
the memorial, the merchants must have been aware of past Con­
gressional apathy and lethargy regarding Americans and their
trade at Canton.

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During this period the only records kept concerning
Congressional Committees were printed documents presented to
them. If the Committee made a report, it appears in the minutes
of Congressional sessions. Otherwise, one must assume the
Committee took no action.