Page 432 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

418.

III

President John Tyler first proposed a diplomatic mission

to China in a special message to Congress in late December 1842.

News of the conclusion of a treaty between England and China had

recently reached the Administration. Influenced by his Secretary

of State, Daniel Webster, and his friend and supporter in Con­

gress, Caleb Cushing, Tyler sent a message to the House of
Representatives on December 30. Written by Webster, the Presi­

dent's message discussed American relations with both the Sand­

wich Islands and China. Concerning China, Tyler argued that the

recent opening of new ports to English merchants "cannot but be

interesting to the mercantile interest of the United States.

II The President explained that the Treaty of Nanking

"provides neither for the admission nor the exclusion of the

ships of other nations. It would seem, therefore, that it remains

with every other nation having commercial intercourse with China,

to seek to make proper arrangements for itself, with the Govern­

ment of that empire, in this respect." The need for such ar­

rangements revolved around American trade in China, especially in

the export of American textiles to the Celestial Empire. Tyler

requested that the House approve appropriations for an American

commissioner to reside in China "to exercise a watchful care over

the concerns of American citizens, .to hold intercourse with

the local authorities, and. .to address himself to the high

functionaries of the empire, or through them to the Emperor himself _,AC

46
Regarding the Hawaiian Islands, Tyler's Special Message
disclaimed any American desire for exclusive privileges in the
Islands. But he stated that the Islands' commercial value and
their proximity to the United States predicated a special American