Page 434 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

420.

On February 28, William S. Archer reported the bill from

the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations "with the recommenda­

tion that it pass." The Senate did not discuss the bill until

March 3, the last day of the session. As in the House, the bill

met vociferous opposition from anti-Administration Senators. The

bill passed, but only after C.M. Conrad proposed an amendment

that the minister to China be appointed with the consent of the

49
Senate. That same night Tyler nominated Edward Everett, cur-

rently Minister to England, as the designated agent. The Senate,
while rejecting other appointments, confirmed Everett's nomina­

tion. This all occurred without any participation on Everett's

part. Only a week lateru on March 10, Webster officially com­

nrunicated a proposal to Everett concerning the mission to China.

Everett, who was quite content with his post in London, politely

declined the Secretary of State's offer with the excuse that

family matters would not permit him to go to China.

Many contemporaries and most historians viewed Everett's

appointment as a ploy by Daniel Webster to obtain the ministerial

post in London for himself. Enmeshed in the split in the Whig

Party between Tyler and Henry Clay, Webster had singularly

elected not to resign from Tyler's Cabinet in 1842. The Secretary

of State had remained because of his negotiations with the

English over a northern boundary settlement. Having success­

fully concluded matters with Lord Ashburton, Webster realized

49
U.S., Congress, Senate, 27th Cong., 3rd sess., Feb. 28,
1843, Mar. 3, 1843, Congressional Globe, pp. 363, 391-92. Major
opponents of the bill included Silas Wright and Thomas Hart
Benton. The latter argued that a treaty with China was unneces­
sary, since American trade previously had operated efficiently
without one.