Page 462 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

448.
With the matter of extraterritoriality settled, the two

sides were ready to sign a treaty. Altogether, negotiations

lasted only two weeks. Cushing's abstract had provided an ex­

cellent outline from which to work. The negotiators had only

to address themselves to the articles over which they disagreed

in interpretation. Cushing had painstakingly composed the abs­

tract, and he prided himself on the care with which he considered

Chinese rights and aims as well as those of American residents.

He constantly emphasized to the Chinese "that it was not the

policy or the wish of the United States to take territory from

China, to extort money payments, or any other aspect to wound

the national pride or injure the political interests of the

97 1
Empire.11 Although Ch i-ying still considered Americans as
"barbarians," Cushing's statements and actions convinced the

Imperial Commissioner that he and his country acted in good

faith. The Imperial government must therefore treat the Ameri­

cans with benevolence. Such an attitude also facilitated the

did not reveal Spooner's identity to Cushing or to the Chinese
authorities. Letters, P.S. Forbes to R.B. Forbes, Jul. 1 and
Aug. 1, 1844 9 Forbes MSS. Forbes' description of the incident
to Cushing and Cushing's correspondence with Ch'i-ying on the mat­
ter are in Diplomatic Despatches: China, C. Cushing, Jul. 24, 1844.
Shortly after the conclusion of this affair, two Americans who had
constructed facilities for repairing vessels on Chinese territory
near Hong Kong asked Cushing for extraterritorial protection.
Cushing refused, as their establishment was outside any of the five
ports. The two proprietors were Charles Emery and George Frazer,
former seacaptains. Frazer had run opium clippers on the China
coast for Russell & Co. Without Cushing's support, the two men
had to abandon their enterprise. See correspondence among Cushing,
Emery and Frazer, and Ch'i-ying in Diplomatic Despatches: China,
C. Cushing, Aug. 14, 1844.

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Diplomatic Despatches: China, C. Cushing, Jul. 9, 1844.