284 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



of commerce" afforded by Cliiua as "forming a chain of trade between 

 Hndson Bay, Canada, and the north-west coast," and then he exhibits 

 on the American side the costly furs of the sea otter, wliich are still so 

 much prized in China; "mines which are known to lie between the lati- 

 tudes 40° and 60° north;" and also an "inexhanstible supply" of gin- 

 seng, for which there is still such a demand in China that even Minnesota, 

 at the head-waters of the Mississippi, sui)plies her contribution. His 

 catalogue might be extended now. 



As a ])ractical illustration of this idea, it may be mentioned that for 

 a long time most if not all the sea-otter skins of this coast found their 

 way to China, excluding even Russia herself. China was the best cus- 

 tomer, and therefore Englishmen and Americans followed the Russian 

 Company in carrying these furs to her market, so that Pennant, the 

 English naturalist, impressed by the peculiar advantages of this coast, 

 exclaimed, "What a profitable trade with China might not a Colony 

 carry on were it possible to penetrate to that part of the country by 

 means of rivers and lakes!" But under the present Treaty this (;oast 

 is ours. 



The absence of harbours at present belonging to the United States 

 on the Pacific limits the outlets of the country. On that whole extent, 

 from Panama to Puget Sound, the only harbour of any considerable 

 value is San Francisco. Further north the harbours are abundant, and 

 they are all nearer to the great marts of Japan and China. But San 

 Francisco itself will be nearer by the way of the Aleutians than by 

 Honolnlu. The iirojection of maps is not always calculated to present 

 an accurate idea of distances From measurement on a globe it api^ears 

 that a voyage from San Francisco to Ilong Kong by the common way of 

 the Sandwich Islands is 7,140 miles, but by way of the Aleutian Islands 

 it is only 6,060 miles, being a saving of more than 1,000 miles, with the 

 enormous additional advantage of being obliged to carry much less 

 coal. Of course a voyage from Sitka, or from Puget Sound, the ter- 

 minus of the JSorthern Pacific Railroad, would be shorter still. 



The advantages to the Pacific coast have two aspects, one domestic 



and the other foreign. Not only does the Treaty extend the 



5.3 coasting trade of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory 



northward, but it also extends the base of commerce with China 



and Japan. 



To unite the east of Asia with the west of America is the aspiration 

 of commerce now as when the English navigator recorded his voyage. 

 Of course whatever hel])s this result is an advantage. The Pacific 

 Railroad is such an advantage, for, though running westward, it will be, 

 when completed, a new highway to the East. This Treaty is another 

 advantage, for nothing can be clearer than that the western coast must 

 exercise an attra(;tion which will be felt in China and Japan just in pro- 

 portion as it is occupied by a commercial people communicating readily 

 with the Atlantic and with Europe. This cannot be done without con- 

 sequences not less imi)ortant politically than commercially. Owing so 

 much to the Union, the people there will be bound to it anew, and the 

 national unity will receive another confirmation. Thus the whole coun- 

 try will be a gainer. So are we knit together that the advantages to 

 the Pacific coast will contribute to the general welfare. 



EXTENSION OF DOMINION. 



2. The extension of dominion is another consideration, calculated to 

 captivate the i>ublic mind. Few are so cold or philos()])hical as to regard 

 with insensibility a widening of the bounds of country. Wars have 



