270 The National Geographic Magazinr 



In the year 1 832-' 33 there were sixty 

 American ships at Canton, and our trade 

 was even then valued at nearly $17, 

 000 , 000 per annum . The first American 

 missionary was Robert Morrison, a man 

 of great learning and ability, who arrived 

 in China in 1807. 



America commenced direct diplomatic 

 negotiations with China in 1844, when 

 Caleb Cushing signed the treaty of 

 Wanghia. Since then there have been 

 only the slightest breaks in the entente 

 cordiale between China and the United 

 States. New treaties have been drawn 

 up when necessary, and American trade 

 has grown more rapidly than that of any 

 other foreign nation engaged in the com- 

 petition for the control and profits of 

 Asiatic markets. 



Our commercial opportunity in China, 

 which is a favorite theme of mine for 

 discussion prompted by many 3^ears of 

 official and private study and residence 

 in Asia, is the greatest in potentialities 

 of any beyond our shores. Today our 

 trade exchange with China, including 

 Hongkong, is valued at $45,000,000 per 

 annum, and yet it is in the infancy of its 

 development. Making conservative esti- 

 mate on the basis that the ' ' open door '.' 

 is preserved in China, that the interior 

 of the Empire is made accessible by rail- 

 ways, and that the government becomes 

 progressive, there is no valid reason 

 why our commerce with Cathay in 1925 

 should not have grown tenfold and be 

 valued at $450,000,000. 



These possibilities remind us of the 

 supreme necessity of the protection of 

 our treaty rights throughout all China, 

 from Manchuria to Kwangtung. It is 

 gratifying that President McKinley and 

 Secretary Hay are shaping our policy at 

 Pekin with reference to the importance 

 of our interests, present and future. We 

 want and will take no territory, no ports, 

 but we contend for the unhampered 

 privilege of trading everywhere in China 

 on the same basis and with the same 

 privileges, without discrimination, as 

 any and all foreign nations. 



After the maintenance of the ' ' open 

 door," the chief object of American 

 effort in the matter of commerce would 

 seem to be the abolition of the so-called 

 lyekin or interior taxes on foreign goods- 

 when they have left the treaty ports for 

 their destination. It is no exaggeration 

 to predict that the foreign trade with 

 China would double in five years if the 

 duty paid at the custom-house was the 

 only burden on foreign imports. The 

 chief object in the new commercial 

 treaties which will be negotiated at the 

 conclusion of the present difficulties 

 will be the protection of foreign imports 

 from lyckin, barrier, and destination 

 taxes, or ' ' squeezes. " 



AMERICAN INTERESTS IN MANCHURIA 



The future of Manchuria directly con- 

 cerns the United States. In one way 

 we have more at stake than any other 

 nation. More American products are 

 sold there than in any other portion of 

 China. American imports to Manchuria 

 exceed those of any other nation. The* 

 outlook in ordinary conditions for the 

 increase of American trade in Manchuria 

 is better than elsewhere in Asia, and 

 hence the situation appeals to American 

 export interests, especially to the cotton 

 industries of the Southern States. 



I am making no comment on the dip- 

 lomatic issue at stake, nor on the policy 

 of Russia, but I am telling the simple 

 truth about Manchuria's importance. 

 Having crossed it from Niuchwang to- 

 Vladivostok by way of Kirin and Muk- 

 den, I can say that it is prospectively 

 one of the best sections of China, capa.- 

 ble of supporting a large population and 

 providing an extended market. When 

 I first visited Niuchwang, some eight 

 years ago, American imports were barely 

 worth 1 5 per cent of the total ; when I 

 went there last, in 1898, they were 50 

 per cent of the total and were still grow- 

 ing. It is the Manchurian demand, for 

 instance, that has caused the wonderful 

 increase to $10,000,000 in the value of 



