The Sun.
London, England, 1840-03-05 00:00:00

THE CHI

ESTiO N.

TO THE EDI 7' 01? OF THE SUN.
SlR—.Communications arc daily appearing in the I,on-
don Journals respecting the relations between the Bri-
tish and the Chinese, but none of the writers appear to
me to look with both eyes upon the question. One says
that the demoralization of China is attributabh
to the importation of opium under the British flag ; and
therefore, that any vengeance directed against us is
allowable, and ought not to expose the Chinese to ous
resentment. Another, that the opium traffic is indis-
pensable to China, and cannot by any possility be pre-
vented. Now, if' twenty years' personal intercourse
with the Chinese, of every class, be thought to justify
the expression of a decided opinion, allow me, Sir, to as-
- you, and the readers of your excellent Journal, that
disputes with the Chinese, and frequent and injurious in-
terruptions of the trade from a thousand causes as well
as that of opium, can only be entirely prevented by tin
establishment in the Chinese waters of an emporium of
commerce wholly independent of the authorities of the
Celestial Empire. The opium is but a mere pretext for a
quarrel with us. For thirty years have we openly exported
opium to China, and always under the protection of the
Government, though nominally a contraband article of
commerce. The duty upon every chest of it was care-
fully levied by the local authorities, in the shape of fee'
and gratuities of a fixed and regular amount, which
were never disputed by the sellers of the drug. Nor
would the sale of a single chest of opium be prevented
by Great Britain withdrawing herself from the traffic,
as so long as the trade is profitable, a thousand flags
will be found to cover it. So long as there is a de-
mand for what can be as easily grown in Egypt as in
British Indio, there will be an abundant supply.
But this is not now the question. Our trade with
Canton was always carried on upon the understanding
that our persons, properties, and lives, should In
sacred. We have witnessed the destruction of the pro-
perty, and the menacing of the lives of British subjects ;
and had our shipping been as much in the power of the
Chinese as the opium, net a plank of them would have
escaped the flames. That they were not seized, is in-
deed a miracle. I myself, at the head of 500 Chinese.
would have taken every one of them in half-an-hour.
and that wi'hout the expenditure of an ounce of' gun-
powder! Surely you will agree with me, that it is
shameful to expose the commercial navy of such a
great country as this to such a risk.
Some good-natured people here think that the ques-
tiou may be settled by negotiation. This a sad mis-
take. The Chinese would attribute the least allusion
to a compromise at present to our extreme terror of
them, and they would repeat the opium trick, with
fresh and unheard of atrocities, before the expiration of
a year after the re-opening of the trade. Their con-
duct will be regulated by their fears, and all that we
desire them to do, we must convince them that we are
in a condition to exact Even then they will keep
their promises no longer than till they can breck them
with safety.
I am afraid that the Government, in directing mili-
tary operations against China, has not sufficiently at-
tended to the resources of that country. That 10,000
British troops, well officered and provided with a
good park of flying artillery, could take the city of
Pekin one week after landing at Puho, is unquestion-
able. But though we can take the capital of China,
we cannot keep it, nor an inch of the country.beyond
the range of our guns. Now what I propose Is, that
we place ourselves at the head of the Chinese society
or brotherhood, leagued against the Tartar Govern-
rm nt—a society exceedingly numerous and very power-
ful in every part of the empire. By this means
we can easily effect a revolution in China, and
obtain for ourselves not only a free right of
trade, but emporiums for conducting it entirely under
our own control. Of these we require three on the
coast of China ; and once in possession of these, in-
stead of going to the Chinese, we could at any moment,
by stopping the trade in salt and rice, compel them to
come to us.

Captain Elliot has made great mistakes, but great
allowance must be made for him. He went to Canton
a stranger to the character of the people with whom
he bad to deal. In Europe it is hard to make people be-
►ieve that the Chinese are a faithless, prevaricating, lying,
people, and yet nothing is truer. As to the bills given
by him for the destroyed opium, I think the Govern-
ment ought to have paid them at once, and looked to
China for their reimbursement. The blow inflicted
upon trade by the dishonouring of these bills, has fallen
with ruinous severity upon the merchants of India ; and
as the merchants are less to blame for what has hap-
pened than the Government, I cannot admit either the
justice or the sound policy of this. The interests of
our merchants, and those of the whole community art,
are here identical, and to punish the country through
them for what they could neither foree nor prevent,
savours little of that protection to which the mercantile
body is entitled. If we could not get the amount o:
the bills from the Chinese, a Us of 10 per cent.
laid
on Chinese goods imported into India would soon cover
the loss—a measure unobjectionable under such cir-
cumstances.

I have the honour to remain, &c.
PAK TAOU.

METROPOLI TA-Si -POLICE.

Return of the number of Men of each Rank and Class
of the Metropolitan Police serving on the tat day of
January; 1840 ; also the rate of pay of each class, and
the Allowances :
Rank.

Amount per An.
_
. d.
1 Inspecting Superintendent.....
40 0.
0 0 0
1 Superintendent3oo 0 0
16 ditto ...... ........... ..• 250 0 0
73 Inspectors ... _ _

349 Sergeants,

118 6 0

_ ........................ .. 63 14 0
250 Constables, Ist class 54 12 0
2,527 ditto 21 .. • 49 8 0
269 ditto 3d ...... .... ..... 44 4 0
ALLOWANCES.—The sergeants.. and.. oonstables are al
lowed clothing, and each married man of these two ranks
is allowed 40 pounds weight of coals weekly throughout
the year ; each single man is allowed 40 pounds weight
weekly during six winter months, and 20 pounds weight
weekly for the remainder of the year.
3 Inspectors
1 ditto
1 ditto lOO 0 0
1 ditto 9l 0 0
16 Constables, Ist class Bl 8 0
11 ditto 2d 72 16 0
38 ditto 3d
1 Principal Inspector
1 laspector, Ist class lOO 0 0
a ditto 2d
6 ditto 3d
8 ditto 4th 75 0 0
30 Constables, Ist class 59 16 0
40 ditto 2d
C. ROWAN.