Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-08-31
The Chinese Empire Opened TO The
Trade OF n World.

Trade OF the World.
Nothing could have been more suspicious,
as indicating at once the success and utility
of the Atlantic Telegraph, than the first bus
mess despatch sent over it. announcing that
pea &c bad been made with China; that the
hostilities which had bee for the last couple
of years wsged by the navies Of France and
England against tha. old mystic AsiatIc EN-
pirc had ceased; and that the hoary Tamparts
of prejudice aud excIusivism had received
another mighty shock, from which they were
lettering to their very base, If, indeed, they
bad not already fallen. 1t was a %proVIdeu-
tial Inauguration If the wonderful highway
of intelligence that has been stretched from
Continent to contineat. II was a wonderful
yerifcation of the motto SO often applied to
i;-'G!ory to God 10 the highest, and on
earth peace and good will toward men"
The complement to this Intelligence Is that
which was flashed over the Atlantic Cable
on Wednesday, infurmi1g US that peace bad
been concluded--thst England and France
had obtained all their demands, Including
the establishment of embassies at Pekin AMI
decentralization tor the expenses OF the war.
The CaIcese empire il open to the trade o!
all foreign Powers, and the Christian reil-
gion is allowed 10 all parts of the country,
ami foreign diplomatic agents are admitted
Although the Unitel Safes cannot 5e said
to have had any hand 10 the obtaining OF
these concessions, We will nevertheless be the
foremost 10 deriving advantages from them.
The ram parts of Chinese exclusiveness be-
ing thus demolished, the whole POLITICAL,
commercial, and social life of China will
loon be exposed to view, 20 be operated upon
by all the Powers OF an enlightened and ac-
tive civilization. Pekin Itself, that strong
hold OF 0ien1al prejudice and sem!-bagbar-
ism, will have its gates thrown open to the
world for the first time in the lOng centuries
Of its existence, and will have the Inner lie
of it's three or four millions of inhaoitlnts
displayed before the eyes OF obserVant tor
eiyners. What a field will be thus prescn.
ted for the operations Of the JOurnailst, the
artist, the merchant, the statesmac, the mis-
~siouary and the mechanic, and what q vast
amount of knowledge Will be added to the
literary storehuuse o! the world
Ii is not by the small fgures Of our pre-
sent trade with China that We can estimate
the importance of that clause vi the treaty
~ which We learn toat ths Chimes Empire
is open to the trade Of all FVrtisa PJweGs.--
The whole foreign of China DID
not exceed in 1856 one hutdrcd and twenty
millions OF dollars. Its with the
United States was not more than one-!enth
of the whole. Ia otber words, We exported
to China 10 1856, goods and specie to the
amount Of $2~,55S,231, and Imported there
from tea AID silk ~ the amount o! 3iU,I J4,
1876 But when we are told that tAe tyEaage
Of China used in the navigation OF lis rivers
and canals 10 larger than the aggregate ton
mage Of all the other nations Of the earth;
that there are 30 less than ten thousand la
parial barges engaged in collecting and car
ryipg to Pckin tie dutles 10 kind Imposed On
the single article Of grain; that an equal
number OF barges IL emplOytd 10 correcting
the duties on sal;; that tue annual revenue
Of her government amounts TO sulne 9I-V,-
00O. 600: that there are over iour thuuSahu
walled cities AID towaS il the empire, many
Of them riyalliug Pekin 10 slz1 and pHFu!a'
ton; that .heie Is Tot @ creek Or haven on
which there does not stand q town VI co.,
~rnercial importance; that Its great RIVER,
Yang-.zo.kiang, opens up the trade OF hnL-
bred millions Of people, and that III industry
and enterprise these Ce!estlals arc not excel
led even by ourselves, We may then form
some idea ul the innensiiy OF tie trade
that may be established and maintained with
this swarmiug hive Of humanity.
Ole of the most satisfactory characters
tics of this immense market for Iaukee no
from steamboats, down to pins aud
needles, which will be opened amo"g the
Chinese, is the fact that it creates a mutual
exchange of products, and puts a stop to
that immense drain OF silver for China which
go long disturbed the exchanges OF the
II we Look forward still further, To the
when her rivers and canal will be nav
gated by steam m; when from West 20 East
he locomotive will traverse her extent 81
country, bringing to her haTbors on The east
.rn and southern coasts :he products OF her
.Gree or four hundred millIons Of inhabl-
ap r.: when Pekin and Canton, aud Maxim
nd Annoy, and her other great centres OF
viii be connected hy electric tclc-
,raph with London cad San Francisco, then
indeed We may begin 20 realize The magnI-
ude Of this first piece of pows transmitted
,ycr tho little wire that stretches from Va
entia to Trinity Bay.-N \. LErad.