The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-06-04

whom he mildly reproves by styling them tfthe in
uconsidera,e ones at home" AS The EXCHANGE
happens to be included in the latter category it is
due. both to ourselves, and to Mr.. REED that we
should show TO what extent his explanations meet
the points upon which it was alleged that he had
failed to justify public expectation Were it
possible to do 50 without trenching too much upon
uur very limited space, we would reproduce Mr..
REEDS speech entire. But as it occupies nearly
four columns of fine type and necessarily contains
vast amount of matter that is not pertinent to the
issue, we propose to confne ourselves strictly to
those passages which are relied upon by Mr.. REED
to refute the allegations that have been made
against him. Those allegations may be briefly
stated as follows:
Fira-That the close and confidential relations
which existed between Mr.. REED and Count PUTIA-
TINE, the Russian Plenipotentiary, prevented the
former from acting as cordially with the English
and French Commissioners as might have been the
case under other circumstances.
S5cond.-That his preconceived opinions with
regard to the Chinese officials and as to the best
mode of dealing with them, led him astray
from the outset, and made him, to some extent,
the dupe of their arts, and tricks, and subter-
fuges.
Third.-That he evinced readiness to enter
upon negotiations with any Mandarin that offered
himself for that purpose, without caring whether
the latter was was not clothed with full power
to treat.
F6urth.-That he interposed TO the prejudice of
his own government and to the restriction of COM
,,nrre orauarallv at tho inctopoo Of +Lo Cl,;,o,o
Commissioners for the purpose of inducing Lord
ELGIN TO abandon his demands for a concession of
the free navigation of all the rivers of China, and
permanent diplomatic residence at PekIn, not
outstanding the fact that every substantial ad-
vantage which was won by any of the other
Commissioners would enure also to the UNITED
STATES under the usual clause granting equality of
privileges.
There were other matters besides the above in
which the policy adopted by Mr.. REED was of
questionable propriety, but as they are of lesser
Importance we shall not touch upon them at this
time. We have simply stated the chief charges
that were brought against him, and we
now propose to show to what extent the
truth of them has been established by Mr. REEDS
own testimony. Referring to the alleged want
of cordiality between himself and the Allied Com
missoners, in consequence of his intimate relations
with Count PUTIATINE, he says:
ftheswarm busy scribblers such as always ucr in
the sunshine Of patronage sometimes tried produce r-
ritaton and annOyance-if one phantom-the suspicion
of Russian inhuence-somemesc crossed our path I al.
ways found that candor, good temper, and moderate
exercise of good sense were more than match for them
and assure you gentlemen in spite of the newspapers
we were excellent friends"
This answer does not meet the point The cues
ton is-did Mr.. REED show any decided prefer
ences for his Russian ''co-operator ?-to quote his
own expression. Here is what he says:
''Let me not for moment be understood as DENYING
that between his Excelency, Count Putiatine and me
there were the most intimate and confidential relations
Excluded as neutrality-suspicious. properly so-from the
Councils of the begerent allies naturally drifed into
close intimacy which ripened, my part and believe
on his into warm personal friendship which shall never
disOwnn
Proceeding to philosophise upon the remote
causes which justified those eliminate and conf
"dential relations" Mr.. REED favors us with the
following historical disqusition:
at may be-, he says, "a matter of wonder to some
who speculate on uncongenia associations that Russians
and Americans can be friends; but one familiar with
our history can fail to why is So Our records are
not filled with contrasts of anpathy to-day and loving
kindness omOrrow-crusades Of centuries on one mace
ana hollow dS nastic utilization on the next"
After finging this bitter sarcasm at the two
Powers with whose representatives he would have
US believe he was on the best terms of friendship
he proceeds to emphatcally deny that the init
macy which existed between himself and Count
PUTIATINE was ''prosiiuted to unworthy and Sc
'cret cabals." We cheerfully exonerate both Of
them from forming any plan, combination, agree
"ment or understanding, to Illustrate the policy
"of Great Britain or France" But the Russian
proclivities of Mr.. REED were, nevertheless dis
tincty apparent, and, naturally enough, rendered
his relations with the allies more formal and
restrained Mr.. REED himself tells us in another
part Of his speech that ''the flags of Russia
'and the UNITED STATES were hoisted on the AMER
'ica-the flags of the two nations who were and
''meant TO be at peace with China" and that be
twas excluded from the councils of the bellipe-
trent allies and yet, we are to credit the
fact that he had no Russian sympathies what
ever, and that he did not insensibly fall into
a line of policy which was best calculated to
promote the interests of Russia, and was therefore
adverse to those ofthe UNITED STArEs-the one seek
ing to extend her overland commerce with China,
the other to increase it by free access to the sea
ports, and by an unrestricted intercourse with the
interior Of the Empire by means of the navigable
rivers.
We now come to the next charge-that which
alleges against him an almost child-like Ignorance
OF the tricks and dereptions which have from time
immemorial characterized Chinese diplomacy
Here again Mr.. REED shall speak for himself
Promising that up TO the period when the ratifica-
ton of the treaty of Tien-sin took place, Mr. REED
labOUred uu6pr tho t,+ Cl;,..z n,
only required to be dealt with mildly and consid-
erately, to obtain from them all that could reasona-
bly, be asked, we proceed to show what Mr. REEDS
OPINION OF them was after he was made acquainted
with the purport of certain documents which at the
capture of Canton were found in the Yamun of
Governor YEN:
One of those documents says Mr. Reed, ''purpored
De the report made by the commissioners who met Sir j.
noWrng and Mr. McLane in 1854 and the Imperial
ehs or rescrptsa document of great and painful inter
offcialsn " ~
After regretting that the knowledge of those
documents had been concealed from him by Lord
ELGlN, until his (Mr. REED's) return to Shanghai,
he remarks:
They were certainly the most painful revelations of
mehdacty and reacherous habits of the high officials
ol TINS empire yet given the world They be
without contemptuOuS resentment and have
uen confidence in equanimy and sefcontrol as to
NINE what might have been my inclination before
after the fall Of the Taku forts, had the contents of
Dlose papers been known to men
Thus far, then, Mr. REED establishes by his
narrative the positions assumed by his critics.
Taking up next his account of his interview with
the Mandarin, TAN, with whom he was willing to
treat but desisted upon the representation of the
Allies that TAN was not provided with full
powers we find the following comment
In the exercise of the best judgment could form,
u not in the opinion that before interview the
production of full powers essential, indeed if
negotiations in good faith could be begun that it
worth while to be critical exactng te the technical
powers attached these formates Just little
as II Is understood Lord Elgn and Baron eros did to
ceremony when they ceded the place of honor Pehqui
ana The Tartar General at Canton"
And yet those very formalities, as Mr.. REED
ought to have known, constitute the essence of
Chnese diplomacy, and their observance or nom
observance makes all the difference between those
contracts that are binding upon the parties, and
'hose that are not. In another place Mr.. REED
returns to this subject again, and remarks that
onuer IANs powers a treaty with every variety
I" most favored clauses, might have been
niaue, which would have been ratified in twenty
-FOUR hours" Fortunately for him, however,
.n' opinion was not put to the test, otherwise the
,y would in all probability, have shared the fate
" 'ne documents which wara f,nnd n, Ypu,S