The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-03-04

was unskilled in the usual arts of diplomacy he
yet hoped to be of service to his country, as
plain, straightforward negotator. We regret
to say that the hope, thus expressed has not been
fulfilled. After making due allowance for the
anomalous position in which he found himself,
when the Minnesota cast anchor in Chinese waters.
and with full appreciation of the restraint
whlch his instructions imposed upon him, the
cohVicuon IS forced upon us, that, even within
the limited sphere to which he was restricted he
did not merely leave undone much that might
have been accomplished, but that the tendency of
his particular efforts was to fetter instead of TO
extend, the movements of trade. Eager to make
treaty upon almost any terms, and with any
Chinese official who might chance to come for
ward and state that he was empowered by the
Court of Pekin to negotiate, Mr. REED was ready
to waive all questions relative to equality of rank
"a point which, in the etiquette of Chinese d.
plomacy, is one of paramount imporance-and
even to regard the questionable validity of the
credentials as a matter of comparative indifer-
ence. Finally, by following in the wake of the
allied squadrons, and under cover of their guns,
he succeeded in making treaty. which accorded
| to us very little beyond what we had previous
ly obtained, and which fell far short.
either of our desires, or of what we had just
reason TO expect. Even the additional ports
which it is alleged that he succeeded in having
thrown open to commerce. had been virtually free
to foreign merchant vessels for some years pre-
viously. For the rest, the provisions of the treaty
of Tien-1sn were either merely notifications of
similar provisions which We're contained in the
treaty of 1916, or they were stpulations which
were certainly not calculated to benefit in any ap-
preciable degree, the operations of commerce The
customary introduction of the ''favored nation,
clause, by securing TO us all the commercial adj
vantages that might be obtained by any other
Power, alone saved US from becoming the laughing
stock of Europe. Mr.. REED was so grossly deceived
by subtle Chinese diplomatsts, that he even ven
tured to demonstrate earnestly with Lord ELGM
Baron eros against their insisting upon more
liberal terms than he himself had secured-aeainst,
in fact their avowed determination to break down
the barriers behind which Chinese exclusiveness
had arrogantly entrenched itself and to guard
against future abuses on the part of the Imperial
officials, by providing for direct and immediate
communication with the Government, through
a minister duly accredited to the Court at Pekin
Why Mr.. REED should have endeavored to
thwart the Allied Commissioners in their efforts
| to obtain such important concessions and why he
| should have gone so far as to express his conyic-
| ton that the demands were excessive, and would
never be granted, unless he was moved thereto by
| the cunningly devised fables of the Chinese Com
missioners, or by the equally artful suggestions of
| Count PUTIATIN, it is impossible to understand
But whatever may have been the motives by which
he was actuated, it is manifest to every person of
even ordinary intelligence that his interposition
was unwise, and, if it had met with the success
he anticipated, would have been in the highest
degree detrimental to the commercial interests of
the UNITED STATES. He well knew that notwith-
standing the barren nature of his own treaty, the
one saving clause of it was that which placed the
| UNITED STATES upon an equal footing with the
most favored nation, and thereby covered every
privilege that might be granted to any other
Power. For all, then, that we have really
gained, we have to thank the English and
French Commissioners, and not Mr.. REED, who
sought, happily in vain, to turn them from
their purpose. We now learn from the Overland
| O''"' '"'' 1t'P0'', puolSHeu dt IlOHS hOHp,
under date of December l4th, that our
Commissioner is on his way home How utterly
abortive his labors have proved, may be gathered
from the fact stated in the Trade Report that snot
some single provision of the Treaty he obtained
has been carried out. On the contrary, it has
''not been promulgated, as the Chinese engaged it
''should be. Not dollar has been paid on ac-
count of losses sustained by citizens of the UNI
TIED STATEs-the arrangements regarding which
''are most unsatisfactory" While Mr.. REED is
steaming homewards, leaving matters TO adjust
themselves as best they may, Lord ELGIN is sailing
up the Yangtze Kiang-the great fluval highway
of China-for the purpose Of selecting suitable
ports for trade under the new Treaty. The energy
and forecast exhibited by the British Envoy, when
contrasted with the ldiSser fare of Mr. REED, not
only give us an insight into the relative capacity of
those two gentlemen for the special duties they were
selected TO perform; but might be used to point sar-
casm against the rule, which of late years has gov
erned our diplomatic appointments, and which has
established the principle that office is the legitimate
reward of political partizanship, and that fitness
and ability are secondary considerations