The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-04-12

Baltimore, Maryland"
Lord ELGN's views in regard to the appoint
ment of foreign inspection at the Chinese ports
the legalizaon of the traffic in opium, and the fiji
ture commercial Importance of Shanghai, do no
appear to be in accordance with the opinions O
the English merchants who reside at Hong Kong
or are accustomed to occupy factories outside tn,
walls of Canton. The reasons for this dissatisfac
ton are obvious enough. Hong Kong is Jealous
OF the diversion of the foreign trade from Cantor
to Shanghae-from the Southern to the Northern
parts of the Empire; and having direct interest il
the commercial pre-eminence of Canton, is not dis
posed to admit, with Lord ELGN, that the ancien
mart of China will, in the course of few years,
reduced to a secondary position. The Ouerlan
Register contends, that it was wrong in tn
British Plenipotentiary to endeavor to turn tn
stream of European commerce into a northwar(
channel, and thus to render Hong Kong com
paratively worthless as an Anglo Chinese de
tendency. Lord ELGIN, it is charged, has ''over
''looked the fact that, however important Shang
''hae may become, as the great mart of centra
"China, Canton must still possess the whole traffic
''of the crowded districts of the South
with their rich, swarming, and ener
'getic population. The Chinaman of tn,
'Straits of Borneo of Manila, looks tc
"Canon as his home, and it is with this
Southern trade that his wishes are and must be
Associated" That Canton must ever continue
to be an important place of trade, there cannot be
any doubt whatever; but that it should retain
those exclusive advantages which it once possessed
was not to be expected after that system of isola
ton, which, for centuries, had been the policy OF
the Imperial Government, was effectually broken
down. The more closely merchant can be
brought into communication with the purchaser
of his wares, or the seller of the commodities he
desires to obtain in exchange the more strictly do
their relations conform to the recognized laws of
trade. Now, considerable portion of the COM
merce at Canton was forced thither by artificial
means; in fact, by the arbitrary DEGREES of the
Chinese Government and the consequence was,
that the foreign commodities, which were in de-
mand in the Northern ports of the Empire, were
subjected to the heavy costs and tedious DELAYS.
attendant upon overland transportation to a
remote market. By the opening of the North
ern ports, and of the great rivers, to foreign
commerce, these Instructions to a more extensive
trade with Central China, have been effectually
removed, and the commerce of Canton must
henceforth be limited, for the most part, by the
wants and productions Of the provinces of which
1t forms the natural Emporium. The reluctance.
therefore, on the part of the Anglo Chinese mer-
chants of the South to recognise this altered con-
dlhon Of things, is altogether puerile In regard,
however, 10 other points in Lord ELG1N's recent
speech at Shanghae, to which they take exception,
and especially to that portion of it which treats of
the extension of the foreign trade with China the
opinions they express are certainly deserving of
attention. Notwithstanding Lord ELGNs predic-
tons to the contrary, they express grave doubts as
to the Immediate advantages TO be derived from the
conceded navigation of the Yang-tze-Kiang They
believe that, under favorable condtions-that is to
say, if the Tapping rebellion were effectu ally SUD-
pressed-''a slow, but steadily growing commerce
would arise without any arrangement of actually
employed capial but resulting from the creation
'of new wants, and the development of fresh re-
'sources." But with the waste and exhaustion
consequent upon the double calamity of a foreign
war and awide-spread rebellion, the liberal conces-
sions, which were secured by the treaty of Tien-
tsin, will not in all probability, be of any practi.
cal value for some years yet to come Under these
circumstances those merchants in Europe, or in
this country, who attered by the hope of find
ing IN China, at this time, ready market for their
ventures, are admonished of the heavy losses TO
which they may be subjected, if they act upon the
PRESUMPTION that q haovv domopd f,r o,.;olo, II
foreign manufacture will set in at once. sBefore
"a year is over" says the Hong Kong Register,
unless something be done to check the growing
"deluSion at home, our markets will be deluged
with unsaleable commodities of every kind, and
fair and legitimate speculation, speculation based
upon Judgment and knowledge, will be swamped
"by the rash adventures of those who have neither
''the one nor the other" These timelywords O
warning should not be suffered to pass unheeded
and they apply with almost as much force to ia
pan, as to China, and to the China merchants O
the UNITED STATES, as well as to those of England
Commerce with new country or with q country
but newly thrown open 10 traffic, is plant
of slow growth, and many years must pass be
fore it can reach its full development. The
immense trade which is now carried on
between England and tho East Indies, was limited,
two centuries ago, to few factories along the
coast, and, under the most suspicious circumstan-
ces the average value of the exports had reached,
in 1873, to less than half million of pounds sler-
ling; whilst the value of the imports, up to the
same period of time, was correspondingly small.
The mere statement ofthis fact-even after maxine
due allowance for the manufacturing facilities O,
the present day as compared with those of the mast
century-is sufficient to show that those who en-.
terrain the idea that an extraordinary de-
mand for foreign fabrics will be the i'm
mediate result of the concessions which have
recently been made by China and Japan,
have leaped to conclusions which commercial
experience will not justify. One other point is
taken up by the Register, in which we have also a
direct interest 1t relates to the failure, on the
part of Lord ELGN, while accepting the compli-
ments of the merchants at Shangae for his services
in Japan, to recognize the invaluable assistance he
had received from our Consul General at Simoda,
Mr.. TOWNSEND HARRIS. 'tBut" says the Register,
'Mr. HARRIS can well afford to overlook the slight
''for the public will not overlook what is due to
"him; and when the history of japanese traffic
comes to be written, the part that he has played
lin its development will not be forgotten. The
memory of his peaceful conquest of that distant
Empire to Western commerce, of his solution of