Year: 1874

THE SURPLUS CHINESE FUND.


There is one omission in the Presidents
Message-now nearly forgotten-whch is
rather remarkable, and to which we hesitate
to call attention, lest in the possible IMPROVE
dence Ito use a mild word) of the next three
months there may be, in technical phrase


"dilapidation. The Message refers to
Oriental matters twice. In our judgment the
President generalizes too much when he
affirms that all the Chinese male immigrants
to this country are coolies and all the women
prostitutes; but we shall not quarrel with him
on this, head, happily remote from us In every
relation. He refers quite in detail to the
Japanese indemnity, and evidently tvors the
honest policy of restoration; but not word
as to the surplus Chinese fund.- which has
been accumuating in the hands of successive
Secretaries of State for the last fourteen
years. Its story is not new one, and
has this interest, that the duty we deduce
from the facts Of the case is precisely the re-
verse of that we urge as to Japan. The Shang-
hal Convention of 1858 provided for the liqui-
dation Of all claims Of citizens of the United
States, and the Chinese agreed to pay, by the
issue of debentures, receivable for duties on
imports the sum of five hundred thousand
taels, equivalent to seven hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. The American Minister
estimated the claims at larger figure, but
balance after the adjudication of the claims to
refund it. To this the Chinese peremptorily
objected. They wished to make clean thing
Of it, to reduce the amount to as low figure
as possible and to have no future reclamations
of any sort. The amount was finally deter
dollars, the American negotiator taking no
little risk, the nominal amount of his country
mems claims exceeding million. The de-
bentures were issued and realized, and it is
noteworthy that this created no charge
on the Imperial Treasury, but was
duties on American and other foreign
imposts were collected. commission
Of American citizens adjudicated the claims
and ascertained the amount to be less than
four hundred thousand dollars, leaving Q
balance in hand of rather over three hundred
thousand dollars. For long time this
amount was retained in China, on perfect
security, paying a high rate of interest. In
one Of his many freaks Mr.. Seward ordered it
RENTED to this country. 1t is now invested
in government loans in the name Of the
Secretary of State, and. with it's accumulation,
amounts to very large sum-not far, we
should imagine, from seven hundred thousand
dollars It is not in the Treasury, though
why it has not been transferred there it is not
easy to say 1t is clearly and equitably our
property. If the adjudicated claims had
exceeded the amount paid the loss would
have been ours. There have been from time
to time feeble suggestions as to what should
be done with this surplus. One Of Mr.. Sum-
ners crotchets was (buried, we sincerely trust,
in his grave) to return it to the Chinese. This
would do no good nor would the Chinese


in their intense and Characteristic distrust,
touch penny of it. Another is to use it as
the endowment of missionary protestant of
course,) college at Pekin--than which huger
and more iruitless job, a job, too, at the anti
podes-cannot well be imagined far more
reasonable plan is to apply it to commercial
purposes-as it was from trade the fund was
created-lighthouses and lightboats, of which
there is or recently was but one from Hong
Kong to Asiatic Russia. Our inclination is to
take the simple course of turning it over into
the Treasury, first taking care that all honest
mercantile claims anterior to the treaty should
be iquidated in full. The fewer Of these out
side trust funds there are the better.