The Guangdong Government and the American Consular Service in the Late Qing: a Case Study
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The Guangdong Government and the American Consular Service in the late Qing: a case study History Department of Sun Yat-sen university Mo Guanting Guangzhou Abstract: In 1879, Guangdong Provincial Government purchased a number of ordnance from the Armstrong Company with the aid of Charles P. Lincoln, the American Consul, who acted as a middle man in the transaction. Lincoln’s involvement in the purchase was considered an act in defiance of the American policy that prohibited their consuls from conducting business for private benefits. Examining this particular case, this article attempts to disclose the deficiency of the American consular policies in the late 19th century. It also illustrates how Liu Kunyi, the Guangdong-Guangxi Governor-General, might have played a dominant role in laying out the coastal defence strategies for Guangdong, and in what way the Shanhou ju and Jiqi ju provided financial support for building up provincial coastal defence. Key words: consular service, Sino-American relationship, Liu Kunyi, C. P. Lincoln, Guangdong From November 22nd to 24th, 1879, the American Consul F. D. Cheshire kept up a correspondence with the interpreter Yu Zhenxian(余贞祥) for several times in three days. The letters were upon the subject of the predecessor American Consul Charles P. Lincoln’s agreement with Guangdong provincial authorities for the purchase of guns from the Armstrong Company in London. Guangdong Provincial Government requested Lincoln to order some ordnance from the English manufacture for the reason that Guangdong schemed to build up provincial coastal defence at Humen (虎 门, Bocca Tigris). 1 However, the event went twists and turns. To see his parents, Lincoln took a leave to return to America before the contract was signed up, and he had informed Yu Zhenxian to seal the contract with the Chinese official seal of the consulate for him. But as Cheshire replaced Lincoln to be deputy American Consul at Canton, he was discontented with interpreter Yu for Yu took the official seal without his consent and sealed the contract three days after he had assumed charge of the office. Immediately Cheshire suspended Yu from the office and reported the case to F. 1 Tyne and Wear County Council Archives. Accession No. 31. Microfilm No. 1070 _846, Mf 1070 _847. United Kingdom: Tyne and Wear County Council Archives Department, 1984. Here I may express a special note of acknowledgement to my tutor Prof. Ching Maybo for her kindness to me these rare archives. Hereinafter the same. - 1 - W. Seward, the assistant secretary of state Washington D. C. 2 Before long, Seward addressed a note to Zongli Yamen (总理衙门, office for General Management) that although the American Consul Lincoln involved in the transaction, his act was of private but not an official attribute, so the consulate in Canton without responsibility for the case. As Zongli Yamen did not prosecute any further investigation, 3 controversy on the transaction of ordnance ended up with nothing definite in the central government. But in fact the Guangdong Provincial Government associated with Lincoln and accomplished the purchase of ordnance.4 Examining this particular case which involved departments of three different countries, this article attempts to explore issues in two aspects. Firstly, what kind of complexity had the American consular policies in practice in the late 19th century to face with, and what was the role Lincoln play of in this case? Secondly, with building up provincial coastal defence, why Liu Kunyi( 刘坤一, Guangdong-Guangxi Governor-General) who took the lead of Guangdong Provincial Government purchase ordnance through the American Consul Lincoln, and how the government raised money for the expense of the ordnance, and in what way the Shanhou ju (善后局, Provincial Financial Office) and Jiqi ju (机器局, Arsenal at Canton) provided financial support for the provincial coastal defence project? Part One: The American Consular Service in China in the late Qing Since its emergence in the late 18th century, the American consular service in China could not be regarded as a formal and perfect system, yet for mercantile purpose. China was one of the primary trade partners of America, and the American consulate in Canton became the pioneer institution of foreign affairs in China or even in the Far East area for America. At its birth, the American consul in fact equaled to the merchant-consul. “In the first 50 years of the trade between American and China, the term of the American consuls who were dispatched in due form was no more than fourteen years. The place of the American consul was filled by merchant with intermission.” 5 Therefore, some scholar argues that “For the first 130 years of the United States as an independent nation, the principal business of the Department of 2 Despatches from U. S. Consul in Canton China, 1796 - 1906, M101-8, No. 79, No. 92, No. 95 enclosure. And Despatches from United State Ministers to China, 1843-1906, United States Embassy (China), 1958, Despatches No. 545. Microfilm from HKU, No. 2510153- 01, Reel 53. 3 Zhongmei wanglai zhaohui ji 1846-1931 《中美往来照会集 1846-1931》(Selected Records of the U.S. Legation in China), vol.5, Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2006, pp.277-278. And Zhongmei guanxi shiliao, guangxuchao (《中美关系史料·光绪朝》, The Historical documents of Sino-American relationship in dynasty of Guangxu), Taipei: Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, 1968, pp.619-620. 4 Despatches from U. S. Consul in Canton China, 1796 - 1906, M101-8, No.105. 5 Wu mengxue: Meiguo zaihua lingshi caipanquan bainian shi (《美国在华领事裁判权百年史》, A century history of the United States consular jurisdiction in China), Beijing: Social Science Literature Press, 1992, pp.9-10. - 2 - State overseas was in the hands of American consuls, not American diplomats.” 6 China and the West established diplomatic relationship based on the treaties after Opium War in 1840. John King Fairbank points out that depending on treaties and regulations all kinds of rights become a system, and the time of the forties and fifties in the 19th century was the formation of “the Treaty System”. “The second group of unequal treaties, negotiated after fighting in 1858 and finally ratified after further fighting in 1860, became the perfected legal basis of this Sino-Western order”7 In business affairs, consuls were stated to replace Hong-merchants to take charge of trade management. Yet on institution, consular service had not been under the state administration system, and the United States “built a professional consular service in the post-World War I period”.8 Hereby in the late 19th century the American consular service in China did not have firm relation with the United States policy toward China. On the aspect of practice, “merchant-consul system” 9 still worked in existence after the Treaty of Wangxia (《望厦条约》)and the Treaty of Tianjin (《天津条约》) were negotiated. Accordingly, to what extent the American consular service that established after the treaties subscribed was in accordance with “the Treaty System”, remains a questionable issue. The American consular service in China underwent significant transformation in the period of the second half of 19th century. It was the consequence that the United States government made great efforts to standard the American consular service into professionalization as well as the Qing government did. The endeavor of the two governments aimed at weakening even rejecting the mercantile influence in the American consular service in China. We need to place the American consular service in China into the institutional development of American consular service in order to make analysis. In 1850s, the establishment of the American consular service yet was in the initial phase. The Congress of the United States enacted “An Act to Remodel the Diplomatic and Consular System” in 1855 and “An Act to Regulate the Diplomatic and Consular System of United States” in 1856,10 and purposed to standardize the appointment and administration of consuls. The regulations of the acts prescribed that consuls who earn more than fifteen hundred dollars a year should not be permitted to transact business either in their own name or through the agency of others. But in the said two acts, 6 Charles Stuart Kennedy, The American Consul: A History of the United States Consular Service, 1776-1914, New York: Greenwood Press, 1990, p. vii. And a majority of American experts differ Consul Service from Diplomatic Service, and hold the point that professionalization of Consul Service comes forth after World War One with the combination of the Consul Service and the Diplomatic Service. 7 John King Fairbank, Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: the Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842 - 1854, Standford: Standford University Press, 1969, p. 462. 8 William D. Morgan and Charles Stuart Kennedy, The U. S. Consul at Work, New York: Greenwood Press, 1991, p. 4, p.8. 9 The term “merchant-consul system” was put forward by Jules Davids (ed.), American diplomatic and public papers: the United States and China: Series 1, 1842 - 1860, Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1973, Vol. 1, p. xlvi. After the five treaty ports were open to foreign countries, the posts of American consuls were mostly occupied by Russell & Co. as their abundant wealth could easily support the low-salary posts, which was an important consideration for the United States Government. 10 See Jules Davids (ed.), American diplomatic and public papers: the United States and China: Series 1, 1842-1860, Vol. 8, pp. 106-127, 169–182. - 3 - “consuls” consisted of “commercial agent” and “vice commercial agent”. It indicates that the United States government still permitted the merchants engaging in the consular affairs although “the Treaty System” had already established between the United States and China. It also reveals that the United States government took insubstantial resolution to reform the consular service.