home to China, but their efforts have been frustrated, under the plea that this is a free country and these women can do as they please." * * * * * * "The convictions in the police court, San Francisco, for the year 1861, were-whites, 2,783; Chinese, 168. Average of Chinese about 1 in 16. The 24 hour sentences as above stated average about 130 per month. About three-fourths of the Chinese convictious are women, (prostitutes,) arrested from the alleys about Jackson and Pacific streets. "Your committee were furnished with a list of 88 Chinese who are known to have been murdered by white people; 11 of which number are known to have been murdered by collectors of foreign miner's license tax, sworn officers of the law. But two of the murderers have been convicted and hanged. Generally they have been allowed to escape without the slightest punishment. The above number of Chinese who have been robbed and murdered compose probably a very small proportion of those which have been murdered, but they are all which the records of the different societies of companies in this city show. It is a well-known fact that there has been a wholesale system of wrong and outrage practised upon the Chinese population of this State which would disgrace the most barbarous nation upon earth.” "Instead of driving them out of the State, bounties might be offered them to cultivate rice, tea, tobacco, and other articles." The foregoing statement embodies substantially the information you desire, though it is necessarily given in a very concise form. I regret that I am not now able to make it more elaborate and comprehensive, and consequently more interesting and valuable. There are many things connected with the residence of the Chinese in this State, as their religion, customs, way of living, manner of doing business, their companies, &c., of which I have said nothing. They would hardly add much to the value of this paper. There is one branch of this subject, viz, its influence upon the relations of our government with China, of which I have said nothing, because it belongs peculiarly to your office and consideration as our minister to that empire. That the residence of a large Chinese population in this State has already excited a powerful influence upon the Chinese government in our favor I think there can be no doubt. To it we owe the selection of one of our countrymen, the Hon. Anson Burlingame, as special ambassador from that empire. Hitherto England has been the great power in China, but it is a fact well known to residents of that country that our nation is fast gaining the ascendency, and we have reason to hope and believe that it will not be many years before we will exert a preponderating influence with that government. There are already many indications that this change is taking place. The time will come when most of its trade will be monopolized by our commerce, and thus greatly increase this branch of our national industry and wealth. The government of China naturally feels a keener sympathy and a higher consideration for a nation which gives a home and employment to 75,000 of its people, and to and from which they are constantly passing, than for countries to which its subjects do not go, and in which circumstances do not invite their residence. The influence of the large Chinese population on this coast in our behalf is considerable, and is steadily exerted. The safer and more honorable the residence of our Chinese population is made, the greater will be their exertions, the more potent their influence with their government for us, and the higher will be the consideration in which we are held. In failing to make a proper use of the opportunities and means afforded us by the residence of the Chinese here, we neglect our duty and interest in not using all honorable means to establish and maintain our ascendency in Asia. The prize is within our grasp if we will only stretch out our hands to obtain it. After I had written a portion of this paper I attended, by invitation, a meeting of the presidents of the six Chinese companies in this city, representing the entire Chinese population on this coast, because they all belong to these companies. I read what I had written, stated that it was prepared at your request, to be laid before the United States government, and that you are disposed to do them justice. They expressed themselves much gratified. They said that, if protected by just legislation, they would greatly extend their business, increase our trade with China, and invest their capital in the permanent improvement of our State; that they would purchase real estate, and feel an interest in the country, and endeavor to aid in its development. They have a keen sense of the wrongs that have been inflicted upon them, and under which they now suffer, and hope that they may yet be freed from them and be protected in their lives and property. At my suggestion they are preparing a paper on behalf of the Chinese population on the Pacific, embodying a recital of their grievances, and the legislation and protection they deem essential to their peace and security. When completed, it will be a valuable and interesting public document. In conclusion, I do not know that it is necessary to add anything to what I have already written. I have shown how the Chinese came among us, their numbers, where they reside, and what they are doing. I have stated their wrongs, legislative and other, that have been inflicted upon them, and from which they suffer, and have intimated the redress they require. I believe them to be a very useful and valuable part of our population, contributing much to our prosperity, and it is my earnest hope, in common with the better class of our citizens, that they may receive adequate protection and justice. Humanity and justice, no less than interest, require this of us. It is possible, by injustice and persecution, to drive the Chinese who are here to foreign countries, as to the colony of British Columbia, where a wiser and more liberal policy is pursued toward them. Such an event would be a great public calamity to us, inflicting, it is to be feared, permanent injury upon our commerce and State. It is also possible, by being just and humane, to attach them still more strongly to us, and make it their interest as well as ours to enrich us with their labor and trade. It is to be earnestly hoped that we may speedily decide to do them justice. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. J. Ross BROWNE, United States Minister to China. DANIEL CLEVELAND. Mr. Williams to Mr. Seward. No. 18.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Referring to Mr. Burlingame's despatch No. 124, of December 15, 1866, and others, relating to the fate of the American schooner Generaĺ Sherman in Corea, I have now the honor to inclose a correspondence (inclosures A, B, C,) with the Chinese government, which was commenced for the purpose of engaging its good offices in ascertaining, by direct application to the King of Corea what were the real circumstances connected with the loss of that vessel. The reason why an earlier application was not made to Prince Kung, after receiving your dispatch, was that it was deemed best to await the arrival of the annual Corean embassy at Peking, when more direct intercourse with the officials from that country could perhaps be obtained. This embassy did not reach the capital till January, and at that time the rumor mentioned in my note to Prince Kung had assumed so much probability that I wished to learn what grounds there were for believing it. This, unfortunately, could not be done till after the Coreans had left for their country, but in any case I could not have asked them directly, as the Chinese officials in this city are particularly careful to keep these tributary nations confined to their own quarters, and they themselves are shy of all intercourse. I was, however, able to see one of the confidential members of the Corean mission, and ascertained from him privately some particulars relating to the attack on the schooner. He told me that he was not himself in that part of the country at the time she was in the river Pingjang, but he heard that, after the vessel had got ashore, she keeled over as the tide receded, and her crew landed to guard or float her. The natives gathered around the vessel, and ere long some altercation arose between the two parties, which soon led to blows and bloodshed, and a general attack on the foreigners, who were all killed on the spot by the mob of natives, of whom fully 20 were killed. He understood that the vessel was French, though he knew nothing of the flag which she bore, nor even of the signification or distinction of foreign flags; but he was sure that all her company were dead, and had moreover believed that the wreck still remained in the Pingjang river. Before the reply from the Corean authorities was received in Peking, the United States corvette Shenandoah had returned from her visit to that country, where Captain Febinger went in March to ascertain the truth of the same rumor that I refer to in my note A. From what he learned, combined with the reply given him, and apparently intended for the United States steamer Wachusett, when she was there in 1866, there can remain no reasonable doubt that the whole company on board the General Sherman were killed about September, 1866, and the evidence goes to uphold the presumption that they invoked their sad fate by some rash or violent acts towards the natives. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. S. WELLS WILLIAMS. A. Mr. Williams to Prince Kung. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR Referring to my note to the Foreign Office of October 28, 1866, respecting an American merchant vessel, the schooner General Sherman, which had been stranded in Corea in August of that year, at which time I was favored by a reply assuring me that the military and civil authorities of Manchuria should attend to the wants of such of the crew as might be handed over to them, I have now the honor to bring the subject again before your imperial highness, with the request that you would communicate upon it with the Corean government. It appears, from reports received after the date of my note of October, 1866, that when the General Sherman got ashore in Corea the natives of the country flocked about her, and that a quarrel arose between them and the crew, resulting in injury and wounds to both parties, and a fight, in which all the latter were ultimately destroyed. In consequence of this report, the admiral commanding the United States squadron in these seas last summer dispatched one of his vessels to Corea to make inquiries into the matter, and ascertain the real circumstances of the affair on the spot; but this he was not able at the time to do in a satisfactory manner. A day or two since I received from the United States consul at Chifu the report of a pilot, named Yu Wautai, who last year returned from Corea, and related to him "that he had gone up a stream called Piyang river, and about 10 miles from the sea had seen a foreign vessel lying on the southern bank, without masts or sails, and her hull full of water. He had also met a Corean, named Kin Tsz'ping, a native of an island called Tsioh Tau, or Sparrow island, who told him that in March last he had himself seen two foreigners and two Chinese at the magistrate's office at the chief city of the district of Piyang. The rest of the foreigners and Chinese had all been killed by the farmers and people of the country, and not by the Corean authorities or soldiers. He saw these two foreigners walking in the streets without any instruments of torture upon them, followed by policemen to see that they did not get away; but he could not ascertain why the Corean magistrates detained them in this manner." This report of the pilot Yu Wautai seems to me to possess a degree of truth, and not to be a made-up story, and I therefore lose no time in making it known to your imperial highness, to see whether some plan cannot be carried into effect to secure the liberation of these four men. I have myself also received directions from the government of the United States, in consequence of the report having reached Washington of the destruction of the General Sherman by the Coreans two years ago, to ascertain the true facts of the case and report upon them. This order, in connection with the unsuccessful visit for that purpose of the United States man-of-war last year, leads me now to make known these particulars to your imperial highness, and respectfully request that a communication be sent by his Majesty's government to the Corean government for them to deliver over the two foreigners and two Chinese to the Chinese authorities. The government of the United States has no direct relations with that of Corea, but there is something quite inexplicable in the fact that when this American vessel went there her crew should be treated so barbarously, and there must have been some causes for it, which the American government cannot permit to pass by silently, and without full investigation being made into all the circumstances. The governments of China and the United States have long been on the most friendly terms, and I therefore entertain the strongest expectation that his Imperial Majesty will so represent this affair to the Corean government that they will see the propriety of transmitting a correct account of all the facts connected with the destruction of this American schooner within their territory, in order that I may report the same to the President. This act of courtesy will likewise add another evidence of the friendly relations existing between our respective governments, and will be duly appreciated. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your imperial highness's obedient servant, S. WELLS WILLIAMS. His Imperial Highness PRINCE KUNG, Chief Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Prince Kung to Mr. Williams. [Translation.] MARCH 10, 1868, (Tungchi, 7th year, 2d moon, 18th day.) Prince Kung, chief secretary of state for foreign affairs, herewith sends a reply: On the 2d instant I had the honor of receiving your excellency's dispatch, in which you inform me of the report that two foreigners and two Chinese are now kept in durance by the Coreans, and request that the Chinese government should demand of the Corean government to hand them all over to the Chinese officers, &c. On the same day that I received this communication the British minister, Sir Rutherford Alcock, also sent a dispatch to the following effect: "Last year the French admiral took his squadron to Corea, where a collision took place with the authorities; and it was after that occurrence that an American vessel went to Corea with the intention of trading, and was attacked in the Piyang river, which she had entered, by the people. The report that came to me at the time was, that her crew had been entirely cut off; but afterwards many persons reported that some of them were yet alive, and detained in confinement by the Coreans. Recently a Chinese pilot has informed the United States consul at Chifu that he knows that two foreigners and two Chinese belonging to this vessel are still alive in Corea.” On receiving these dispatches I have recurred to the note written by your excellency on the 28th of October, 1866, in which you stated that an American schooner had been wrecked in Corea, that the vessel had been burned, and 24 of her crew carried off, concluding with the request that directions might be sent to the authorities in Mukten that if any of these men were handed over they might be carefully cared for by those officials. The members of the Foreign Office personally assured you at the time that if any persons were thus delivered by the Coreans, those authorities should be directed to do everything necessary for their comfort; and corresponding instructions were immediately forwarded to the general in command at Mukten, and to the collector at Ninchwang. In due course a reply was received from the former officer, in which he stated that the Corean authorities had previously given over to the district magistrate of Ching-teh six distressed foreigners, saved from the wreck of [the "Surprise,”"] a vessel which had been driven ashore in their country; that they had been already sent on to Yingtsz and handed over to Mr. Knight, the United States consul at that port, since which time no foreigners had been delivered to them. Taking all these considerations together, and reflecting that an American ship of war has already visited Corea, but was unable to ascertain all the real facts about the matter, and that moreover the French and Coreans seem likely to engage in hostilities, it must be acknowledged that it will be rather difficult to learn the truth of the case. In the dispatch under reply you propose that measures be taken by this government to bring about the release of these men; and if I delay a little, to consult, as to the best mode of procedure, it is that the affair may get the benefit of the best deliberations we can give it. It really will not be best to presently send off a mission to Corea asking about the surrender of these prisoners, for it will probably be evasively excused, and the probable success of the effort imperiled; or else, in our hurry, we shall not get at the real and right beginning of the matter; (referring probably to the misconception the Coreans would get of the object of the demand thus suddenly made on them.) I would further wish your excellency to reflect that, although Corea is in one sense a dependency of China, her authorities are now engaged in eradicating the religion and forbidding its exercise; and their proceedings in this matter are carried on by themselves just as they please, but in what manner his Majesty's officials have not heard. A moment's reflection will no doubt enable you to see the whole bearing of this suggestion. I have, however, already sent orders to Mukten to require the authorities in Manchuria to learn all they conveniently can upon this matter, and meanwhile send a reply to the British minister and to yourself in regard to it. His Excellency S. WELLS WILLIAMS, U. S. Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. C. Note from the Foreign Office. JULY 11, 1868. When we received the dispatch [of March 3] from your excellency, relating to the American schooner General Sherman, lost in Corea in 1866, concerning which an American man-of-war had gone to inquire about and had not succeeded in her mission, so that you requested us to communicate with the government of Corea to ascertain who were the two foreigners reported to be held in confinement there, and learn the reasons why they were so treated, that something might be done for their welfare, we replied that measures would be taken to further your wishes. We accordingly presented a memorial to the throne, requesting that orders might be transmitted to the board of rites, directing its president to address the King of Corea and ask him to inquire whether two foreigners were really detained in his country. We have recently received a dispatch from the board of rites stating that a reply had been received from the King to the following effect: "A two-masted foreign vessel went ashore in the Ping-jang river, but this government had no hand whatever in the disasters which happened to her and her crew; nor has any envoy from the United States been here to inquire respecting them. If you have any means of communicating this to him, you can no doubt fully inform him of this fact. It is a fixed rule of this country, moreover, that when unfortunate men are cast ashore they must be rescued and treated kindly, so that if there were at this time any such pitiable cases here of persons who had drifted down upon us, how could we detain them against their will? This rumor of two foreigners and two Chinese being kept here has no foundation; and it is a point, too, which can easily be ascertained. I shall be obliged if the officers of the board of rites will make these explanations on my behalf to those who may wish them." It appears to us from the above that the statement by the Corean authorities that none of your countrymen are detained in their borders has much to confirm it; and in sending this reply we avail ourselves of the occasion to renew to you the expression of our best wishes for your happiness. Cards of PRINCE KUNG. PAUYUN. TAN TINGSIANG. TSUNG LUN. SEU KI-YU. Mr. Williams to Mr. Seward. No. 19.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to send, as relevant to the same general subject as my last dispatch, a copy of a letter just received from the United States consul general at Shanghai, reciting the principal points of an unlawful and violent attempt recently made to land in Corea, in which an American citizen named Jenkins was implicated, and for which he was tried in the consular court. The published report of the trial furnishes all the facts that could be gathered concerning the expedition, but it is evident that many details are yet concealed. The French priest was probably one of those missionaries who were obliged to escape from Corea in 1866, after the murder by the authorities of the foreign and native Christians, for his guidance led the armed party to the grave, which could have been known only to one intimate with the region. Mr. Jenkins's own statement to Mr. Seward also shows that he was well aware of the main objects in view and took great interest in their accomplishment. I deem the effort of the consul general to bring him to punishment worthy of particular commendation, and the publicity thereby given to this violent outrage on the Coreans will doubtless serve as a warning to those who may be tempted to repeat it. |