Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the First Session Thirty-ninth Congress
Mr. Burlingame to Mr. Seward
Sir: I have the honor to send herewith a letter addressed to me by Thomas Walsh, esq., one of our leading and most intelligent merchants in the east.
The letter is in response to one from me requesting accurate statistics in relation to our trade with California. I made it a point with him to secure statements rather under than overdrawn, so that no misleading facts should go from me to my countrymen.
You will be pleased to find how carefully he has met my request, and will prize his letter accordingly.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of Stale.
Mr. Walsh to Mr. Burlingame.
My Dear Mr. Burlingame: Your very friendly letter of 1st June, in reply to my note of May 21, was only a fortnight in coming to me. I have delayed thanking you for it in order to collect, if I could, some of the statistics you ask for as to trade between China and California. At length I have gathered some figures. They are a little old, being those of the exports of 1861 and 1862, one year, but I cannot procure any others at present, and they must answer. As the trade has latterly been pretty steady, I think they may safely be taken as the average figures of what the trade is at present, and would be for a few years longer. No doubt steam communication would develop new business and increase the old, as it always does; and the experience of steamers on the Chinese coasts and rivers shows that the Chinese are quite like other people in this respect.
The figures are as follows:
Exports from China. Japan, and Manila to San Francisco, November 4, 1861, to November 4,1862.
| From Japan: | Freight. |
| Teas, about 500,000 pounds, 900 tons measurement, at $10 | $9,000 |
From China.—Chinese produce:
| Chinese passengers, 6,500, at $30 | 19,500 |
| Rice, 35,000,000 pounds, 263,000 piculs, at 60 cents | 157,800 |
| Oil, 160,000 gallons, 10,500 piculs, at $1 | 10,500 |
| Peas, 2,800 bushels, 1,400 piculs, at 60 cents. | 840 |
| Pepper, 53,000 pounds, 400 piculs, at $2 | 800 |
| Prepared opium, 36,000 pounds, 100 tons, at $10 | 1,000 |
| Teas, about 1,200,000 pounds, 2,000 tons, at $10 | 20,000 |
| Matting, 3,100 rolls, 500 tons, at $8 | 4,000 |
| Fire-crackers, 5,100 boxes, 130 tons, at $10 | 1,300 |
| Empty bags, 3,700 bales, 100 pounds each, 900 tons, at $8 | 7,200 |
| Sugar, 8,300,000 pounds, 62,500 piculs, at 60 cents | 37,500 |
Manila produce:
| Hemp, 5,600 piculs, 700 tons, at $8 | 5,600 |
| Coffee, 227,000 pounds, 1,700 piculs, at 60 cents | 1,020 |
| Cigars, 32J,000, 65 tons, at $10 | 650 |
| Sundries of all sorts, say 2,000 tons, at $10 | 20,000 |
From Manila direct:
| Sugar, 5.000,000 pounds, 43,500 piculs, at 60 cents | 26,100 |
| Hemp, 6,000 piculs, 750 tons, at $8 | 6,000 |
| Coffee, 737,500 pounds, 5,500 piculs, at 60 cents | 3,300 |
| Cordage, &c., 300 tons, at $10 | 3,000 |
| Total freights | 335,110 |
This was divided among forty-six vessels of 39,500 register tons, or, say, 50,000 tons measurement capacity, giving an average freight of, per ton, $6 70.
A line of four steamers ought to be able to keep up monthly departures from Hong Kong, touching at Kanagawa going over and at Sandwich islands coming back. Each steamer would thus make three voyages per annum, each voyage occupying four months; of this time two months (if the steamers were good and fast) would be spent at sea and two months in the different ports.
The expenses of a steamer which would carry 1,000 tons of cargo and go eight knots in ordinary weather would be, at least, as follows:
| Coal for sixty days, 1,200 tons, at average cost of $12 | $14,400 |
| Wages, &c, for four months, at $3,000 per month | 12,000 |
| Wear and tear, one per cent, per month on value of $175,000 | 7,000 |
| Insurance, one per cent, per month on value of $175,000 | 7,000 |
| Interest, one-half per cent, per month on value of $175,000 | 3,500 |
| Total expenses for four months | 43,900 |
It is evident, therefore, that each steamer would have to make out of freight and passengers about $44,000 per voyage to escape loss. As there are at present but few passengers and but little freight from California to China, at least $30,000 of this ought to be made on the voyage from China to California.
I do not see how this can be done under existing circumstances. The bulk of the merchandise shipped to California cannot bear high freights. It would, therefore, be imprudent to reckon on over $15 per ton for the steamer’s capacity at any time—say a steamer of 1,000 tons capacity carries 800 tons,
| At $15, would be | $12,000 | |
| And 250 Chinese passengers, at $40 | 10,000 | |
| Passage money of ten cabin passengers, at $300 | $3,000 | |
| Less one-third for cabin stores, servants, & c | 1,000 | |
| 2,000 | ||
| Total earnings | 24,000 |
Leaving a deficit on each voyage of, say, $6.000. A moderate subvention from government would cover this; but it must be noted that I have reckoned the coal at a low rate, and allowed full rates for goods and passengers.
I do not believe that silk or passengers would go from China to Europe by way of California at present, even if there were good steamers across the Pacific, for it will be impossible for any steamer lines touching at California to land silk in Europe as quickly as the steamers to [Page 424] Suez do it. For some years, therefore, the Pacific steamers would have to depend almo st wholly on Pacific trade, and this trade does not develop very rapidly.
But when the Pacific railroad shall have been finished, the whole subject will acquire a new character. Then, if we have such laws as will encourage the trade, not only silks and passengers, but teas even, could advantageously be sent, especially from Shanghai and Japan, via America, and have no doubt this will be done to an extent sufficient to employ a line of semi-monthly or even of weekly steamers from Hong Kong, via Shanghai and Kanagawa, to San Francisco.,
Meanwhile, if our government could spare three or four hundred thousand dollars a year to set the steamers on foot, the money would be well spent, for it would probably result in the establishment of a current of trade across the Pacific which, by the time the railroad was ready, might be strong enough to flow without such aid, leaving government free to devoteits whole concern to the railroad itself, which will doubtless at first require a good deal of assistance.
As a patriot and a tax-payer, and entirely disregarding any interest I might retain in the east, I would applaud any reasonable expenditure of public money in the effort thus to make our country the intermediary between the far east and Europe. For, sooner or later, such an expenditure would yield a ten-fold harvest. Ten-fold? Yes, ten thousand times ten-fold. For we are not Egyptians who will be content to carry such a commerce through our ports and across our territory and draw from it merely carrier’s wages; but we would manage it so that the whole world would soon become tributary to us for doing it, and we would do it so that they would be glad to be thus tributary.
As to the kind of steamers for the Pacific route, I should say, after some experience and considerable reflection on the matter, that they ought to be wooden vessels with iron frames, propelled by screws; in size, about 1,500 tons, which would leave about 1,000 tons for cargo; to steam eight knots in average weather; with a hurricane or upper deck, so that the passengers shall be chiefly on the main deck, and the best vessels of this sort which can be built. It ought not to be attempted to make quasi men-of-war of them. That sort of steamers have failed as often as they have been tried. Above all, the company which receives a subsidy from the government should be so organized that there will be no danger of their dropping the experiment before it has been fairly tried.
I have delivered your message to Pumpelly, who is living with us, and he thanks you for it.
If circumstances allow it, we (he and I) propose to obey your “command” so far as to call at Pekin next month on our way to Europe via Liberia. We are not yet quite sure of being able to go, but we have made all ready and are very desirous to go that way. One of the chief pleasures I reckon on en route is to see you again. I have much to tell you about Japan, which I cannot put in this already too long letter, and also much to discuss with you about our own dear country. I want to see you soon at home again, and engaged, as I know you would be, in overthrowing the wrong and sustaining the right. We are fast approaching the crisis of our republic’s career, and if all good men do not rally together against corruption, personal ambition, and ignorance, our nation will be lost.
Hoping soon to see you, I remain, my dear sir, yours truly,