Export Quotes
This was in response to English Emissaries who wanted to establish trading businesses in China. The Emperor would not even meet personally with Lord McCartney, the first British envoy because McCartney would not kow-tow to the Emperor. The “hongs” were special businesses set up by Chinese businessmen who had paid the Proper fee, for the purposes of being traders with foreigners. Canton, now Guangzhou, is 150 years later still the major international trading center in China although there are no longer restrictions. At the time, the British paid for their Chinese good with Opium that they had purchased in their Indian Colony. English cloth and other goods would be sent to India, traded for opium, which was brought to China and traded for tea, silks and porcelain which were returned to England and turned into cash than was worth much more than their original purchase and the cost of the voyage.
This quotation’s authenticity and accuracy are challenged by many scholars. The only source is the personal reminiscences of General Butler, a politician with Presidential aspirations who had his own agenda. The nuance of wording is very critical as to whether Lincoln was trying to accomplish export or whether he was asking Butler to staff out the feasibility so that Lincoln could deal with others who had raised the issue. Butler’s reply was that it was not feasible ({633655}), and there is no other record of the idea being advocated or implemented. The quotation, if indeed it was a quotations, is taken by some to indicate that Lincoln was no friend of Blacks and very racist to boot.
