40	HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS.
ance in this respect, under the circumstances of the very large inter-
course of their citizens with the islands, would justify the Government, 
should events hereafter arise, to require it, in making a decided remon-
strance against the adoption of an opposite policy by any other power. 
Under the circumstances, I recommend to Congress to provide for a 
moderate allowance to be made out of the Treasury to the consul residing 
there, that in a Government so new and a country so remote American 
citizens may have respectable authority to which to apply for redress, in 
case of injury to their person and property, and to whom the Government 
of the country may also make known any acts committed by American 
citizens of which it may think it has a right to complain.
Events of considerable importance have recently transpired in China. 
The military operations carried on against the Empire by the English 
Government have been terminated by a treaty according to the terms of 
which four important ports hitherto shut against foreign commerce are 
to be open to British merchants, viz, Amoy, Foo-Choo-Foo, Ningpo, and 
Chinghai. It can not but be interesting to the mercantile interest of the 
United States, whose intercourse with China at the single port of 
Canton has already become so considerable, to ascertain whether these 
other ports now open to British commerce are to remain shut, 
nevertheless, against the commerce of the United States. The treaty 
between the Chinese Government and the British commissioner pro-
vides neither for the admission nor the exclusion of the ships of other 
nations. It would seem, therefore, that it remains with every other 
nation having commercial intercourse with China to seek to make 
proper arrangements for itself with the Government of that Empire in 
this respect.
The importations into the United States from China are known to be 
large, having amounted in some years, as will be seen by the annexed 
tables, to $9,000,000. The exports, too, from the United States to China, 
constitute an interesting and growing part of the commerce of the 
country. It appears that in the year 1841, in the direct trade between the 
two countries, the value of the exports from the United States amounted 
to $715,000 in domestic products and $485,000 in foreign merchandise. 
But the whole amount of American produce which finally reached 
China and is there consumed is not comprised in these tables, which 
show only the direct trade. Many vessels with American products on 
board sail with a primary destination to other countries, but ultimately 
dispose of more or less of their cargoes in the port of Canton.
The peculiarities of the Chinese Government and the Chinese char-
acter are well known. An Empire supposed to contain 300,000,000 of 
subjects, fertile in various rich products of the earth, not without the 
knowledge of letters and of many arts, and with large and expensive 
accommodations for internal intercourse and traffic, has for ages sought to 
exclude the visits of strangers and foreigners from its dominions, and 
has assumed for itself a superiority over all other nations. Events appear 
likely to break down and soften this spirit of nonintercourse, and to 
bring China ere long into the relations which usually subsist between 
civilized States. She has agreed, in the treaty with England, that 
correspondence between the agents of the two Governments shall be on 
equal terms - a concession which it is hardly probable will hereafter be 
withheld from other nations.
It is true that the cheapness of labor among the Chinese, their inge-
nuity in its application, and the fixed character of their habits and

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