m in Europe or
America--they are safe and free; it is not easy, therefore, to frame a
valid reason for extraterritorial practice in that empire.

No less a jurist than John Quincy Adams, in a lecture on the British war
with China, delivered before the Massachusetts Historical Society
(December, 1841), pronounced the cause of Britain 'righteous.' Mr.
Adams, however, proceeded on the assumption that the real matter at
issue was whether the assumption of Chinese supremacy should be admitted
or not. He regarded the opium question as a mere incident in the
controversy, and entirely overlooked the other question at issue, viz.,
the independence of China.

Let us now observe the operation of the extraterritorial policy. Besides
Canton, four other ports were opened for trade, and the grant is made to
England of full sovereignty of the island of Hongkong, commanding the
entrance of the Pearl or Canton river. If the Chinese had been able to
restrict its concession to the three treaty powers, England, United
States, and France, the baneful consequences might have been easily
controlled, for these countries immediately empowered their consuls to
exercise jurisdiction over their respective countrymen. In one respect,
Congress fully met the demands made upon the country by the position
which we with others had assumed in China. Laws sufficiently stringent
were enacted for the government of our citizens in that empire; but the
consular system, that was inaugurated to meet the new order of things,
was so defective, as to render those laws nearly inoperative. The
salaries attached to these offices being totally inadequate, competent
persons could not be induced to accept appointments; or when accepted,
they were relinquished as soon as the incumbent became fully qualified
by experience for the discharge of consular duties. Having to act as a
magistrate, some knowledge of law was requisite; and having peculiar
diplomatic duties to perform, considerable knowledge of Chinese polity,
history, and customs was needed. The consequence was, as regards
Americans, such a lax administration of justice that our disorderly
countrymen were not subject to due restraint; and as American offenders
easily eluded apprehension, or escaped punishment, lawless British
subjects often found it advantageous to claim to be American citizens,
insomuch as to cause irreparable damage to American character and
influence. When the ports were first opened for trade,