THE RECOVERY OF THE DIRECT TRADE WITH THE BRITISH WEST INDIA ISLANDS.
The recovery of this trade had been a large object with the
American government from the time of its establishment. As British
colonies we enjoyed it before the Revolution; as revolted colonies
we lost it; and as an independent nation we sought to obtain it
again. The position of these islands, so near to our ports and
shores--the character of the exports they received from us, being
almost entirely the product of our farms and forests, and their
large amount, always considerable, and of late some four millions
of dollars per annum--the tropical productions which we received
in return, and the large employment it gave to our navigation--all
combined to give a cherished value to this branch of foreign
trade, and to stimulate our government to the greatest exertions
to obtain and secure its enjoyment; and with the advantage of
being carried on by our own vessels. But these were objects not
easily attainable, and never accomplished until the administration
of President Jackson. All powers are jealous of alien intercourse
with their colonies, and have a natural desire to retain colonial
trade in their own hands, both for commercial and political
reasons; and have a perfect right to do so if they please. Partial
and conditional admission to trade with their colonies, or total
exclusion from them, is in the discretion of the mother country; and
any participation in their trade by virtue of treaty stipulations
or legislative enactment, is the result of concession--generally
founded in a sense of self-interest, or at best in a calculation
of mutual advantage. No less than six negotiations (besides
several attempts at "concerted legislation") had been carried on
between the United States and Great Britain on this subject; and
all, until the second year of General Jackson's administration,
resulting in nothing more than limited concessions for a year,
or for short terms; and sometimes coupled with conditions which
nullified the privilege. It was a primary object of concern with
General Washington's administration; and a knowledge of the action
then had upon it elucidates both the value of the trade, the
difficulty of getting admission to its participation, and the right
of Great Britain to admit or deny its enjoyment to others. General
Washington had practical knowledge on the subject. He had seen it
enjoyed, and lost--enjoyed as British subjects, lost as revolted
colonies and independent states--and knew its value, both from
the use and the loss, and was most anxious to recover it. It was
almost the first thing, in our foreign relations, to which he put
his hand on becoming President; and literally did he put his hand
to it. For as early as the 14th of October, 1789--just six months
after his inauguration--in a letter of unofficial instructions to
Mr. Gouverneur Morris, then in Europe, written with his own hand
(requesting him to sound the British government on the subject of a
commercial treaty with the United States), a point that he made was
to ascertain their views in relation to allowing us the "privilege"
of this trade. Privilege was his word, and the instruction ran thus:
"Let it be strongly impressed on your mind that the privilege of
carrying our productions in our own vessels to their islands, and
bringing, in return, the productions of those islands to our ports
and markets, is regarded here as of the highest importance," &c.
It was a prominent point in our very first negotiation with Great
Britain in 1794; and the instructions to Mr. Jay, in May of that
year, shows that admission to the trade was then only asked as a
privilege, as in the year '89 and upon terms of limitation and
condition. This is so material to the right understanding of this
question, and to the future history of the case, and especially
of a debate and vote in the Senate, of which President Jackson's
instructions through Mr. Van Buren on the same subject was made
the occasion, that I think it right to give the instructions of
President Washington to Mr. Jay in his own words. They were these:
"If to the actual footing of our commerce and navigation in
the British European dominions could be added the privilege of
carrying directly from the United States to the British West
Indies in our own bottoms generally, or of certain specified
burthens, the articles which by the Act of Parliament, 28, Geo.
III., chap. 6, may be carried thither in British bottoms, and of
bringing them thence directly to the United States in American
bottoms, this would afford an acceptable basis of treaty for a
term not exceeding fifteen years."
An article was inserted in the treaty in conformity to these
principles--our carrying vessels limited in point of burthen to
seventy tons and under; the privilege limited in point of duration
to the continuance of the then existing war between Great Britain
and the French Republic, and to two years after its termination;
and restricted in the return cargo both as to the nature of the
articles and the port of their destination. These were hard terms,
and precarious, and the article containing them was "suspended"
by the Senate in the act of ratification, in the hope to obtain
better; and are only quoted here in order to show that this direct
trade to the British West Indies was, from the beginning of our
federal government, only sought as a privilege, to be obtained
under restrictions and limitations, and subordinately to British
policy and legislation. This was the end of the first negotiation;
five others were had in the ensuing thirty years, besides repeated
attempts at "concerted legislation"--all ending either abortively or
in temporary and unsatisfactory arrangements.
The most important of these attempts was in the years 1822 and 1823:
and as it forms an essential item in the history of this case, and
shows, besides, the good policy of letting "well-enough" alone, and
the great mischief of inserting an apparently harmless word in a
bill of which no one sees the drift but those in the secret, I will
here give its particulars, adopting for that purpose the language
of senator Samuel Smith, of Maryland,--the best qualified of all
our statesmen to speak on the subject, he having the practical
knowledge of a merchant in addition to experience as a legislator.
His statement is this:
"During the session of 1822, Congress was informed that an
act was pending in Parliament for the opening of the colonial
ports to the commerce of the United States. In consequence, an
act was passed authorizing the President (then Mr. Monroe),
in case the act of Parliament was satisfactory to him, to
open the ports of the United States to British vessels by his
proclamation. The act of Parliament was deemed satisfactory, and
a proclamation was accordingly issued, and the trade commenced.
Unfortunately for our commerce, and I think contrary to justice,
a treasury circular issued, directing the collectors to charge
British vessels entering our ports with the alien tonnage and
discriminating duties. This order was remonstrated against by
the British minister (I think Mr. Vaughan). The trade, however,
went on uninterrupted. Congress met and a bill was drafted in
1823 by Mr. Adams, then Secretary of State, and passed both
Houses, with little, if any, debate. I voted for it, believing
that it met, in a spirit of reciprocity, the British act of
Parliament. This bill, however, contained one little word,
"elsewhere," which completely defeated all our expectations.
It was noticed by no one. The senator from Massachusetts (Mr.
Webster) may have understood its effect. If he did so understand
it, he was silent. The effect of that word "elsewhere" was to
assume the pretensions alluded to in the instructions to Mr.
McLane. (Pretension to a "right" in the trade.) The result
was, that the British government shut their colonial ports
immediately, and thenceforward. This act of 1822 gave us a
monopoly (virtually) of the West India trade. It admitted, free
of duty, a variety of articles, such as Indian corn, meal, oats,
peas, and beans. The British government thought we entertained a
belief that they could not do without our produce, and by their
acts of the 27th June and 5th July, 1825, they opened their
ports to all the world, on terms far less advantageous to the
United States, than those of the act of 1822."
Such is the important statement of General Smith. Mr. Webster was
present at the time, and said nothing. Both these acts were clear
rights on the part of Great Britain, and that of 1825 contained a
limitation upon the time within which each nation was to accept the
privilege it offered, or lose the trade for ever. This legislative
privilege was accepted by all nations which had any thing to send to
the British West Indies, except the United States. Mr. Adams did not
accept the proffered privilege--undertook to negotiate for better
terms--failed in the attempt--and lost all. Mr. Clay was Secretary
of State, Mr. Gallatin the United States Minister in London, and the
instructions to him were, to insist upon it as a "right" that our
produce should be admitted on the same terms on which produce from
the British possessions were admitted.--This was the "elsewhere,"
&c. The British government refused to negotiate; and then Mr.
Gallatin was instructed to waive temporarily the demand of right,
and accept the privilege offered by the act of 1825. But in the mean
time the year allowed in the act for its acceptance had expired, and
Mr. Gallatin was told that his offer was too late! To that answer
the British ministry adhered; and, from the month of July, 1826, the
direct trade to the British West Indies was lost to our citizens,
leaving them no mode of getting any share in that trade, either
in sending out our productions or receiving theirs, but through
the expensive, tedious, and troublesome process of a circuitous
voyage and the intervention of a foreign vessel. The shock and
dissatisfaction in the United States were extreme at this unexpected
bereavement; and that dissatisfaction entered largely into the
political feelings of the day, and became a point of attack on Mr.
Adams's administration, and an element in the presidential canvass
which ended in his defeat.
In giving an account of this untoward event to his government, Mr.
Gallatin gave an account of his final interview with Mr. Huskisson,
from which it appeared that the claim of "right" on the part of the
United States, on which Mr. Gallatin had been instructed to "insist"
was "temporarily waived;" but without effect. Irritation, on account
of old scores, as expressed by Mr Gallatin--or resentment at our
pertinacious persistence to secure a "right" where the rest of the
world accepted a "privilege," as intimated by Mr. Huskisson--mixed
itself with the refusal; and the British government adhered to its
absolute right to regulate the foreign trade of its colonies, and to
treat us as it did the rest of the world. The following are passages
from Mr. Gallatin's dispatch, from London, September 11, 1827:
"Mr. Huskisson said it was the intention of the British
government to consider the intercourse of the British colonies
as being exclusively under its control, and any relaxation from
the colonial system as an indulgence, to be granted on such
terms as might suit the policy of Great Britain at the time
it was granted. I said every question of _right_ had, on this
occasion, been waived on the part of the United States, the
only object of the present inquiry being to ascertain whether,
as a matter of mutual convenience, the intercourse might not
be opened in a manner satisfactory to both countries. He (Mr.
H.) said that it had appeared as if America had entertained
the opinion that the British West Indies could not exist
without her supplies; and that she might, therefore, compel
Great Britain to open the intercourse on any terms she pleased.
I disclaimed any such belief or intention on the part of the
United States. But it appeared to me, and I intimated it,
indeed, to Mr. Huskisson, that he was acting rather under the
influence of irritated feelings, on account of past events, than
with a view to the mutual interests of both parties."
This was Mr. Gallatin's last dispatch. An order in council was
issued, interdicting the trade to the United States; and he returned
home. Mr. James Barbour, Secretary at War, was sent to London
to replace him, and to attempt again the repulsed negotiation;
but without success. The British government refused to open the
question: and thus the direct access to this valuable commerce
remained sealed against us. President Adams, at the commencement of
the session of Congress, 1827-28, formally communicated this fact
to that body, and in terms which showed at once that an insult had
been received, an injury sustained, redress refused, and ill-will
established between the two governments. He said:
"At the commencement of the last session of Congress, they were
informed of the sudden and unexpected exclusion by the British
government, of access, in vessels of the United States, to all
their colonial ports, except those immediately bordering upon
our own territory.
"In the amicable discussions which have succeeded the adoption
of this measure, which, as it affected harshly the interests
of the United States, became a subject of expostulation
on our part, the principles upon which its justification
has been placed have been of a diversified character. It
has at once been ascribed to a mere recurrence to the old
long-established principle of colonial monopoly, and at the
same time to a feeling of resentment, because the offers of
an act of Parliament, opening the colonial ports upon certain
conditions, had not been grasped at with sufficient eagerness
by as instantaneous conformity to them. At a subsequent period
it has been intimated that the new exclusion was in resentment,
because a prior act of Parliament, of 1822, opening certain
colonial ports, under heavy and burdensome restrictions, to
vessels of the United States, had not been reciprocated by
an admission of British vessels from the colonies, and their
cargoes, without any restriction or discrimination whatever.
But, be the motive for the interdiction what it may, the British
government have manifested no disposition, either by negotiation
or by corresponding legislative enactments, to recede from it;
and we have been given distinctly to understand that neither
of the bills which were under the consideration of Congress at
their last session, would have been deemed sufficient in their
concessions to have been rewarded by any relaxation from the
British interdict. The British government have not only declined
negotiation upon the subject, but, by the principle they have
assumed with reference to it, have precluded even the means
of negotiation. It becomes not the self-respect of the United
States, either to solicit gratuitous favours, or to accept, as
the grant of a favor, that for which an ample equivalent is
exacted."
This was the communication of Mr. Adams to Congress, and certainly
nothing could be more vexatious or hopeless than the case which he
presented--an injury, an insult, a rebuff, and a refusal to talk
with us upon the subject. Negotiation, and the hope of it, having
thus terminated, President Adams did what the laws required of him,
and issued his proclamation making known to the country the total
cessation of all direct commerce between the United States and the
British West India Islands.
The loss of this trade was a great injury to the United States
(besides the insult), and was attended by circumstances which
gave it the air of punishment for something that was past. It was
a rebuff in the face of Europe; for while the United States were
sternly and unceremoniously cut off from the benefit of the act of
1825, for omission to accept it within the year, yet other powers
in the same predicament (France, Spain and Russia) were permitted
to accept after the year; and the "irritated feelings" manifested
by Mr. Huskisson indicated a resentment which was finding its
gratification. We were ill-treated, and felt it. The people felt it.
It was an ugly case to manage, or to endure; and in this period of
its worst aspect General Jackson was elected President.
His position was delicate and difficult. His election had been
deprecated as that of a rash and violent man, who would involve us
in quarrels with foreign nations; and here was a dissension with
a great nation lying in wait for him--prepared to his hand--the
legacy of his predecessor--either to be composed satisfactorily,
or to ripen into retaliation and hostility; for it was not to be
supposed that things could remain as they were. He had to choose
between an attempt at amicable recovery of the trade by new
overtures, or retaliation--leading to, it is not known what. He
determined upon the first of these alternatives, and Mr. Louis
McLane, of Delaware, was selected for the delicate occasion. He
was sent minister to London; and in renewing an application which
had been so lately and so categorically rejected, some reason had
to be given for a persistance which might seem both importunate
and desperate, and even deficient in self-respect; and that reason
was found in the simple truth that there had been a change of
administration in the United States, and with it a change of opinion
on the subject, and on the essential point of a "right" in us to
have our productions admitted into her West Indies on the same
terms as British productions were received; that we were willing to
take the trade as a "privilege," and simply and unconditionally,
under the act of Parliament of 1825. Instructions to that effect
had been drawn up by Mr. Van Buren, Secretary of State, under
the special directions of General Jackson, who took this early
occasion to act upon his cardinal maxim in our foreign intercourse:
"_Ask nothing but what is right--submit to nothing wrong._" This
frank and candid policy had its effect. The great object was
accomplished. The trade was recovered; and what had been lost under
one administration, and precariously enjoyed under others, and been
the subject of fruitless negotiation for forty years, and under six
different Presidents--Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, Quincy Adams--with all their accomplished secretaries and
ministers, was now amicably and satisfactorily obtained under the
administration of General Jackson; and upon the basis to give it
perpetuity--that of mutual interest and actual reciprocity. The
act of Parliament gave us the trade on terms nearly as good as
those suggested by Washington in 1789; fully as good as those asked
for by him in 1794; better than those inserted in the treaty of
that year, and suspended by the Senate; and, though nominally on
the same terms as given to the rest of the world, yet practically
better, on account of our proximity to this British market; and our
superabundance of articles (chiefly provisions and lumber) which it
wants. And the trade has been enjoyed under this act ever since,
with such entire satisfaction, that there is already an oblivion
of the forty years' labor which it cost us to obtain it; and a
generation has grown up, almost without knowing to whom they are
indebted for its present enjoyment. But it made its sensation at the
time, and a great one. The friends of the Jackson administration
exulted; the people rejoiced; gratification was general--but not
universal; and these very instructions, under which such great and
lasting advantages had been obtained, were made the occasion in the
Senate of the United States of rejecting their ostensible author as
a minister to London. But of this hereafter.
The auspicious conclusion of so delicate an affair was doubtless
first induced by General Jackson's frank policy in falling back
upon Washington's ground of "privilege," in contradistinction to
the new pretension of "right,"--helped out a little, it may be,
by the possible after-clap suggested in the second part of his
maxim. Good sense and good feeling may also have had its influence,
the trade in question being as desirable to Great Britain as to
the United States, and better for each to carry it on direct in
their own vessels, than circuitously in the vessels of others;
and the articles on each side being of a kind to solicit mutual
exchange--tropical productions on one part, and those of the
temperate zone on the other. But there was one thing which certainly
contributed to the good result, and that was the act of Congress of
May 29th, of which General Samuel Smith, senator from Maryland, was
the chief promoter; and by which the President was authorized, on
the adoption of certain measures by Great Britain, to open the ports
of the United States to her vessels on reciprocal terms. The effect
of this act was to strengthen General Jackson's candid overture;
and the proclamation opening the trade was issued October the 5th,
1830, in the second year of the first term of the administration of
President Jackson. And under that proclamation this long desired
trade has been enjoyed ever since, and promises to be enjoyed in
after time co-extendingly with the duration of peace between the two
countries.