This, it must be remembered, was the first formal treaty they ever made
on the subject of foreign trade, at least since the expulsion of the
Portuguese, and they evidently meant to proceed cautiously by single
steps.
There is observable throughout the negotiations the predominating
influence of the national prejudice against the permanent introduction
of foreigners among them. The word "reside" is but once used in the
whole treaty, and that in the article relative to consuls. The details
of conferences, already given, show how anxiously they sought to avoid
having consuls at all. Indeed, Commodore Perry says, "I could only
induce the commissioners to agree to this article, by endeavoring to
convince them that it would save the Japanese Government much trouble if
an American agent were to reside at one or both of the ports opened by
the treaty, to whom complaints might be made of any malpractice of the
United States citizens who might visit the Japanese dominions." They
wanted no permanent foreign residents among them, official or
unofficial.
Pages:
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625