-Caveat Lector-
from:
Rhode Island History
Vol. 25 July, 1966 No.3
Rhode Island Historical Society
52 Power Street
Providence, Rhode Island 02906
-----
BAD LUCK IN THE CHINA TRADE
by JACQUES M. DOWNS
Department of History, St. Francis College, Biddeford, Maine
PETER WANTON SNOW
SURELY PETER WANTON SNOW was the unluckiest of men. For the greater part of
his life Snow followed the old China trade but was dogged by ill health,
wrong decisions, bad timing, death and the most miserable luck of any
American who ever went to China.
Born December 28, 1788, the son of a leading China trader and the son of a
granddaughter of a former governor of Rhode Island, Snow should have been
able to take advantage of the most lucrative opportunities in the entire
history of oriental commerce. However, he was fated to remain in the trade
longer and die poorer than almost any comparable merchant of whom we have
record. His father, Samuel Snow,[1]was one of Rhode Island's earliest
representatives in Canton. He was the second American consul at Canton, the
builder of the American factory, and the first to have resident
representatives both in China and America.
Peter W. Snow first sailed for Canton with his father in 1803 on the
Patterson (Captain Jonathan Aborn). Doubtless because of his father's
position and trading connections, young Snow became the partner of Edward
Carrington who, within fewer than a dozen years, was to become the greatest
China merchant in Rhode Island, if not in the entire country. However,
instead of remaining in Canton, Peter Snow embarked aboard the Stranger
(Captain Prescott), early in November 1804, on a venture for Carrington &
Snow which seems to have involved a voyage to Europe and thence to China. It
is not clear precisely what happened subsequently. However, Carrington became
most disturbed when Snow did not appear in fifteen months as planned.[2]
In the Carrington collection (R.I.H.S.), there are some very interesting data
bearing on Peter Snow. One of Carrington's sideline businesses was lending
money, and Snow seems to have been one of the recipients at the
extraordinarily high rate of 18% interest per year.[3] It is revealing to
note that the going rate in Canton was 12% on good risks at this time, and
Snow, nominally at least, was Carrington's partner. However the partnership
seems to have withered shortly after its formation, as Carrington was soon
doing business in his own name only. Very possibly this fact is related to
Samuel Snow's bankruptcy which occurred in 1807. Carrington repeatedly warned
both Snows about this growing interest account, but there is no record of the
eventual fate of the loan.[4]
During his stay in America young Snow seems to have fallen in love, for
Carrington's principal correspondent in Providence reported in December 1805
that Snow would soon be married to a "Miss Smith."'[5] Actually, he returned
to China on the Baltic[6] (Captain Jonathan Aborn) the following spring and
did not wed the lady, Jeanette Smith, until two years later, by which time he
bad returned to Providence.[7]
By 1808, Carrington was prospering and writing Providence that he hoped Peter
Snow would return to China despite his "misfortunes," because he wanted to
help the young man. He strongly implied that upon his own departure for home
Snow would take over his Canton agency.[8] In the summer of the same year
Snow expressed his willingness to go to China for Carrington "for 2 or 3
years, if you wish it,"[9] and he arrived in Canton December 5, 1809, aboard
the Baltic. Presumably he carried out the plan, as Carrington sailed for home
early in 1811 and Snow was writing Carrington from Canton by August of the
same year.
Even then Snow's luck did not change. John P. Cushing noted in a letter to
Carrington a few months later:
Young Snow is also complaining bitterly of his friends, not having received a
line this year by any of the vessels which have heretofore arrived. He has
not as yet determined what to do, and will not I presume 'til he hears from
you: I endeavour to cheer him up and keep him in sperits [sic], but the
climate of Canton does not at all agree with him nor will it with any other
person that has the same attractions in America that Snow has.[10]
Snow's apprehensions must have increased considerably when the news of the
War of 1812 arrived. He remained until 1814, hoping for peace, but as time
went on, he apparently grew desperate and took passage in an enemy vessel,
the British East India Company's Marqui's of Ely, for London.[11] He arrive
in New York in November or December to learn that his only son, Charles
Wanton, had died a year earlier at the age of five years. James & T. H.
Perkins reported that "his health was good, tho' his spirits were depressed
..."[12] To compound his personal tragedy, Snow lost two baby daughters in
the next three years.[13]
Soon after the war Snow resumed his China voyages, frequently sailing as
supercargo and/or captain for his friend Carrington. Although he never
appears to have gotten out of debt, he was able to work productively and
cheerfully. John P. Cushing wrote from China in 1817 that since Snow was no
longer despondent, there was hope for his financial recovery. He had
convinced Snow's creditors that they could do nothing but wait for Snow to
earn the money to pay them off.[14]
In the summer of 1818 Snow sailed again for China in Carrington's ship
George. This time he remained in China until the end of the following year,
but upon his departure, Samuel Russell wrote Carrington about Snow in the
same patronizing but charitable spirit which so often characterized letters
concerning Snow. Mr. Snow, reported Russell, would sail on the Chauncey,
whose cargo was assigned to him.
It seems to be the opinion here, that if there should be any profit arising
from the sale of the Cargo, that Mr. Snow will share it. If not he will
receive a commission on the sales, without incurring any loss. This however
may be mere conjecture.[15]
Whether or not Russell's story was true, at least the attitude of other China
traders seems clear. They were trying to help Snow, but he appeared destined
for poverty. The previous year, Perkins & Company) Canton, had written
Carrington,
The object of the present is to state to you that in case you or your friends
should hereafter send any vessels to this quarter that it would gratify us
much to see them consigned to our friend Snow.[16]
Snow was scheduled to sail for Canton again in May 1821,[17] and one cannot
help hoping he had some success, for his evil fortune was shortly to return.
In 1824 and 1826 the Providence directory lists him as a "mariner" residing
on Benevolent Street and from 1828 to 1832 as a merchant at the same address,
apparently with a counting room at 113 South Water Street. However prosperous
he might have been, Snow had plenty of discouragement. Within the twenty-nine
months between March 1829 and August 1831 Snow lost most of his family,
including his fourteen-year-old daughter, his only sister (he had no
brothers), and his wife. Then, in April 1834, Carrington wrote his partner in
New York, "Mr. Snow has been quite unwell, and very much discouraged," for he
had failed and "very indiscreetely [sic] made an assignment of his
property."[18]
Apparently bankruptcy induced Snow to go to China once again to attempt to
provide for himself and his two remaining children, one of whom, John Cushing
Snow, seems to have been mentally deficient.[19] To his daughter, Snow
apparently devoted the affection that, under more fortunate circumstances,
might have been shared by his once-large family. This time Snow's friends
procured for him the office of American Consul, but despite this
comparatively auspicious beginning, Snow's black luck continued. He
apparently never really prospered again. As late as 1840, the great hong
merchant Houqua wrote John P. Cushing,
I have also been trying to assist our old friend P. W. Snow to a small
fortune, and have capital now employed for his account to amount of Eighty
Thousand Dollars.[20]
However, only five days later Isaac M. Bull, Carrington's nephew, wrote from
Canton,
Mr. [R. B.] Forbes of the house of R[ussell] & Co. has received letters to
January 30 over land and is advised of the death of Mr. Snow's daughter, but
as yet he has not informed Mr. S. as he (Mr. F) has been absent. . . , Mr.
Snow is now in as good health as he has been since his arrival in China,
still he is weak in body, and a very little trouble or disappointment breaks
him down and reduces him completely unable to do anything [sic] — Poor man,
his countrymen here feel much sympathy for him, and fear the result of this
news on him. This daughter has appeared to be the only thing which could
induce Mr. Snow to make any exertion, and he often spoke of her with all the
feelings of a Father who centered all his happiness, in this world, in making
her comfortable and happy, and in the expectation of returning to America and
of ending his days in her arms — It was a pleasure to him to think of her and
to speak of her to his friends and I fear that the intelligence of his loss
may prove his death blow—he has but very little energy and has been so long
in misfortune that he can bear but little.
As to his pecuniary circumstance I know nothing but tie cannot have made more
than sufficient to support himself and his family at home—from the American
Government he has never had a cent, and his office has given him much
annoyance the past year and it could be nothing more than justice that
Congress should give him something.
I should be sorry to say anything which might cause his friends any
uneasiness, but I fear he will never leave Macao and I should not be
surprised if he should not live six months.[21]
That December 21st, Houqua wrote that "we" had "fitted out Mr. Snow as well
as could be expected" and that he hoped Snow had enough to support himself
comfortably.[22]
He sailed for the United States later that year on the Valparaiso, arriving
in New York on February 5, 1841, but he was back in China in 1842, still
alive though ailing[23] and still insolvent. Shortly thereafter Snow sailed
for home for the last time. He died in Providence May 7, 1843, virtually
penniless.[24]
Snow's greatest contribution to the history of the old China trade lies not
so much in his own commerce, which certainly was never imposing, but rather
in his work as United States consul. During the opium crisis of 1839-40, Snow
did yeoman work despite his physical infirmities, his commercial
disappointments and his emotional calamities. For the most part he reported
to the State Department regularly and fully, something few consuls since the
early 1820s had bothered about.
Unquestionably the most demanding task of Snow's official career was the
handling of the delicate situation which resulted following the confinement
of the entire foreign community at Canton by the famous "Commissioner" Lin
Tse-hsiu.[25] The "Commissioner" ordered the foreigners surrounded and
isolated in their factories, holding them as hostages for the opium aboard
the numerous foreign vessels engaged in the forbidden drug trade off the
coast. Ultimately the narcotic was surrendered and the foreign community
released, but Lin's destruction of the 20,291 chests of opium worth several
millions of dollars and the terms he set for the resumption of normal
commerce made it impossible for the British to continue trading. Therefore,
British merchants and vessels left the Canton estuary and anchored outside
the river.
Although trade had officially stopped between the British and Chinese,
merchants of both nations desperately wanted to do business. Indeed, many
were threatened with enormous losses if the boycott were continued.
The Americans, whose government was uninvolved, complied with Lin's
conditions and thereafter acted as intermediaries. They loaded British goods
outside the river and ferried them some seventy miles upriver to Whampoa
Reach, where the Chinese helped them discharge their cargoes. Then they
loaded China goods for the return trip to the waiting British ships outside.
The trade proceeded feverishly from the time of the release of the foreign
community until the arrival of the British military forces in the early
summer of 1840. During this period the cost of freighting goods upriver often
exceeded the cost of shipping the same cargo from Europe to China.
Consequently, many Yankee merchants reaped fortunes.
A number of Americans purchased ships from the British, who were
understandably eager to sell after trade was cut off. These ships, with new
names and a new flag, then needed American papers in order to trade. By
recognizing the dubious legality of the purchases, Snow encouraged this
traffic and was roundly criticized for so doing by several nonparticipating
American traders. However illegal this commerce may have been, it saved the
1839-40 tea crop for the world market, prevented many bankruptcies and made a
number of American fortunes at a time when the United States was in the
trough of the depression of 183 7-43. Moreover, through Snow's opposition to
the more Draconian of Lin's terms, the Americans won concessions.
Snow's critics also attacked him for suppressing petitions to the Chinese
government protesting the river trade.[26] It should be noted, however, that
the hong merchants refused to accept such petitions, and since they were the
sole channel for communicating with the Chinese authorities, there was little
Snow could do. Thus, the criticism loses much of its force.
The truth is probably less damaging to Snow. He was getting old, and if he
was guilty of such improprieties as those with which he was charged, it was
surely less the result of turpitude than of overwork, infirmity and
misunderstanding. Certainly, for the time that he was in China, he did the
best job of keeping Washington informed of important developments of any
consul in the history of that sadly neglected post. He did not fail to report
the existence of the lucrative, if illicit, river trade nor of his own action
in granting "passes" to ships newly purchased by American citizens. Had he
been knowingly guilty of some illegality, why should he have reported his
crime?[27]
Probably a kinder judgment of Snow is in order. He was a most unfortunate
man, wracked with illness, failure and death. The office of United States
consul must have been a great burden to him, but he apparently did his best
by it, and his best was considerably better than most of his predecessors'.
pps. 73-80
--[notes]--
1. See my article in Rhode Island History, January 1966, pp. 1-8.
2. "Snow apparently sailed from Providence on the Baltic as agreed, but not
until December 1805. He embarked for Canton on the same vessel in April of
the following year, however the time lapse seems to have destroyed his
chances for a successful voyage.
3. Carrington & Snow Ledger (Carrington Collection, R.I.H.S.).
4. 0ne piece of evidence may explain more than it appears to. Among
Carrington's papers for the year 1815, there is a note to Thomas Hoppin, of
B. & T. C. Hoppin, Providence, to transfer $33,585.88 from the joint account
of Carrington and P. W. Snow to Carrington's personal account.
5. Benjamin Hoppin, Providence, to Edward Carrington, Canton, December 27,
1805 (Carrington Collection).
6. The Baltic was registered at Providence in the names of Carrington and
Snow on April 5, 1806. It remained jointly in their names until the papers
were surrendered at Boston on August 15, 18 10: Ship Registers and
Enrollments of Providence, Rhode Island (Providence: National Archives
Project, 1941). This source also lists five other vessels of which Snow was
sole or part owner, the ship General Hamilton (1825-1832). the brig
Shibboleth (1826-1829), the second brig Shibboleth (1830-1833), the brig
Henry (1814-1815) and the ship Superior (1823-1824). He seems to have owned
part of the last vessel because he served as her captain.
7. Providence Gazette, November 17, 1807.
8. Several letters, Carrington to Hoppin and Carrington to Snow in 1807 and
1808 in the Carrington Collection.
9. Snow, Providence, to Carrington, Canton, July 8, 1808 (Carrington
Collection).
10. John P. Cushing, Canton, to Edward Carrington, Providence, December 20,
1811 (ibid.).
11. John P. Cushing, Canton, to Edward Carrington, Providence, February 12,
1814 and February 15, 1814 (ibid.).
12. James & T. H. Perkins, Boston, to Edward Carrington, Providence, December
14, 1814 (ibid.).
13. Harriet Rogers, aged 8 months (Providence Gazette, October 27, 1817) and
Frances Wanton, aged 1 year, 3 months (ibid., August 19, 1819).
14. John Perkins Cushing, Canton, to Edward Carrington, Providence, March 4,
1817 (Carrington Collection).
I 5. Samuel Russell, Canton, to Edward Carrington, Providence, November
6,1819.
16. Perkins & Co., Canton, to Edward Carrington, Providence, March 4, 1817
(ibid.). Of course, Perkins & Company's trade had grown so mountainous that
Cushing was in the process of ridding the firm of its commission business
altogether.
17. Mary T. Jenckes, Providence, to Edwin T. Jenckes, Canton, April 27, 1821
(Nightingale-Jenckes Papers, R.I.H.S.).
18. Edward Carrington, Providence, to Samuel. Wetmore, New York, April 25,
1834 (Carrington Collection).
19. Snow's execrable luck held even here. The handicapped son was the only
one of his children to survive him. (See Providence Probate Record, Estates
No. A-6178 and A-6236.)
20. Houqua, Canton, to John P. Cushing, Boston, June 1, 1840 ("Howqua's
Letterbook, 1840-1843"; copy in Baker Library, Harvard Business School).
21. M. Bull, Macao, to Edward Carrington Jr., Providence, June 6, 1840
(Carrington Collection).
22. Houqua, to Robert Bennet Forbes, December 23, 1842 ("Howqua's
Letterbook").
23. Among other problems, Snow suffered greatly from rheumatism in his later
years, so much so that one writer notes that he showed "little inclination to
leave his seat at any time and ... [was] a singularly dignified and reserved
official — habitually seated in state as it were." (Gideon Nye, Peking the
Goal, the Sole Hope of Peace (Canton, 1879), p. 18.
24. Providence Probate Records, Estate No. A-6236.
25. Probably the best treatment of this matter is to be found in Hsim-pao
Chang, Commissioner Lin and the Opium War (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1964).
26. Joseph Coolidge, a colorful and most controversial merchant, reported
that Snow himself purchased at least one British vessel which he promptly
"nationalized" for use in the river trade. However, one may doubt that Snow's
financial condition would have permitted him to buy anything so expensive at
that time (Heard Papers, Baker Library).
27. Both the charges and Snow's defense are to be found in the Chinese
Repository; see especially January and February 1840, pp. 446-478 and 529-543.
-----
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
Omnia Bona Bonis,
All My Relations.
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
Kris
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