338 Boundaries and Beyond
taken action to deter the brokers. The latter were forced to discontinue
their malpractices under pain of severe punishment. However, voluntary
emigrants to Singapore and Sydney still embarked from this port.
The Limits of Local Diplomacy
In analyzing the Amoy affair, the imperialism-versus-patriotism approach
does not do much more than scratch the surface. Nevertheless, the image
of the Chinese ofβicials as being timid and incompetent in their conduct
of local diplomacy is shown to be more a distortion than the whole
truth. The event has to be seen both in its local context and in a broader
perspective to convey a fuller picture.
The coolie emigration was conducted as a private enterprise that
involved both Chinese and English parties. These agents were acting
on their own initiative without permission from or the sponsorship
of their respective authorities. The English merchants treated the
emigrants as human cargo and conducted the business with unbridled
entrepreneurship. Proβit maximization, not ethics, governed their
business policy and management.
Although Chinese law prohibited the outright emigration of its
subjects to foreign countries, there was a practical limit to the arbitrary
authority of the local government. In the βirst place, the ofβicials did not
have authority to negotiate for amendments to be made to the existing
laws or treaties; on the contrary, they were bound and were required
to abide by both. Nevertheless, when they encountered their British
counterparts, they were able to stand on their dignity and argued βirmly
against the latter to insist upon the upholding of Chinese rights under the
Treaty. Viewed from this angle, these ofβicials performed their function
reasonably and fairly. Moreover, as Winchester observes, in years of
scarcity the population pressure occasioned great anxiety among the
local authorities and often led to their disgrace; any disturbances that
arose from famine were almost certainly attributed to their neglect or
mismanagement. The mandarins were very well aware that emigration
relieved the pressure of the surplus population on the supplies of food
and hence took the opportunity to deport wild and lawless vagabonds to
foreign lands; not to speak of the pecuniary interest that some Chinese
ofβicials always contrived to βind in the continuance of a forbidden
practice.^53 The local authorities were also realistic enough to understand
their limited capacity to stop such trade. Their duty and concern was the
- See fn. 1, note prepared by Winchester.
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