Mr. Cushing having abandoned the idea of going to Peking, the letter of the President to the emperor of China was delivered to Tsiyeng at the time of signing the treaty, upon his assurance that he would respectfully forward it to his august sovereign.
In transmitting a copy of the treaty to the Secretary of State, Mr. Cushing pointed out sixteen particulars in which his treaty contained provisions not embraced in the British treaty negotiated at the conclusion of the war. In his dispatch he says: "I ascribe all possible honor to the ability displayed by Sir Henry Pottinger in China, and to the success which attended his negotiations; and I recognize the debt of gratitude which the United States and all other nations owe to England, for what she has accomplished in China. From all this much benefit has accrued to the United States. But, in return, the treaty of Wang Hiya, in the new provisions it makes, confers a great benefit on the commerce of the British empire; … and thus whatever progress either government makes in opening this vast empire to the influence of foreign commerce is for the common good of each other and of all Christendom."[1]
One of the most important of the provisions of the Cushing treaty was that relating to what is known in international law as "exterritoriality," as applied to non-Christian countries. This principle had been observed to a limited extent for many years between the European and Mohammedan countries; but in this treaty it was broadened and made more explicit by the
- ↑ For text of treaty, see Treaties and Conventions of United States, 144; for correspondence, S. Ex. Doc. 67 cited, pp. 38, 77.
