MANGUM, United States Consul to Anson Burlingame , United States, September 4, 1862

Mr. Mangum to Mr. Burlingame

Sir: I have the honor to transmit to you copies of the correspondence between Monsieur P. Edan, consul of France at Shanghai, and myself, in regard to the matter of “concession” on the Keang Pilo site; also a communication from Monsieur Edan to the Taoutai of Ningpo, demanding a separate French concession, the limits of which are therein stated.

At the conference held by the three treaty powers at this port on the 13th of January last, when it was determined to take joint possession of the Keang Pilo site, “for defensive purposes” it was understood, we think distinctly, that all necessary measures for the protection and prosperity of the settlement should be the joint efforts of the three treaty consuls residing here, and that no other arrangement should be entered into until the course we had deemed necessary to adopt should be decided upon by our respective ministers at Peking. This arrangement was again approved of at the second conference held by the said treaty consuls on the 31st of May last, after the expulsion of the rebels from Ningpo. Monsieur Edan’s demand upon the Taoutai for a separate French concession embraces perhaps the most valuable and important portion of the Keang Pilo settlement, and includes the greater portion of the property belonging to Americans settled here—property owned principally by American missionaries who were the first foreigners to settle on this side of the river. A sense of duty compels me to oppose this demand, and I lay the matter before your excellency, that, in conjunction with the representatives of the three treaty powers, some satisfactory adjustment may be determined upon. I have, &c.,