.etter to the Right Hon- 
 orable the ^arl of tucki - shire, 
 ...- the Subject of qn Open 
 to India 
 

 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES


 
 LETTER 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 The Karl of Buckinghamshire, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 
 FOR THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA, 
 
 On the Subject of an 
 
 OPEN TRADE 
 
 TO 
 
 INDIA. 
 
 LONDON ; 
 
 PUBLISHED BY J. M. RICHARDSON, 
 23, COltXHILL.
 
 - 
 
 . ...... . . 
 
 I / \
 
 ffa.3 
 Aa?A 
 18IS 
 
 V. # 
 
 A LETTER, &c. 
 
 CO 
 b 
 
 IjJ , .,,^^^M.i - 
 
 CO 
 
 . 
 
 MY LOUD, 
 
 AFTER perusing the proceedings 
 which have taken place at the EAST INDIA 
 
 ; HOUSE, respecting the Renewal of the Com- 
 , pany's exclusive Privileges, it is utterly im- 
 possible for any individual, who feels at all 
 
 o interested in the welfare of his Country, and 
 the preservation of its Constitution, not to 
 experience sentiments of equal regret and 
 surprise at the communication made to the 
 Court of Directors, in your Lordship's Letter 
 of 4th January, 1813, viz. that it was the in- 
 tention of His Majesty's Ministers to transfer 
 the Indian Trade, both Import and Export, 
 to the Out-ports. In referring to the gracious 
 speech of His Royal Highness the Prince 
 A2
 
 
 Regent at the opening of Parliament it ap- 
 pears that his Royal Highness called upon 
 the Legislature to make such an arrangement 
 " as may best promote tlie prosperity of the 
 " British possessions in India, and at the 
 <e same time secure the greatest advantages to 
 " the Commerce and Revenue of His Majesty's 
 <f Dominions." If your Lordship be of opinion 
 that by recommending Parliament to open 
 the Trade to the Out-ports, you will fulfil 
 the duties attached to your Lordship's high 
 station as President of the Board of Com^ 
 missioners for the Affairs of India, in a 
 manner which will secure the greatest ad-r 
 vantages to the Commerce and Revenue of 
 His Majesty's Dominions, I must deeply la- 
 ment such a determination ; and as there is 
 still a short period, left previously to its 
 being discussed in Parliament, I do myself 
 the honor of addressing this Letter to your 
 Lordship, in which. I shall endeavour to shew 
 the impolicy of opening the Trade, even to 
 the Port of London : after which I shall bring 
 to your Lordship's notice the fatal conser 
 cjuences which will result to the individuals
 
 interested in the continuance of the East 
 India Trade to the Port of London, should that 
 trade be transferred to the Out-ports : and t 
 shall (conclude by recalling to your Lord- 
 'ship's recollection the opinions entertained 
 on the subject of the India Trade by those 
 enlightened statesmen how no more,* whose 
 opinions while they lived, your Lordship and 
 your noble coadjutors in office were always 
 disposed to receive with deference. 
 
 The importance of the subject is admitted 
 by all to be great, and as it must be evi- 
 dent whence that importance has ariseri, it 
 behoves those in whose hands the task of 
 ensuring the greatest benefit to this coun* 
 try from our Indian possessions is placed, 
 to guafd against turning the stream from its 
 present channel, through which such great 
 advantages, in every point of view, have 
 been realized to this kingdom ; and not to 
 permit so fruitful a source to expend itself 
 in rivulets as insignificant, as the grounds for 
 expecting that great benefits will be derived 
 
 * The Right Hon. Wm. Pitt. The Late Lord Melville.
 
 IT 
 
 from such a change, are unfounded and 
 
 r 11- 
 fallacious. 
 
 .'V' ; -? Fr -''i'fftw^' it 
 The first object in our Indian Trade which 
 
 presents itself, to use the words of the late 
 Lord Melville, " is to furnish the means of 
 exporting British Manufactures to the fullest 
 extent, to bring raw materials from India, 
 to open full scope to the remittance of fortunes 
 from India, AND FINALLY TO CRUSH OR 
 
 BRING TO THE RlVER THAMES THE CLAN- 
 
 , DESTINE TRADE." This it cannot be de- 
 nied is or ought to be the principal object 
 in any system which may be devised for our 
 India Trade. Let me then ask your Lord- 
 ship if the means of exporting British ma- 
 nufactures to the fullest extent have not been 
 most amply attained when they can be pur- 
 chased in India at prime cost, and when ships 
 returning to India cannot get cargpes, be* 
 cause no one will send out goods, for the sale 
 of which a market cannot be found. 
 
 JiU.-.fjfi 
 
 I will ask your Lordship whether it is not 
 a sufficient proof that the raw materials have 
 been imported from India to the fullest ex-
 
 tent, when the warehouses of this country 
 are groaning under unsaleable produce ? 
 
 I will ask your Lordship whether it is not 
 jjt~, ^ 
 
 a sufficient proof, that Indian commerce has 
 
 been extended greatly beyond the bounds 
 of policy, when individuals waive the mode 
 f remitting home their fortunes through 
 commerce, and avail themselves of drawing 
 
 on the Company's Home Treasury to a most 
 
 r J !**lhW 
 
 enormous extent ? 
 
 * '' l - " "* ; v - - " -- ' 
 
 It is only then on the principle, that 
 greater advantages would be derived to the 
 country in the way of revenue, and a greater 
 number of individuals benefited, that a 
 change in the commercial system of India, as 
 at present carried on, can with any justice be 
 urged. It will therefore be well to consider 
 in the first instance, whether those two ad- 
 vantages are likely to be realized by open- 
 ing the Trade, and whether it is worth while 
 to hazard an experiment, in the trial of 
 which, the banks that confine the trade 
 within its present fruitful channel, will be 
 
 irrevocably broken down and destroyed. 
 
 x~ ' . -
 
 With respect to the increase in the Re- 
 veriue. No one will deny that the greater 
 the quantity of goods imported, the greater 
 the duty will be ; but as the duty is not 
 payable till the goods are sold, it will follow 
 of course that till the period of sale arrive, 
 
 the Revenue will not be benefited. 
 
 'jrtf *' f ; iirsti tSnr- f 
 
 r'es^t to 
 
 fhVcase is different, because the greater the 
 export, the greater is the iminedJate bene- 
 fit to the Home Treasury, as all goods pay 
 duly before they are shipped for foreign 
 parts. 
 
 It will not be denied that the exports to 
 India ou^ht to be regulated by the price 
 which European goods sell 'at ifr India. An 
 'oVerflow of European exports "will cause a 
 Depreciation in the value, consequently the 
 exports must be abridged till 'the scarcity of 
 goods in the Indian market brings the price 
 ^fo flic standard at which it'will'yield a profit 
 to the merchant. The sanie reasoning ap- 
 plies to the ImpbrtTrade; for if the Exports 
 either yield litfle'pfofit; o'Kare' attended
 
 'loss, then the private trader must send bul- 
 lion or find credit in India to purchase goods 
 for the European market. In the present state 
 of the country an exportation of bullion 
 'cannot be made, and if the goods are to be 
 bought on credit, the promise of payment 
 can only be made oh the assumption that 
 the 'gobds 'ivill find a sale. 
 
 The produce of India now in this country 
 in Company's goods, and goods of the Pri- 
 vate Trader, amounts in value to no less a 
 sum than Ten Millions sterling; and it is 
 admitted that British Manufactures may be 
 purchased in Calcutta for less than the ori- 
 ginal prime cost in England : * the natural 
 deduction then is, that there is already more 
 India produce in this country than we can 
 get rid of and that our Exports to India, 
 greatly /exceed the demand made for them. 
 
 * This fact is not solely incidental to years of war 
 but to those of peace, for it can be iricontestibly proved 
 that in 1788 and 1789, many articles of British manu- 
 facture sold at Calcutta, for less than one half of the 
 original prime cost inEngland, and this has occasionally 
 happened at different times since that period, when the 
 markets have been glutted with British merchandize. 
 
 V
 
 What then can be expected from an opea 
 Trade ? What advantage can be derived ? 
 The Imports and Exports, may probably be 
 greater, but of \vhat benefit if not saleable ? 
 It must be evident, even to the meanest 
 capacity, that it will be the source of em- 
 barrassment rather than assistance, to the 
 revenue, as the capitals hazarded in such a 
 trade can never be expected to return 
 common interest, and the sinking those 
 capitals in such purchases will be a posi- 
 tive evil to Great Britain, by locking tip 
 funds, which might otherwise be employed 
 for more beneficial purposes. 
 
 It appears clearly by the statement made 
 by a Director in his place, at the discussion 
 at the East India House on the 26th ultimo, 
 that the whole of the Trade or return of 
 India to all the European States, by the 
 medium of America, by Foreigners, and 
 through Great Britain, will be required to 
 make a remittance to England, according 
 to the present state of affairs with that 
 countrv.
 
 11 
 
 By the printed papers, page 56, it ap- 
 pears that the Trade, on an average of Six 
 years, was as follows ; it is probably nearly 
 the same amount at present, viz. 
 
 g? 
 
 Imports from India by the East! , OK1 40t) 
 r j- f^ r Ij351,483 
 
 india Company 
 
 Ditto by Commanders and Offi- 
 
 J P .1 r * ou- 
 
 cers of the Company s Ships . 
 
 Ditto by British Private Traders 946,956 
 
 Ditto by Americans .... 800,547 
 
 Ditto by Foreign Europeans *4# 406,292 
 
 3,828,44,5 
 
 European Disbursement for the^J 
 
 Territory, which must be re- y 850,000 
 turned/ ...... J 
 
 Interest of the Debt, which is at"^ 
 
 the option of the holders to > 1,500,000 
 have Bills for . . . . . J 
 
 Cloathing for the Armies abroad 300,000 
 Exports by the Company .*. ft 500,000 
 By the Captains and Officers . 469,956 
 
 By the Private Traders . * , , 500,072 
 
 
 
 4,120,028 
 
 Sum that may be possibly remit- 1 CAn n/wv 
 ted through China . . . .} 600 ' 000 
 
 tfte.- 3,620,028 

 
 If this statement be correct, even 
 irtg that goods or bullion be sent out iii 
 Addition to India, tlow are the returns 'frorii 
 India to be made ? ^ince'here is the Whole of 
 the Trade from India to Europe and America 
 absorbed for the return that must at present 
 be made. 
 
 Your Lordship appears convinced of the 
 
 necessity of the -China Trade remaining a 
 
 monopoly ; and as India has contributed at 
 
 times in- a degree to the China investment, 
 
 and as the company has made successful 
 
 efforts to widen the circle of their commerce 
 
 from India to China, so -as to diminish the 
 
 quantity "of bullion required in the China 
 
 market ; it cannot surely be considered ex- 
 
 }pediertt to weaken the credit of the Coni^ 
 
 pany by withdrawing from them the Indian 
 
 part of their exclusive privileges. Will it 
 
 ^BOt even upon the supposition (though un- 
 
 /-founded) th3t the Indian Trade has been 
 
 upon the "-whole a losing one 'to the Gom- 
 
 ?pty, A be hazardous to take it from them, 
 
 when'tlie'Connexion of the India and China
 
 13 
 
 Trade has rendered the whole a profitable 
 concern. 
 
 It is too true that sanguine hopes are 
 indulged by many persons as to. the great 
 emoluments which would arise from an open 
 trade to India, But these individuals do not 
 advert to the situation the Company would 
 be in if dispossessed of their exclusive rights, 
 If their Charter should be taken away, the 
 Company would be a body corporate in 
 perpetuity, and entitled to trade upon its 
 joint Stock. The most important seats of 
 Trade in India, viz. Calcutta, Fort St. George, 
 Bombay, besides the island of St. Helena, 
 belong to the Company. These possessions 
 are their patrimonial property, and cannot 
 be taken from them. In addition to these all 
 the Factories ajidC.ommejrcial Establishments, 
 both in India and the Eastern seas, un- 
 questionably belong to them.; these posses- 
 sions were conveyed to them hy the London 
 Company, under parliamentary faith, and a 
 Royal Charter : they, were permitted to 
 build fortifications to protect their facto- 
 ries, and they were to be allowed to carry 
 * -- ^
 
 on a Trade on their joint Stoc^c, though the 
 exclusive privileges should cease. Under 
 these circumstances it may be asked whether 
 individuals, ignorant in every point of view 
 of Asiatic commerce, will hazard a Trade 
 in competition with the East India Com- 
 pany. To use the arguments of the late 
 Lord Melville, " It is easy for the speculator 
 " while he merely considers the extent of 
 " our dominions in India, and that they are 
 " inhabited by fifty millions of our subjects, 
 " to fancy that he will find unbounded sale 
 <c for his goods, but he does not reflect that 
 " the climate is against the wear of most of 
 " our manufactures ; he does not reflect 
 " that the religious prejudices of many of 
 Cf the .casts of the natives forbid their using 
 " them : ke knows not that the dress of the 
 "natives is as fixed and local as their man* 
 " ners: it is easy also for the speculator to 
 " suppose that in such a country as India 
 ".he will find a market for any quantity of 
 " Earthenware,* but he does not reflect on 
 
 * It may not be wandering from the subject tq> 
 remark, that whilst Ministers are receiving daily Peti-
 
 15 
 
 " the bulk of the commodity : he has not 
 <c estimated the amount of the freight of it, 
 *' or if he has, he does not know that the 
 "religious prejudices of many of the Casts 
 " forbid their using \vhat has been fabrica- 
 '* ted by the impure hands of infidel strangers. 
 " It is easy for the speculator to imagine 
 " that if he could find sales for his Cottons 
 "' in India, his riches would keep pace with 
 " his desires : does he hope to rival his 
 " master in an art in which he is only an 
 tf imitator, or can he expect, comparing the 
 " high price of labor in Europe with the 
 " low price of it in India, that he can under- 
 " sell him there ?" 
 
 David Macpherson, Esq. in his History of 
 Commerce with India, in page 362, says: 
 " The Hindoo born and desirous to pass his 
 
 tionsfrom the Manufacturers of Staffordshire, complain- 
 ing of the want of vent for their China, that the Li-- 
 censes granted by the Board of Trade for a partial 
 Trade to the Continent, has been the cause of an im- 
 portation to this country of Continental China in such 
 quantities that its cheapness has been the cause of 
 keeping our Manufactures entirely out of the market.
 
 16 
 
 " lffc.-in the same country where his ances- 
 " tors, through a long succession of ages, 
 ef were born and passed their lives, whose 
 " food is rice, whose drink is water or milk, 
 " to whom wine or strong liquor is an object 
 " of abomination, and who if he strictly acts 
 " up to his religious principles, would soon- 
 " er lay down his life than put any living 
 *' creature to death, or permit a morsel of 
 "animal food to enter his mouth, whose 
 " warm climate renders any clothing beyond 
 " what decency requires intolerable, and 
 " whose light clothing is made by himself 
 "" and his family from the cotton produced in 
 *' his own fields, whose customs and religion, 
 " to which he adheres with the most inflexi- 
 V ble constancy, render utterly inadmissible 
 " many articles of enjoyment and comfort, 
 " which our habits have rendered almost 
 " necessary to our existence, can never have 
 " any desire to acquire, the produce or ma- 
 " n u fact u res of Europe.^ Hence it is ev,i- 
 
 * " The Committee of the House of Commons on 
 i4 the East India Company's A flairs in May, 1809, ex. 
 " amjned several merchants of London o;/u> have resided
 
 IT 
 
 " dent that the exportation of European 
 ** goods of any kind tnust be, and must ever 
 " remain on a scale very contracted com- 
 " pared to the population of the country, 
 " the demand being in a great measure con^ 
 tc fined to the small handful of Europeans, 
 " who are either in the service of the Com- 
 " pany or living under their protection." 
 
 I have seen no arguments advanced which 
 carry conviction with them in favor of an 
 open Trade j and I cannot conceive any 
 regulations can be framed, should the Trade 
 be transferred to the Out-ports, which will 
 secure our possessions in India from being 
 over-run by desperate speculators from all 
 
 u in India, and now act as agents, who give it as their 
 *' general opinion that the exportation of British Goods 
 " to India might be greatly extended. But when they 
 " were pressed by the Committee to be more particular 
 " they acknowledged^ THAT A FULL CONCESSION OF ALL 
 
 tl THE FACILITIES THEY COULD DESIRE WOULD ONLY 
 <J OPERATE TO MAKE BRITISH GOODS CHEAPER IN INDIA, 
 * C WHERE ACCORDING TO THE EVIDENCE OF SOME GEN- 
 U TLEMEN BEFORE THE SAME COMMITTEE THEV ARE 
 " ALREADY TOO PLENTIFUL AND TOO CHEAP, BUT 
 (C COULD NOT INCREASE THE CONSUMPTION AMONG 
 (t THE NATIVES." 
 
 B
 
 parts of the British dominions, indeed frant 
 every part of Europe ; who would purchase 
 goods of any quality, ruin of course the 
 quality of Indian manufactures, and by 
 sending the produce of them indiscrimin- 
 ately to all the European markets, soon put a 
 period to the Trade; for it is out of the 
 power of your Lordship, in the event of 
 an open trade from the Out-ports, to frame 
 regulations, which would oblige every spe- 
 culator to bring to Great Britain his cargo, 
 
 v ri" f ieL~>ct nn f -t '!' < 
 
 when he knows that by proceeding direct 
 to other parts of Europe, his gain will be 
 sufficient, after meeting any penalty which 
 may be inflicted upon him for such devia- 
 tion on his return to this country (should 
 he ever return), unless your Lordship has. 
 been fortunate enough to discover a prin- 
 ciple which is superior in the mind of 
 a speculator to that of self interest. It is 
 an unfortunate truth, that individuals are to 
 be found in every nation ready to aid in 
 schemes of enterprize, in direct opposition 
 to the interests of their country ; and it is 
 the unsuccessful result of such adventures
 
 that induces them to !MfIi^ty of acts, at the 
 bare thought of whj^* v f&e^;Would have 
 shuddered in the fir|tinstaace. >y 
 
 . 
 It is said thaL the,- speculations will 
 
 , .,***'.-*' ', ... 
 
 circumscribed by l the means which the inf 
 
 - ~' '. :- . * 
 
 dividuals concern e&^thereia possess. To 
 
 prove that this- wiJjLjiflif b the case, it is v 
 
 ^ ''j> , r 
 only necessary jpr, me tCt^efer your Lord- 
 
 ship to the grant made by Parliament the 
 4th of April, 1811, (51 Geo. 3, cap. 15) 
 of six millions, to assist the credit of indivi- 
 duals who had speculated ta such an enor- 
 mous extent in the South American trade, 
 the result of which it was to be hoped would 
 have in some degree allayed that spirit ; but 
 unfortunately it appears to have been only 
 smothered for a time, to burst out with 
 greater fury. Would it be credited by those 
 who lived twenty years ago, that an indivi- 
 dual should have had the effrontery to trade 
 to the extent of half a million, upon a capital 
 of twenty thousand pounds ? My Lord, 
 this spirit of speculation, by carrying the 
 exports to such an extent, may be of a tern-
 
 20 
 
 porary assistance to His Majesty's Treasury,, 
 but to any man accustomed to look a little 
 into futurity, it must appear to be a sys- 
 tem pregnant with the most ruinous conse- 
 quences to the individual trader, as well as- 
 to the country at large. 
 
 These extensive speculations, in which 
 individuals have been encouraged to embark 
 under false prospects of gain, have created 
 a degree of luxury which it is impossible to* 
 contemplate without the most serious ap- 
 prehension ; under the imaginary wealth 
 which is calculated upon as realized, the 
 establishments of men are encreased, the 
 shop is given up for the warehouse, the ap- 
 pellation of shopkeeper is despised, and that 
 of merchant is assumed ; carriages and ecjiii- 
 pages follow, till at last it is discovered that 
 the speculation turns out contrary to the 
 cherished expectations ; instead of large for- 
 tune's being realized, great losses are sustain- 
 ed, and the goods which have been sent out 
 on speculation, and paid for by bills form- 
 ing a fictitious capital, are sold (if sold at all)
 
 for half the prime cost, the inevitable con-, 
 sequence of which is, that a succession of 
 
 bankruptcies takes place : not only the 
 
 , 
 
 manufacturer and speculator suffer, but 
 the actual revenue of the country is lessen- 
 ed, for had the individual gone on in the 
 regular course of business, he would have 
 been looked upon as a regular contributor 
 towards defraying the expences of the na=- 
 tion. Such proceedings must give rise to 
 fallacious opinions as to the actual reve- 
 nue of the country, for as long as the 
 spirit of speculation is encouraged, so 
 long will the revenue of this country appa- 
 rently flourish ; but such a system can only 
 be compared to a rapid decline, which we 
 endeavour to persuade ourselves will not 
 end fatally, and we are deceived by the 
 appearances, which grow more favorable the 
 nearer the sufferer approaches to the last 
 moment of his existence. 
 
 It may be said, my Lord, that I have over- 
 drawn the picture of distress attendant on 
 the spirit of Speculation which at present 
 

 
 22 
 
 pervades this country ; but on a reference 
 to the weekly Gazettes, they will be found 
 to bear ample testimony to the truth of the 
 
 coloring. 
 
 " ' i>t - 1 
 
 It is said that the Trade, as now carried 
 on, is to the total exclusion of the British 
 merchant; surely it must have escaped re- 
 collection that, by the Act of 1793, the 
 Company is required to set apart three 
 thousand tons annually, for the use of private 
 persons, which have never been occupied 
 to even half the extent ; and it appears from 
 indisputable authority, that the quantity of 
 tonnage engaged by the East India Company, 
 for the Private Traders of the United King- 
 dom (exclusively of that allowed to be ex- 
 ported in the Privilege of their own captains 
 and officers J amounted, during the last twenty 
 years, to Sixty Thousand Tons, and that 
 during that period, only Twenty-two Thou- 
 sand ^Tons of every species of manufacture 
 (including beer, and seven thousand tons 
 of wine) have been actually engaged and 
 shipped to India : and at this very moment,
 
 ray Lord, when, a want of. tonnage is o- 
 loudly complained of to export British ma- 
 nufacture, Country Ships are under the ne- 
 cessity of returning to India without cargoes/ 
 no individual being inclined to ship goods 
 for which he knows too well there is not any 
 sale in the Indian markets. 
 
 **> r }3!^'i#-- 
 
 ;fi:The leading arguments made use of by 
 the Supporter of an Open Trade, are founded 
 upon the doctrine held by Dr. Adam Smith, 
 whose opinions on the subject of Monopoly, 
 will always, theoretically speaking, carry 
 great weight, but when deduced to practice 
 will lose much of their convincing powers. 
 He continually sets up theory against ex- 
 perience, and possibilities against facts. Mo- 
 nopolies are only bad when they engross 
 a Trade to the prejudice of the community 
 at large, and oblige them to become pur- 
 chasers of indispensable commodities at an 
 exorbitant rate, whereas the Monopoly, if 
 it can be so called, (considering the ge- 
 neral acceptation of the word) enjoyed by 
 the East India Company j enables the inha-
 
 bitants of this kingdom to obtain every 
 article of Indian produce at the very lowest 
 possible rate, and of the best quality. 
 
 While I am as much disposed as any other 
 individual to receive with deference the doc- 
 trines enforced by so able a writer as Adam 
 Smith, I cannot shut my ears to the argu- 
 ments of men who have been held in equal 
 estimation for their talents and knowledge 
 in national policy : I shall therefore quote 
 the opinion of Wattel, referred to by Mr. 
 Macpherson, in his Work, page 342, viz. 
 ee Commerce is the common g^od of the 
 " nation, all the members of which have an 
 te equal right to it. Monopoly is therefore 
 " in general contrary to that right. To this 
 " rule there are nevertheless 0tne exceptions 
 "founded upon the GENERAL INTEREST OF THE 
 tf NATION : and in some cases " a WISE Go- 
 *' vernintnt * may justly establish a Mono- 
 
 * A wise government. His Majesty's present go. 
 Ternment may possibly feel that they cannot lay claim 
 to such a justification for continuing the exclusive pru 
 vilege of the Company.
 
 25 
 
 ** poly. There are some commercial enter- 
 t( prizes which cannot be accomplished with- 
 " out an armed force, and require great 
 " capitals beyond the power of private 
 " individuals. THER-E ARE OTHERS WHICH 
 
 " WOULD SOON RUIN THE UNDERTAKERS, IF THEY 
 " WERE NOT CONDUCTED WITH GREAT PRUDENCE 
 " AND HARMONY OF COUNCILS, TOGETHER WITH 
 te AN UNREMITTING PERSEVERANCE IN ESTABLISH- 
 
 " ED MAXIMS AND RULES. As such branches of 
 " Commerce cannot be carried on by indi- 
 " viduals; Companies a"re formed under the 
 " authority of Government, AND AS SUCH 
 " COMPANIES CANNOT BE SUPPORTED IP OTHERS 
 ff ARE PERMITTED TO INTERFERE IN THEIR TRADE, 
 " IT IS ADVANTAGEOUS TO THE NATION AT LARGE 
 fl THAT CERTAIN PRIVILEGES SHOULD BE CON- 
 " FIRMED TO THEM." 
 
 , 
 
 A noble author* writing on the subject of 
 Political (Economy, observes, that Commerce 
 pushed to the extent to which the spirit of 
 gpeculation would induce individuals to 
 
 * Lord Kaimes. 

 
 26 
 
 carry it, would involve not only themselves 
 but their country in inevitable ruin; it may 
 therefore be urged with great reason, that 
 the Indian Trade being reserved to the East 
 India Company, not only causes a regular 
 and ample supply of Indian produce, but 
 is, the cause of preventing numerous in- 
 dividuals from embarking in a trade, which 
 cannot produce to the nation at large, much 
 less to the persons who seek to have the 
 India and China Trade thrown open, those 
 advantages which are so strenuously held 
 forth, but so delusively conceived. It is no 
 easy matter to convince any set of men of 
 their error, wha fancy their interests and 
 fortunes are concerned in prosecuting a 
 measure, no matter how absurd, when calmly 
 contemplated; it therefore becomes an im- 
 perative duty on those who have the power 
 in their own hands, not to get rid of it be- 
 fore they are convinced it will not be used 
 in a manner detrimental to the state. 
 
 At the meetings of our Manufacturing 
 Towns, it has been Resolved, that the exclu-
 
 27 
 
 sive privileges of the East India Company are 
 a monopoly, and that it is for the interest of 
 the manufacturers that the monopoly should 
 be done away. In the words of the late Lord 
 Melville, I would wish to ask the Projectors 
 of such Resolutions, whether they have ex- 
 amined what the Company has been, or 
 Avhat it now is ? To whom do they owe 
 the Riches which they have acquired from 
 the Cotton Manufactures ? To the East India 
 Company ! To whom do they owe the 
 Riches which they have acquired from the 
 cultivation of Indigo ? To the East India Com- 
 pany ! To whom has Great Britain been in- 
 debted for the great increase of its Shipping? 
 To the East India Company ! If from other 
 sources our industry and navigation have been 
 encreased, the original obligation is not on 
 that account the less, and ought not to be 
 forgotten : some small gratitude is surely 
 due for all these benefits. 
 
 fe The representation of the grievous hard- 
 " ships of excluding the great body of the 
 " nation from the Trade for the benefit of
 
 " the few is very plausible, and likely to caf.ch 
 <( Hit assent of those wlio do not bestow much 
 fc thouglit upon the matter. Let us consider 
 " the effect of an abolition of this hardship. 
 " In die great body of the nation there are 
 "Tbut very few individuals desirous of enter- 
 " ing actively into the Trade ; therefore all 
 fc the rest of the people, being at least 
 " ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and 
 " ninety-nine in one hundred thousand feel 
 " no deprivation of which they do not de- 
 '* sire to have. The truth is, that the abo- 
 " lition of the Company's privileges would 
 * f deprive them of their Rights held under 
 " the sanction of the law; and very much 
 " impair the property of all the proprietors 
 " of India Stock. Neither ought it to be 
 " forgotten that there are at all times some 
 "Proprietors of the Stock of this envied 
 **' monopoly who are willing to dispose of it, 
 fe and that no person of either sex, or of 
 (i whatever condition, age, religion or couu- 
 " try is debarred from purchasing/' 
 
 It is generally admitted that for the first
 
 29 
 
 three or four years, the Indian Trade may 
 be carried on at a loss, but it will ultimately 
 prove beneficial. I may be permitted to 
 ask, whether the Revenue of this Country 
 is in so flourishing a state that Ministers can 
 afford to risque a certain income of between 
 four and five Millions in that time; and what 
 is proposed to be done with the produce of 
 India which shall be brought to this country, 
 the warehouses of which are overstocked to 
 the amount of ten Millions ? and, "dee versa, 
 with respect to the export of British manu- 
 factures to India, which may be bought there 
 
 for prime cost? 
 <[v;*fff y-rsy ha*; rwcl sift 1o noifmcz-sriV^ 
 
 The result of an (>pen Trade will be the 
 accumulation of difficulty and misfortune. 
 
 I now come to the proposition for a 
 transfer of the Trade to the Out-ports. The 
 arguments already urged against opening 
 the Trade even to the port of London, will 
 apply with a redoubled force to this pro- 
 position ; I shall therefore proceed, as I 
 proposed, to point out to your Lordship the
 
 30 
 
 ruin which will result to the rndividitnJs 
 interested in a continuance of the East India 
 Trade to the Port of London, should it be 
 removed to the Out-ports. 
 
 / 
 
 My Lord, this is a part of the subject 
 which calls for more consideration than has 
 hitherto been given to it, as it not only in- 
 volves the livelihood of a numerous body of 
 the poorer classes of the community, but it 
 goes to nothing short of utter ruin to the in- 
 dividuals engaged in the following branches 
 of Trade, as connected with the present 
 system of conducting the Indian commerce, 
 viz. 
 
 To a most numerous body of Merchants 
 and Traders., engaged in the India and China 
 Trade, from the port of London, all of the 
 highest respectability in the commercial 
 world : 
 
 To the several persons concerned, em- 
 ployed, and interested, in the building or 
 equipment of East India Shipping in the 
 port of London : 
 
 To the numerous class of Commanders
 
 31 
 
 and Officers in the Naval service of the East 
 India Company: 
 
 To the Manufacturers of Long Ells, resi- 
 dent in the counties of Cornwall., Devon, 
 Dorset, Somerset and Gloucester, added to 
 which are the Dyers, Setters and Calendrers, 
 Packers, Inspectors of Woollen Goods, Press- 
 ers and Cloth Drawers ; all employed in ihe 
 service of the East India Company. 
 
 The first class of individuals, viz. the 
 Merchants and Traders, has sent three Pe- 
 titions to Parliament, and each of the other 
 classes has also petitioned the Legislature. 
 This is a mode of expostulation to which k 
 cannot be supposed they would have re- 
 sorted, if the injury they anticipated by 
 opening the Trade, were not great, indeed 
 little less than ruinous to them. 
 
 The Common Council of the Citv of Lon- 
 
 1 
 
 don, has also petitioned Parliament, and 
 the Inhabitants of the Town of Gravesend. 
 It may, my Lord, be considered futile, to 
 quote some of the bodies before mentioned,
 
 but it must be allowed,, that even indivicftt* 
 ally, they carry much respectability \vith 
 them,. and collectively, it is impossible to 
 point out so large a number of his Majesty's 
 subjects more deserving of the care of the 
 Legislature, in every point of view, than 
 those herein enumerated ; and that indivi- 
 dual must be a very subtle reasoner indeed, 
 who can adduce arguments sufficiently con- 
 vincing, to prove not only the policy, but 
 what is more worthy of attention, the justice 
 of injuring one part of His Majesty's sub- 
 jects, by depriving them of a trade in which 
 they have embarked their lives and fortunes, 
 and from which this country has in times of 
 distress reaped the most essential benefits, 
 to throw it into the hands of individuals, 
 who at the best are but speculators, indulg- 
 ing themselves in wild theories of fancied 
 and endless riches. 
 
 * , ' ^ 
 
 It is not necessary for me to point out 
 to your Lordship, the great injury that will 
 arise to the Merchants, by transferring the 
 Indian Trade to the Out Ports, as I am sure
 
 33 
 
 your Lordship must have given so important 
 a part of the subject that consideration which 
 it demands. I shall therefore content myself 
 with entreating your Lordship's attention to 
 a few observations in favor of the. other 
 classes,' as the causes of the grievances they 
 will suffer, cannot be so evident to your 
 Lordship. 
 
 The persons concerned in the building 
 and equipment of East India Shipping, are 
 Ship Builders, Shipwrights, Ship Chandlers, 
 Mast Makers, Block and Pump Makers, Boat 
 Builders, Ship Joiners, Ship Plumbers, Ship 
 Painters and Glaziers, Smiths, Copper Smiths, 
 Anchor Smiths, Rope Makers, Sail Makers, 
 Diggers, Lightermen and Watermen. The 
 persons carrying on the trades abovemen- 
 tioned have long been engaged therein, 
 2nd have constructed and built large Docks, 
 Manufactories and Warehouses, Storehouses 
 and other premises, at great expence ; they 
 have invested large Capitals, and have en- 
 gaged numerous workmen*
 
 34 
 
 The Establishments so formed have been 
 encreased and carried to an extent which has 
 tended to characterize the Port of London, in 
 its naval establishment, as the most extensive 
 of any in the known world. The removal 
 of the trade to the Out Ports would conse- 
 quently prove ruinous to the individuals 
 whose capitals have been embarked in the 
 formation of the said establishments. The 
 numerous classes of workmen and artizans 
 employed therein, have become attached 
 by long residence to the places where 
 the said trades have been carried on, and 
 connected by marriage with families settled 
 about those establishments. These poor 
 people would be thrown out of employ- 
 ment, and cast upon the world without the- 
 smallest chance of finding employment at 
 the Out Ports, where it must naturally be 
 supposed are to be found men accustomed 
 to the different branches of equipping and 
 fitting out Shipping, and who are equally 
 attached to the parts where they have long 
 resided, and who would be naturally jealous 
 of having their labours superseded' by nu-
 
 35 
 
 ifce'rotis classes of artizans from the Metro- 
 polis. 
 
 Another Very important point for con- 
 sideration presents itself in the removal of 
 the Trade to the Out Ports ; by such an act, 
 the country will be deprived of a resource 
 in times of immediate danger and emer- 
 gency, inasmuch as the building of India 
 Shipping in the Thames, concentrates in 
 one spot a numerous body of mechanics, 
 who have already rendered the most essential 
 services to the naval power of the country, 
 and who are always capable of affording 
 their united services at a few hours notice, 
 in cases of any great national calamity, an 
 object which even great sacrifices ought to 
 be made to attain ; added to which, the 
 large scale of India Shipping has supplied, 
 at moments most critical to the welfare of 
 the country, great addition to its naval 
 strength, a resource which would be lost if 
 the Trade were thrown open, as the Shipping 
 v?hich would be employed at the Out Ports 
 xvould be of so small a class, as to render 
 2
 
 36 
 
 them wholly unfit to be converted into Ships 
 of War. 
 
 This statement, my Lord, of the injury 
 which will accrue to the India shipping in- 
 terest by a transfer of the trade to the Out 
 Ports, will, I hope, meet with the consider- 
 ation it merits, and I shall quote the speech 
 of My Lord Castlereagh, in the House of 
 Commons, on the Shipping of the Company, 
 in May 1803. " His Lordship could not but 
 " suggest to the consideration of the House, 
 " that the Shipping in the service of the 
 " East India Company was of a nature to be 
 te at any time converted into a great ad- 
 " dition to the National force of the Empire. 
 -" The Ships of 1200 tons might upon any 
 " public exigency ~be armed as Ships of the 
 " Line ; the Ships 0/800 tons might be equally 
 <f employed as Frigates, and those of 500 tons 
 " might be employed as Sloops of War. " 
 With how much more reason may that argu- 
 ment be urged at the present moment, 
 when the war we are involved in with 
 America behoves us to attend as much as we
 
 37 
 
 ^possibly can to the augmentation of our 
 Naval power. 
 
 I shall now, my Lord, draw your attention 
 to the injury that will be suffered by the 
 third class, viz. The commanders and officers 
 of the Ships in the Company's service. 
 
 The Naval Service of the East India Com- 
 pany has been looked upon for a long period 
 of years as a national establishment : the sons 
 of respectable families have entered into 
 that service with a view of supporting them- 
 selves and those depending upon them, and 
 it has been frequently the case, so highly 
 respectable is the naval service of the Com- 
 pany considered, from the qualifications re- 
 quired to enable individuals to fill the situa- 
 tion of officers in it, that time served in it 
 was formerly taken as part of the period re- 
 quired to be served in the Royal Navy, to 
 qualify for a Lieutenancy : the officers con- 
 cerned in the naval service of the Company, 
 have enjoyed advantages which no other 
 persons can possibly have, who trade alto- 
 
 .354630
 
 38 
 
 gether upon their own accounts; they have 
 been always intent upon finding out new 
 articles of Exports and Imports, without suc- 
 cess, and it may be fairly concluded, that no 
 new system can be devised which will give 
 such encouragement to speculation, as one 
 which has appropriated one-twelfth of the 
 whole shipping employed, to such a number 
 of individuals free of the charge for freight, 
 and who are all intent upon making the 
 greatest advantage of the indulgence given 
 to them. 
 
 If, therefore, the Company's exclusive 
 privileges be annihilated, or materially in- 
 trenched upon, the Naval service of the 
 Company must fall to decay, and the utter 
 ruin of the numerous class of persons " who. 
 * c have hitherto been considered as having a 
 
 o 
 
 *' right, unless forfeited by misconduct, to 
 " look up to the Company for constant em- 
 ft ployment, with the reasonable prospect of 
 se making a competent fortune before old 
 " age renders repose desirable and neces- 
 ec sary, and with an assurance in case of
 
 39 
 
 -ft 
 
 <f failure of being protected and supported 
 ft by the Company in a way not unsuitable 
 ff to their rank in life. Must such valuable 
 " men when bending under the weight of 
 <c years if their endeavours to obtain inde- 
 fc pendent competency have been unsuccess- 
 ef fill be turned adrift to starve, or to seek 
 tc such employment as their diminished pow- 
 " ers of exertion may be capable of in situa- 
 " tions inferior in emolument and respecta- 
 " bility to those they have held in the Com- 
 " pany's service; or can the Company sup- 
 " port them when their own funds which 
 " have hitherto so liberally provided ease and 
 " c competency for their superannuated ser- 
 {< vants of every description who have been 
 <f in need of assistance shall be torn from 
 <f them. Will unconnected Private Mer- 
 " chants, attending to their own gain only, 
 " make them any compensation in lieu of 
 " the respectable establishments which they 
 " propose to abolish ? Will they make any 
 * f such provision for those who wear out their 
 " lives in their service ? The same anni- 
 
 I O 
 
 ff ments will apply to the Company's retired
 
 40 
 
 * f Military servants, also to their Civil serv 
 " vants abroad, and those on their Home 
 " Establishment." 
 
 I now come to the case of the Woollen 
 Manufacturers in the counties of Cornwall, 
 Devon, Dorset, Somerset, a.nd Gloucester; 
 the individuals concerned in this important 
 branch of the Company's Export Trade, have 
 also been at the expence of erecting ware- 
 houses, buildings, and machinery, for the, 
 purpose of more effectually carrying on the 
 Woollen manufactories for the Export Trade 
 of the Company. These manufacturers em- 
 ploy upwards of twenty thousand labourers^ 
 and consume the wool of nearly a million of 
 sheep ; they most essentially benefit the 
 agricultural interest of the beforementionetf. 
 counties, at a period when all other chan- 
 nels of trade are shut. An increase in the 
 export of the said articles cannot with any 
 prospect of gain be adopted, as the Eas,t 
 India Company has already completely 
 glutted the foreign markets ; the opening 
 the trade therefore/ my Lord, would be ft*
 
 41 
 
 the Woollen manufacturers of this kingdom, 
 concerned with the East India Company, a 
 most severe and ruinous act ; it would not 
 only be productive of most serious depriva- 
 tion to them, and entire ruin to many thou- 
 sand families, but there is every reason to 
 believe, that the present Export of British 
 manufactures would be lost, not only to the 
 counties already mentioned, but to England.* 
 
 The. Dyers of the East India Company are 
 ebliged to have been a certain length of 
 
 * It may possibly be observed, that if the trade 
 should be thrown open, an equal, if not a greater sup- 
 ply of woollens would be required., by which the ma- 
 nufacturers would experience no loss : that this would 
 not be the case is acknowledged by the manufacturers 
 themselves, in their petition to Parliament. ' It is only 
 by a regular .system requiring a regular annual supply, 
 that the manufacturers are enabled to keep the same 
 number of workmen employed, and ensure the superior 
 manufacture of their goods. With respect to a greater 
 quantity of woollens being required by the open trader, 
 the same argument which has already been made use 
 qf, may be again referred to, viz. " Where is the use 
 pf exporting goods for which there is no market?" an4 
 can it be supposed that the manufacturers would peti- 
 tion against their own interests, if they thought an open 
 "trade would be beneficial to them?
 
 time in the business before they can be ap- 
 pointed to that situation., they are obliged 
 to have their dye-houses and plants furnish- 
 ed and fitted up in a particular manner,, the 
 expence attendant on which is not less than 
 200,000. ; should therefore the trade be 
 thrown open,, the establishments in which so 
 large a sum has been expended will be ren- 
 dered useless, and the consequence will be 
 ruinous to this class of individuals connected 
 with the Company. 
 
 The Setters and Calendrers have also ex- ' 
 pended large sums of money in the necessary 
 establishments, which in case of the dispersion 
 of the East India Company's Trade, would 
 be dismantled, causing great injury not 
 only to the freehold proprietor, but to the 
 individuals in this branch of trade, as there 
 is no other course of life to which they can 
 turn to get a living, and the situation of 
 their workmen would be in the highest de- 
 gree distressing. 
 
 The Packers are a body of tradesmen em-
 
 43 
 
 ployed by the Company, who are obliged 
 to serve a regular apprenticeship to make 
 them competent to be taken into the service 
 of the Company. The removal of the Com- 
 pany's trade would in this particular branch 
 occasion incalculable injury to a very great 
 body of his Majesty's subjects. So great is 
 the confidence reposed in this class of trades- 
 men by the Company, that Woollen manu- 
 factures, to the extent of a million sterling 
 annually, are placed under their final care till 
 ready for shipping. The particular manner 
 in which the goods for packing are delivered 
 out week by week, for nine months in the 
 year, gives regular employment to great 
 numbers of the poorer class, and by the 
 regular payment of the Company, proves a 
 most beneficial thing to a very great body 
 of the community ; a removal of the trade 
 to the Out Ports would impose certain ruin 
 on this class connected with the Company. 
 
 The Inspectors of Woollen Goods to the 
 Company, are sworn Officers, they are men 
 of long tried abilities, and would be
 
 rally thrown out of all means whereby they 
 could gain a livelihood if the Trade should 
 be transferred to the Out Ports. 
 
 The same fatal effects would be felt by 
 the Pressers and Cloth Drawers employed 
 by the Company. By the removal there- 
 fore of the Trade to the Out Ports, the 
 classes herein enumerated would be de- 
 prived of the means by which they can earn 
 their livelihood, their property would be 
 annihilated, and the speculative advantage 
 to one set of individuals would be founded 
 on positive ruin to many others. 
 
 The Buyers of Piece Goods and others 
 interested in the sale of East India Piece 
 Goods will be most materially affected by 
 the Trade being transferred to the Out-ports. 
 I shall make use of their own words, as 
 contained in the Resolutions adopted at a 
 Meeting, held on the 22d April, 1812, to 
 point out the injury that will arise to thern,
 
 w Tlat as Piece Goods are of an uncertain 
 value, and depend very much on competi- 
 tion, it would not be possible to obtain for 
 for them at an Out-port the same prices as 
 in Ldndon ; and, .consequently, that we 
 should be undersold at the Out-ports, unable 
 to carry on our business with the honour, re- 
 spectability, and advantage we have hitherto 
 done, and probably obliged to abandon the 
 pursuit many of us have been engaged in for 
 a great number of years, and driven to seek 
 fresh undertakings, at a time when little be- 
 nefit can be expected from them. And it is 
 the opinion of this, meeting, that it is the 
 decided interest of the importers of Piece 
 Goods themselves, that they should be con- 
 tinued to be brought to sale in the port of 
 London (as the emporium of commerce) in 
 the way that they now are, where they will 
 have the benefit of the Company's own 
 assortment." 
 
 " That in all silk and prohibited goods, and 
 even in white goods, if not brought to the 
 port of London, it is much to be feared, no
 
 , 46 
 
 restraints could prevent smuggling; which 
 would occasion a loss of the whole duty to 
 government, be seriously injurious to the 
 fair trader, and especially to the manufac- 
 turers of silk goods in Spitalfields and else*- 
 where." 
 
 ee That the introduction of Indian piece 
 goods to the consumption of this kingdom 
 at low prices, in consequence of a total 
 evasion of duty, or a payment of duty on 
 reduced prices, would be-a serious injury to 
 the British cotton manufacturers." 
 offt $T1* If,;?! '^ :r* . :/'vr ,">*ii i<S r;. 
 
 " That the same ill effects would occur to 
 the manufacturers of Lancashire and Scot- 
 land) if sales of Indian piece goods were 
 frequently to be made at Liverpool and 
 Glasgow, or in any of the ports in the 
 neighbourhood of the manufactories." 
 
 tc That it is of the greatest advantage to the 
 great body of British cotton manufacturers 
 to confine the import of India piece goods 
 to one port, as it gives them the opportunity
 
 47 
 
 of viewing them., and regulating their ma- 
 nufactories, according to the qnantity and 
 sorts intended for sale; whereas if individuals 
 were allowed to import piece goods, and 
 sell them at an outport, the British manu- 
 facturer would never know what quantity 
 might be brought into the market, or how 
 to regulate his manufactory." 
 
 " That the principal factories in India for 
 muslins, callicoes, and silk goods, being in 
 the hands of our East-India Company, and 
 the greatest attention being paid to maintain 
 the qualities and fabrics of each sort, it is 
 reasonable to conclude, that the same influx 
 of foreigners, who purchase very large quan- 
 tities of the national manufactures, will at- 
 tend the sales at the India House (whenever 
 the politics of Europe will allow them ta 
 come) as used to resort here for a series of 
 years, provided the quantity exposed to sale 
 by the East-India Company is of sufficient 
 importance ta draw their attention." 
 
 * e That the plan now pursued, of having
 
 48 
 
 periodical half yearly sales of piece goodsj 
 and publishing a declaration, every three 
 months previous to the sale., prevents every 
 merchant and manufacturer from beirig sud- 
 denly surprized by an excessive quantity 
 being brought on, and enables the foreign 
 buyer to make his arrangements to attend 
 the sale, or to send his orders." 
 
 Another establishment of great magnitude 
 and importance to the City of London, asJ 
 well as to the individual concerned, \vill be 
 rendered useless by a transfer of the Indian 
 Trade to the Out-ports, and it is only neces- 
 sary for me to refer to the Act of the Legis- 
 lature to impress upon your Lordship's mind 
 the necessity of giving this part of the sub- 
 ject due consideration, before you proceed 
 to recommend measures which must involve 
 the dearest interests of the several persons 
 connected therewith* 
 
 By the Act of 43 Geo. III. cap. 120, An 
 Act for the further improvement of the Port of 
 London, by making Docks and other Works at
 
 49 
 
 Blackball, for the accommodation of the East 
 India Shipping in the said Port, it is enacted 
 that, Whereas the Ships in the employ of the 
 East India Company are of larger size than 
 other Vessels employed by Merchants in Trade, 
 and many of them nearly equal in hulk to the 
 Ships of the Line in the Royal Navy ; And 
 'whereas the Cargoes and Merchandize on hoard 
 
 Of SUCh Ships ARE OF GRiiAT VALUE AMD NATION- 
 AL IMPORTANCE ; and uchereof by the present sys- 
 tem of loading and discharging the Cargoes of 
 such Ships, the Navigation of the River Thames 
 is frequently impeded, and delays, losses and in- 
 conveniencies experienced, and the Cargoes of 
 such Ships are subject to plunder, and the East 
 India Company and , Owners thereof injured 
 and THE PUBLIC REVENBJ DEFRAUDED TO A CON- 
 SIDERABLE AMOUNT; And -whereas if GOOD AND 
 SUFFICIENT WET DOCKS and Basons, with neces- 
 sary accommodations and requisites for the 
 reception of East India Ships were made at or 
 near Blackball, in the County of Middlesex, 
 the evils and mischiefs aforesaid might be 
 greatly remedied and prevented, 8$c, &;c. The 
 Act then goes on to recite u,nder what terras, 
 D
 
 &'c. the said Docks should be built, and the 
 money raised for the purpose. 
 
 In Sect. 12 of the said Act, provision is 
 made for the half-yearly payment of the in- 
 terest OB the money borrowed ; and in Sect. 
 13, the application of the money so borrow- 
 ed, is directed, first, in paying the Charges 
 incurred in the passing the said Act ; next, in 
 paying and discharging the consideration of 
 purchase money and other easts, and after- 
 wards ill PAYING SUCH YEARLY OE OTHER SUMS 
 
 OF MONEY AS THEREIN DIRECTED-, FOR COMPEN- 
 SATION FOIl LOSSES AND DEFICIENCY OF TYTIIES, 
 TAXES, SEWER RATES AND OTHER RATES ANI* 
 
 
 
 ASSESSMENTS, c. &c. 
 
 In Sec. 91 it is stated, that in consideration 
 of the great charges and expences in making 
 the said Docks, the rates mentioned in the 
 said Act should be paid by ships loading or 
 Unloading. 
 
 In Sect. 110 it is enacted, that none* of the 
 restriction for Ships loading or unloading in.
 
 51 
 
 East India Company's Dock, shall con" 
 tinue In force for more tlian twenty-one ytars, 
 commencing from the date of the first rats 
 being taken. 
 
 It appears then, my Lord, that Parliament 
 permitted the construction of the said Docks 
 from a conviction that it would be an iwi- 
 provement to the City of London, that it would 
 be the cause of greater security to the Revenue 
 in securing the Cargoes of Ships EQUAL IN 
 SIZE TO LINE OF BATTLE SHIPS AND OF GREAT; 
 NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 
 
 If the Trade is removed to the Out-ports, 
 this improvement will be rendered useless 
 and become a burthen, unless empty ware- 
 houses and dry docks can be considered an. 
 improvement. The security arising there- 
 from to the Revenue is given up, and the Car" 
 goes of Ships, equal in size to Line of Rattle 
 Ships and of great National importance, are 
 consequently of no importance. By the 
 construction of the Docks the Revenue will 
 be deteriorated, for had the buildings still 
 P 2
 
 52 
 
 which were pulled down to make 
 way for the Docks proposed to be now ren- 
 dered useless, the inhabitants individually 
 would still have contributed their quota to- 
 wards the exigencies of the state, which 
 must be now considered a positive loss, as 
 well as the additional loss which will be 
 occasioned by the non-payment of the in- 
 terest to the individual subscribers ; also the 
 non-payment of tythes, assessments, &c. &c. 
 
 Secondly. That Parliament permitted in- 
 dividuals to raise large sums of money for 
 the purpose of constructing their Docks. 
 These sums were raised upon the faith of a 
 continuance of the East India Trade to the 
 Port of London, the ships engaged in which 
 Trade were, by the said Act, obliged to enter 
 the Docks, and from the rates paid by the 
 owners of such ships, the individuals were 
 to be paid the interest of the sums advanced 
 by them, and ultimately the principal. If 
 the Docks be rendered useless by a transfer 
 of the trade, how are the individuals to bs
 
 't : - f ? f\fi 
 
 Thirdly. So much importance was attach- 
 ed to the early completion of the said Docks, 
 that in Sect. 91 it is expressly directed they 
 should be constructed as soon as possible, 
 and that even statements of their progress 
 should be laid before Parliament yearly, and 
 
 Fourthly. It is enacted that none of the 
 Resolutions of Ships unloading or landing in 
 the East India Docks shall continue in force 
 Jor more than twenty-one years from the date 
 the first rate shall be taken : surely this 
 provision implies, that at all events indi- 
 viduals concerned had a right to look for a 
 continuance of theTrade, which would oblige 
 the entering of ships into the East India 
 Dock for the twenty-one years, and upon the 
 faith of such a continuance they became 
 subscribers towards erecting the said Docks. 
 
 I shall now refer to an establishment which 
 will be abolished if the Trade is thrown 
 open. I should not have noticed it had it 
 not been a subject which has engaged Par- 
 liamentary attention.
 
 54 
 
 By the 37th Geo. III. cap. 74, the Com- 
 pany were enabled to raise and pay the ex- 
 pences of two Regiments of Infantry, to b% 
 embodied for the defence and protection of 
 the House and Warehouses of the Company, 
 and for such public services as are mentioned 
 in the said Act. 
 
 By the 13d Geo. III. cap. 48, the same- - 
 Corps was again permitted to be raised, and 
 His Majesty was pleased to accept of the 
 services of the said Brigade of Royal East 
 India Volunteers, and the consent of Parlia- 
 ment was obtained to authorize the charge; 
 of the same amongst the ordinary outgoings, 
 charges and expences of the Company. This 
 Corps, whose establishment was ratified by 
 Acts of the Legislature, is to be at once 
 abolished, consisting of Two Thousand men. 
 
 Lord CASTLEREAGH, in bringing the matter 
 before Parliament in 1803, stated, " That 
 ee an Act of Parliament had expired relating 
 " to the appropri it-ng of certain parts of 
 " the profits of the East India Company to
 
 * . ,< ** , : 
 
 <e the support of the Volunteer Corps of th 
 ff East India House. His Lordship enlarged 
 on the utility of the Corps, which he 
 <f termed trust-worthy, as being composed 
 " of the different servants of the East India 
 " Company ; the superior officers being per- 
 ff sons who filled the higher departments ; 
 " the inferior officers of another class of re- 
 " spectable, persons ; and the privates of the 
 " warehousemen, and persons in the lower 
 <e situations. Provision had been made by a 
 ec former Act for two Battalions, which he 
 et wished to increase to three Battalions. 
 " The propriety of the force being thus raised 
 " and provided for, must be manifest to the 
 *' House ; they were to be composed entirely 
 " of men known and employed at the East 
 " India House, and none could te, more 
 et -worthy of being trusted with the care, and 
 <f preservation of the peace of the Metropolis 
 " upon an emergency. He therefore moved 
 " that the House should resolve itself into 
 " a Committee of the whole House on the 
 " zuJrject."
 
 The Company's military stores have sup- 
 plied Government with arms and appoint- 
 ments at a time when a delay in obtaining 
 
 such stores might have been of great detri- 
 * 
 ment to the state. 
 
 Here, my Lord, is a statement of the ruin 
 which will befall so numerous a body of 
 His Majesty's subjects, and the Establishments 
 that will be broken up. Is it then too much 
 to ask for a Statement of the Reasons or 
 Arguments which induced your Lordship to 
 make this sacrifice ? For those arguments 
 your Lordship has referred the Chairman and 
 Deputy-Chairman of the East India Com- 
 pany, to the Petitions from those Out-ports 
 to which it is proposed to remove the East 
 India Trade, I shall avail myself of such per- 
 mission, remarking at the same time, that 
 in your Lordship's Letter to the Chairs of the 
 4th ultimo, you explicitly state, " that you 
 have no difficulty in acquainting them, that the 
 Claims of Mirch'ints connected with the Out- 
 ports, have not been brought before Government 
 by WRITTEN DOCUMENTS." And in the follow- 
 ing paragraph your Lordship says, " You
 
 57 
 
 may obtain from the Records?' viz. Tht 
 WRITTEN Petitions to Parliament, that further 
 information (viz. the representations which 
 have induced His Majesty's Ministers to ac- 
 quiesce in the Transfer of the Trade) which 
 you appear desirous to possess." Pleading 
 my incapacity to reconcile these two para- 
 graphs, I shall proceed to consider these 
 convincing Petitions, confining myself of 
 course to those from the Out-ports, which 
 the Commissioners of the Excise, in their 
 Report referred to in the Debate in the East 
 India House, on the 22d ultimo, consider as 
 the only Ports, which can, with any degree 
 of safety to the Revenue, or the Country, 
 be thrown open to the India Trade ; For, 
 say the Commissioners of Excise, the other 
 Out-ports appear to us for VARIOUS REASONS 
 
 INSUFFICIENT, 
 
 The Ports stated by the Commissioners 
 are HULL 
 
 BRISTOL 
 LIVERPOOL 
 PLYMOUTH 
 DOVER, and 
 PORTSMOUTH.
 
 I shall commence with Bristol, the Mer- 
 chants of which city claim as their birth-right, 
 liberty to trade 'With Kingdoms gained by 
 His Majesty's arms. That the Company's 
 trade has decreased, whilst Foreigners have 
 competed successfully with the Company ', and 
 that such Trade has been obstinately denied 
 to the Subjects of the United Kingdom. That 
 the promise of pecuniary 'participation held 
 out in 1793, has not been realized, but that 
 the Company has made repeated claims on 
 the Public. That the Petitioners rely on 
 Parliament disregarding any argument that 
 may be advanced in favour of the Company, 
 as their existence will be the ruin of the Naval 
 greatness of Great Britain, and the downfall 
 of its Independence; and upon tJiese grounds 
 they pray that the Trade may be opened. 
 
 With respect to the birth-right of the 
 Petitioners to trade with Territories gained 
 by His Majesty's Army, in opposition to 
 Enactments of the Legislature, it is not for 
 me to decide, but it must not be forgotten 
 that the Company's Troops have been the
 
 59 
 
 principal actors in the acquisition -of our 
 Jndian territories. Does it appear that Fo- 
 reigners have competed successfully with the 
 Company, when the Trade on an average 
 of six years stood as follows : viz. 
 Annual Average of Exports into 
 
 India , ,2,717802 
 
 D D D by Americans and 
 
 Foreign Europeans ; . . 1,389,227 
 
 Leaving a Balance in favour of 
 
 England of -y;-,^V l -v>'#:-. 1,328,575 
 
 Annual Average of Imports from 
 
 India to England .... 2,621,605 
 JD D D to America and 
 
 Foreign Europe *V . . ". 1,206,839 
 
 Leaving a Balance in favour of 
 
 England of 1,414,767 
 
 It therefore appears that this Trade so 
 successfully competed by Foreigners, leaves 
 an Annual Balance in favour of England of 
 nearly Three Millions sterling, and that at a 
 time when those Foreigners were able to fit 
 out Vessels for an Indian Voyage at half the
 
 expense of a Vessel fitted out from Great 
 Britain.* How does it appear that the Indian 
 Trade has been obstinately denied to the people 
 &f this country, \vhen in the last twenty years 
 the Tonnage allotted for the use of indivi- 
 duals, exclusively of that allowed to be ex- 
 ported by the Company's Officers in their 
 own Privilege,, amounted to Sixty Thousand 
 Tons; and that during that perictd only 
 Twenty-two Thousand Tons of every species 
 of Manufacture have been actually engaged 
 and Shipped to India, two-thirds of which 
 Tonnage was occupied by wine, beer, and 
 spirits; and it must not be forgotten that 
 in 1S02 the Court of Directors agreed to 
 extend the Tonnage for Private Traders to 
 Six Thousand Tons, instead of Three Thou- 
 sand Tons annually, or even to allow them 
 as much as they might require, and it ap- 
 pears from indisputable authority, that in 
 the Twenty years abovementioned, very few 
 of the Manufactures of this Country were 
 exported, no application having been made 
 
 * See Printed Papers, pages 229 & 230,
 
 61 
 
 by the Manufacturers themselves or their 
 agents, for any part of the Tonnage so al- 
 lotted. 
 
 - 
 
 The promise of pecuniary participation held 
 out in 1793, was conditional, viz. If Peace 
 continued in India. With respect to the 
 claims made on the Public for pecuniary 
 assistance, the Advances from, the State oa 
 that account do not amount to the Djsburse- 
 ments made by the Company, on account of 
 the several Expeditions fitted out at their 
 expence in India, on account of the Public 
 Service; and upon what ground of equity 
 could the country withhold from the East 
 India Company, that relief which they so 
 lavishly granted to support the credit, of 
 individual merchants, the 4th of April, 1811. 
 The Petitioners trust that the House of 
 Commons witt disregard any arguments, no 
 matter how convincing, that may be urged 
 in favour of the Company ; (I conclude this 
 
 is the Petition which contains those argu- 
 
 f 
 ments which have had such weight with 
 
 your Lordship and His Majesty's Ministers ),
 
 The Petitioners further state that our Naval 
 greatness will be sacrificed by a continuance 
 of the Trade to the East India Company; 
 how does this agree with my Lord Castle- 
 reagh's speech in 1803, wherein his Lordship 
 states, that the Company's Ships of 1200 
 Tons are fit for Ships of the Line; their 
 Ships of 800 Tons, for Frigates ; and their 
 Ships of 500 Tons for Sloops of War. It is 
 not improbable that the arguments made 
 use of by the Petitioners, may convince, 
 your Lordship that 400 Ton Ships, of which 
 burthen those Ships from the Out-ports are 
 to consist, are equally well adapted for Ships 
 of the Line and Frigates. 
 
 The MERCHANT VENTURERS OF BRISTOL come 
 next, they assert their general right to an open 
 Trade, they it ate that the same will tend to 
 enlarge the means of diffusing articles of 
 British Manufacture throughout India and 
 the Islands and vast dominions of China and 
 willJead to the disco-very of new Channels and 
 unexplored Regions of Commerce, That the 
 freedom of trading to India granted to tfo
 
 63 
 
 United States has enabled them to supply the 
 West India Islands to the injury of British 
 Subjects. Here in truth, is an enlarged 
 view of the subject, boundless Regions which 
 are to yield countless Riches. There is to 
 be a voyage of discovery conducted by men 
 who possess not the smallest knowledge of the 
 language, manners or wants of the natives, 
 or of the commerce of India. It is said that 
 the Americans from the privilege granted to 
 them of trading to India have been enabled 
 t^- supply our West India Colonies to the 
 injury of the British Merchant. Here, my 
 Lord, the cloven foot shews itself. The 
 Open Traders must have the privilege of 
 going direct to the West Indies from India, 
 without coming to Great Britain., for if they 
 come to England first, how can they compete 
 with the Americans ? our Revenue cannot 
 but flourish under such an extension ! 
 
 The BRISTOL DOCK COMPANY have also 
 petitioned; they represent that they have con- 
 structed Docks at great Ex-pence, anticipating 
 6n increase of Trade, and that those, expectations
 
 64 
 
 liave been disappointed, owing principally to 
 the unexampled state of affairs ON THE CON- 
 TINENT OF EUROPE, AND therefore pray that the 
 Indian Trade may be thrown open. The 
 claims of the Dock Companies of London 
 for the protection of the Legislature are 
 surely as strong as those of the Bristol Dock 
 Company, nay stronger, for the East India 
 Dock Company constructed their Docks 
 specifically for India Shipping : the Bristol 
 Dock Company in consequence of an in- 
 crease in their Trade : these Petitioners, 
 unlike the rest of their Brethren, candidly 
 admit that which must be evident to the 
 unbiassed mind of every individual, that the 
 unexampled state of affairs on the Continent 
 of Europe is the sole cause of the stagnation 
 of Trade. 
 
 The Commissioners of Excise it appears 
 state in their Report already alluded to, that 
 the paasage up the Bristol Channel furnishes 
 great opportunities for landing poods clan- 
 destinely, especially far the last twenty miles, 
 and in consequence of the late alterations f the
 
 Shipping lies afloat in the midst of that City, 
 without any other security than the locking of 
 the Hatchways and other Communications with 
 the Cargo, 
 
 The MEfcCEtANTS OF KlXGSTON-tfPON-HuLL 
 
 I shall next allude to ; their Petition con- 
 tains arguments no doubt equally as con- 
 vincing to your Lordship as the Petition 
 from Bristol, being nearly similar in point 
 of doctrine, excepting that the Town of 
 Hull is situated on a great estuary, the Humber 
 communicating &?/ inland Navigation with ike 
 principal Manufacturing districts, and there- 
 fore affording greater opportunities for 
 smuggling. 
 
 The DOCK COMPANY at KINGSTON -UPON- 
 HULL have also petitioned, their claims cannot 
 be considered better founded than those of 
 the Bristol Dock Company. 
 V X-.)ftu$t i , ' -^ vVitoiVnm-ur 
 
 The Commissioners of Excise state in their 
 Report, that the run to Hull from the Channel 
 may perhaps he reckoned equivalent to the 
 
 E
 
 66 
 
 Navigation up the River Thames, and no Ships 
 from the East Indies should he permitted to 
 pass round the north of Scotland. There is 
 great danger of smuggling within the Humler. 
 
 The PETITION FROM PLYMOUTH is entirely 
 barren of argument, and they rest their hopes 
 upon the general assertion that the whole of 
 His Majesty's subjects have a right to par- 
 ticipate in the India Trade, and therefpre 
 pray that the same may be opened. 
 
 The PORTS or DOVER and PORTSMOUTH come 
 next. It does not appear that those places 
 have petitioned Parliament. Their gratitude 
 to the Commissioners of the Excise for in- 
 cluding them in so beneficial an extension 
 ought to be sincere. 
 
 The Commissioners state, that the Ships 
 enter into Pit/mouth, Portsmouth, and Dover, 
 immediately from the Sea, and the passage is 
 shorter than to London, hut the security is 
 also by Locks only and Tidesmen.
 
 6t 
 
 The PETITION FROM THE LIVERPOOL MER- 
 CHANTS, contains as little argument as that 
 from Plymouth. The Petition from the COR- 
 PORATION OP LIVERPOOL states, that an ample 
 field is now open for the investment of that 
 capital which has hitherto been employed in 
 other channels of Trade ; and that whilst they 
 lament the distressing suspension of Commerce 
 at this juncture, they cannot hut believe that 
 the (era is now arrived when relief may be 
 granted. These, my Lord, are the arguments 
 of the Corporation. 
 
 The LIVERPOOL DOCK COMPANY state, that 
 by the enterprize of its inhabitants, it has 
 raised itself from the situation of an humble 
 fishing town to the distinguished rank and 
 importance of the second port in the kingdom; 
 that being licard by the Merchants at large two 
 years ago, when the Trade was in great pros- 
 per iti/, they obtained leave to construct larger 
 Docks for general purposes. 
 
 The Liverpool Dock Company admit that 
 their town has been raised from the situation 
 2
 
 68 
 
 of a fishing town to the distinguished rank 
 of the second port in the kingdom ; this has 
 been effected entirely "without the Indian Trade; 
 surely some check ought to be given to 
 their ambition. I confess I am at a loss to 
 understand upon what grounds that policy 
 is founded which has for its object the de- 
 struction of the Capital of a kingdom to be- 
 nefit its Out-ports ; it is like drawing the 
 blood from the heart to support the ex- 
 tremities. 
 
 The Commissioners of Excise are said to 
 state in their Report, that the entrance into 
 Liverpool from the West is not of great length* 
 and for the most part is open; BUT NOTHING 
 
 CAN BE BETTER CALCULATED FOR SMUGGLING, 
 NOTWITHSTANDING THE CARE OF TlDESMEN ON 
 SHIP BOARD AND THE VIGILANCE OF A NIGHTLY 
 
 WATCH, THAN THE DOCKS AT THIS PORT OPEN 
 
 ON ALL SIDES AND SURROUNDED BY SHIPS, WARE- 
 HOUSES., PUBLIC HOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS. 
 
 Here then, my Lord, is a statement of the 
 Petitions from the only ports to which your
 
 69 
 
 Revenue Commissioners consider it safe t0 
 extend the open Trade; here is also a state- 
 ment of the principal arguments made use 
 of in those Petitions, with the few obser- 
 vations I have been induced to make there- 
 on ; and the opinion of the Commissioners 
 of Excise as to the facilities which these ports 
 afford for smuggling. 
 
 It must naturally be supposed that His 
 Majesty's Ministers will be guided by the 
 opinions of those Commissioners who are 
 especially appointed by His Majesty's Go- 
 vernment to guard the revenue from any 
 deterioration. The opinions of the Commis- 
 sioners of Excise, already quoted,, are in 
 direct opposition to an extension of the 
 East India Trade to the Out Ports : and I 
 have been given to understand that the 
 Commissioners of the. Customs, in their 
 Report to the Lords of the Treasury, express 
 their cfpinions in the most decided terms 
 against such extension, as the same would 
 be pregnant with danger to the Revenue, 
 
 ~ '
 
 70 
 
 and with ruin to the individuals who might 
 \ ' 
 
 be induced to embark in an extended Trade. 
 
 I have now, my Lord, arrived at that part 
 of the India question, which must, in every 
 point of view, be considered the most im- 
 portant. I have been led to consider the 
 Commercial concerns of the Company, as 
 connected with this country in the abstract; 
 but, my Lord, I shall now look at the ques- 
 tion in the light in which it must be viewed 
 when brought before Parliament, viz. that 
 of a great Political Question, involving the 
 interests and happiness of thousands in this, 
 country, as connected with its commerce, but 
 affecting the whole Population of Great 
 Britain, as connected with the preservation 
 of our Constitution : and when considered 
 as relating to India, involving the happiness, 
 indeed the very existence^ of Fifty Millions, 
 of our fellow creatures ! I confess the magni- 
 tude of the subject alarms me ;* because I see 
 it possible that an ill-judged policy may be 
 
 it: yd 
 
 * The Sum total necessary to carry on the concern of the* 
 Company, it 51, 182,1 27. Vide Printed Papers, No. 1. p. 59.
 
 71 
 
 the cause of demolishing a magnificent struc- 
 ture which has existed for upwards of two 
 centuries, supported by an honorable Body, 
 who have at all times waived personal con- 
 siderations for the benefit of their country. 
 
 You, my Lord, in conjunction with His 
 Majesty's Ministers, inform the Court of 
 Directors, that you are willing to bring be- 
 fore Parliament a proposition for the renew- 
 al of the Company's Charter, provided the 
 Company will give up their exclusive privi- 
 leges of Trade ; or in other words, permit 
 the Trade to and from India to be opened. 
 The Court agrees that the Trade shall be 
 opened, but that the same should be con- 
 fined to the Port of London. This stipula- 
 tion the Court has supported by arguments 
 most conclusive. 
 
 These arguments appear, in your Lord- 
 ship's opinion, to have been successfully 
 rebutted by those more cogent ones urged 
 by the Petitioners from the Out-ports, * and 
 
 * See pages 52 a 62.
 
 72 
 
 upon these arguments your Lordship relies 
 for the support of Parliament, in depriving 
 the East India Company of a privilege which 
 they refuse to surrender in the unconditional 
 manner demanded of them ; because they 
 consider that by so doing, they shall place 
 themselves in that situation \vhich \vill render 
 it utterly impossible for them to fulfil the 
 duties Commercial and Political, devolving 
 upon them, in a manner satisfactory to 
 themselves and beneficial to the country. 
 
 The conduct of the Court of Directors in 
 the negociation, as far as an individual is 
 capable of judging from the papers before 
 the public, must be considered highly honor- 
 able. It is such as must retort upon those 
 persons who hope to support the cause of the 
 Petitioners, by imputing to the Directors 
 interested motives for the line of conduct 
 they have pursued (viz. the preservation of 
 their patronage), the calumnious and un- 
 founded assertion. 
 
 jf*r vf 
 The Court of Directors frankly declares.
 
 75 
 
 the well-grounded fears it entertains, that 
 the affairs of India cannot be conducted with 
 benefit to this country, if an open trade 
 from the Out-ports be permitted; as the 
 same must lead to an unfettered intercourse 
 with India, and not all the regulations which 
 may be devised will prevent colonization, 
 and the alienation of British India from this 
 country will close the fatal project. 
 
 To strengthen the well grounded fears 
 which are entertained respecting Coloniza- 
 tion, I shall refer to the arguments of the 
 favorite author of the Open traders, Adam 
 Smith, already alluded to in this Letter : in 
 following up his opinions on the baneful 
 effects of Monopolies, he says, " That the 
 " spirit of exclusive companies is unfavour- 
 " able to the growth oT new colonies, and 
 *' has probably been the cause of the little 
 <e progress which has been made in coloniza- 
 *' tion in India." Is there any man, my 
 Lord, when adverting to America, can say 
 that Colonization is not to be dreaded ? This 
 doctrine practically followed, has lost you
 
 America ! This doctrine rejected by the 
 Directors of the East India Company, has 
 preserved India to Great Britain ! 
 
 It is on this broad principle that the Court 
 of Directors and the Company stand forward, 
 for the preservation of their exclusive pri- 
 vileges, which can alone enable them to 
 avert such disastrous consequences. Dees 
 this conduct bear the mark of interested mo- 
 tives, my Lord ? The Court of Directors 
 by acquiescing in the proposition of His 
 Majesty's Ministers, would secure to them- 
 selves the patronage so much talked of, but 
 the Court will not accept it in exchange for 
 the interests of their Constituents and their 
 Country. 
 
 The country is told that it is ridiculous to 
 fancy that the Constitution of England can be 
 affected by any change which may be made 
 in the political or commercial situation of 
 the East India Company. My Lord, the 
 Constitution will be affected; into whose 
 hands will the Government of India, and the
 
 75 
 
 Patronage appertaining thereto devolve, if 
 the Company be deprived of it ? Why, into 
 the hands of the Minister of the day ; and 
 that patronage, when engrossed by an indi- 
 vidual, would fortify the Minister who could 
 persuade the Parliament of this country to 
 accede to such a measure, with a phalanx 
 which will place him in a situation to bid 
 defiance to his Prince and to the People of 
 England. 
 
 ;'S-,T*-.$xirn. ;H/y .'-; , ; :* r *ir v ,-* *->-= 
 
 The occurrences of 1783 bear ample proof 
 that the country then felt that the Con- 
 stitution would have been endangered had 
 the Minister succeeded in getting possession 
 of the Government of India and the Patro- 
 nage attached thereto. Is there less danger 
 to be apprehended from such an attempt at 
 the present moment ? 
 
 nrj 
 
 Mr. PITT, on the 14th January, 1784, in 
 proposing his Bill to Parliament, said, " That 
 " in the Sill which he proposed 1,0 move for, 
 " he had governed himself by the ideas of the 
 *' Proprietors of India Stock, and ty THE
 
 76 
 
 " SENSE OF THOSE MEN WHO WERE MOST HABITU- 
 ef ATED TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE SUBJECT." 
 
 On the 6th July, 1784, Mr. PITT said, 
 " Government and Commerce were the two 
 ft great objects to be looked to. THE COMMERCE 
 " OF THE COMPANY BELONGED EXCLUSIVELY TO 
 te THEM. THE COMMERCE THEREFORE TO AND 
 <e FROM INDIA, HE MEANT TO LEAVE WHERE IT 
 "OUGHT TO BE LEFT IN THE HANDS OF THE 
 " COMPANY. It had, he remarked, been held, 
 " that Commercial Companies could not go- 
 te vern Empires ; but that was a matter of 
 " speculation which general experience pro- 
 " ved to be not true in practice, however 
 " universally admitted in theory. THE EAST 
 
 v 
 
 (e INDIA COMPANY HAD CONDUCTED ITS COM- 
 " MERGE AND GOVERNED VAST EMPIRES FOR MANY 
 " YEARS, AND IT WAS TO BE REMEMBERED THAT 
 " THE EAST INDIA COMPANY WAS NO NEW ES- 
 (e TABLISHMENT, IT RESTED ON CHARTERS AND 
 (e ACTS OF PARLIAMENT ; THOSE CHARTERS OUGHT 
 
 ff UNDOUBTEDLY TO BE REGARDED, AND AS FAR AS 
 <s POSSIBLE THE RIGHTS EXERCISED AND ENJOYED 
 <c UNDER THEM, OUGHT TO BE HELD SACRED."
 
 77 
 
 Mr. PITT, on the llth March, 1793, ex- 
 pressed himself in the following words :- 
 " I have no hesitation in saying, that when all 
 ft the circumstances are fully before the 
 " House, I am confident that a Renewal of the 
 te Company's Charter will appear to be much 
 " for the interest of the country. It has been 
 " said that since the publication of the speech 
 " of my right honourable friend (Mr. Dun- 
 " das) every body believes that the Charter 
 tc will be renewed : and I am glad to hear 
 fe that such is the case, because it can only 
 " arise from a public conviction, that the 
 " renewal of the Charter, upon the terms 
 " and upon the regulations on which the 
 " East-India Company have agreed to accept 
 ff it, will be much for the interest of this 
 " country in every point of view." 
 
 Mr. PITT, on the 24th May, 1793, pro- 
 ceeded to examine the observations made 
 by Mr. Fox upon the Commercial and poli- 
 tical arrangements in the bill. He (Mr. F.) 
 had had recourse to the common place topic, 
 that a free trade was preferable to a monopoly,
 
 78 
 
 insisting that the House ought not to forget 
 this principle, unless very good reasons 
 should be given for adopting a contrary one. 
 This speculation, Mr. Pitt said, had been 
 repeated a thousand times by much less inge- 
 nious men than the right hon. member, and 
 scarcely could have been expected to have 
 been resorted to, as the force of it hud been 
 done away by his right hon. friend (Mr. 
 Dundas) when he first opened the subject> 
 bottoming his argument, not on vague spe~ 
 culation but on inferences drawn from history 
 and from authenticated accounts. Here Mr. 
 Pitt asked whether the claims of the manu- 
 facturers had not been listened to and provided 
 for, and whether the exclusive privilege of the 
 Company had not been rendered subservient to 
 the resources of the Empire ? 
 
 LORD GRENVILLE in the House of Lords ott 
 the 3d June, 1793, said that if it were ne- 
 cessary for him to enter at large into any 
 general detail on the subject of our pos- 
 sessions in India, or any speculative discussion 
 with respect to the mode in which India
 
 ought to be governed, and in which the 
 trade of that country ought to be carried 
 on, it would open a very wide and extensive 
 field indeed; but, in the present case, it did 
 not appear to him that this was in any shape 
 necessary, because he felt that the ground 
 he had to. go on was very much narrowed, 
 by having a just and well-founded experience 
 as a guide ; a guide which was at all times 
 perhaps the best, but more particularly so 
 under such circumstances as existed at pre- 
 sent. Nine years experience had proved tlic 
 benefit of the present system and there appeared 
 therefore no just reason why it should be 
 altered. The present bill of course assumed 
 for its principle the continuance of that 
 system; but as ideas had been entertained 
 by some, that in the hands of the East-India 
 Company, the trade to India was confined 
 within narrower limits than would be the 
 case were it open to be engaged in by the 
 whole capital and the whole spirit of enter- 
 prise of this country ; provisions were now, 
 for the first time, introduced into the present 
 bill, which would give an opportunity for
 
 trying the experiment, by allowing mer- 
 chants and traders to adventure on their own 
 bottom under certain NECESSARY regulations* 
 
 SIR PHILIP FRANCIS, in April, 1793, said 
 in the House of Commons : " With respect 
 tc to the Renewal of the Company's exclu^ 
 te sive Charter to trade to India ; I have al^ 
 
 rt ready said, that I do not object to it >.. 
 
 te I very much question the possibility of in-" 
 " creasing our exports to India to any material 
 " amount, I mean with a rational security of 
 "finding a profitable vent for them. Except 
 " military stores, ammunition, and other im- 
 " plements of war, with which it is not your 
 f{ true policy to furnish the Indian princes., 
 " the manufactures of England can hardly be 
 " said to be saleable in India beyond the 
 te trifling amount necessary for the consump- 
 er tion of Europeans" 
 
 LORD MELVILLE, in the House of Commons, 
 in April, 1793, stated, as his full conviction, 
 after mature consideration, that if the Indian 
 Patronage should be vested and concentrated
 
 81 
 
 immediately in the Crown, the weight of it 
 'would be too great in the balance of our Go- 
 vernment, and might prove dangerous to the 
 Constitution. * 
 
 LORD MELVILLE, in his Letter to the Chair- 
 man of the East India Company, dated the 
 2d of April, 1800, says " That the ostensible 
 '*' form ofGovernment with all its consequent 
 * c extent and detail of patronage, must remain 
 " as it is, I am persuaded will never be called 
 " in question by any but those who may be 
 er disposed to sacrifice the freedom and security 
 " of our Constitution to their own personal 
 ** aggrandizement and ill-directed ambition* 
 fr I remain equally satisfied as to the pro- 
 " priety of continuing a monopoly of the 
 <f trade in the hands of the East India Com- 
 " pany. Those who maintain the reverse, 
 ff appear to me, to be misted by general theory, 
 " without attending to the peculiar circum- 
 ff stances of the trade they are speaking of. 
 
 * In this opinion Mr. Pitt perfectly agreed. 
 See Debate 24th May, 1793.
 
 '*" The great interest to-be attended to on 
 " the part of the Company, is, that no goods 
 " come from India that are not deposited in 
 " the Company's Warehouses* ami that the 
 " goods so imported arc disposed of at the 
 " Company's Sales, agreeably to the rules 
 " prescribed for that purpose." 
 
 - 
 Lord MELVILLE, in his Letter to 
 
 dated the 21st March, 1801, says, 
 
 " THE PRESERVATION OF THE MONOPOLY OF THE 
 
 ". EAST INDIA COMPANY LS ESSENTIALLY REQUI- 
 
 . " SITE FOR THE SECURITY OF EVERY IMPORTANT 
 
 H^HHlf * 
 
 " INTEREST CONNECTED WITH OUR INDIAN EM- 
 
 " PIUB I AND SO DEEPLY AM I IMPRESSED WITH 
 ec THE TRUTH OF THis PROPOSITION, THAT I AM 
 
 <c 
 
 PREPARED EXPLICITLY TO- DECLARE, THAT AL- 
 " THOUGH* THE- FIRST- FORMATION OF AN EAST 
 <( INDIA COMPANY PROCEEDED FROM PURELY 
 <f COMMERCIAL CONSIDERATIONS, THE MAGNITUDE 
 tc AND IMPORTANCE TO WHICH THE EAST INDIA 
 " COMPANY HAS PROGRESSIVELY ADVANCED, , is. 
 
 te NOW SO INTERWOVEN WITH THE POLITICAL 
 
 / 
 
 " INTERESTS OF THE EMPIRE, AS TO CREATE UPON 
 
 <c MY MIND A FIRM CONVICTION that the main-
 
 83 
 
 <c tenance of the monopoly of the East India 
 " Company, is even more important to the po- 
 " litical Interests of the State, than it is to the 
 
 " commercial interests of 1he Company." 
 
 ' 
 
 
 ,, T /n, tl , , ', > 
 
 My Lora Castlereagh s opinion in the de- 
 bate on the Indian Budget, 18th July, 180C, 
 
 k 
 was as follows: ce It seemed, however., unjust 
 
 ic to describe the Company's commerce as car- 
 " ried on at a loss. To what precise "extent it 
 tc might he profitable, after providing a liberal 
 (< dividend to the proprietors, might be a matter 
 " of more difficult calculation, and must, like 
 " all commercial results, he in its nature fiuc- 
 " tuating ; hut, in reasoning upon this branch 
 " of the Company's affairs, the worthy Alder- 
 " man, (Mr. Prinsep) must estahlish several 
 
 . r 
 
 <c preliminary facts 9 before he can expect to 
 tf persuade Parliament that the commercial 
 " existence of the Company is to be considered 
 f< merely on grounds of mercantile profit. He 
 f( must he prepared to shew that individuals 
 
 ^ would be as likely to carry on steadily the 
 
 
 '^commerce of India, under all thefiuct nations 
 
 "'to which such a trade is liable, where the 
 F2
 
 84 
 
 " outgoings are great, and the returns distant, 
 " as a great trading Corporation. He must, 
 " be prepared to dispel the apprehensions which 
 " must be entertained with respect to the inju- 
 " rious influence on the prosperity of India, 
 " which may be the consequence of &n unsteady 
 tf and unequal demand for their produce, be- 
 "fore he can expect to satisfy Parliament that 
 " an intercourse, perfectly unrestrained, is prc- 
 " ferabU to that qualified intercourse, partly 
 "free and partly restricted, which now pre~ 
 *' vails. If he assumes, that individuals by 
 " using an inferior description of tonnage, 
 te could carry on the trade at less expense, and 
 " consequently at greater profit, he must be 
 " prepared to shew, that this is not merely by 
 '* throwing the difference of the expense on the 
 <e public^ % rendering numerous and expensive. 
 *' convoys requisite to protect their feeble ves- 
 " sels in time of war, whilst the Company'* 
 " ships, isith a comparatively slight aid from 
 < our navy* are competent to protect eacfa 
 " other ^ and to set the enemy's sJiips of war, 
 " even when in considerable force f at defiance. 
 
 *' He must be prepared to shew, that such o 
 * *
 
 tr establishment as that of the Company, could 
 " be kept up without the protection of a quali- 
 " jied monopoly ; or that such a system is in 
 " itself unnecessary to the political existence 
 " of the Company, and the management of 
 " large territorial revenues, when both in peace 
 " and in war funds must be transferred through 
 " the medium of commerce from India to 
 
 " Europe, and from Europe to India. He 
 
 
 
 " must also shew, before he can establish that 
 " the interest of the manufacturer at home is 
 " interested in such a change, that individual 
 " speculators would be disposed to send out 
 tc British manufactures, eren at some loss, as 
 " the Company have frequently done, or that 
 " there is any other limit to the amount of this 
 " description of Export, on the part of the 
 " Company, than the utmost quantity the 
 " Indian market can take off, which they 
 " have not hitherto been able, with their most 
 " strenuous efforts and some sacrifices, to 
 " carry beyond ^2,000,000 a year. These, 
 " and many other important doubts must be 
 " solved, before any satisfactory or sound con- 
 
 " elusion can be come to, on the great practical 
 
 ^ "' ' ' ' " " '. J>
 
 86 
 
 , 
 " question (Private Trade}, to -which the wor- 
 
 " thy Alderman, somewhat out of time, had 
 " been solicitous to point the attention of the 
 ." Committee." 
 
 The authorities here mentioned, my Lord, 
 go directly to state that the Trade and Go- 
 vernment of India are interwoven, and ought 
 not to be separated : and the Select Com* 
 inittee of the House of Commons on Indian 
 
 Affairs, in Julv, 1812, reports as follows, viz. 
 
 * 
 
 ' \ : iS'." 
 
 The Committee, after declaring that they 
 felt it a part of their duty to offer some ac- 
 count of the nature and history of the ex- 
 tensive establishments for the internal ad- 
 ministration of India, " trust that such an 
 ." account will be acceptable to the House, 
 " not only as shewing the importance and 
 te utility of the establishments themselves, 
 " to the welfare and order of the country, 
 "but. as evincing the unremitting anxiety 
 " that has influenced the efforts of those to 
 " whom the government of our Indian pas- 
 " sessions has been consigned, to establish a
 
 87 
 
 " system of administration lest calculated to 
 " promote the confidence, and conciliate the 
 (t feelings of the native inhabitants, not less by 
 <e a respect for their own institutions, than by 
 " the endeavour gradually to engraft upon 
 t( them such improvements, as might shield, 
 fc under the safeguard of equal laws, every 
 " class of the people from the oppressions of 
 ff power, and communicate to them that sense 
 " of protection and assurance of justice, which 
 te is the efficient spring of all public prosperity 
 <c and happiness." 
 
 Is it possible for opinions to be expressed 
 more decidedly, and in language less am- 
 biguous than those here quoted ? They are 
 such opinions, my Lord, as I trust will bear 
 the Company out in the firm stand which 
 they are obliged to make in defence of their 
 liberties and interest, as well as those of 
 their country. 
 
 My Lord, you have a duty to perform of 
 no common nature; you have to stem tlie 
 torrent of popular clamor, which increases
 
 in proportion as its exorbitant demands are 
 opposed ; you have a duty to perform to 
 your country, which is paramount to any 
 other consideration. It is utterly impossible, 
 my Lord, that any man deliberating calmly 
 on the subject can form an erroneous opi- 
 nion : it is not a temporary relief to His 
 Majesty's Treasury that can justify an acqui- 
 esence in an ill-founded demand : common 
 reason forbids us to renounce a positive 
 benefit in favour of a theoretical advan- 
 tage ; so must a sense of duty command 
 your Lordship, not to leave the interest of 
 those who have a claim equally well-founded 
 to the protection of the Legislature, and on 
 whom the employment and subsistence of 
 thousands, and the existence of millions de- 
 pend, to the uncertain issue of SPECULATION 
 
 ..iT!!. 
 
 and EXPERIMENT. 
 
 The very existence of the Company at the 
 present moment, after struggling through 
 two centuries of difficulty and embarrass- 
 ment must excite wonder; and when we 
 contemplate the revolutions in India, which
 
 89 , 
 
 have obliged the Company to act as a War- 
 like as well as a Commercial Body, and 
 which revolutions have thrown into their 
 hands such a large portion of territory, as 
 places them at least on a level in respect of 
 the number and opulence of the people liv- 
 ' ing under their government, with the greatest 
 Sovereigns of Asia, we cannot refrain from 
 expressing our admiration of the councils 
 and abilities which have directed the Com- 
 pany through such struggles ; and we must 
 feel disposed to rest with perfect security 
 the continuance of such powers in that body 
 which has already exercised them with so 
 much benefit to Great Britain, and to the 
 natives of India who are freed from the 
 calamities of war, by the government of 
 the Company, and exempt from the extor- 
 tions and perpetual convulsions which they 
 suffered under their former Mahomedan 
 governments. 
 
 The character of the Natives of India re- 
 quires the most delicate attention, and no fea- 
 G
 
 turc in that character is so strongly marked 
 as their attachment to their established 
 opinions. It has been truly observed by 
 a venerable Governor of India, that (t the 
 touch of chance, or the breath of opinion, 
 might dissolve the British power in India." 
 
 In the event of the annihilation of the 
 Company's power, that respect which the 
 Natives at present entertain towards the 
 Company would be lost. It could not be 
 explained to them, nor could they com- 
 prehend how a conqueror could experience 
 the vicissitude of being reduced to nothing, 
 by a mandate from a foreign land ; they 
 would conceive the power which had sent 
 such a mandate equally fleeting and dis- 
 solving in its character. 
 
 If I were at a loss for an apology in thus 
 addressing your Lordship, I know no Noble- 
 man to whom I could appeal with so great 
 a hope of forgiveness, for the liberty I have 
 taken, more particularly when I assure your
 
 91 
 
 Lordship that I have been actuated solely 
 by the view of benefiting my Country. 
 
 FABIUS. 
 
 LONDON, 
 27th February, 1813. 
 
 Printed by William Phillift, George-yard^ Lembara-ttrett t Ltr.ttn.

 
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