Short State of the Present Situation of the India Company both in India and in Europe UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES SHORT STATE O F T H E PRESENT SITUATION O F T H E INDIA COMPANY, BOTH IN INDIA AND IN EUROPE; WITH An Examination into the probable Profpe&s of extricating it from its prefent Difficulties. LONDON: Printed for J. DE BRETT, oppnfue BurJington-Houfe, in Piccadilly. 1784. '-> I I A_ T -i \ SHORT STATE^ 1 ^ O F T H E PRESENT SITUATION O F T H E "INDIA COMPANY. UJ V) 3 THE affairs of the Eaft-India Com- pany, which have fo long cngrofTed pthe attention of the Public, but the real ftate of which has been known to fo few, - are at length laid open ; and every individual a who gives himfelf a little trouble, may, in a few days, be as completely matter of the flate of their finances, as if he had been for years in the Direction. A The novelty of the fubjecl:, the difficulty of obtaining fatis factory information, and the various and contradictory accounts of the fituation of the Company, both at home B and 354736 L * ] and abroad, which common induflry could not reconcile, have hitherto left India, in a manner, an unknown country to the hulk of Englimmen. But the ill-judged boldnefs of the Court of Directors, in giving the public a ftate of the finances of the Company, and the active induftry of the Committee of the Houfe of Commons, in detecting their errors, and in comparing their accounts with the facts upon which they were faid to be founded, has completely laid open, in the mod authen- tic manner, the real flate and condition of this Company. The golden dream is va- nilhed, and the quettion is not now, what advantage is England to derive from India, but what is England to give to fupport India ? Or, what means are we tocontrive,in order to prevent the tottering fyflem of In- dian Credit from falling to pieces, and per- haps involving the Public Credit of this Country in its ruins ? From a comparifon of the different re- ports laid before the Public, we are to learn the t 3 ] the real ftate of the credit and finances of the Company, and to determine upon the degree of aififtance requifite for its fupport ; and after all our inveftigations, it may, in the minds of many, remain a doubt whether any fupport will fave it from ruin.. The Committee of the Houfe of Com- mons, has confined itfelf to the making obfervations on the affairs of the Company, and has rather furnifhed materials for making up a /late of its finances, than given any fudi ftate themfelves. But it will be eafy to follow them through their obferva- tions, and to apply them Specifically to the different accounts made up by the Com- pany. In order to evince the lituation of the Company, the Directors have laid before the Public three different accounts, which, if well founded, (hew their difficulties to be temporary, and point out the means of conquering them. The firfl of thefe is an edirmte of their B 2 receipts [ 4 ] receipts and payments from January, 1784, to March, 1790 ; and by apportioning the great load of bills, new running upon them through different years, they ftate the means of paying them, provided they arc allowed to poftpone fome of thefe bills for different periods, paying intereft to the bill-holders. This Account,which is nothing more than a Cam Account, would prove (if well- founded) that the Company can go on till the year 1790, pay the bills which they knew of at the date of the report, and fuch future bills as are fuppofed to be neceffary for the carrying on their trade, a balance of cam would remain in their hands, in March, 1790, of between two and three hundred thoufand pounds. But if, by any alteration of circumftances, the payments necefTary to be made by the Company fhould increafe, or the expected receipts diminiih, it is evident that the Company cannot go on, let the flock of goods in their Warehoufes be great or fmall, without fome further affiftance than what is propofed. How far this is likely [ 5 ] likely to be the cafe, a very mort view of the obfervations of the Committee will point out. The fecond Account contains a plan of trade and commerce to be carried on through the fucceeding years their Charter has to run, which is fo modified as to fhevv that their future commerce, with the ftock of goods now on hand, will furnifh them with the means of procuring cam, in order to make good their payments at the different periods when they become due. If this account is fallacious, and if their trade and commerce cannot be carried on, nor their ftock of goods on hand be difpofed of in the mode here pointed out, the whole fyftem muft fall to the round. For if their trade does not furniih them with the means of finding cam to make good their necefTary payments, the Company maft flop. The third Account produced, is an efti- mate of the probable furplus of revenue in India, after deducting all the charges of a peace establishment, which furplus may in future 16] future be applied, firft to the difcharge of their debts in India, and afterwards, either to the providing of investment, or to any other national purpofe. It is upon the accuracy and fidelity of all thefe different accounts, that the Public is to judge of the real fituation of the Com- pany, and how far the relief propofed will anfwer the purpofes intended by it. To give partial and temporary relief, is only encreafing the evil, and doubling the cala- mity when it comes, at the fame time that it leads the Public to overlook the real dangers that hang over it, and to take no means whatfoever to avert their calamitous effects. It is, therefore, with the view that the Public may truly know the fituation of the Company, and be able to decide juftly be- tween the Committee and the Directors, that I am led to flate the real fituation of the Finances of the Company -, and, furety, it is an object highly national, that every man t 7 ] man may be enabled to determine upon a queftion of fo great magnitude and im- portance, both to the Public and to the individual. From a variety of caufes, bills to an im- menfe amount, far exceeding the fums allowed to be drawn for from India, by Act of Parliament, have been accumulated upon the Company, while quantities of goods, the produce of the money borrowed on thefe bills, are either arrived or are ex- petted in England. The oftenfible plea of the fervants abroad for this conduct is, that the war had brought fo great a number of fhips to India, that the allowing them to return empty to Europe, or the detaining them till the cargoes were provided in the regular courfe of inveftment, would bring a ruinous charge of freight and demurrage on the Company ; to obviate which, they were induced to borrow money on bills upon England, and with the money thus borrow- ed to provide cargoes for the fhips then in India. r ] It is not material at prefent to examine into the wifdom of a tranfaction, which has for its bafis, the carrying on a * lofmg trade with borrowed money, fubjet to an intereft of eight per cent, from the time the money was advanced or fubfcribed, till the bills were drawn, and fubjecl to an in- tereft; of five per cent, for the time they are propofed to be poftponed. It is furti- cient to remark, that the uniform hardship complained of by the fervants of the Com- pany, has been the difficulty of procuring the remittance of private fortunes to Eu- rope, and that this plan, invented by them- ielves, afforded an ample and an eafy mode of remittance to them, while it has been the caufe of that immenfe accumulation of bills, which now forms one of the embarrafs- ments * Lofs on the Bengal inveftmer.t, Appendix to the Ninth Report of the Seleft Committee, 1776 24'47 f 1777 148,021 1778 249,932 1/79 9M5 From this fhort ftate, the ruinous confequences of carrying on the Bengal tra4e with borrowed money is fuiScientiy apparent. [ 9 1 merits of the Company. It may be true, that goods either now are arrived, or are foon expected to arrive in England, pur- chafed with the money thus borrowed, but if the trade is by no means a gaining one, and if the market for Indian goods is li- mited, the diftrefs of the Company muft be great, as the bills muft be paid before the goods from the produce of which they ought to be paid, can be difpofed of. To remedy this evil, the Directors propofe firft to poftpone paying to the Public the fum of 924,862!. now due for duties. Secondly, To poftpone the bills to fuch periods as their receipts will enable them to difcharge them. Thirdly, To detain from the Public the fum of ioo,oocl. flill remaining due, for the laft renewal of the Charter. And, Fourthly, So to conduct their future ex- ports and imports, as to enable them to difpofe of the accumulated load of goods foon expected in England. But if this complicated fcheme of com- merce and finance is erroneous in any ma- terial article, the fabric muft tumble to the C ground. ground, and the embarrafsments of the Company be encreafed inftead of being di- minimed. How far this is likely to be the cafe, the following obfervations will point out: The cam eftimate, or the eftimate of receipts and payments offered by the Com- pany in their firft Report, proceeds upon the idea of poftponing a lum amounting, with intereft, to . J>395>i 53 in bills, to a period of three years after they would regularly fall due, and by fuiting their future pay- ments to their receipts, to difcharge a cer- tain portion of them annually. They cal- culate that all thefe bills will be difcharged before March, 1790, and every other de- mand upon them fatisfied, and that balance of cam of . 20 1,000 will remain in their treafury,, and a quantity of goods, equal in value to ..2,800,000 will remain in their warehoufes at the time their charter expires. This is, no doubt, a very flattering view of the condition of the Company, but an infpc&ion of the report of the Committee, with. with the papers in the Appendix, will fatisfy any mind lefs fanguine than that of an India Director, of the fallacy of this eftimate, without having recourfe to any of thofe various contingencies which derange the befl modelled fcheme, and which ne- cclTarily muft arife in a fyftem fo great and fo complicated as that of the Eaft-India Company. Accidents of whatever nature, and de- viations from their plan, from whatever caufe, are here laid afide, as totally foreign to the calculation j (how far thefe are likely to happen, may hereafter appear.) At prc- fent, I mail only take notice of the arith- metical errors of the plan, and ftate againft this fuppofed balance, fuch fums as have either been wholly omitted in the payments, or have been over-ftated in the fuppofed receipts. The firft Report of the Directors had fcarcely appeared, when they difcovered that they had committed an error, by omitting to ftate the fum of ^.33,713 which C 2 became became due to the Public for cufloms, and for which they had not provided in their eftirnate; about the faine time, they dilco- vered that certain damaged goods had been fold for the fum of .26, 561 lefs than they had been eftimated at, and which, therefore, were to be deducted from their receipts Thefe two fums are very properly taken notice of by the Directors, in the Second Report, and they furni(h a ftron^; inftance of the fallibility of this fpecies of etlimate, where no allowance is made for contin- gencies and unforcleen events. While the Public are obliged to borrow money at a heavy int^reft, and to load the individuals of this country with heavy taxes, it appears extremely reafonable, that the money they lend to the Eaft-India Com- pany (hould be charged with an intereft, in order to indemnify the Public from that which they are obliged to pay. The Com- pany is indebted to the Public in the fum J of .924,802, which being port poned for the term required by the iituation of the Company, would accumulate a fum of V '.172,240 [ '3 ] .172,240 for intereft, and which either muft be made a prefent of by the Public to the Company, or muft form a charge on the cam eftimate. There is another fum of . ioo,oco, which, with fix years intereft, would form the fum of .130,000, and is now due to the Public by the C cmpany, for the renewal of their charter, and which either muft form a charge againft them, or muft be given up by the Public. The Eaft-India Company have hitherto not been in the practice of infuring their {hips and cargoes; but fince they do not pay infurance, they muft bear the lofs when it arifes, and that lofs, whenever it happens, as it diminishes the quantity of their goods, alib diminiiBes the ftock from which the moft considerable part of their receipts muft ariie. There is no way by which this chance of lofs can be fo fairly calculated, as by taking the price which is had for the infurance to India, by the Individuals who do infure. It is true, by not infuring, or, in [ H ] in other words, by being their own infurer, the Company fave that part of the premium which forms the profit of the infurer ; but whoever will calculate the chance of con- tinued peace for fix years, and all the variety of accidents which may happen, will find that the common market price of infurance is the bed medium he can take, in com- puting the lofs and rifk of the Company. As this him would be paid by the Company, if they infured, and is the beft meafure of their lofs, if they do not infure, it muil operate as an alteration of their account of receipts and payments, and form another deduction from the balance above-mentioned, cf the fum of .385,000. But the material articles of the receipts of the Company, are the extent of its fales ; and of its payments, the price of its exports. The accuracy of thefc form an eilential feature in the eftimate propofed; in them, therefore, it is necefTary to be more exacl:. The Directors ftate their fales to amount, from an average of ten years, to the fum of ^.3,300,000 per annum. It is remarkable, that t 'S ] that no period of the biftory of the Company would afford this average, but the cne the Directors have chofenj and it is well known, * that the immenfe inveftments fent to Europe in the years 1769, 1770, 1771, and 1772, were fold by the Company at an immehfe lofs ; the fpcculations of feme of thofe in the management of the Company at home, required immenfe fales, in order to furniih a ground for high dividends. Thefe fpecu- lations ended in almoft the bankruptcy of the Company, and with fuch fpeculations the large fales were at an end. Fairnefs,. therefore, would lead us toftrike thefe years out of the period, and we (hall find the , average amount of the fales of the Company* for the fix years, ending in 1778, not to- exceed .3,190,000. But if we take a pe- riod, including two years before that taken- by the Directors, and two years after it, we fhali find that the average was confiderably lower, fcarcely amounting to .3,150,000. But if we take the period from i 765 to 1780, and ftrike out the years of the large fales, which flowed only from a principle fo de- iirudtive, that no man could wifh to fee it renewed. t 16 ] renewed, we mall find the average amount of the Company's Tales does not exceed the fum of .3,027,000. In which ever point of view, therefore, it is taken, the average of the Directors is fallacious ; and in fo far as it exceeds, the real average muft form a deduction from the receipts of the Company. The faireft average amidft thefe feems to be v 3* 1 ^ooo> which, if juft, will in fix years form a deduction from the receipts of ^/ the Company of .900,000. It may be true, as has been afferted by the Directors, that the quality of their goods is improved ; but if we coniider that the eyes of every nation in Europe are turned to the trade of Bengal j that the competition in the market of India is in created greatly \ and that the inveftments of the foreign Com- panies are furnifhed by thofe very fcrvants, whofedury it is to provide inveftment for our own Company, for the fole purpofe of remit- ting home their own private fortunes, we mall not fee much reafon to believe, that the goods fold by the foreign Companies will be inferior in quality to thofe imported into /^ England, t 17 ] England; and we have abfolute certainty that their cargoes are better afforted, fince, not many months ago, the Directors made V a formal charge againft the Board of Trade in Bengal, complaining of the fingular cir- cumftance that the mips of foreign Com- panies were laden with every article which fold at a profit in Europe, while thofe of our own Company were filled with fuch goods only as fold at a lofs *. ^ The payments to be made by the Com- pany on account of goods exported, amount to the fum of .370,000^ ann. according to the Directors eflimate, and to .587,000 D according * There is alfo another circumftance, which, no doubt, mufl tend eonfiderably to check and lefien the iales of the India Company. It is but oflate years that the manufacture of fine cotton goods has been introdiuea into this country; from the various improvements and machines invented for tne fpinr.ing of cotron, cotton-thiead can now be had in rhis country cf a finenefs fuited to any manufacture. The ingenuity of our weavers has not failed to make ufe of this circamilance, and atprefent cotton-muflins are manufactured J in Britain at a price, and of a quality to rival thofe brought from Bengal. The manufaclyre is in an improving and flourilhing trade; and the more it flourifhes, the more it mull IdFen the fales of the Company. [ 13 ] according to the average of their exports for the twenty years hft paft. It affords but a melancholy profpedt to thofe who value the export trade of this country, to confider that the India Company cannot be refcued from their prefent erabarraffment, imlefs the ex- ports of England, are diminifhed in the annual fum to above two hundred thoufand pounds; but it may be jufdy doubted, whether, as the moil confiderable part of the exports of the Company confift in military Aores, cloathing for the troops, and other necefTaries for the ufe of the fettlements abroad, it is poffible to make any fuch re- dudlion in the exports as is fuppofed by the Directors. The Chairman of the Company, indeed, itated in the Houfe of Commons, that the difference between the twoefUmates arofe from bullion being included in the one, and not in the other; and that it is now not intended to export any more of that article in future. If this were true, it would not be very eafy to conceive how a trade in which greit exportation s of bullion were neceflary, could { >9 ] could be carried on without, fuch annual fupply, and it would be ftill more difficult to imagine, how Bengal could poffibly fubfift for many years longer, while its fpecie is continually exporttd, and none im- ported from any quarter of the globe. But the fad; is not true, for the Select Cpm- mittee, in their Appendix to the Ninth Report, have furnifhed us with an account of the bullion exported for many years paft, by the Eaft-lndia Company, which by no means agrees with the ftatement given by Mr. Smith, from 1758 to 1770 inclufive. The average export of bullion to all the Settlements of India, amounted to the fern of .14.6,894, and from 1771 to 1780 inclufive, it amounted to no more than the fum of .42,650. The Dealing to export bullion will, therefore, in a very fmall degree diminim the exports of the Company, and as ihat is the or.ly mode ftated by the Chairman in which they can be reduced, it is fair to conclude, that the exports mud remain in future what they have been for many years pait. The exports for many years pafl amount at an average 10^.587,000 D 2 per [ * J per ann. therefore, the payments to be made on this account, will exceed that dated by the Directors in the annual fum of .2 17,000 amounting in fix years to the irnmenfe fum of .1,302,000. The Directors ; n their eftimate take credit for the receipt of an annual fum or .40,000 as the amount of the profit gained by the Company on the goods imported in private trade, and this fum is not eftimated at an average of paft years, but on a proipecl: of future ones, the indulgences to be given to the Captains are to be encrcaied : but it may be very doubtful, how far tj?is encreafc of private trade, will not form a competi- tion againft the Company itfeif at its own fales, while fo far from checking fmug- gling, it will encourage it, and the large quantity allowed to be imported by the fervants of the Company, will only form a cover for a larger quantity to be fmuggled. As this regulation, therefore, is doubtful in its event, the moft accurate way of con- fidering the profits upon private trade is by an average of the paft, by which we (hall find find that it amounts to no more than .25,000, leaving a deduction from the re- ceipts of tht Company, of the fum of .15,000 per ann. amounting in fix years to the fum of .90,000. Such then are the decreafes in receipts and the encreafes of payments to which the Company has to look, and which, if put together, form a wonderful alteration in the balance of cam, which would remain to the Company in March 1790. The Direftors firfl Report Payments omitted in the Di- Itates the balance to be reftors itate. ,(,. 201, 302 Cuftoms not itated in the firft Re- PO -53v'3 Insurance 3*5,000 To Government for inter eft on duties 172,240 To Government now due with intereft 130,000 To the providing goods for export 1,300,000 Receipts over ftated. Sales in 6 years 900,000 Private ditto 90,000 Damaged goods 26,561 3.037.5 '4 If If the diminution of the cafh receipts of the Company, and the encreafe of their cafh payments, forms, a fum of above three mil- lion beyond what is fbted in the Directors firft Report, how is it pofljble to conceive, that the Company can go on, and anfwer the necelTary demands that are upon them, by means of a propofed relief, which has for its ultimate object the retaining for feme years a fum of public money without interett ? The idea of postponing the pay- ment of Bills to periods after they fall due, will only afford the means of relief to the Company, in fo far as it enables ihem to fuit their payments to their receipts, and muft be entirely inefficacious, fmce, with the ppftpone meats propofed, the receipts and payments cannot be brought in any degree to coincide. But even admitting that this cam efti- mate were accurate, yet unlefs the propo- fition be true, which is affumed in it, " That " no more Bills than thofe provided for will " be drawn/' the whole muft fall to the ground. The eftimate proceeds entirely upon [ 23 ] upon this fuppofmon, which is fo far from being founded in fact, that Bills beyond what were known of by the Company, at the time they framed their firft Report, to the amount of .1,275,184, hav either been actually drawn, or notice of their be*- ing to be drawn, has been received by the Company. It may be true, that goods equal in value to the amount of thefe Bills may be provided in India, and even may arrive in the wareboufes in England, (how far this is likely to be the cafe will be after- wards confidered) but as the fales of the Company cannot be encreafcd, fo as to fur- nifh ca(h for the difcharge of thofe Bills when they become due, the Company muft itop for want of cafh to make their ne- ceflary payments, and be under the neceflity of applying again to Parliament, for a fur- ther pecuniary relief. With regard to near one half of this fum, accounts of which were received before the Directors made their fecond Report, it is to be obferved, that they there ftate, that it will not make any alteration upon their cah tftimate, as by an alteration which has taken [ 24 ] taken place in the duties and drawbacks upon muflins, the Company will fave the fum of . 118,000 per annum-, and the public by the new modification of the du- ties, will receive equal to the amount it now does. If this proportion is true, no doubt the Company will fo far be gainers, but it may be remarked, that the experiment has been tried for a few months onl . , and upon fo fliort a trial, the calculation is made for fix years to come. But with regard to the other half of this fum, the notice of which has been re- ceived fince the publication of the fecond Re- port, either the bills mutt be paid, in which cafe an alteration equal to their amount muft be made in the cafh eftimate of the Company j fo they mult be poftponed to a period beyond the year 1790; a period fo diftant, that no bill-holder in his fenfes would agree to it. Or they mud: be fent back to Bengal, and thus form an addi- tion to the bond debt there. Or, they may be confidered as a part of the bills, which were allotted to be drawn from In- dia* [ 5 1 dia, for the future carrying on of the trade and commerce between that country and .this. If they were taken to be a part of this fum, it may be true, that they will form no alteration in the cafh eftimate of the Company, but the conferences will be {till more ruinous. The propofed future plan for the trade of the Company, is to be reduced to a very low fcale indeed, if thefe bills are to be taken as part of thofe allotted for future commerce. The future inveftment from Bengal will be reduced almoft to nothing, and the ma- nufacturer in that country muft be inevitably ruined. He has been longaccuftomed to a demand for his goods, equal to the inveftment pro- vided by the Company. But if fuch quan- tities of goods are now accumulated from the fums collected for the bills drawn, or to be drawn, as to make it neceffary to ftop, in a great meafure, or perhaps totally, any Bengal inveftment forfome years, either the manufacturer muft peri(b, and the trade be E ruined, [ 26 1 ruined, or the demand from the Engli(h Company ceafing, he muft get rid of his goods at the beft price he can get from Fo- reigners, and as the market will be over- ftocked with goods, from withdrawing the Britim demand, the Foreigners will pur* chafe cheap, and of courfe be able to under- fell the Company, in every market in Eu- rope. V Thus, in which ever view this eflimate is taken, it muft prove fallacious, unlefs a greater relief in point ofcalhis given to the - Company than the one now propofed. It will only operate as a fhort and temporary affi fiance, totally inadequate to the object intended V It doe* not, however, neceffarily follow, that the Company is in a ftate of ruin, be- caufe it is not able to make good all the de- mands that are upon it, or, in other words, becaufe it is not able to make its payments A and its receipts coincide^ It It may happen that their Warehoufqs may be full of goods which cannot be dif- pofed of, and their Treafuries abroad filled with money, that cannot be remitted to Europe ; nothing, indeed, can be a flronger proof of the falfe fyftem upon which the great inveftment loans have been made, and upon which the trade of the Company has of late been carried oq, than the total im- poffibility of accommodating their payments to their receipts, but it is not neceflarily a proof of real poverty and ruin. The real fituation of the Company, is to be gathered from a review of their propofed fcheme of trade, an examination into the funds pro- vided for inveftment, and a difcufiion of the Hate of their poffeffions abroad. In confidering any plan of future com- merce, to be- carried on by the Eaft-India Company, there is one object beyond the mere practicability of the fcheme to be at- tended to, and that is the relative operation which any propofed plan will have upon the fituation of Bengal, and the effedts it E 2 may t 28 ] may have on the future refources of that country. It is extremely practicable that a Com- pany which feels the immediate preilure of the demand at home, may invent a plan of trade and a fyftem of commerce, which may not only be plaufible, but even advantageous for a few years, but which in the end muft prove ruinous to the country from which it is drawn, and produce the deftru6tion of that very Company, the profperity of which it was invented to promote. The ci re um (lances of the joint character of Sovereign and Merchant, which are fo incompatibly united in the Eaft-India Com- pany, and the certainty which experience gives us, that the real intereft of Bengal, and of courfe the true intereil of the Com- pany, has been often facrificed to prefent views and immediate objedts, will lead us to watch with attention any new fchtme that is propofed for the trade and com- merce of India. And I am afraid, we (hall find, upon inveflig.tion, that the plan pro- pofed [ =9 .1 pofed by the .Directors, is not only falla- cious in the eftimate it gives of the preient funds of the Company, but doubtful in the practicability of its execution, and perhaps ruinous and oppreffive in its effects. ; Thefirft object, however, is to confider the amount of the funds, before we confider the nature of them. The eftimate ftates a fum of .5,811,049 as the total amount of the fund provided for the feafon 1783-4. Bat as that fum has, from fubfequent events, partly mentioned in the fecond Report of the Directors, and partly taken notice of in the Report of the Committee, undergone a variety of alts- rations, it may be proper to (late thefe at length, in order to give a true knowledge of the real amount of the funds propofed for inveftment. Firft then, there is to be deducted from this fund, the following Aims, mentioned in the iecond Report of the Directors. f The [ 3 ] The' amount of the produce of the fait and opium, which inflead of being applied to the purpofe of inveftment, was applied to the current ferviceof the year, .450,000 Certificates from Bengal, 115,560 Bills from Bombay, which were -j divided among the Bond- ( 45,000 holders, ----- J Bills not drawn from China, - 150,000 . 760,560 But there is to be added to the fund the fum of fifteen and thirty-five lacks, fubfciibed in April and Auguft, 1783, and mentioned .in the fecond Report of the Directors, jT. 562,500 Cargoes from Bombay, - - 100,000 from Madras, - 37,000 50 Lacks fubfcribed in Nov. 1783, 562,500 1,262,000 760,560 .501,440 Thefe alterations, therefore, will give us the fum of above five hundred thoufand pounds, [ 3' 1 pounds, to be added to the fund provided for the fupplying-of investment, which will (land thus : Sums ftated in the firft report 5,81 1,049 Add the balance above ftated 501,440 Total fund for the invert- 7 f 6,312,480 ment, 1783-4 i It is not a little remarkable, that this propofed fund fhould, for one of its firft articles, comprehend a fum of .213,000, which does not belong to the Company. It is called the produce of the Dutch in- veftment, which fum, fo far from actually belonging to them, is the fubject of litiga- tion between them and the captors; the greatnefs of the amount forms the principal reafon why the Company contend it be- longs to them, while the troops who took Chinfura, and the Captain of one of his Majefty's frigates who affifted them, fup- ported in his claim by Sir Edward Hughes, infift that the amount of the booty can never make any alteration on the right of the captors. To flate that which is claimed by [ 3* J by others, as the exclulive property of the Company, in the very ouifet of the eftimate, docs not imprefs us with the moft favourable idea of its fubfequent accuracy, or fidelity. In order to know whether the funds faid to be provided for inveftment were actually applied to that purpofe, the Committee of the Houfe of Commons have laid before the Public an eftimate * of all the cargoes that are expected to be (hipped for England from India for the feafon, 1783-4, which amount to no more than .4,240,178. From this it is apparent, that the funds applicable to the purpofes of inveftment, exceed the investment actually provided in no lefs a fam than .2,073,311. For this deficiency, it is not eafy to account in any manner at all fatisfadtory. The fa to conceive a more perfect monopoly of a * neceifary article,, and it is undoubtedly in the power ol the lei vants 01 the Company, to raife from this revenue any fum they think proper. It may be true, that the price of fait is not yet raifed to fuch a twitch, as to become opprtriTive to the natives, but it is difficult to conceive how a revenue can be raifed from feven lacks of rupees to near fifty, without 354736 C 3 ] without fome confiderable degree of injuf- tice ; and if this immenfe increaie arifes from concentrating in the Company the former profits of the farmers of the fait diftrids, without increafing the price to v the conlumer, it is equally difficult to con- ceive, how the farmers of dilliils imme- diately under the eye of the fervants of the Company, could have, for fo many years, been permitted quietly to enjoy Ib immenfe /\ a profit. Before, therefore, we can give credit for this immenfe fum, as an article for the provilion of future investment, it will certainly merit a more minute enquiry than it hitherto has undergone, or, indeed, than the materials in England render practicable^ in order to afcertain whether this monopoly of a necefTary of life, be not the engine of oppreiTion, and whether that, which the Hiftory of Bengal teaches us has often been employed for the worft of purpofes, is not already converted to the fame ends. With regard to the opium monopoly, the- profit from that contract has never yet ex- ceeded .25,000, and yet, from the pro- duce [ 39 ] duce of one year only, it is ftated in future at .50, 0005 and it is a miferable (hi ft to increafe revenue, when the Government of a great country become fmugglers, as the Government of Bengal docs become, when it propofes to increafe the trade in opium by fmuggling it into China*. But if we fuppofe it pofTible, or expe- dient, that fuch monopolies be allowed to exift, the mode the Company propofe to ufe the fum thus gained, appears perfectly chimerical. In future, the trade between China and England, which for years paft has been carried on by the intervention of near .300,000 a-year in bills, is to be carried * The Directors, in their F.'rft Report, as we have feen, take into that eitimate for the provifion of inveftment, the whole produce of the fait and opium for the year 1783-4; were any thing wanting to convince us of the total fallibility of this fpecies cf eftimate, which muft, for its accuracy, depend upon a thoufand events and contingencies, that the wifeft man cannot forefee, nor the moft prudent prevent, the obfervation contained in the Second Report, would operate complete convi&if n. In the month of February, the Directors ftate to the Houfe of Commons, that they have reafon to think that the fum of .450,000 will be applicable to a particular purpofe ; and in May they are forced to con- fefs, that this whole fum ha* been applied to other purpofes* [ 4 ] carried on by the drawing for no greater a fum than a little above . 100,000 per aim. Such a reftri6tion in point of drawing bills is abfolutely nccefTary, in order to give the cfiimate of receipts and payments any colour of probability. But as the trade cannot be carried on without fbme medium, the pro- ject is formed of tranfporting annually the fum of .250,000- from India to China, which is flated by the Directors, as if it were as eafy to carry into effect, as it is to propofe. That there is little commercial intercourfe between Bengal and China, is a fact perfectly notorious ; and if any evidence of it Were required, it would be fufficient ^ to ftate, that, upon every occafion, the Di- rectors have encouraged their Factors in China to draw bills upon Bengal, and yet they never have been able to draw above . 1 0,000 />er annum. How this is to be N increafed at once to .250,000, muft remain a problem, till the Directors chufe to folve it. The fmuggling of opium may indeed do a little, till the Chinefe Government (hall detect [ 41 1 detedt and punifh the fervants of the Com- pany; and feme little commerce may be carried on, through the medium of the Eaftern iflands. But it is impoffible to imagine how this is to amount 10^.250,000 per annum, unlefs money is to be colle&ed in Bengal, and fent as bullion to China. That the money of Bengal has been de- creafing for years paft, is a melancholy truth j and this country is not likely to re- medy the evil, by flopping all remittances from Europe, and nothing was wanting to put the finiflnng hand to its ruin, but the ellabliming a regular mode for the expor- tation of the fpecie which is taken from the wretched inhabitants, by a monopoly of a necelTary of life. Formerly fpecie flowed into Bengal from a variety of channels. Europe furnifhed a large quantity ; the commerce with Delhi, Agra, and Lahore, which were formerly in a flourishing ftate, and with the dominions G of [ 42 ] of O.ude, which have uniformly decreafed in profpcrity in the proportion of their con- nection with the Europeans, gave a confi- derable fupply, while the trade with the Weft of India and Perfia, was equally bene- ficial. At preient not only are all thefe channels cut off, and the internal trade of India totally at a ftand, but the new project of the Directors is to eftablifh a regular channel for the exportation of fpecie from Bengal, which will ioon complete the ruin of that difireiTed country. . The fcheme further proceeds upon an idea of confining the invertment from Ben- *- gal, to a,funi little exceeding .300,000, in- ilead of near a million,, which it formerly amounted to. It is true, that the fyflem of inveftment drawn from revenue, operates 1 in the nature of a tribute paid by Bengal to Europe, and, it may be faid, that re- ducing, the inveilment will operate as a reduction of tribute, and thus be beneficial to Bengal + whatever cried: this may have, after a conllderable period, on the profperity of Bengal, at prefent it muft, as has been already " [ 45 ] already hinted, end in the ruin either of the Company, or the Bengal manufacture. If this fudden decreafe of the inveffment falls entirely on the manufacturer, he muft inevi- tably ftarve. The ruin of the manufacturer necefTarily brings along with it decreafe of revenue, and thus operates to render all the hopes from the furplus of Indian revenue entirely vifionary. In the progrefs of this ruin, the manufacturer, in the ttruggles of neceffity, will be compelled to fell at an inferior price to foreigners, and to Eiiglifh- men who fupply foreigners : and this muft operate againft the Company in their fales at home. If foreigners carried on their trade through the medium either of bullion, or of commo- dities exported from Europe, fuch a trade, proceeding upon commercial principjes, might, and certainly would be more advan- tageous to L'engal, than the iyftern of in- veftment drawn from it by Britain ; but the misfortune is, that the trade of foreigners to Bengal, is almoil equally deftrutive of its profpeiity as that carried on by the Englim, G 2 Company, [ 44- 1 /Company; little or nothing is carried out. The capital is furnimed by the fervants of the India Company, and the operation of their trade only differs from the trade of the Company in this : they draw from Bengal that which is acquired by extortion, while the Company draw that which is acquired /x by revenue. The leflening then of the inveftment from Bengal, will only facilitate the remit- tance of private fortunes, by forcing the manufacturer to part with his goods at any price he can get, or to ftarve. By faci- litating the tranfportation of private for- tunes, it will accelerate the ruin of that country, while the foreigner who brings the goods to Europe, accelerates the ruin of the Company at home, by underletting it in every market. Perhaps nothing will in the end operate fo much towards the ruin of Bengal, as the immenfe inveftment loans that have lately been made. While the war in other parts of India formed a fevere drain from Bengal : the t 45 1 the facility which thefe loans gave to every one to fend his fortune to Europe, has left Bengal, at a time when its credit was op- prefled and {haken, without one fingle (hil- ling of the private fortune of almoft any European in India. So much then for this Second Eftimate of the Directors, which, if carried into execution, appears doubtful in the amount pf the fums provided, impracticable in fome of its points, and ruinous in all. We {hall now proceed to take a view of the probable neat furplus that will remain to the Com- pany, from their revenue in India, after de. ducting their expences, and providing a fund for the payment of their debts and other demands, to which they are fubjeCt abroad. The bond debt at the different Prefiden- cies, amounts to the fum of .4,799,703. The arrtars due by the Company at Madras, amount, by Lord Macartney's accounts, to above .500,000. The arrears of Pif- cufh due to the Nizam, and promifed to bo paid f 46 ] paid, amount to .330,000. The demand of the Public on the revenue in India, for the expence of victualling the King's (hips, is .566,903. The pay due to the Public, for troops lent to the Company> amounts to .215,000; all the fe fum s mud be added to the bond debt in India, and will form a capital of . 6,411,646, exclufive of many further demands for winding up the war, exclufive of that fum of Treafury orders and demands upon the Company, which, as has been already ftated, there is every reafon to apprehend, exift to a confiderable amount unprovided for; and exclufive of a fum of thirty lacks, which, even according to the moft favourable ftate lately tranfmitted by Mr. Haftings, the revenue of 1783-4, will fall fhort of the demands, or, of 120 lacks, according to the report of the Select Committee. The Intereft ufuallypaid upon the Com- pany's debt in India, is eight per cent. which upon a capital of . 6,400,000, would amount to .51 2,060 per annum. The' I 47 ] The neat revenue fuppofed to remain to the Company in India, after deducting the charges of collection, the civil, military, and marine charges, amounts, according to the Directors e{Umate,to the fum of .1,09 1, 546. It is from this fjrplus, if fairly ftated, that both the principal and intereft of this im- menie load of debt is to be paid, and it is therefore a point of importance to examine whether its amount is fairly ftated, and the charges upon the revenues abroad accurately made. Firft then, a fum equal to the whole in- tereft of all the debt in India, muft be ftated as an annual charge upon the revenue in India, as from that only it can be paid. Secondly, The Directors ftate the civil charges of Bengal to amount to a fum of .350,000 in the year. However, thefe charges in the year 1777-8, amounted to above .400,000, and in the year 1780-1 to the fum of .589.000. It is true, that the Directors object to this laft year being i 48 i being taken as the amount of the civil charges, as in that year a confiderable payment to the Ton of the Rajah of Barar, was included in the civil charges/ which ought not to be confidered as an annual payment, but the Chairman of the India Company flated in the Houfe of Commons, that they might in future amount to about .427,000^- annum. Therefore, accord- ing to his account, the civil charges are under-Hated by the Directors in their ac- count, the fum of 77,000, which will form a further charge upon the Revenue in India. The revenue at Madras, is flated by the Directors to amount to .600,000, per annum, but from the average of part years, from r7yi, to 1780, it amounts only to the fum of .484,000. It is not eafy to imagine, why the Di- rectors chufe to ftate it at the above fum, but furely it is not very unreafonable to fup- pofe, that a country which has been fo long [ 49 ] long the feat of war and defolation, will no^ yield a higher revenue, than it did in time of peace and profperity, therefore, a fum of . 1 16,000 muft further be deducted, from the fuppofed neat furplus in India. The civil charges at Madras, are ftated by the Directors to amount to . 60,000; Lord Macartney, however, ftates them at prefent at above .100,000. And in the eftimate he has fent home, of the fuppofed flats of that fettlement at the end of three years peace, he ftates them at .120,000, it is not therefore extravagant to ftate them at the annual fum of . 100,000, which will form a further deduction of .40,000. The fum which Bencoolen and Bom- bay have annually required, over and above their own revenues, appears from an average of many years pad, to be to the firft, .59,000 : to the latter, .246,000. Thefe fupplies are, however, ftated by the Directors at .50,000^ and . 226,000 ; which leave an addi- tional charge on the fuppofed furplus revenue in India of -35>GOO. Deducting H all Surplus ftated by the Di rectors, . 1,091,546 t 5 ] all thefe feveral Aims, from the furplus ftated by the Dire&ors, it will ftand thus ; Sums to he deducted. The intereft of ..6,403,000, at eight per cent. .512,000 Civil charges at Bengal, un- der-ilated, 77>oco Madras revenue, over- ftated, 166,000 charges under, ftated, 40,000 Supplies to Bombay and Bencoolen, underrated 35,000 Total fums to be deducted, 780,000 Neat furplus, . 3 1 1,546 It will, however, be obferved, that in considering the dedo&ions to be made from the India revenue, it is fuppofed that the military and marine charges, and the expence of fortifications, are actually reduced to that fum, which the Direc- tors in their eftimate, ftate them to be reduced to, and it is even probable that (Economy and a pacific fyftem may render it fafe to reduce them lower than they [ 5' ] "they are ftated. And alfo that 'the revenue in India actually produces at prefent, and Avill produce in future, the fum at which it is taken at by the Directors. But it will alfo be obferved, that in order to form this furplus of jT. 300,000, the payments made to the Company from Oude and Benares, and which lately have been encreafed, the one from 34 to 54 lacks, and the other from 22 to 44 lacks, are here included at their highefr. amount ; and credit, for the full receipt of the whole fab tidy is taken ; how far this is confident with jufUce, or even with the poflibility of pay-neat, is not now to be difcufied fully. When Raja Cheit Sing whofe tribute was formerly 22 lacks, was called upon by the Bengal Government, for an additional payment of 5 lacks per ann. he complained of it, not only as an act of injuftice, but as ruinous and oppreffive to the country he governed ; now the tribute is raifed to double its former amount, and the country is fuppofed to pay the advanced fum with eafe, when it was with difficulty that the former fmaller fum was raifed from it. The diftrict of Benares though rich, is H a very [ 5V 3 very limited in extent, and the drawing the immenfe fum of near .500,000 from fuch an extent of country, cannot but fopn end in its ruin. The fubfidy froTi Oude has allb been confiderably encreafed ; what probability there is of obtaining this advanced fum from a country which was always in arrears, when it paid a fmaller fubfidy, which is now reprefented by its Prince, to be in a flate of mifery and famine, and which has, between the year 1774 and the year 1780, decreafed in its profperity and diminidied in its revenue, to the amount of 65 lacks a year, as appears by the comparative ftate of its revenue, published by the Committee, time mud difcover. But it is not the part of a very gloomy politician to prognofticate, that a Company which trulls its profperity to fuch precarious and doubtful refouices, has but a fmall chance of diminiming the immenie load of debt that nowhai)gs over it. This This furplus is not only fuppofed to be reallv efficient, but the affairs of the Com- pany in the Sail, are fappofed to be already, and to continue in uninterrupted pr^fperity, peace, and good Government for fix years to come, no allowance whatever is made for the variety of contingencies, which muft unavoidably occur in the belt regulated ani the leaft complicated fyftem of Govern- ment ; if they do happen, this furplus of .300,000, fuch as it is, is the only fund to which the Company can look, to ^xtricate itfelf from its prefent embarafs- ment, and to provide agamft iuture dif- Utfs. It is a melancholy truth, that according to Mr. Haftings's laft letter, peace is not yet cftablilhed in India The Madras Govern- ment was preparing to t.i' Such then is the fituation of the Company, from all the accounts that are offered to the Public; an embarafTed fituation at home, an extenfive and exhausted territory abroad, and a doubtful and precarious peace. Great, indeed, mud be the talents, and fevere the ceconomy t 56 ] ceccnomy which can retrieve its affairs, 2nd remedy all thofe evils which a feries of mif- fortune and mifmanagement has entailed upon it. FINIS. 85 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles "This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-32m-8,'58(5876s4)444 UNIVERSITY OFCAUFU AT LOS ANGELES iRARY DS .63 Short State of A2P2 the Present 1784 Situation of the v.10 India Company both in India and Europe, A 000017733 7 DS 463 A2P2 1784 v.10