. ../T. /- 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON THB 
 
 JVE G O CIA TIOJV, 
 
 5 
 
 BETWEEN THE 
 
 HONORABLE EAST-INDIA COMPANY 
 
 AND 
 
 THE PUBLIC, 
 
 RESPECTING THE 
 
 RENEWAL OF THE 
 COMPANY'S EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES OF TRADE, 
 
 FOB. 
 
 TWENTY YEARS FROM MARCH, 1794. 
 
 By JOHN BRUCE, Esa. M. P. F. R. S 
 
 HISTORIOGRAPHER TO THE HON. EAST-INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 Honnon : 
 
 PRINTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE HONORABLE COURT OF DIRECTORS, 
 
 By Cox, Son, and Baylis, Great Queen Street, 
 
 And Published by Black, Parry and Kingsbury, Booksellers to the Honorable 
 East-India Company, Leadenhall Street. 
 
 1811. 
 
: '-3>T:(0 
 
 U£Nf?Y MORSE STCFhKWS 
 
 ... 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 While Government and the East-India Company 
 >vere collecting the information required to prepare 
 the Legislature for examining the subject of Indian 
 Affairs, previously to the Renewal of the Exclusive 
 Privileges of the Company, in 1793, it was consi- 
 dered, that if a general History of the Rights and 
 Commerce of the East-India Company could have 
 been prepared, and placed before the Public, it would 
 have obviated many of the objections, which were 
 becoming the subjects of Resolutions, by the different 
 Mercantile and Manufacturing Bodies in the kingdom. 
 In making this attempt, it was soon discovered, 
 that, a general History of East-India Affairs would 
 
 require 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 require a minute examination of the Company's re- 
 cords, from their Establishment by Queen Elizabeth ; 
 and that the only printed authorities which could be 
 relied on, were the Collections of their Charters, and 
 of their Treaties with the Native Powers, the successive 
 Acts of Parliament, since the Union of the London 
 and English Companies, and the Reports made by 
 Parliament on Indian Affairs. 
 
 Under these circumstances, as the principal diffi- 
 culties regarded the territorial possessions, and the 
 system of trade, recourse was had to the Plans, sug- 
 gested by the most eminent, and best informed of the 
 Company's servants, who had either acquired, or go- 
 verned, the territorial possessions, or had conducted 
 the trade ; but, on comparing these Plans, it was dis- 
 covered that they disagreed with each other, both in 
 principle and in practice. — It was with the object of 
 comparing these Plans, and deducing principles from 
 the facts admitted in all of them, that, in 1793, I 
 compiled the * Historical View of Plans for the Go- 
 " vernment of British India, and Regulation of the 
 " Trade to the East-Indies, " which, having met the 
 
 views 
 
PREFACE. yii 
 
 views of Government, and of the Company, at that 
 time, was printed by direction of the Board of Com- 
 missioners for the Affairs of India. 
 
 Though I could not have expected to have again 
 been able to contribute my assistance to the Honor- 
 able East-India Company, on a similar occasion, it 
 necessarily occurred, that an authenticated statement 
 of the diversified objections to the Government and 
 Trade of the East-India Company ; first while opi- 
 nions were fluctuating on these subjects, and next 
 when they came* under the deliberations of the Courts 
 of Directors and Proprietors, and, from them, for the 
 decision of Parliament, would prevent the recurrence 
 of similar speculations, and might afford precedents to 
 which both the East-India Company, and the Legis- 
 lature might refer. With these views the following 
 Report is submitted to the Public. 
 
 Part I. will afford evidence to ascertain the state 
 of the Public Opinion, on the important subjects of 
 East-India Government and Trade, and of the man- 
 ner in which both were investigated, preparatory to 
 the discussions and decision of Parliament ; and 
 
 Part 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 Part II. will furnish information, on the measures 
 adopted by the Company, and by Government, at the 
 period when the Act passed, for renewing the East- 
 India Company's exclusive Privileges of Trade, for 
 twenty years, or, to March 1814. 
 
PART I. 
 
 RETROSPECT OF THE OPINIONS OF THE PUBLIC, BEFORE THE 
 OPENING OF THE NEGOCIATION, BETWEEN GOVERNMENT 
 AND THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY, FOR A RENEWAL OF THE 
 COMPANY'S EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES OF TRADE, IN 1793. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 General aspect of the claims of the East-India Company in 1793. PART I. 
 
 General aspect of the claims of the Commercial and Manufac- Contents. 
 
 turing Interests in 1793 Subjects on which the public opinion 
 
 fluctuated, respecting Indian Affairs : — on the Foreign and Do- 
 mestic Government required for the British Possessions in the East- 
 Indies : — on the Rights of the Public and of the Company : 
 
 — on the method of realizing the Revenues of India in Bri- 
 tain : — on the comparative advantages of an open and of a 
 
 regulated trade to the East-Indies Actual measures of the Com- 
 pany, and proposed measures of the Claimants, respecting the Commerce 
 
 B and 
 
2 
 
 part i. and Government. ..... Arrangement of the claims on the East-India 
 
 Contents. f ra ^ e> an d f the answers of the Company* 
 
 First class of Opponents to the Company, or those who recommended 
 an immediate Open Trade, or the continuance of the Exclusive Privilege 
 
 till the scheme of an Open Trade could be partially tried Propo- 
 
 sitions of this description, by the Merchants of Liverpool : — by 
 
 the Chamber of Commerce at Glasgow : — by the Manufacturers 
 
 of Paisley : . . .... — by the Merchants and Manufacturers of Man- 
 chester : — by the Merchants of Exeter These last propo- 
 sitions resisted by different Towns in Devonshire. : - — and by the 
 
 Dyers and Dressers of Woollens in London Propositions by the 
 
 Manufacturers of Norwich General result of the arguments of 
 
 the Claimants Effect of them on the public opinion Conduct 
 
 of Government respecting them Answers made by the Company : 
 
 — to the propositions for an Open Trade to the EasUlndies : 
 
 — to the principles from which the system of an Open Trade was 
 
 deduced: — to the complaints against the Company, for not trading 
 
 to all, the countries within their limits Observations of the Di- 
 rectors upon the probable claims of Ireland for a participation in the 
 East- India trade. .... Comparison of the probable competition between 
 
 the proposed Irish and Foreign Companies, and between both and the 
 English East-India Company. ..... Result of the reasonings on these 
 
 subjects on the conduct of the Irish and British Nations* 
 
 Second 
 
3 
 
 Second class of Opponents to the Company, or those who were either PART i. 
 for participating in the Trade, without being sharers in the Stock, or Contents * 
 
 for laying the Company under certain restrictions General objects 
 
 of this class of Opponents Scheme of the Separate Traders, with- 
 out being sharers in the Company's Stock Scheme of the Private 
 
 Traders, for placing the Company under certain restrictions in their 
 
 imports, exports, 8$c Both schemes repugnant to the experience of 
 
 the Company, and of the State Arrangement of these claims by the 
 
 objects of each Claims of the Manufacturers of British Staples at 
 
 Exeter Answers of the Devonshire Towns, 8$c. to this Demand, 
 
 Limited requisition from Norwich Demands of the Pro- 
 prietors of the Mines in Cornwall : — of the British Manufacturers 
 
 of Eastern Raw Materials : — of Glasgow :.,.... — of Paisley : 
 
 — of Manchester : — of the Manufacturers who work on 
 
 materials, partly Asiatic and partly European :...... *—of the Manu- 
 facturers of Gunpowder Separate claim of the Adventurers in the 
 
 Southern Whale Fishery General opinions offered, at the time, 
 
 on the whole of these claims. ..... General arguments on the claims of 
 
 the Merchants of Exeter : — on those of the Proprietors of the 
 
 Mines in Cornwall : — on those of the Manufacturers of Cotton : 
 
 — on those of the Manufacturers of Gunpowder : — on 
 
 those of the Southern Whale Fishery Particular arguments on 
 
 each of these claims : — on the claims of the Exeter Merchants : 
 
 b 2 —on 
 
4 
 
 part r. ...... —on those of the Proprietors of the Mines in Cornwall : 
 
 Contents. — Qn t ^ ose j ^ e c tf on Manufacturers of Manchester, Glasgow, 8$c. 
 
 General arguments of the Wholesale Dealers in India Piece 
 
 Goods. ..... General arguments of the Committee of Warehouses, in 
 
 answer to the claim of the Manufacturers of Gunpowder. ..... General 
 
 reference to the subsequent Negotiation. 
 
PART II. 
 
 REPORT ON THE NEGOCIATION, BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND 
 THE HONORABLE EAST-INDIA COMPANY, FOR THE RENEWAL 
 OF THE COMPANY'S EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES OF TRADE, FOR 
 TWENTY YEARS, FROM MARCH 1794; AND OUTLINE OF THE 
 EXISTING SYSTEM OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, AS ESTABLISHED AT 
 THAT PERIOD. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Difficulties in devising a system of Government and of Irade for !_,_ */ 
 
 Contents. 
 British India Preliminary information afforded by the Directors 
 
 of the East- India Company : — by the Commissioners for the 
 
 Affairs of India. ..... Conduct of His Majesty's Ministers, on opening 
 
 the Negociation with the Company The Directors refer the 
 
 business to their Committee of Correspondence. . . . . . Hints offered by 
 
 the Committee of Correspondence, as the basis of the Negociation. ..... 
 
 The President of the Board of Commissioners observations upon these 
 
 hints* 
 
PART II. hints, .... Reply of the Committee of Correspondence to the observa- 
 
 Contents. fj ons J th e President of the Board of Commissioners Their 
 
 opinions on the conditions required for the Company , in the event of 
 
 territorial acquisitions from the Chinese Substance of the opinions 
 
 of the Court of Proprietors on these subjects Petition of the 
 
 Company to Parliament for a renewal of their Exclusive Privileges of 
 Trade, Conference, between His Majesty's Ministers and the Com- 
 mittee of Correspondence, on this subject. Opinions of this Com- 
 mittee on this occasion Conference, between His Majesty's Ministers 
 
 and the Committee of Correspondence, on the subject of Clandestine 
 
 Trade, 8$c Opinions of the Court of Proprietors on this subject : 
 
 ...... — on the Separate Fund. ... . Opinion of the Committee of 
 
 Correspondence on the subject of Private Trade : — on the Bate 
 
 of Freight :..,... — on the Shipping Interest Claims of the 
 
 Manufacturing and Mercantile Bodies : Demands of the Pro- 
 
 prietors of the Mines in Cornwall, and opinion of His Majesty's Ministers 
 on them : — of the Exeter Merchants, and opinion oj His Majes- 
 ty's Ministers on them : — of the Southern Whalers, and opinion 
 
 of His Majesty's Ministers on them Demands of the Cotton 
 
 Manufacturers, and conduct of His Majesty's Ministers respecting them. 
 
 Opinion of the President of the Board of Commissioners on the 
 
 Clandestine Trade, as connected with these claims Manner in 
 
 which the Committee of Correspondence arranged their answers for the 
 
 consideration 
 
7 
 
 consideration of the Courts of Directors and Proprietors Obser- PARTII. 
 
 vations of the Committee on the subject of Shipping Postpone an v 
 
 answer to the Proprietors of Mines in Cornwall. Observations of 
 
 the Committee on the demands of the Exeter Merchants : — on 
 
 the Southern Whale Fishery : — on the claims of the Manufac- 
 turers of Manchester aud Glasgow : — on the Clandestine Trade, 
 
 ...... Propositions in the Memorial of the persons interested in the 
 
 Clandestine Trade Answers of the Committee of Correspondence 
 
 to these propositions : —additional observations on the subject 
 
 submitted by the Committee to Government Reply of the Memo- 
 rialists to the answers and observations of the Committee of Corres- 
 pondence Result of these arguments, and effect of them on the 
 
 public opinion, respecting the Renewal of the Company's Exclusive 
 
 Privileges Opportunities afforded by His Majesty's Ministers to 
 
 all the Claimants to bring forward the fullest evidence. ..... Critical 
 
 state of the Negociation at this period. ..... The Committee of Cor- 
 respondence require that the Resolutions to be submitted to the Legisla- 
 ture should be laid before a General Court : —this requisition 
 
 granted, and explanations of different points in the Resolutions given 
 
 by the President of the Board of Commissioners The Committee 
 
 of Correspondence request a farther delay Substance of the 
 
 Resolutions proposed to be submitted to Parliament, as first laid before 
 the Court of Proprietors, Proceedings of the Court of Proprie- 
 tors 
 
PART II. tors on the 27th March 1793 : — on the 3d April 1793 
 
 on ents. Recapitulation of the proceedings of the Court of Directors Report 
 
 of the Committee of Correspondence on the Resolutions transmitted by 
 the President of the Board of Commissioners, for the consideration of 
 the Proprietors. ..... Motion made in the Court of Proprietors in con- 
 sequence of this Report Opinions of the Proprietors upon the 
 
 Resolutions and Report Subjects which principally attracted the 
 
 attention of the Proprietors Farther Conferences between His 
 
 Majesty's Ministers and the Directors. , . . — Answer of the President of 
 the Board of Commissioners to the Report of the Committee of Corres- 
 pondence, ..... Report of the Committee of Correspondence on this 
 
 explanation, Recapitulation of the evidence } as it came before the 
 
 Court of Proprietors, for their assent to the Treaty with the Public, 
 Opinions of the Court of Directors, as submitted, to the judg- 
 ment of the Court of Proprietors Substance of the preliminary 
 
 arguments of the Proprietors, for and against an immediate adoption of 
 the motion for concluding the Negotiation ; — particular subjects, upon 
 
 which the opinions of the General Court seemed to be at variance : 
 
 — on the term to be given to the Company under the new Act : — . 
 
 on the Importation and Sale of Piece Goods : — on the Parti- 
 
 cipation of the Surplus Revenue with the Public : — on the 
 
 Guarantee Fund: — on the Establishment of Agents in India 
 
 for the Private Traders The Directors empowered by the Pro* 
 
 prietors 
 
9 
 
 prietors to accede to the terms proposed by Government for the Renewal PART II. 
 
 of the Company's Exclusive Privileges Substance of the Speech of Contents - 
 
 the President of the Board of Commissioners, on opening the business in 
 
 the House of Commons Objections offered to the proposed system. 
 
 Answers made to these objectio?is Conduct of the Court of 
 
 Directors in this stage of the business Progress of the Committee 
 
 of the whole House, on the clauses of the Bill for the Government and 
 
 Trade of India On the Indian Annuity Bill. Abridged view 
 
 of the objections made to the Government and Trade Bill. Answers 
 
 offered, to these objections Proceedings of the Court of Proprietors 
 
 on the 12th May 1793 Farther proceedings of the Court of Pro- 
 prietors on the 1 5th May 1793 Indian Annuity Bill passed the 
 
 Commons Farther progress of the Government and Trade Bill in 
 
 the Committee of the Whole House Proceedings of the Court of 
 
 Proprietors on this occasion The Government and Trade Bill 
 
 brought forward to a third reading Substance of the Debate on 
 
 this occasion Bill passed the House of Commons, and carried to the 
 
 Ijords Bill passed the House of Lords, and received the Royal 
 
 Assent. 
 
 Digest of the existing system of Indian Affairs, in the order of the 
 subject : — 1 . The Agreement between the Legislature and the Company : 
 
 — 2. Plan of Domestic Government : — the branch vested in the 
 
 Courts of Directors and Proprietors i-r-the branch vested in the Commis- 
 
 C moners 
 
10 
 
 part II. sionersfor the Affairs of India : —3. Plan of Foreign Govern- 
 
 Contents. men f ; — the Judicial Power, as amended or left open for the farther 
 deliberation of Parliament : — the Financial Power continued in India, 
 as exercised before the passing of the Act, but varied in the appropria- 
 tions abroad and at home: — the Military Power left for future arrange- 
 ment : — 4. The System of Trade detailed : — the Indian Annuity 
 
 Act an appendage to that on Government and Trade. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. — Resolutions of the Merchants, Tradesmen, and Inhabitants 
 of the Town of Liverpool, on the subject of the Trade of the East- 
 India Company. 
 
 No. II. — Resolutions of the Directors of the Chamber of Commerce 
 and Manufactures at Glasgow, on the subject of the Trade of the East- 
 India Company. 
 
 No. III. — Resolutions of the Manufacturers at Paisley, on the 
 subject of the Trade of the East-India Company. 
 
 No. IV. — Proceedings of the Merchants and Manufacturers at 
 Manchester, on the subject of the Trade of the East-India Company. 
 
 No. V. — Proceedings of the Merchants of Exeter, on the subject 
 of the Trade of the East-India Company. 
 
 No. VI. — Memorial of the Merchants and Manufacturers of Nor- 
 wich, to the Right Honourable the Lords of Privy Council for Planta- 
 tions and Trade. 
 
PART I. 
 
 RETROSPECT OF THE OPINIONS OF THE PUBLIC, BEFORE THE 
 OPENING OF THE NEGOCIATION, BETWEEN GOVERNMENT 
 AND THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY, FOR A RENEWAL OF THE 
 COMPANY'S EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES OF TRADE, IN 1793. 
 
 UNDER a Sovereignty, constituted like that of Great-Britain, PART i. 
 a subject of such magnitude as the Government of the Asiatic Gen e ra ] as- 
 
 J ° pect of the 
 
 Provinces, and the regulation of the Trade to the East-Indies, £ laim T s °l the 
 
 ' o * East-India 
 
 necessarily called forth the general attention of the Nation, at f^ pany ' l * 
 the period (1793) when the East-India Company's Privileges 
 were to become the subject of deliberation, and of decision by 
 the Legislature. 
 
 The East-India Company had been estalished for almost 
 two centuries; they had acted under the protection of the 
 Crown, and with the sanction of the Legislature, and were 
 possessed of the greatest commercial capital, which had, as yet* 
 appeared in any country : — with transactions which were more 
 
 C 2. properly 
 
12 
 
 PART l. properly those of the Nation, than of the East-India Proprietors, 
 and with dispositions to act upon liberal political and commer- 
 cial principles, they looked forward to the issue with confidence 
 in their claims ; relied on the wisdom and protection of the 
 Legislature; and, at this juncture, resolved to assert those 
 claims with moderation and firmness, but were prepared to meet 
 those of their opponents, with candor, and with justice. 
 General as- Several of the mercantile and manufacturing bodies in 
 
 pect of the ° 
 
 claims of the Britain, under impressions unfavorable to the East-India 
 
 Commercial f l 
 
 facturhi anU in- Company's exclusive privileges of trade, had been anticipating 
 1793 s m prospects of gain, from an open trade to the East-Indies : 
 Taking up, therefore, the popular arguments against mo- 
 nopolies, in general, and placing the Company's exclusive 
 privileges for a regulated trade, under this denomination, 
 they asserted, that the advantages which would result to the 
 Nation, from a system of open trade, in preference to the 
 regulated commerce of the East-India Company, would be 
 infinite ; — that however great the trade of the Company had 
 been, that greatness was merely comparative with the efforts 
 of the other European Companies, in their trade to the East- 
 Indies ; — that, considering the improved state of British arts 
 and manufactures, and the immense credit of British mer- 
 chants, the East-Indies opened a wide field, in which the 
 activity of private merchants might collect incalculable riches, 
 and the Public be enabled to draw revenues, progressively 
 and indefinitely great ; — that if the trade should be laid 
 
 open, 
 
13 
 
 open, the adventurous spirit of the Nation would meet, and part I. 
 Overcome, every difficulty ;-r-that exclusive privileges, though 
 they might be necessary, or useful, at the commencement of 
 distant commercial enterprizes, were destructive of trade, in its 
 improved and extensive scale; and that it would be not more 
 for the interest of the individual merchant, than of the Nation, 
 to open the East-India trade to all the subjects of the realm. 
 
 In this situation, and with these prejudices against the Subjects on 
 
 which the 
 
 East-India Company, the question opened to the Public, in Public opi- 
 nion flue- 
 
 1793, when the expiration of their exclusive privileges of trade tuated, re- 
 specting ln- 
 
 approached ; and upon no occasion, perhaps, have men's minds dian Affairs : 
 
 been less prepared for decision, on a subject of such magnitude 
 and importance. 
 
 It will be a necessary preliminary, in collecting the real 
 state of Indian affairs, at this juncture, to examine the particular 
 points upon which the opinions of the Public fluctuated, viz. 
 
 1. The Foreign and Domestic Government required for 
 the British Possessions in India. 
 
 2. The Rights of the East-India Company, and of the 
 Public, to the British Indian Territories. 
 
 3. The practical method of realizing the Indian Revenues 
 in Britain; and 
 
 4. The comparative advantages of an open and regulated 
 trade, as subservient to the general commercial and financial 
 prosperity of the Nation. 
 
 1. On 
 
14 
 
 part i. 1. On the subject of t lie Foreign and Domestic Government 
 on the required for the British Possessions in India, it was, on the 
 
 Foreign and ■* ** 
 
 DomesticGo- one hand, asserted, that the Sovereignty of the British Indian 
 
 vern merit re- ° 
 
 quired for Provinces should be assumed by the King, as a right of con- 
 
 the British " ° m 
 
 Poss ^ ssiol,sin quest, acquired by the Company's troops for the Nation, and 
 dies - that the administration should be intrusted to the Ministers of 
 
 the Crown, who were responsible to Parliament ; — that all 
 orders which regard the political, financial, judicial, and 
 military powers, in India, should issue from the King; — and 
 that the Company's territorial possessions in India, should be 
 governed on the same principles, and in the same manner, as 
 the other foreign dependencies of the Crown. 
 
 It was contended, on the other hand; — that this project 
 
 , would give an unconstitutional weight to the Crown, and might 
 
 become a dangerous instrument in the hands of Ministers, for 
 
 biassing the other branches of the Legislature ; — that, even 
 
 supposing this difficulty to be removed, the measure would be 
 
 inconsistent with the manner in which the Indian Provinces 
 
 had been connected with Britain by trade ; — that the seats of 
 
 the Company's trade had been acquired by purchase, or by 
 
 authorized Treaties, and had become their absolute property ; — 
 
 that the revenue must pass home, through their regulated trade ; 
 
 and, therefore, that it was not less repugnant to the tenures 
 
 by which the Company had acquired, and had held, the various 
 
 portions of their possessions, than an injudicious application 
 
 of European political maxims to countries, not more remote 
 
 from 
 
15 
 
 from Britain, in situation, than dissimilar* in the usages of the part i. 
 people ; to whom such an alteration would be unintelligible. 
 
 The opinions, respecting the Domestic Government of our 
 British Indian interests, were not less at variance with each 
 other, than those respecting the Foreign Government. It was 
 said, by one party, that the administration of extensive provin- 
 ces, and the direction of the political, financial, and military 
 powers exercised in them, by a Company of Merchants, con- 
 stituted like the East-India Company, was a political absurdity, 
 and that it was not possible the Directors could be judges of 
 the interests of the Nation, in any of those points ; — on the 
 contrary, that they would warp the whole with their individual 
 interests and commercial schemes, and, therefore, that the con- 
 tinuance of the Indian Provinces, under the management of the 
 Company, would be dangerous, even if under the control of the 
 Executive Government, but inconsistent, if left to the Directors, 
 because they could not possess the energy required in the admi- 
 nistration of an Empire. 
 
 It was said, by the other party, that the Company had 
 originally purchased the seats of their trade, under the public 
 authority ; — that they had paid valuable considerations for 
 them to the Native Powers, in the several forms of Price, 
 Presents, and Tributes ;— that they had acquired their territorial 
 possessions, by armies, which they were empowered to levy, 
 embody, and entertain ; and that the commerce, which, alone, 
 made the revenue valuable to the Public, had arisen from their 
 
 stock 
 
16 
 
 ^ R J L , stock and credit ; — that they had derived their knowledge of 
 the political relations in India, of the revenues in the different 
 Provinces, of the force required to maintain the influence of 
 Britain over the Natives, and of balancing the power of the 
 Indian Princes and States, from the local observations of their 
 civil and military servants, and from that long experience, 
 which best qualifies for a wise administration ; — that the 
 supposed paradox, of Merchants governing an Empire, was 
 contradicted by the fact ; and was removed, by looking at the 
 events which had attended the acquisition and preservation of our 
 Indian Possessions ; — that the Company's covenanted servants, 
 bred up to observe the habits of the Natives, and instructed in 
 their languages and interests, were best qualified to carry on 
 the subordinate duties of government, or to rise, at the different 
 Presidencies, to Seats in the Councils, or to become Governors 
 and Commanders of their armies ; — that all that consistency 
 required had been provided for, by the situation in which the 
 Directors had been placed, with respect to the King's Govern- 
 ment and Parliament ; and, therefore, that the permanency of 
 the trade could, alone, rest on the credit, and on the experience 
 of the Company, connected with the State. 
 
 These general topics influenced, more or less, the opinions 
 of the Public, and the feelings of individuals, in proportion as 
 either had time, or capacity, to examine the subject, or were 
 affected by the political opinions of the parties which had 
 
 contended 
 
-/of' 
 
 A 4 
 
 17 
 
 contended, at the period (1784), when a system for Indian part i. 
 Affairs had been devised and established by the Legislature. 
 
 The party which favored the plan, rejected by Parliament, 
 in 1783, and who, without being Proprietors of India Stock, 
 projected the substituting themselves as Managers of a great 
 territorial and commercial concern, in which they had political, 
 but not individual, interests or risks to meet, were for vesting 
 the government in other hands than the Proprietors of East- 
 India Stock, and leaving to the Company their commerce only, 
 but placing even that in subordination to their political views. 
 
 The party which favored the plan adopted in 1784, were 
 for continuing the existing system of Indian Affairs, with certain 
 modifications ; or giving to the King, by means of the Board of 
 Commissioners for the Affairs of India, connected with the 
 Court of Directors, a control over the administration of the 
 political, financial, judicial, and military branches, but leaving the 
 commerce to the Company, whose stock had created, and whose 
 experience, and sense of interest, qualified them to preserve it. 
 
 2. As the subject began to unfold itself more to notice, °n the 
 
 J & Rights of the 
 
 the second question appeared, or " TV hat were the Rights of the Public, and of 
 " Public, and of the Company, to the British Possessions in n y- 
 " India ? and, on this subject, opinions were as much at variance 
 with each other, as those on the Government, which have been 
 detailed. 
 
 The reasonings of one party were general, and rested 
 on the principle, that whatever territories the subjects of this 
 
 D realm 
 
18 
 
 part i. re alm acquire, by conquest, or by treaty, become the patrimony 
 of the Public ; and it was inferred, that though the East-India 
 Company had a right to retain their corporate capacity, and 
 the liberty of trading on a Joint Stock, the Legislature might 
 assume the territories, and administer them in the manner its 
 wisdom might deem most expedient and beneficial to the Realm : 
 hence, that the Indian Provinces might be made, like colonies, 
 dependencies of the Crown ; and the revenues, after defraying 
 the charges of management, become one of the resources of 
 the State. 
 
 The reasonings of the other party were particular and 
 specific, and arose out of the History of the East-India Com- 
 pany, in its connexion with the Legislature, for almost a 
 century. L,They admitted, that territories acquired by subjects, 
 either by conquest, or by treaty,, belong to the Public ; but 
 argued, that this principle did not apply to the case./ They 
 referred to the original Charter of Queen Elizabeth, which 
 had constituted the East-India Company a Body Corporate, with 
 perpetual succession; and to the successive grants of the 
 Crown. L They referred to the Act of Parliament, constituting 
 the English East-India Company, in 1698, at a time when the 
 powers of the Crown, to confer such privileges, were questioned ; 
 and to the Award of Lord Godolphin, in 17^7? which completed 
 the Union between the London and English East-India Com- 
 panies. They referred, also, to the following Acts of Parlia- 
 ment, which had established and confirmed the rights and 
 
 privileges 
 
 a 
 
19 
 
 Privileges of the East-India Company; — to the Act, 10th pvrt i. 
 Queen Anne, Gap. 28, which, for the encouragement of the 
 Company to proceed in making lasting settlements in the East - 
 Indies, repealed the Proviso in the Act, 6th of Queen Anne, **0 
 Cap. 17, by which their corporate capacity was, on repayment 
 of their capital stock, to cease and determine, on three 
 years' notice, after the 25th March 1726, and which 
 prolonged their term of exclusive Privileges to three years 
 after the 25th March 1733 ;— to the Act, 3d George II. 
 Cap. 14, which removed all doubts, respecting the continu- 
 ance of the corporate capacity of the East-India Company, 
 after repayment of their capital stock, and expressly en- 
 acted, that, notwithstanding such repayment or redemption, 
 the East-India Company should continue to be a Body Poli- 
 tic and Corporate, with perpetual succession, and be entitled 
 to trade to the East-Indies, on a Joint Stock, and to enjoy all 
 benefits, privileges, and rights, founded either on Charters or 
 Acts of Parliament, and which, for the consideration of 
 ^200,000 paid by the Company, prolonged their term of 
 exclusive privileges, till three years after the 25th March 1766 ; 
 — to the Act, 17th George II. Cap. 17, by which, in consider- 
 ation of a£l, 000,000 advanced to the Public, at three per cent., 
 their exclusive term was prolonged, till three years after the 25th 
 March 1780, and their perpetual right of trade to the East- 
 Indies on a Joint Stock, in their corporate capacity, confirmed; 
 
 D 2 —to 
 
20 
 
 part i. — to the Act, 7th George III. Cap. 57, by which the territories, 
 acquisitions, and revenues, lately obtained in the East-Indies, 
 were to remain in possession of the Company, for two years, on 
 condition of their paying ,§£400,000 per annum ; — to the 9th 
 George III. Cap. 24, by which these acquisitions and revenues 
 were to continue in the Company, for a farther term of five years, 
 on their paying the sum of ,§£400,000 per annum, during that 
 period ; — to the Act, 13th George III. Cap. 64, by which it was 
 agreed, that the Public should forego any participation in those 
 revenues and acquisitions, till the revenue debts, due by the 
 Company, to His Majesty, should be paid, and their bond debt 
 reduced to a specified sum ; — to the Act, 19th George III. Cap. 
 61, by which the territorial acquisitions were to remain to the 
 Company, till the 5th April 1780, and an express clause intro- 
 duced, that nothing in this Act should affect the rights of the 
 Crown, or of the Company, after the expiration of this Act ; — 
 to the Act, 20th George III. Cap. 56, by which those territorial 
 acquisitions were to remain to the Company for another year, 
 or till the 5th April 1^81 , with a similar clause of reservation 
 of rights ; and to the Act, 21st George III. Cap. 65, by which, 
 in consideration of the sum of ,§£400,000 paid by the Company 
 to the Public, their exclusive privileges were continued to them 
 till three years after the 1st March 1791, their corporate capa- 
 city confirmed, with liberty to trade to India, on a Joint Stock, 
 after that term, and the territories, revenues, and acquisitions 
 in India, to remain to them during the term of their exclusive 
 
 privileges, 
 
21 
 
 privileges, and all the rights and privileges of the Company, parti. 
 which were not altered or varied, were to remain to them, in as 
 ample manner, as though the Act had never been made : — And, 
 from these public documents, they inferred, that the following 
 rights were perpetual ; the right to be a BodyjCoj^orateand 
 Politic, with succession ; the right to purchase, acquire, and 
 dispose of property in Great-Britain ; the right to make settle- 
 ments, to any extent, within the limits of their exclusive trade ; 
 to build forts, appoint governors, erect courts of judicature, 
 coin money, raise, train, muster, and entertain forces, at sea 
 and land, repel wrongs and injuries, and to make reprisals on 
 the invaders or disturbers of the peace ; and, in general, the right 
 to continue to trade, within their limits, upon a Joint Stock, 
 for ever, although the exclusive privileges of trade, might cease, 
 or determine : that, besides, the Company's perpetual rights ex- 
 tended to all the sea-ports and places of trade in the East-Indies, 
 acquired either by grants from the Native States or Chiefs of 
 India, or held by agreement, for a full and valuable consider- 
 ation paid to the Public ; and that these rights had been ratified 
 and established by the successive Acts of Parliament which 
 have been enumerated ; and, therefore, concluded, that if the 
 exclusive privileges should cease, no private British or foreign 
 merchant could enter the Company's ports, or seats of trade, 
 for traffic, without their permission ; — that the Legislature had 
 not, at any time, exerted its authority to deprive any Corporate 
 Body of such a right ; — that this principle, which guided private 
 
 as 
 
22 
 
 PART L as we jj as public justice, was inherent in the Constitution, and, 
 on no occasion, could be departed from ; — that, in the case of 
 the East-India Company, of all others, the deviation would be 
 the most dangerous, considering the magnitude of their stock, the 
 state of their debts and credits, the value of the trade, and the 
 expences which had been incurred, in bringing this trade to its 
 present magnitude ; — and, that it would be almost impracticable 
 for the Public to give a compensation to the Company, for their 
 Dead Stock, even supposing the urgency of the case admitted the 
 receiving of it, because the value could not be calculated from 
 the sums expended, but from the expected value which those 
 sums would have brought to the Proprietors, if they had been 
 employed in general trade. 
 on the 3. As the subject more fully opened, the third question 
 
 method of re- , 
 
 alizmg the " arose, or, The practical method of realizing the Indian Reve- 
 
 Revenues of • *»••'« 
 
 India, in Bri- " nues in JBritain. 
 
 tain. 
 
 The speculators for an open trade, availing themselves of 
 the magnitude and difficulty of a solution to this question, 
 contended, that the revenues might be portioned out among 
 their Agents, at the different Presidencies, and proper securities 
 taken, for the amounts passing home with safety to the State, 
 because they would come through the credit of British Mer- 
 chants. 
 
 The East-India Company, on the other hand, without 
 questioning the probity, or the credit of British merchants, in 
 general, affirmed, that the amount which the nation derived, 
 
 annually, 
 
23 
 
 annually, from their trade, in duties and customs, was consider- parti. 
 able ; — that, the risk would be great indeed, if this trade should 
 be diverted from its present channel, into the traffic of indivi- 
 dual merchants and Agents ; — and that sums of such magnitude 
 ought not to be hazarded, merely to make way for speculations, at 
 all times doubtful, and sometimes destructive in their tendency. 
 
 As the Nation began to feel the force of this circumstance, 
 and to think, that the good which it possessed was not to be 
 relinquished for advantages, which it might be difficult to 
 acquire, and still more difficult to preserve, opinions began to 
 alter ; for apprehensions were entertained, that if large and 
 certain payments were lost, the effect on national credit, parti- 
 cularly in the event of war, and, amidst the delirium of political 
 innovation, might be improvident and unwise. 
 
 4. The comparative advantages of an open; and of a on the 
 
 . comparative 
 
 regulated trade to the Mast-Indies, became a fourth subject, advantages of 
 
 an open and 
 
 which divided the opinions of the Public. ' of a regulated 
 
 trade to the 
 
 This subject, at first, seemed to resolve itself into the old East-Indie*, 
 dispute, respecting the expediency, or inexpediency of mono- 
 polies ; or into the hypothesis respecting the advantages of a free, 
 over an exclusive trade. As facts, in a great measure, were left 
 out of view, in the arguments in favor of the free trade, and as 
 opinions, even in this early stage of the negociation, seemed to 
 preponderate against the Company, though only repetitions of 
 those of the old Interlopers and Merchant Adventurers, they were 
 
 plausible, 
 
24 
 
 > part *• plausible, and addressed to the feelings of the Nation, because 
 they promised to the Public an enlargement of British navigation 
 and commerce. 
 
 In a short time, however, the subject took more fixed cha- 
 V racters, and speculation began to give way to experience. It 
 
 V_was observed, that the trade to the East-Indies required a large 
 capital, and that the Company traded on such a capital ; — that, 
 instead of acting with the spirit of narrow monopolists, bringing 
 what quantity of imports into the market they chose, and selling, 
 (like the old Dutch Companies), such quantity only as suited their 
 interests, the East-India Company were, in fact, the Agents of 
 the British Nation, trading to Asia, under public regulations, and 
 acting, as far as regarded the political, financial, and military 
 branches of the Government, under the control of the Exe- 
 cutive Power and of Parliament ; and that every man, whether 
 merchant or private individual, or even foreigners, might enter 
 into this Association, by purchasing a share of the India Stock. 
 These facts gave the question a new aspect : — it was not now, 
 whether a monopoly, or an open trade, be preferable ; but, whe- 
 ther a regulated trade, under the immediate management of the 
 Company, and control of the Executive Power, responsible to 
 Parliament, he safer than the open and unrestrained trade of 
 individual Merchants, to a distant country, through whom pro- 
 x. portions of the revenue were to pass to Britain ? 
 
 v The subject thus assumed its true character; and as the 
 
 sums which the Public had drawn from the Company, began to 
 
 be 
 
25 
 
 be examined and understood, opinions rather leaned towards the T AKT r ; 
 
 opposite side, or in favor of the East-India Company. 
 
 Such were the topics upon which the public mind fluctuated, 
 
 as the Parliamentary deliberations, on the subject of the Indian 
 
 Affairs, approached. 
 
 The situation of the Company, on this occasion, though ^f^™^ 
 
 not new, was difficult : — the situation of the Claimants for a ^ n °™ p , a ny J sed 
 
 share in the Asiatic trade, was new, and, perhaps, more dim- [^ciaim^ 
 
 cult, both from their ignorance of events, and from their preju- fni'theCom- 
 
 dices against every proposition, that seemed to interrupt, or cut Government. 
 
 off, the prospects of gain, with which they had either been 
 
 duping themselves, or others. 
 
 Both parties now began to address Government; the one 
 claiming a renewal of their privileges, and ready to give such 
 
 terms to the Public, as a knowledge of the value of the pri- 
 vileges they sought, authorized them to offer ; the other assert « 
 ing, that, as British subjects, they had a right to every encou- 
 ragement to their ingenuity, industry, and spirit of enterprize ; 
 and that they only desired a new field for their exertions ; and, 
 in return, held out to the Public, a trade in prospect, which 
 would enrich the adventurer, and increase the public revenues 
 beyond all arithmetical progression. LTo yield, therefore, to the 
 Company, Government were aware would appear as if they 
 wished to check the commercial spirit of the Public: — to 
 yield to the Claimants, would be to endanger not only a large 
 commercial interest, but a certain and tried national resource. 
 
 E Under 
 
26 
 
 part i. Under such circumstances, the difficulties which we have 
 
 to contemplate, increased to all parties : to the Company ; to the 
 Claimants on its privileges : and to Government, arranging 
 the demands of both, and preparing, not only the evidence 
 adduced by each, but accompanying this evidence with 
 propositions or resolutions, for the consideration of Par- 
 liament. 
 ^theaaTs' ^ W ^ ? therefore, be necessary to describe the separate 
 
 india h tnrie 8t " c ^ asses °^ tne Opponents of the East-India Company, by distin- 
 awwCTs'of g u i snm g tnem fr° m eacn other, by their professed objects. 
 theCompa- x Tne firgt c j asg of Opponents to the Company, were 
 
 either those who were against the renewal of their exclusive privi- 
 leges, and for opening the trade to India and to China, or to both, 
 because this plan would increase the sales of their particular 
 manufactures ; or those, who were for continuing the privi- 
 leges of the Company, for a short time, till the India and China 
 trade could be diverted into a new channel. 
 
 2. The second class of Opponents to the Company were 
 those, who were for participating in the benefits of the trade to 
 the East-Indies, upon their own funds and risk, without being 
 sharers in the Company's stock or expences ; or if this could 
 not be obtained, were for allowing the Company to retain their 
 exclusive privileges, but placing their commerce under certain 
 restraints, in exports, imports, rates of freight, and in home 
 sales, &c. 
 
 For 
 
For the purpose of ascertaining the objects of the first part i. 
 of these classes of Opponents, or those who were for opening Firsl Class bf 
 
 1 x x ° Opponents to 
 
 the trade to the East-Indies, either immediately, or in a short the Co ™P a - 
 
 * ny, or tliose 
 
 time, we must advert to the principle which the whole of who . r f com * 
 
 ' * ■*• mended an 
 
 their observations, and of their arguments, tried to establish, immediat «; 
 
 ° 7 open trade j 
 
 viz. that the monopoly of the East-India Company, or their ^^6°°^ 
 exclusive privilege of trade, ought to cease and determine ; and, pri v "g^ s [jj| 
 if this were done, they asserted, that the effect would be a^openTrade 
 " an immense and boundless increase " of the trade, of the cou etne ' 
 resources, and of the naval power of the Empire : — And here 
 it became necessary to enquire, whether this plan of an open 
 trade, recommended in the diversified resolutions and memo- 
 rials, presented by mercantile and manufacturing bodies, rested 
 
 \ on even probable evidence, or on estimates, or whether the 
 / whole originated in speculation only ? 
 
 / The Liverpool claim came first, t in the order of time. In Propositions, 
 
 C-- # of this de- 
 
 the preamble it stated, " that the Creator of the Universe scription, by 
 
 Merchants of 
 
 " having endowed the different portions of the earth with Liverpool. 
 
 " different products, has laid the foundations of commerce, the 
 
 " object of which is, to supply the mutual wants of man ; — 
 
 " that all regulations for trade ought to spring from a mutual 
 
 ce sense of interest ; and, therefore, that trade should be free 
 
 " from every restraint." ^ 
 
 Upon the basis of this general principle, the resolutions 
 proceeded ; — " that monopolies are destructive, because they 
 " provide for the interest of the monopolist only, enable him, 
 
 E 2 "at 
 
28 
 
 part r « a t his pleasure, to fix the rate at which he buys in one 
 " country and sells in another ; — that the History of the East- 
 " India Company, if resorted to, will afford a striking proof 
 '" of the evil consequence of monopoly, since the injuries it 
 " has produced, both to Britain and to India, are of the most 
 " serious nature ;4-that the Company has changed its character 
 " of merchants, for that of warriors and politicians, and as- 
 w sumed the sovereignty of twenty millions of men ; — that 
 " instead of making trade its only object, it has maintained its 
 " dominion by force, and with vast and extensive civil and 
 " military establishments, supported by charges, which are to 
 " be defrayed by the people of India or of Great Britain ; — 
 " that it is thence probable, as peace is the natural and inse- 
 " parable attendant of commerce, and as the possession of 
 " continental territories is valuable only, in so far as they are 
 " productive of commercial intercourse, the system of a free 
 " or an open trade would make desolating wars less frequent, 
 " prevent the soil of India from being deluged with blood, and 
 " stop the sacrifice of thousands of British subjects, and mil- 
 " lions of British treasure." 
 ^— The Mayor, Merchants, and Tradesmen of Liverpool, 
 assuming these grounds, decided ; — " that the monopoly of 
 fi< the East-India Company prevents the exports of our manu- 
 u factures to distant regions of the world, while an open trade 
 " would encrease our exports, twenty-fold and upwards ; and 
 <c that the present system shuts up a large portion of the earth, 
 
 " to 
 
20 
 
 " to which our traffic might be carried." In proof of this £^13 
 assertion they stated ; — " that the Directors have neglected to 
 " trade to the Eastern Coast of Africa, to the Coasts of the 
 " Gulfs of Arabia and Persia* and to the profusion of Islands 
 " which are scattered throughout the Indian Ocean : — Farther, 
 " the Company's monopoly (besides these evils), choaks the 
 " infant manufactures of Britain, by raising the price of 
 " them ; it introduced the rival manufactures of India into 
 (i Britain itself, viz. porcelain and cotton stuffs ; it is as injurious 
 " to our navigation as to our commerce, for the Directors 
 " sacrifice the interest of the Company, by giving overcharged 
 " freights to large ships, to the detriment, of ship-builders and 
 u the training of mariners. The opinion," they add, " that 
 i( a great capital is necessary for this trade, is balanced by the 
 u fact, that private merchants and companies could furnish ^ 
 ( " capitals sufficient for any trade. (The intercourse of the "y 
 
 " Americans with the East-Indies has shewn what can be 
 " done, and if the evil be not remedied, the India trade will 
 11 find its way to Europe through foreign bottoms." 
 
 From these considerations, and many others, it was infer- 
 red, that a Petition should be presented to Parliament, praying 
 to be heard, by counsel, against the renewal of the Company's 
 exclusive privileges/ 1 ) sqiwtei 
 
 The Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers of Glas- By the 
 gow, though they resolved to petition Parliament for liberty to Commerce, 
 
 at Glasgow. 
 
 be 
 
 (1) Appendix, No. I. page 1. 
 
a 
 cc 
 cc 
 
 CC 
 
 a 
 
 3Q 
 
 part i. be heard against the renewal of the Company's privileges, yet 
 did not launch so widely into the speculative principles of trade, 
 or into reasonings upon those principles, as the Corporation of 
 Liverpool had done : — " confiding/' as they observed, " in the 
 " wisdom of Parliament, which they feel will liberally indem- 
 " nify the Company, in some shape or other, for the sacrifices 
 " of any rights which they might make ; and leaving it to the 
 " same wisdom to decide, whether the territorial revenues 
 ought to remain with the Company, or not, they give it as 
 their opinion, that this, though granted, can be no good 
 reason for continuing with the Company an exclusive privilege 
 of trade, to the countries between the Cape of Good Hope 
 and Streights of Magellan. Whatever good causes might 
 ^—?*' have formerly existed, for continuing the Company's exclusive 
 " privileges, those causes no longer operate, because the enter- 
 " prize and capital of individuals, and of Companies of Mer- 
 " chants, in Britain, are, at this time, sufficient for carrying 
 on trade to those distant regions. For the large capital of 
 the Company might still be employed, without its having 
 " exclusive privileges ; and if not so employed, the industry 
 " of individuals will draw from the East a multitude of raw 
 " materials, and other articles, now supplied us by the French, 
 " Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese nations. / Liberal regula- 
 " tions for the commerce might be laid down, which would 
 " tend to encrease the Marine of Great Britain, and the revenues 
 " to Government, and, therefore, (these claimants concluded) 
 
 " that 
 
 
31 
 
 " that every argument, both in point of prudence and of sound ^^Jj 
 " policy, is in favor of an open trade, and against the renewal 
 " of the exclusive privileges of the East-India Company/ 1 ) x 
 
 The memorial of the Chairman of the Committee of this 
 Chamber of Commerce, is more precise in its objects than the 
 propositions had been : — It required certain privileges to the 
 cotton trade of that populous city, and its environs, and to the 
 cotton manufacturers in general. 
 
 This branch of the subject will be considered under the 
 head of regulations demanded for the Company's trade (sup- 
 posing their exclusive privilege to be continued). It is sufficient, 
 in this place, to advert to the propositions which the memorial 
 offered, on the subject of an open trade in preference to the 
 Company's exclusive privileges. 
 
 It merits notice, on this claim, that if the propositions on 
 the subject of an open trade should not be listened to, the 
 Chamber were determined to oppose the renewal of the Com- 
 pany's privileges altogether, " however anxious they were to 
 " avoid opposition, at a time when the support of every good 
 subject was so eminently necessary : — They were willing, 
 however, that the privileges should be renewed, provided the 
 term should be considerably short of twenty years ; and that 
 the Company should not be allowed to import, for home 
 sale, any piece goods, plain muslins excepted, exceeding ten 
 shillings per square yard, and muslins ornamented by the 
 
 " loom 
 
 (l) Appendix, No. II. page viii. 
 
 a 
 
 ti 
 
32 
 
 
 ^ AR T T ; " loom or needle, exceeding twenty shillings per square yard ; 
 iC — that the duties on piece goods, imported by the Company, 
 " should remain as at present, but, upon exportation, that 
 " eight per cent, only should be drawn back ^-that British 
 " manufacturers should have a power to export and import, in 
 m vessels of their own, to and from any part of the world which 
 u might be included in the limits of the East-India Company, 
 " and be liable only, in India, to the duties paid by foreign 
 " nations ; — these ships, however, to take their clearances 
 " from London, and to load and discharge their cargoes at 
 " no other wharfs than those of the East-India Company ; — 
 " that cotton machinery should, on no account, be exported to 
 " India, and that the line of exclusion should be drawn, 
 " considerably to the Eastward and Northward of the Cape of 
 " Good Hope. If these propositions should not be thought 
 " admissible, . the Manufacturers consented, that the privileges 
 u should be renewed, during the continuance of the War with 
 " France, or for two years after Peace should be restored, 
 " provided the Company acceded to the non-importation of 
 " piece goods, except as before specified, and should not export 
 " cottton machinery to India, and that the limits should be 
 " considerably narrowed to the Eastward and Northward of the 
 " Cape of Good Hope. They wished not, however, to injure 
 " the Company, but to encourage the home manufactures, by 
 " liberty to export to those countries, which the Company have 
 " not hitherto supplied with British produce, to the extent of 
 
 " the 
 
33 
 
 u the probable demand : in particular, they wished to carry PA ^T i. 
 " their produce to China, if that market should be more fully 
 " opened."^ 
 
 The Resolutions of the Manufacturers of Paisley, were — by the 
 
 Manufactu- 
 
 nearly copies of those of the Chamber of Commerce of Glasgow. rers of Pai»- 
 \ Embracing the same principle, that the monopoly of a foreign 
 trade is destructive to the spirit of enterprize, "^they asserted, 
 " that the exclusive privilege of the East-India Company, was 
 " an experimental proof of this truth, and concluded, that a 
 " free trade would enable them to supply themselves with raw 
 " materials, upon which they could profitably exercise their 
 fi ingenuity and industry, and " spread their produce over all 
 " " the habitable world:" — hence they resolved, that a petition 
 " should be presented to Parliament, for permission to British 
 .'i subjects to trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope, upon paying 
 " such rates and duties as Parliament might think fit."( 2 > 
 
 The principal Merchants and Manufacturers of Man- By the Mer- 
 c hester, were also called together by the Boroughreeve and Manufactu- 
 Constables, to consider what measures ought to be taken, for Chester. 
 preventing a renewal of the East-India Company's privileges ; 
 and, if that could not be effected, to devise such modifications of 
 the trade in the new Act, as would facilitate the introduction 
 into this country, of the natural products of the East, and in- 
 crease the sale of British manufactures in all countries beyond - 
 the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 F It 
 
 (1) Appendix, No. IT, page xi. 
 
 (2) Appendix, No. Ill, page xvii. 
 
34 
 
 parti. It does not appear, that the Committee, to whom this 
 
 business was entrusted, framed Resolutions, but took such 
 instructions, only, as seemed to arise out of the sense of the 
 meeting, or as the nature of the business required. In general, 
 the Merchants and Manufacturers of Manchester, declared 
 themselves adverse to the renewal of the East-India Company's 
 exclusive privileges, and appointed Delegates to convey their 
 sentiments to Government.^ 
 
 When the Manchester Delegates discovered that the pro- 
 position for a free trade to India could not be admitted, or, in 
 other words, that private ships trading to India, were held to be 
 incompatible with the continuation of the privileges of the East- 
 India Company, they resorted to the following modifications of 
 Cjthe Company's trade, viz. that the freight, outwards, should not 
 1/ exceed g£4 sterling per ton, and, homewards <s£12 per ton ; — 
 
 that the manufacturers of this kingdom, should be exempted 
 from all import and export duties to India ; — that all goods of 
 private traders, particularly those for home consumption, should 
 be delivered to the owners on demand, or as soon after being 
 landed as the freight and duties should be paid; — tbat the Cbina 
 market should be opened to every species of British manufacture 
 from the ports in India, in case it should not be permitted to 
 trade direct thither. 
 
 After discovering, however, that this rate of freight would 
 materially affect the established shipping of the India Company, 
 
 they 
 
 (l) Appendix, No. IV, page sx. 
 
,1«* 
 
 35 
 
 they suggested £5 for the export, and .§£15 for the import, as ?^ RT T ; 
 rates at which it seemed reasonable to urge the Directors to agree ; 
 — that as the duties in India constituted a branch of the revenue, 
 there could be no difficulty in delivering the goods to the owners ; 
 — and that as the trade between India and China could not be 
 carried on in any other way, than by the ships employed in the 
 country, those engaged in that commerce should be at liberty to 
 trade in any article they could find in India, and, of course, in 
 any article of British export which might be sent there, and 
 which they could, with advantage, add to the assortment of 
 their cargoes. A more numerous Delegation, however, were of 
 opinion, that the East-India Company should not, in future, 
 expose to sale any cotton goods, manufactured in the East-Indies, 
 except for re-exportation ; — that they should bring home a given 
 quantity of fine cotton- wool, and other raw materials, for the 
 supply of the British manufacture ; — and that they should not 
 expose to sale, in any one year, a greater quantity of manufac- 
 tured cotton goods of India, than they have done on an average 
 of the last ten years.W 
 
 ^ The Manchester Delegates strengthened these demands, by 
 a report from the Committee at Liverpool, who offered to furnish 
 private ships at ^14 per ton, properly appointed for the trade, 
 during peace, and required a certain rate (one half or one per 
 cent.) to be fixed for the duties in India ;-— that goods should be 
 delivered on payment of freight and duties $ and that if the trade 
 
 F 2 should 
 
 (1) Appendix, No. IV, page xxii. 
 
36* 
 
 part i. should not be opened to China, at least the Company should be 
 obliged to send samples of cotton-velvets and velverets, of suit- 
 able colors, to that country and to Persia 
 
 Here the propositions from Manchester closed, till the 
 negociation between Government and the Company opened/ 1 ) 
 — by the The Exeter propositions proceeded nearlv on the same 
 
 Merchants of - 
 
 Exeter. ground with the preceding Resolutions ; though, like the others, 
 they had a precise object. The Merchants of that city set forth, 
 \ m J e that monopolies are pernicious, because they restrain industry, 
 " and enable the monopolist to fix the rate, both of purchase and 
 "■ of sale; — that the agents of such monopolists have often a 
 " separate interest from their employers, but that the trade of 
 " individuals would render them prosperous, without risk from 
 s * such an abuse ; — that the errors of the East-India Company 
 " have been felt by the Merchants of Exeter in particular, in 
 " the system formed for the supply of the Company with Devon- 
 " shire woollens, which are procured through factors resident 
 " in London, where the woollens are dyed and prepared, though 
 " the preparation and dying could be carried on cheaper, and 
 " better, in Devonshire; — that this hardship is to be ascribed to 
 " the existing chain which cements privileged companies ; — that 
 " the increased demand for Long-Ells in China had raised the 
 " price of wool, because the demands from Germany are now 
 u supplied from that country more reasonably than from Exeter; 
 " — that a free exportation to China, and the Eastern Islands, 
 
 would 
 
 (1) Appendix, No. IV, page xxii to xxvii. 
 
a 
 
 37 
 
 " would create new demands, and open to the woollen manufac- ^art i. 
 f tory inexhaustible sources of employment ; — that the reasons 
 " for creating an exclusive Company have long ceased to operate, 
 " and as Associations of Merchants could, with prudence, 
 " increase the trade, the exclusive privilege of trade to China 
 " should be abolished ; — that they allowed the difficulty of trade 
 " to India connected with revenue, but asserted, that such dif- 
 " Acuities do not exist in China, and therefore resolved, that a 
 " Petition should be presented to Parliament, praying that a 
 " more impartial system of trade to the East-Indies might be 
 adopted, and one better calculated to promote the commercial 
 " and landed interests of this country/' 
 
 The Memorial explaining these Resolutions stated further, 
 " that the demand of the Directors, for Long-Ells, had of late 
 " greatly increased ; — that, of course, the price of wool had ' 
 " risen ; — that this had operated as a bounty on the rising 
 u manufactures in neighbouring states, so that we were in 
 " danger of losing the old markets of Europe ; — farther, that 
 " the Exeter Merchants could save ten per cent, to the Company, 
 u in the preparation and dying of Long-Ells, if this branch was 
 " entrusted to them."(°- 
 
 In opposition to this Memorial it was stated, by several of These last jr^* 
 
 . . propositions " 
 
 the lesser Towns, concerned in the manufacture of Long-Ells, that resisted, by -u 
 
 "■'■* different 
 
 the requisition of the Merchants of Exeter, to have the dying Towns in 
 
 Devonshire, 
 
 and preparing branches of the woollens transferred from London &c « 
 
 to 
 
 (1) Appendix, No. V, page xxviii to xxxii^ 
 
c 
 
 38 
 
 part I. to Exeter, originated solely in an interested speculation, to draw 
 a part of the profits (which in justice belonged to the Company, 
 to whom thousands of the inhabitants of Devonshire owed their 
 subsistence), to the city of Exeter ; — that these Towns, and the 
 environs of them, as a debt which they owed to the East-India 
 Company, to whose punctuality of payments, and uniformity of 
 demand, they had been so much indebted, had addressed 
 letters to the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, stating 
 that they were satisfied with the Company's employ ; — and 
 that they prayed that the speculations of the Merchants of 
 Exeter might not be listened to, because if any change Of 
 system, in trading to the East-Indies, should be adopted, 
 thousands would be left destitute, by the annihilation of their 
 employments ; adding, that it ought to be remembered, the 
 • encouragement afforded by the Company, had created and sup- 
 ported these manufactures. 
 
 and by The complaint of the Merchants of Exeter was principally 
 
 and Dressers directed against the Dyers and Dressers of Woollens in London, 
 in London, to whom the Company had entrusted the preparation of the 
 ( assortment of Long-Ells for the China market. The London 
 Dyers replied, that Long-Ells could only be completely prepared 
 in London and its vicinity, and no where cheaper ; but the 
 Exeter Merchants continued to assert, that other European 
 nations, who had the choice of the two markets (London and 
 Exeter), almost exclusively preferred Exeter, and that the 
 supply of the countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope, where 
 ^W^ the 
 
 T 
 
39 
 
 the consumers have not a choice, might he said to he the only part h 
 ^y one furnished by London. (jThe London Dyers, &c. explained, 
 that were this branch of industry removed to Exeter, the capitals 
 of those embarked in the trade at London would suffer. To 
 this, it was answered, that the quantity of Long-Ells, at 
 present exported to China, was ten-fold more than it had been 
 in the eight years preceding, and that the Company itself were 
 of opinion, this export would progressively increase, and that 
 they only solicited one-third, or even one-fourth, of the busi- 
 ness ; hence, that a large proportion would still remain to the 
 factors and dressers of London : — that the supply of Long-Ells 
 for China prejudiced the supply required for the European mar- 
 kets, and therefore, that it was an injury to the trade of Exeter, 
 which, from these circumstances, was on the decline.* 1 ) 
 
 This controversy continued to be more obstinate ; the 
 London Factors renewed their observations, and the Exeter 
 Merchants retorted with theirs. The London Factors asserted, 
 that the exportation of Long-Ells to China had not raised the 
 price of that article in Devonshire : the Exeter Merchants 
 replied, that this demand had increased in quantity, nearly 
 three-fourths of all the European exports of Long-Ells, and 
 what was still worse, decreased them in quality. The two sorts 
 of Long-Ells taken by the Company were Green Fgrrelh^ and 
 Striped Forrells (the latter always bearing a price, ten to fourteen 
 
 per 
 
 (1) Letter from the Merchants of Exeter to the President of the Board of Commis- 
 sioners, April 13th, 1793, Appendix, No. V, page xxxvii. 
 
40 
 
 part I. per cent, higher than the former), which have experienced an 
 advance, from 1/85 to 1793, of one and a half per cent. ; — that 
 the Company, indeed, had not paid higher, but the commodity, 
 from Autumn 1792, to January 1793, had advanced twelve per 
 cent. : — so that it was inferred, the demand for Long-Ells, for 
 China, influenced the price of that article in Devonshire ; — 
 that the evil was spreading, as the woollen manufactures of 
 Norwich, Halifax, and Leeds, had fallen from ten to fifteen 
 per cent., and yet Long-Ells had advanced in price, the demand 
 for them, in China, not being influenced by the war in Europe. 
 The London Dyers, &c, in the next place asserted, that 
 if the Company's demand had produced such effects, no dangers 
 would thence arise to the European markets, since no substitute 
 for Long-Ells can be found. In reply, the Exeter Merchants 
 affirmed, that from 1783 to 1785 (immediately after the Peace), 
 the principal export of Long-Ells had been to Spain ; — that 
 during the War (1783), Spain had established manufactures of 
 Long-Ells, at San Fernando and Guadalaxara ; — that, from 1783 
 to 1786, the Exeter Merchants rivalled these Spanish manufac- 
 turers, particularly since the Spanish Government had laid a 
 duty on their Sargas ; — that the land carriage, from San Fer- 
 nando and Guadalaxara, had raised the price of the Sargas, and, 
 therefore, the Long-Ells were cheaper at the sea-ports ; — that 
 Spanish America had long been the principal mart for Long- 
 Ells, but that, during the war, a coarse cotton fabric of 
 Catalonia, and the linens and flannels of Silesia, had been used 
 
 as 
 
41 
 
 as substitutes, and that the demands for Long-Ells, for Spanish part i. 
 America, had ceased, since 1786 or 1787. 
 
 The Factors of London, in the third place, stated^ that a 
 principal cause of the high price of wool, was the demand of 
 woollens for France. In reply, it was asserted, that the demand 
 of Long-Ells, for France, was so inconsiderable, that it could 
 not, even in a slight degree, affect the price of wool. 
 
 The London Factors, in the fourth place, affirmed, that 
 Exeter does not possess superior advantages for preparing, dying, 
 &c. the Long-Ells, and that the art was no where in perfection, 
 except in London. In answer, it was said by the Exeter Mer- 
 chants, that the Long-Ells prepared at Exeter were exported to 
 every part of Europe ; — that the labor,arising from this commerce, 
 constituted the principal support of that city ; — that the processes 
 are conducted under the immediate inspection of the merchants, 
 and on their own account ; — that they could serve the Company 
 as well, and cheaper, than the Dressers and Dyers of London ; 
 — and that, at Exeter, they have the demand of all the world 
 open to them, except that of the countries beyond the Cape of 
 Good Hope. 
 
 The London Factors affirmed , in the fifth place, that the 
 object of the Merchants of Exeter was to derive a profit from 
 the Long-Ells, bought for the Company, which they do not, at 
 this time, receive. This the Exeter Merchants confessed, and 
 referred to a principle in commercial policy, that profits can only 
 flow from an union of local advantage, with industry and skill. 
 
 G The 
 
1 
 
 42 
 
 part i. The London Factors, in the last place, affirmed, that the 
 
 preparation, dying, and finishing of Long-Ells, is riot of that 
 importance to the city of Exeter represented by the Merchants. 
 In reply, the Exeter Merchants said, that the fabric of Long- 
 Ells constituted almost the only object of industry at Exeter, 
 and that it comprehended three-fourths, both in quality and in 
 value, of the woollens prepared in that city.W 
 Propositions The Manufacturers of Norwich, more moderate in their 
 
 by the Ma- " . . . 
 
 nufacturers demand, required only, after stating the importance of their 
 
 of Norwich. 
 
 trade, " that under the new Act, the Company's officers might 
 " be permitted to make up, as articles in their assortment for 
 u China, the Norwich stuffs and camblets."( 2) 
 General re- In taking a view of the force of this accumulation of claims, 
 
 suit of the 
 
 arguments of as far as they affected the general question of an open, or a 
 
 the Claim- J & " • * 
 
 ants. regulated trade, the whole appeared, at the time, to resolve 
 
 itself into the following conclusions : 
 
 1. That an open or free trade to the East-Indies would be 
 \ more advantageous to the Nation, than the regulated trade of 
 
 the Company, and, therefore, that their exclusive privileges 
 should either not be renewed, or, at least, should only be 
 continued for a short time. 
 
 2. That the private Merchants, or Companies of Mer- 
 chants, in Britain, could furnish a sufficient capital for the 
 East-India trade, and would be actuated by a spirit of enter- 
 prize 
 
 (1) See Appendix, No. V. and letter annexed, April 15th 1793, pages xxxvii to xlvii. 
 
 (2) Mr. Harvey's Memorial to the Lords of Trade and Plantations 4th May 1793, page 
 xlviii. 
 
43 
 
 prize ; so that Government might enact commercial regulations V PART L 
 for the Free Traders, by which the revenues of British India 
 could be made to pass home, in greater amounts than what had 
 hitherto been received, through the trade of the East-India 
 Company. 
 
 3. That, supposing the territorial revenues to be continued 
 to the Company, the trade might be opened, either in whole, or 
 in part ; and if certain articles in the trade should be exclusively 
 continued to the Company, still that the Free Traders might be 
 allowed to become competitors with them in the remaining 
 articles. 
 
 These arguments in favor of the open trade could not, at Effect of 
 the time they were promulgated, but have an influence upon the public opini- 
 public mind. The manufacturing interests had been annually 
 increasing ; our artizans in the different counties were nume- 
 rous, and received wages hitherto unknown, while their 
 employers had acquired fortunes, as the fair reward of their 
 ingenuity, enterprize, and industry ; it was, therefore, the wish 
 of Government, to afford every encouragement to those merito- 
 rious classes of men, and, at the same time, to do justice to the 
 East-India Company, whose exertions, for nearly two hundred 
 years, had given existence to some, and spirit to most of these 
 manufacturing bodies, or brought them to the situation in which 
 their interests could be opposed to those of the Company. 
 
 Under circumstances so novel in their kind, and with claims Conduct of 
 
 , m Government 
 
 before them, so obviously incompatible with each other, it respecting 
 
 them. 
 
 G 2 required 
 
<3a 
 
 44 
 
 PART l required the most deliberate attention of Government to prepare 
 the whole materials, and to arrange them in such a manner, that 
 they might meet the examination and decision of the Legisla- 
 ture : — for this purpose it became necessary, not only to examine 
 the grounds upon which the observations and arguments of the 
 commercial and manufacturing bodies rested, but also to call 
 for the evidence which the East-India Company could adduce, 
 as the ground of their expectations for a renewal of their 
 exclusive privileges. Documents, only, could shew, whether the 
 expectations of their Opponents, or those of the Company, 
 were best founded, or prove, that it would be for the public 
 interest, to alter the whole system of the British trade to the 
 East-Indies. 
 Answers We shall, therefore, in their order, state the answers to 
 
 made by the 
 
 Company : each of these arguments, as brought forward by the Company. 
 to the To the first argument, or f$ that an open and free trade to 
 
 propositions 
 
 for an open " the East-Indies would be more advantageous to the Nation, 
 
 trade to the 
 
 East-Indies. " than the regulated trade of the Company, and therefore that 
 " their exclusive privileges ought either not to be renewed, or, 
 " at least, ought to be continued only for a short time ; " it 
 was answered, that before these advantages could be deemed 
 substantial, or before the innovation could be admitted, the pre- 
 liminary question should be solved, — in what the supposed 
 advantages of a free and open trade consisted ? because, to 
 attain them, a regulated commerce, like that of the East-India 
 Company, was to be relinquished. 
 
 Advantages 
 
45 
 
 Advantages from the East-Indies, to the Nation, it was ^'ZJj 
 observed, could be of three kinds only ; an increase of trade, 
 an increase of domestic revenues, and an increase of foreign 
 dominions and revenues arising from them. If, from documents 
 annually laid before Parliament by the Company, it had appear- 
 ed, that their shipping, on an average of ten years, amounted 
 to eighty- one thousand tons, employing seven thousand seamen, ^U-4>*-*u#»- 
 at the expence of about ,§£850,000 per annum ; — that their - lv— ' -^" C2- * 
 exports of British produce and manufactures, including those 
 in private trade, had amounted to ,§£1,550,000 per annum, and 
 that the sales of their imports had amounted to ,§£5,103,094 ; it 
 followed, as a subject for consideration, whether the proposers 
 of the open trade had brought forward any estimates to shew, 
 that under the new system which they recommended, a greater 
 quantity of tonnage, suitable to the trade, would be employed ; 
 whether any estimate of the exports of British produce had 
 been adduced by these claimants, and whether these exports 
 were to be of British staples, or of goods manufactured from 
 Eastern raw materials. It was, in the same way, to be ascer- 
 tained, whether any estimate had been formed, to shew, that 
 the imports from India, and from China, would not only be larger 
 by the new system, but tend, in the same degree, to rival the 
 European Companies in the market ; and, on such estimates, it 
 was inferred, the Legislature could only judge whether the trade, 
 which we now enjoy, ought to be shifted from its old channel, in 
 
 order 
 
 <- 
 
46 
 
 PART I. order to obtain a greater trade, promised under the speculation 
 of the open commerce. 
 
 The favorers of the Company held, that as far as regarded 
 India, the value of the revenues to Britain was connected with 
 their passing through a regulated commerce ; for in this way, 
 only, the public could participate in them. The private Mer- 
 chants, it had been said, could bring home portions of this 
 revenue ; but it was allowed, that the Legislature must devise a 
 body of regulations, under which these portions could be en- 
 trusted to such Merchants. Various plans, it was added, had 
 been thought of, upon the presumption of the open trade to 
 India being practicable ; but it had, in general, been found, that 
 though the clearances from India, and from Britain, might be 
 precise and regular, it was next to impossible to ensure to 
 Government, that the Private Trader would observe them with 
 a rigid punctuality. Private merchantmen, more easily than 
 the Company's regular ships, might yield to the temptation 
 of a great profit, and might be driven out of the common line 
 of navigation to Britain, towards ports in. America, or in Europe. 
 If, in the same manner, upon the perusal of documents, 
 it should appear, that the East-India trade had paid, in duties 
 and in customs, (exclusive of those on private trade) (jjp wards of 
 \ 5^1,000,000 per annum, recourse must be had to the resolutions 
 \y y and memorials, to discover, whether or not any calculations, or 
 1n> ^estimates, had been formed or adduced, tending to shew, that 
 
 the 
 
47 
 
 the open or free trade would either pay the same or greater PAR T r. 
 amounts. JEf no such estimates had been formed, then it became 
 a question, whether the Public ought to relinquish a large reve- 
 nue which it possessed, for an indefinitely greater revenue, pro- 
 mised to it upon speculation only. 
 
 (_If it appeared, that the revenues of India, for the ten years 
 preceding the year 1793, had been on the increase, and from 
 statements of them laid before Parliament, that they amounted, 
 on the average of three years, to ^86,897, 730 ; that in the war 
 of 1783, dominions had been acquired, which gave the hope of 
 an increase of Indian revenues ; and if the Public, under the 
 existing system, had reason to expect a participation, it was a 
 natural demand, whether an open trade was perfectly compa- 
 tible with existing commercial and political advantages from the 
 East-Indies ? and whether, supposing the territorial revenues to 
 be separated from the trade, the Nation would derive the same 
 advantages which it, at that time, possessed ? 
 
 It was shewn, that, after the Commutation Act, Britain 
 had become possessed of the greatest share in the China trade, 
 and that the confidence of that singular people in the large 
 demands, regular payments, and established credit of the Com- 
 pany, was stronger towards the English, than towards any 
 other Nation ; in so much, that the demands of the Company, 
 for one species of woollen manufacture, had been complained 
 of as too great j and it was concluded, that a change of system 
 ought not to be hazarded. It was also asked, if any 
 
 estimates 
 
48 
 
 PART i. estimates had been produced, to convince the Nation, that under 
 the new plan, we could maintain our preference in the China 
 market, increase our trade to it, and meet our European and 
 American competitors, then the new system would merit atten- 
 tion ; but if no such estimates had been produced, it became 
 doubtful, whether even this branch of the trade, in its present 
 magnitude, could be preserved by the experiment of an open 
 trade : — hence it was held to be dangerous to attempt such a 
 change. 
 
 Men of deliberate judgment now began to hesitate, and to 
 waver in their opinions on the subject : — they saw, that it was 
 doubtful whether the whole of the Eastern trade, the home 
 revenues arising from it, our Indian dominions, and the reve- 
 nues they yielded, could be preserved in a state of prosperity, 
 if the innovation of the open trade should be adopted. 
 
 to tlie Though perhaps it is unnecessary to examine the principles 
 
 ?rom which fr° m which some of the mercantile and manufacturing bodies 
 
 anVpe^trade deduced their system of open trade, yet we should not give a 
 
 e uce . £ a j r v j ew Q f t h e opinions, which prevailed at this juncture, if, 
 
 after bringing forward the substance of the observations in the 
 
 different resolutions, we did not, also, lay open the circumstances 
 
 upon which they proceeded. 
 
 It was stated, that the description given of monopolies, or 
 the privilege to a merchant of bringing what quantities of goods 
 into the market he might chuse, and selling what quantities, 
 and at what prices, might suit his interest, was, by no means, 
 
 applicable 
 
49 
 
 applicable to the regulated trade of the East-India Company ;—* 
 that nothing was so easy as to condemn this great mercantile 
 body, as monopolists, unless it were to hold out a specious plan 
 to subvert their commerce ; — that though the general arguments 
 r against monopolies might be good, they did not apply to the case ;-~ 
 ^\ that so far from being a monopoly, the East-India stock was open, 
 and might be purchased, by every Merchant, or by every Associa- 
 tion of Merchants, who might choose to buy shares in it ; — that, 
 in fact, the East-India Company were not a private Corporation 
 trading exclusively to the East, but the British Nation trading, 
 under regulations, to that part of the world, upon a large capital, as 
 exclusively, indeed, of other Nations, as subsisting treaties would 
 allow ; — that it could not be a monopoly, where every stranger, 
 as well as the subjects of this realm, might become traders, by 
 entering into the Company's concern ; — that it was not a mono- 
 poly, where sales were regulated, and prices left to the pleasure of 
 the buyer ; — and that it was not a monopoly, where the amounts 
 of the sales were annually laid before Parliament, and the Public.^ 
 
 Notwithstanding these truths, it appeared somewhat sin- 
 gular, that the avowed opponents of monopoly should ask 
 monopolies for themselves in the home market, and seek to 
 impose hard restraints upon the Company, and harder, still, upon 
 the countries to which both were to trade : — for instance, the 
 Manchester Manufacturers required, that the home cotton goods 
 should have an exclusive possession of the British market;— 
 that the piece goods from India should be prohibited to be worn 
 
 H in 
 
50 
 
 part I. i n Great Britain, and that even the importation of them, for 
 re-exportation to foreign markets, should not be extended beyond 
 the average of the last ten years : — they confessed, at the same 
 time, that they themselves enjoyed a flourishing trade, and that 
 it had been in the following progression, 
 
 In 1783 .=£3,200,000 
 
 1784 3,950,000 
 
 1785 6,000,000 
 
 3786 6,500,000 
 
 1787 7,500,000. 
 
 That the importation of the raw material of cotton, &c. had, 
 since that time, increased in a larger proportion, as appeared 
 from the Custom-House books ; but as the Manufacturers had 
 not then made up any further account of the value of their 
 manufactures, an estimate could not be made of its annual 
 amount. The importation of cotton, however, shewed an 
 increase in trade, the quantities having been 
 
 In 1786 lbs. 19,475,020 
 
 1787 23,250,268 
 
 1788 20,467,436 
 
 1789 32,576,023 
 
 1790 31,447,605 
 
 to which the Company's imports bore no proportion. 
 
 Pieces. Value, 
 
 In 1786 845,154 .. ^1,570,217 
 
 1787 852,496 .... 1,439,043 
 
 In 
 
51 
 
 Pieces. Value. / ART *; 
 
 In 1789 ...... 820,099 .. ^gl/229,360 
 
 1790 .... 1,054,694 .... 1,752,356. 
 
 They, however, would not be satisfied with a competition, 
 and would have nothing less than the annihilation of the Com- 
 pany's trade in India Piece Goods. They required, at the same 
 time, that British goods should be received duty free in India, and 
 that the Company should import, annually, a certain quantity 
 of fine cotton-wool, and other raw materials, for the use of the 
 British manufactures : — and even that the Natives of India 
 should pay tribute, without returns, and give their raw materials 
 for the muslins which are to be fabricated from them, in Europe, 
 and imported into the East, duty free. 
 
 In a similar manner, the Glasgow Manufacturers insisted, 
 that the Company should not import, for home sale, any Piece 
 Goods excepting plain muslins, not exceeding ten shillings per 
 square yard, and muslins, ornamented by the loom or needle, not 
 exceeding twenty shillings per square yard ; — that only eight per 
 cent, drawback, on re-exportation, should be allowed ; — that the 
 Natives of India should not be permitted to make use of 
 machinery, in manufacturing the raw materials, which grow on 
 their soil : as if hard labor, and an exclusion from the mar- 
 kets of the Sovereign, by whom, in common with the Glas- 
 gow Manufacturers, they were protected, were to be the only 
 rewards for their allegiance. It was therefore asked, whether 
 this demand was consistent with the duty which the British 
 
 H 2 European 
 
B2 
 
 P RT _ l 'j European owed to tlie British Indian subject, or with the 
 declamation against monopolies, which introduced the reso- 
 lutions ? 
 
 On this subject, it was farther observed, that every man will 
 confess, " that the Creator of the World has made different 
 " portions of the earth, to yield the means of subsistence to its 
 " inhabitants;" and that " one nation ought to send its super- 
 " fluities to supply the wants of another." 
 
 " Commerce," it was also true, " connects distant parts of 
 " the world with each other," for, by navigation, it brings the 
 productions of one climate, to supply the wants and minister to 
 the luxuries of another. It was not less true, that " the in- 
 " genuity and industry of man have perfected the useful arts 
 " subservient to navigation ;" but the natives of different coun- 
 tries are unequally civilized, and unequally disposed for mercan- 
 tile transactions. Neither the Native Tribes on the Southern 
 Coast of Africa, nor the inhabitants of the shores encircling the 
 Arabian and Persian Gulfs, nor the people inhabiting the 
 " Islands profusely scattered throughout the Indian Ocean," 
 have yet been discovered to live under a subordination, which 
 binds them to regularity in their transactions, or to probity in 
 their barter. That the products of Britain would supply some, 
 and create many new wants in these natives, and that they might 
 be prevailed on to accept of our superfluities, is true ; but that 
 they would " give their produce to supply our wants," and not 
 discover a propensity to purloin from, or to put the strangers to 
 
 death. 
 
53 
 
 death, who had come from a distant land, to relieve those wants, ^ l T*; 
 no voyager has, as yet, discovered. 
 
 In the third place it was observed, that it was harsh to — t0 the 
 
 complaints 
 
 charge the East-India Company with having prevented the against the 
 export of our manufactures to some of the largest and richest f or n °t trad- 
 
 r ° ing to all the 
 
 regions of the world, where. " there is reason to believe, the coum r j ei 
 
 ° ' * ' within tbeir 
 
 " private Merchant might, in the course of an open trade, limits * 
 " increase his profits twenty-fold and upwards/' 
 
 To remove this impression from the Public, the East-India 
 Company stated the gross amount of their purchases of the home 
 manufactures, or woollens, hardware, metals, &c. and of the 
 profits which those different classes of Manufacturers and Mer- 
 chants had received, and added the gross quantities of the raw 
 materials imported, upon which our cotton and silk Manufacturers 
 have exercised their skill and industry ; illustrating these facts, by 
 the opportunities which had been given to those classes of artizans, 
 for imitations of Indian fabrics, by which they had been enabled 
 to rival the Asiatic imports of the Company ; and concluded, that 
 the effect of the open trade would be, to reduce the English to a 
 new and dangerous competition with foreign nations, of every 
 description ; and that if the Company had rendered these services 
 to the Public, their privileges ought not to be considered, or 
 looked at, as injurious to the industry or commerce of the 
 Nation. 
 
 The countries which the Merchants and Manufacturers 
 specified, as markets, to which the Company's trade had not been 
 
 carried 
 
54 
 
 PART *; carried, were the Eastern Coasts of Africa : — to which it was 
 answered, that the Dutch, though possessed of the Cape of 
 Good Hope, had not succeeded in their commercial enterprizes 
 in that quarter, or, at least, not better than the Portuguese, who 
 first doubled the Great Promontory of Africa ; — and it was, 
 from these facts, inferred, that though the British trader might 
 perhaps be more enterprizing, he certainly could not be more 
 persevering than the Dutch ; — that he might, indeed, attempt to 
 trade with the savage tribes who inhabited the Coasts of Africa, 
 but he probably would pass from those Coasts to the Penin- 
 sula. 
 
 The Coasts of the Gulfs of Arabia and Persia were next 
 pointed out, as countries, within the limits of the Company, which 
 they had neglected, and which, therefore, ought, now, to be open- 
 ed to the Free Trader. If these claimants, it was answered, had 
 looked into the ancient commercial proceedings of the East-India 
 Company, they would have found, that during the reign of King 
 James I, the East-India Company had, by assisting the Persians, 
 in re-capturing the Island of Ormus from the Portuguese, 
 acquired considerable privileges of trade at Gombroon, and a 
 moiety of the customs at that port; — that, during the reign of 
 King Charles I, and during the Interregnum, these markets were 
 kept open, and great efforts made to obtain raw-silk, and Cara- 
 mania wool, in exchange for English broad-cloths and manu- 
 factured produce, in general ; — that, during the reign of King 
 Charles II, and even after the Revolution, and subsequently to 
 
 the 
 
55 
 
 the Award of Lord Godolphin, similar efforts had heen made *ftET ^ 
 hy the United Company : — or had these claimants looked into the 
 modern commercial History of the East-India Company, they 
 would have found, from the Report of the Directors, to the Lords 
 of the Privy Council, that from 1758 to 1768, the most persever- 
 ing efforts had been made to increase the demand for British 
 woollens, in the provinces contiguous to Bussora, Bushire, 
 Gombroon, and Tatta, on the Indus j but that, before the 
 death of Keram Khan, and more particularly since that event, 
 such was the predatory disposition of the Sheiks (Chiefs) who 
 usurped the different portions of his Kingdom, on the Coasts of 
 this Gulf, that even with the aid of the Bombay marine, and a 
 detachment of the troops of that Presidency, and, at one time, 
 with the assistance of King's Frigates, and a commission from 
 Government to Sir John Lindsey, to endeavour to compel the 
 Sheiks to an observance of the treaties concluded with them, 
 those markets could neither be kept open, nor the Company's 
 establishments maintained, though they were the only inlets to 
 the Provinces, stretching inland into Persia, and towards Can- 
 dahar ; — that Bussora and Bushire have been kept possession of, 
 because necessary for conveying over-land dispatches from India 
 to Europe, and to curb the schemes of the French, who, after 
 the loss of their territories in India, projected, by an over- 
 land route to Bussora, and the navigation of the Gulf of Persia, 
 to open a market for their thin cloths, on the West Coast of. 
 the Peninsula of India. 
 
 The 
 
56 
 
 ^ART^L *pfo e records of the Company, also, would have shewn, that 
 
 frequent attempts had been made, at the same periods, to open 
 a trade on the Coasts of the Red Sea, but these attempts had 
 been unsuccessful, because the tribes on both sides of the Gulf 
 of Arabia were still of a more predatory character, than even 
 those on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Though Admirals of 
 the Mogul for the Guzerat, since 1759, and under the condition 
 of conveying pilgrims from Surat to Judda, in the vicinity of 
 Mecca, the Company, in their efforts to trade at Judda, and at 
 Mocha, had experienced heavy and successive losses, and fre- 
 quently had been obliged to interrupt this branch of their busi- 
 ness. 
 
 In a similar manner, the accusation, that the Company 
 have not paid attention to the Eastern Islands, was contradicted 
 by the fact ; for it was not recollected, that the Dutch were in 
 possession of the Spice Islands, and that, in the early periods 
 of the Company's trade, repeated attempts were made to open an 
 intercourse with Japan, and the principal Islands, which were, 
 more or less, influenced by the Chinese Government, the jealousy 
 of which would, even at this time, expose the Free Traders to 
 dangers, of which the speculators had no information. 
 
 In the last place, it was observed, that the renewal of the 
 Company's exclusive privileges was a subject, on which the 
 deliberations and wisdom of Parliament must decide from 
 evidence, and that there would be no objection to allow the 
 claimants to be heard by counsel. 
 
 Some 
 
57 
 
 Some of the resolutions, it was, however, to be observed, pakbl 
 had already decided against the renewal of the Company's 
 exclusive privileges : others of them, more moderate, were for 
 renewing them for a short time. The former proceeded upon 
 the immediate necessity of opening the trade : the latter, either 
 were doubtful of the consequences of so sudden a change, 
 or were only for granting privileges to the Company, till the 
 experiment could be tried by themselves. The observations 
 already made, on the subject of monopoly and free trade, were 
 repeated, in reply to the first of these schemes ; and to the second, 
 it was answered, that it was singular the Company should be 
 allowed to retain their exclusive privileges, while their opponents 
 could not reap any advantage from them, during the war with 
 France, and that they were to be deprived of them in two years 
 after a Peace should be signed ; that is, at the time when the 
 Company might hope to recover the losses they might sustain 
 during the war. 
 
 Though no direct claim, at this time, came from Ireland, Observations 
 
 .of the Direc- 
 
 either for an abolition of the East-India Company's exclusive tors upon the 
 
 probable 
 
 privileges, or for a participation in the profits of the trade, yet claims of 
 
 Ireland for a 
 
 the Public expected (Tor the Union of the two Kingdoms was participation 
 
 r v ° in the East- 
 
 not, at this period, in contemplation), that a demand of this kind India trade - 
 might be brought forward. 
 
 During the sessions of Parliament (1791-2), frequent 
 mention had been made, of the right of Ireland, to trade 
 to the East-Indies : — Ireland, it was said, had long beheld 
 
 I with 
 
38 
 
 *^T^ vv ith regret, the preference given to the English, in this foreign 
 dependency of the Crown, and now, when the subject was open, 
 it expected to have its right to the East-India trade examined 
 and established ; and, therefore, under all the political circum- 
 stances of the two kingdoms, serious consequences, it was 
 added, might result, from inattention to, or rejection of the 
 claims of Ireland. 
 
 The Irish Manufacturers considered, that their country 
 was a part of the British Dominions in Europe ; — that they were 
 equally entitled with England, to the protection of Government ; 
 and that it would be unreasonable, one class of His Majesty's 
 subjects should reap positive advantages, while another were to 
 be restrained in the efforts which might reward their industry. 
 
 The East-India Company, whose interests were imme- 
 diately affected, were, therefore, induced to bring forward 
 documents, and arguments founded upon them, that the real 
 circumstances of the case might previously be known, and 
 that the Nation, and the Legislature, might co-operate in their 
 decision. 
 
 Under this impression, the Court of Directors, in January 
 1793, appointed a Select Committee, to take into consideration 
 the export trade from Great-Britain to the East-Indies, with a 
 view of meeting any claims which might arise, on the part of 
 Ireland, for a participation in the Indian and China trade of 
 Great-Britain. 
 
 As 
 
\ .. 
 
 59 
 
 As the report of this Committee proceeded upon evidence, part ^ 
 and had the best effect upon the minds of impartial men, both 
 in Britain and in Ireland, the substance of it formed an 
 interesting preliminary to the negociations, between the Court 
 of Directors and Government. 
 
 The report is introduced with an examination of all the 
 demands which it was probable that Ireland might make, for a 
 participation in the trade to the East-Indies. It could only ask, 
 either an Union with the English Company, or an exclusive and 
 regulated trade for itself, or an open or free trade to the East- 
 Indies. 
 
 The plan of an Union with the English Company, it was 
 presumed, Ireland would hesitate to accept, because the immense 
 expences which would accompany such a transaction, would be 
 a sufficient reason for desisting from it. An exclusive and 
 regulated trade Ireland would find impracticable, because the 
 establishments it must make for such trade, would endanger the 
 safety of the empire : — a free trade would be injurious to its 
 own internal interests, because the emigrations and expences, 
 resulting from it, would depopulate and impoverish that king- 
 dom. 
 
 In illustration, it was observed, that Ireland had never 
 contributed towards the acquisition of the British territories in 
 Asia ; — that, previously to any arrangement with the English 
 Company, the Irish must contribute their proportion towards 
 the payment of the dead stock, bad debts, heavy losses, and 
 
 I 2 miscellaneous 
 
60 
 
 part l -j miscellaneous expences of our foreign settlements, and must 
 pay, besides, a proportion of the annual charges of our com- 
 mercial establishments, as well as for the protection and defence 
 of the common territories. It was thence concluded, that the 
 payments would be larger than the value of any concession 
 which could be made, or exceed the most sanguine expectation 
 of profit, if not the amount of the Irish trade, to and from the 
 East-Indies. 
 
 From these points, in connection with the manner in which 
 our Empire in India had been acquired, and from the dangerous 
 consequences of introducing the subjects of the same Govern- 
 ment, speaking the same language, to act independently of each 
 other, it was inferred, from the events attending the Union of 
 the London and English East-India Companies, that the system 
 of union would be unintelligible to the Native Powers, and might 
 be subversive of the British power and trade in India. 
 
 The commercial question was then examined, by comparing 
 the new situation of the projected Irish Company, with that of the 
 English Company, previously to our acquisition of territories ; and 
 contrasting its situation with that of the other European Compa- 
 nies, who have no territories, or only narrow districts, in Iftdia 
 In the former case it appeared, that the English Company had, 
 for the purpose of purchasing their investments in India and in 
 China, frequently exported not less than one fourth part in 
 manufactures and produce, and the remainder in bullion ;— -that, 
 at this time (1/93), they exported British manufactures and 
 
 produce, 
 
61 
 
 produce, which they often sold at prime cost, because this was F^ RT , *; 
 the most substantial return they could* make for the exclusive 
 privileges to the Public. It was thence contended, that as there 
 could be no demand for Irish poplins and tabbinets in China, 
 and as there was not any other article which the Irish could 
 export, they must carry out bullion only. If so, the views of 
 individuals must proceed upon clandestine trade; and in this 
 they would be disappointed, because the good sense of Govern- 
 ment could not listen to them. 
 
 Having taken this ground, the report then proceeded to 
 trace the foundation, upon which the expectations of Ireland, 
 respecting trade to the East-Indies, must rest. 
 
 In the first place, the Irish must presume upon an increased 
 exportation of Irish produce and manufactures. On this subject 
 it was asked, what articles Ireland could furnish, that would 
 find a market in warm climates ? The Irish linens are inferior 
 to the cotton manufactures, of a similar fabric, in the East. If 
 Ireland has any other articles for exportation, such articles must 
 expect to meet with a competition on the part of Great-Britain, 
 as our manufactures are sold by the Company at prime cost, and 
 without charge of freight : — nor would this competition be 
 confined to Britain ; other countries, better situated than Ireland 
 for the Asiatic trade, would, without our control, rival Ireland. 
 It was thus evident, that the Irish would derive greater benefit 
 from the present system, as the wishes of the English Company 
 for the prosperity of Ireland, would lead them to encourage the 
 
 exports 
 
62 ' l 
 
 part L exports of Irish manufactures, in every way that might not be 
 prejudicial to the Irish themselves. 
 
 In the second place, the expectations of Ireland must rest 
 upon a supposed increase of importation of raw materials from 
 the East. If it should appear, that Ireland can procure cotton- 
 wool, raw-silk, and indigo, in Britain, in return for its exports 
 of linen, or its grain and provisions, at a cheaper rate than in 
 the East, then it ought to prefer this trade, to sending bullion to 
 India and China ; and if it should also, appear, that these Irish 
 articles cannot find a market in the East, and that nine parts in 
 ten of the assortment must be in bullion, and also that two years 
 are, at least, required to obtain a return, the situation of Ire- 
 land, in her exports, would be against the trade. 
 
 In the third place, the expectations of Ireland must rest 
 upon a supposed importation of India and China articles to be 
 consumed at home. On this subject it was not to be supposed, 
 that Ireland would consume the manufactures of the East, in 
 preference to its own. If Ireland would advert to the fate of 
 the foreign Companies, which have proceeded upon the same 
 ground which it might wish to take, it would discover, that the 
 Swedish, Danish, Embden, Dutch, French, and Portuguese 
 trade to the East, have declined, by adopting this plan : — 
 that since Britain acquired the Dewanny, and, much more, 
 since the passing of the Commutation Act, the Company have 
 engrossed the China trade ; and that the large and regular pay- 
 ments of the Company, and the long habit of trade which the 
 
 English 
 
63 
 
 English have established in the East, must give them a decided P ART r ; 
 preference to the China market. 
 
 In the fourth place, the expectations of Ireland must rest on 
 obtaining a part of the Carrying Trade. In this case, the large 
 amounts paid by the Company for freight must be adverted to, 
 as well as the capital of the ship-owners, and that the Company 
 are their own insurers, both in war and in peace; — that their 
 ships are armed and manned for defence ; — that the ships .must 
 be of a particular construction and size, and that the demorage 
 which cargoes pay, for want of these precautions, must also 
 come into the estimate. Supposing, then, that the Irish obtain 
 a share in the Carrying Trade, they could not be in a better situa- 
 tion with their ships, than Ostend had been, where the freight 
 outwards to India, was <§£10 per ton measurement, paid on ship- 
 ping the goods, and from India, inwards, ^20 per ton on piece 
 goods and Indigo, ^15 on coarse bale goods, and \sB6 on 
 cotton in large bales. 
 
 In the last place, the expectations of Ireland must rest on 
 finding employment for their shipping in India ; but it would be 
 sufficient, on this point, to observe, that the Company, in 
 1791-2, sent out two ships cheaply navigated, at ,§£8 per ton 
 outwards, and ^12 per ton homewards ; — that the Company- 
 have not experienced losses from the shipping being detained 
 in the East, compared with what general ships must experi- 
 ence ; for if the latter do not meet a cargo in India or China, they 
 must remain there for a season, and their employers be ruined. 
 
 It 
 
64 
 
 part i. It might, perhaps, be said, that Ireland can always supply 
 
 Comparison itself with teas from the China market ; but it must be consider- 
 
 of the proba- 
 ble competi- e( j that the size of the Company's China ships has reduced the 
 
 tion between * r j r 
 
 irfsh^nd ^ fr e *g nt > anc * tnat tne competition with the European Companies, 
 reign Com- ^^h are m the same situation as the Irish would be, was on 
 
 panies, and 7 
 
 andTh e e n E°g- the decline - With regard, therefore, to the China trade sepa- 
 dScompany" rater y> & 1S tne interest of that people to attach themselves to the 
 English Company, because the demand is uniform and large, 
 and because the payments are punctual : any competition, there- 
 fore, in this trade, between the English and the Irish, could 
 only be productive of evil to both. 
 
 If a trade to China should be denied to Ireland, it was 
 argued, that a trade to India might be conceded : but if this trade 
 should be on British capitals, the consequence would be, smug- 
 gling into Britain, to the injury of the revenue ; for it must be 
 remembered, that the same duties of three per cent, on calli- 
 coes, and eight per cent, on muslins, after charges and draw- 
 backs, must be laid upon Ireland, which are paid in Britain : — 
 a Commutation Tax must also take place there, as well as in 
 England; of consequence, Ireland would be, in no respect, 
 calculated for a competition with Britain in the import trade, 
 much less would it in the export, which last it must carry on 
 wholly by bullion. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the report concluded, that it 
 might be presumed, Ireland would not solicit what would be inju- 
 rious to the English Company, or to the British Nation, unless 
 
 it 
 
So 
 
 it could be shewn, upon the fair principles of trade, that the PART I. 
 plan would be beneficial to themselves ; more particularly when 
 it was considered, that large portions of the revenues and com- 
 merce of India were realized in Ireland, and have contributed to its 
 general prosperity. These were substantial and permanent advan- 
 tages, sufficient to do away the idea of rivalship and compe- 
 tition, which might bring ruin on one party, and mischief on all. 
 
 The accuracy, and the solid reasonings on facts, which mark Result of the 
 
 reasonings on 
 
 this Report of the Directors, seem to have had the most beneficial th ese sub- 
 jects, on the 
 
 effects, both in Ireland and in Britain, on those who could best conduct of 
 
 the Irish and 
 
 judge, respecting the claims of that kingdom, for a participation British Na- 
 in the East-India trade. 
 
 In the course of the negociation we shall find no opposition to 
 the renewal of the Company's privileges, from the Manufacturers 
 and Traders of Ireland ; but, on the contrary, that the Parliament 
 of that Kingdom, satisfied with the arrangement of the Company's 
 Affairs, passed an Act, adopting for Ireland, the provisions of the 
 Act in England. The Irish were, thus, relieved from the anxiety 
 which they felt to benefit from the trade to the East, by the 
 condition which was understood to be complied with, during the 
 negociation for the new period, that the Company were to furnish 
 to them a proportion of tonnage, for an easy and safe export of 
 Irish produce and manufactures, and opportunities of importing 
 such Eastern commodities, as their manufactures and consump- 
 tion might require ; and yet not to involve them in any compe- 
 tition with England, or in the risks which inevitably would have 
 
 K attended 
 
66 
 
 ^^}) attended the expensive and uncertain experiment of opening a 
 
 trade to the East-Indies for themselves. 
 Second class II. The Second Class of Opponents to the Company were 
 
 ofOpponents ....,,- , 
 
 to the Com- those, who were for participating in the benefits of the trade to 
 
 pany, or t 
 
 those who the East-Indies, upon their own funds and risk, without being 
 
 were either 
 
 for partici- sharers in the Company's stock or expences ; or if this could 
 
 pating in the 
 
 trade, with- not be obtained, were for allowing the Company to retain their 
 
 out being 
 
 sharers in the exclusive privileges, but placing their commercial proceedings 
 
 stock, or for 
 
 laying the under certain restraints, in exports, imports, rates of freight, 
 
 Company 
 
 under certain and home sales. 
 
 restrictions. 
 
 General ob- In these complicated demands, the Opponents to the Com- 
 
 jects of this 
 
 class of Op- pany appear to have marked out tor themselves progressive 
 lines of conduct. Relinquishing the plan of substituting an open, 
 for the regulated trade of the Company, they resorted to the old 
 project of the English East-India Company, or that of Separate 
 Traders, on their own funds and risk, with this difference, that 
 they were not to be sharers in any joint stock. If this should 
 not be admitted, they then resolved on the project of being 
 permitted to proceed on their own funds and risk, and to enter 
 into the trade, by placing the exports and imports of the Com- 
 pany under such conditions, as would introduce the Separate 
 Traders into the Eastern markets. 
 
 Scheme of This scheme of Separate Traders had been an old and a 
 
 the Separate • . 
 
 Traders, tried one : — it had been attempted by Courten s Association, in 
 
 without • i i i t»t 
 
 being sharers the reign of King Charles I. ; it had been tried by the Merchant 
 
 in the Com- ^ 
 
 pany's stock. Adventurers, during the Interregnum ; and it was allowed to 
 
 the 
 
67 
 
 the English East-India Company, during the reigns of King PARTI. 
 William and Queen Anne ; and had terminated either in the 
 bankruptcy of the parties, or obliged them to escape from this 
 evil, by an Union with the joint stock and regulated trade of 
 the East-India Company. 
 
 The subject now assumed a new character, for the Company, 
 instead of a few seats of trade, had become possessed of some 
 of the richest provinces of the Mogul Empire ; and the evasions 
 of the Private Traders, or Interlopers, had become impracti- 
 cable, because they could be detected by the officers of the 
 revenue at the different Presidencies, and their illicit connections 
 with the Natives observed and punished, as being, if not treason- 
 able, at least, a misdemeanor, tending to a breach of the 
 public tranquillity of the Settlements. 
 
 Aware of these consequences, and yet disposed to encou- Scheme of 
 rage the enterprizes of the Merchants, Government proposed Traders, for 
 to obviate the difficulties, by the plan of allowing them a Company 
 
 i r-t > -l • it under certain 
 
 proportion of tonnage in the Company s snips, at a regulated restrictions 
 
 in their ex- 
 freight, ports, im- 
 ports, &c. 
 
 Foreseeing that this plan would meet the approbation of 
 Parliament, the Separate Trading scheme was dropt, and certain 
 conditions, under which the Private Trader could enter the 
 Eastern market, resorted to : — hence the disputes, respecting 
 exports, imports, rates of freight, Agencies in India, Houses 
 of Agency in Britain, and regulations for the Company's sales, 
 detailed in the sequel. 
 
 K 2 As 
 
68 
 
 t ^ ART J' As the preliminary plans of Government and of ther 
 
 re° l u mJnTto Company, proceeded solely on experience, both referred to the 
 ^ e ex p t en t " he actual state of the Company's trade, and reasoned, that if it 
 and of The were possible to carry it on; in its present magnitude, and, 
 at the same time, to set up British rivals to meet the Company 
 in every Eastern market ; or if it were practicable to realize the 
 revenues of India in Britain, white the trade of the Company, 
 through which the revenues were to pass, was to be divided 
 between the East-India Proprietors, and the Separate Traders, 
 or of their agents (paying no part of the charges of the Settle- 
 ments), then the claims of the Separate Traders would have had 
 some foundation. 
 
 When facts, however, were examined, and when it was 
 found, that the trade of the East-India Company had borne 
 down almost all competition from Foreign European Companies ; 
 — that the East-India trade required a large stock and an esta- 
 blished credit, both in India and in China, to support it ; — that 
 Private Adventurers, though they might furnish a stock, or 
 fund, equal to a particular scheme, yet must be many years in 
 establishing their credit and character in the East, and that 
 it would be difficult to bring them under the same restraints 
 which the Company observed, the claims of the Private and 
 Separate Trader gradually became weakened, as the foundations 
 of them were more fully examined. 
 { The Public had, by this time, entertained the expectation, 
 
 tli at a proportion of the revenues of India might become one of 
 
 3T the 
 
69 
 
 the national resources, and, under this impression, were afraid part i, 
 
 of innovations ; and it was felt, that the Separate Traders might 
 
 weaken the Company's credit, and not only wrest from the 
 
 State, either a direct or an indirect aid from the Indian revenues 
 
 and trade, but abridge, if not destroy, the Balance of Power 
 
 among the remaining Indian sovereignties, which the Company 
 
 had so recently acquired. 
 
 With the object of bringing forward the evidence which Arrange- 
 ment of these 
 bore upon these points, we have first to examine the propositions claims by the 
 
 r r r r objects of 
 
 of the Merchants and Manufacturers, who carried on trade in eactl - 
 the staples of Great-Britain, but who, at the same time, had 
 no share in the stock of the Company ; — second, the claims of 
 the Merchants and Manufacturers, who worked up the raw 
 materials brought from the East ; — and third, the claims of those 
 who, in part, used Asiatic, and, in part, British materials. 
 
 Of the first kind, were the claims of Exeter, Norwich, &c, 
 and the propositions from the Proprietors of Mines in Cornwall : 
 i — of the second kind, were the claims of the Glasgow, Paisley, 
 and Manchester Manufacturers, &c. : — of the last kind, were 
 the requisitions of the Manufacturers of Gunpowder, &c. 
 
 We have already examined the general question respecting 
 the open and free trade, as it stood previously to the opening of 
 the negociation between Government and the Company, and must 
 now consider this dispute as removed entirely out of view : — we 
 have now, only, to fix our attention on the claims of the Separate 
 Traders, after they discovered that the intentions of Government 
 
 w T ere 
 
70 
 
 part I. were to renew the privileges of the Company, with modifica- 
 tions, for the interest of the Manufacturers ; and this at the time 
 when the commercial problem was solving, in what manner it 
 was practicable to conciliate the demands of the Separate 
 Traders with the existing system of the Company's commerce ? 
 Claims of the The Manufacturers of Exeter claimed privileges connected 
 
 Manufactur- 
 ers of British w jth the staple of Britain, or its woollens : — hence, in the order 
 
 Staples at 
 
 Exeter. • f the subject, they came first under notice. 
 
 They required to become the Dyers and Preparers of Long- 
 Ells, or, at least, to divide this business with the London 
 tradesmen. They affirmed, that they were able, not only to 
 meet the demand for that article in China, but to supply the 
 markets in Europe ; and under their present circumstances they 
 had found, that it was impracticable to do both, on account of 
 the quantities prepared in London, for China ; at least, that they 
 were not able to retain the European demands, at a price which 
 would bear down the foreign manufacturers, who had recently 
 rivalled them ; and insisted, that the credit of the Exeter Mer- 
 chants was equal to the whole of these markets : — and though 
 the connection between revenue and trade in India might exclude 
 them from our Provinces, no such objection could lie against 
 their sending their produce to China/ 1 * 
 
 Answers of In answer to this argument, it was observed, by a numerous 
 
 the Devon- 
 
 shire Towns, body of Manufacturers of Long-Ells in Devonshire, &c, that 
 
 &c. to this 
 
 demand. any change in the East-India Company's trade would, from the 
 
 employment 
 
 4}) Appendix, No. V. page xxviii. 
 
n 
 
 employment they had given to thousands, be ruinous to the PART l - 
 
 sale of this kind of woollens/ 1 * 
 
 It does not appear, that the Manufacturers of Camblets at Limited re- 
 quisition 
 
 Norwich required to try the trade upon their own funds and from Nor " 
 
 wich. 
 
 risk, but only solicited, that the allowances to the Company's 
 Officers, of what is termed " private trade," might be made 
 up from their fabric, or, in other words, that the Officers might 
 be permitted to take directly from Norwich, what part of their 
 assortment they might chuse in Camblets/ 3 ) 
 
 The claims of the Proprietors of the Mines in Cornwall, Demands of 
 
 the Proprie- 
 
 after the general point, that the privileges of the Company tors of the 
 
 Mines in 
 
 were to be renewed, was agreed upon, were as follow : Cornwall. 
 
 1. That as proprietors of British articles, an option might 
 be given to them, either to sell their produce to the East-India 
 Company, if disposed to purchase it, or to export it, on freight, 
 in the Company's ships, or in ships hired by themselves, with 
 liberty to sell, upon their own account, in the markets of India 
 and China. 
 
 2. That an option might be given to them, in respect of 
 the mode of remittance to this country ; and that they might be 
 at liberty to effect that object, either by payment of the sale 
 amount, into such of the Company's treasuries as might be 
 most convenient for that purpose, to be repaid by bills on the 
 Court of Directors, granted at the current rate of exchange, or 
 by purchasing raw materials, the produce of these countries, for 
 
 importation, 
 
 (1) Appendix, No. V. page xxxv. 
 
 (2) Appendix, No. VI. page xlyii. 
 
72 
 
 part i. importation, and might, on their own account, bring these ma- 
 terials into this kingdom on freight, in the Company's ships, 
 or in ships hired by themselves. 
 
 3. That such regulations should be adopted in the new 
 Act, as should secure to the Proprietors of the Mines in Corn~ 
 wall, a certainty that such freight, out and home, if necessary, 
 should be furnished, through the medium of the Company, at 
 a cheaper rate than those Proprietors could procure it. 
 
 4. That a regular and certain access to China should be 
 given, under the new Act, to the Proprietors of the Mines in Corn- 
 wall, that is, an access proportioned to the necessities of these 
 Proprietors, and to the consumption of the Chinese ; and that, 
 Tipon the same principle, a like access should be granted to India. 
 These Proprietors farther required, that full and detailed regu- 
 lations might be established, in the new Act (if passed), to 
 secure the practical enjoyment of the privileges above specified, 
 whether relating to India or to China/ 1 ) These requisitions were 
 transmitted to the Board of Commissioners for the affairs of 
 India, and sent to the Court of Directors: — hence the subject 
 lay over for consideration, till the negociation with the Company 
 had considerably advanced. 
 
 — of the Of the second species of claim for a participation in the 
 
 British Ma- 
 nufacturers benefits of the trade to the East-Indies, upon their own funds 
 
 and 
 
 (1) Letter from Lord Falmouth to Mr. Dondas, forwarded by him to the Chairman of 
 the Company, 13th March, 1793. (Printed Papers respectiug the Negociation for the 
 renewal of the Company's exclusive Privileges, No. III. Article V). 
 
 of Eastern 
 
73 
 
 and risk, was the demand of the Manufacturers who depended 
 
 raw mate- 
 
 upon raw materials brought from the East; that is, of the r J s 
 Manufacturers of Muslins and Cotton Cloths, in Glasgow, 
 Paisley, and Manchester, &c. 
 
 The general requisitions of these bodies, on the subject of 
 an open and a regulated trade, have already been detailed ; — in 
 this part of the subject, therefore, it remains only to examine 
 their specific demands, after they understood that it was intended 
 to renew the privileges of the Company. 
 
 The Chamber of Commerce of Glasgow were of opinion, that ~" of Glas ~ 
 the capital of the Company might still be employed in the trade, 
 though the exclusive privileges should cease and determine ; — 
 that the enterprize of individuals would draw from the East, raw 
 materials and other articles, now supplied them, in a great mea- 
 sure, by foreigners ; — that the British Manufacturers ought to 
 have a power to import and export, in vessels of their own, and 
 be liable only to the duties in India, paid by foreign nations ; — 
 but their ships, at the same time, should take out clearances from 
 London, and discharge their cargoes, at no other wharfs but 
 those of the East-India Company ; — that the Company should be 
 prohibited to import plain and wrought muslins for home sale, 
 except plain muslins exceeding the value of ten shillings per 
 square yard, and wrought muslins, exceeding the value of 
 twenty shillings per square yard j — and that the present duties 
 on re-exportation should be continued, and an obligation given 
 for the importation of raw materials from India. 
 
 L The 
 
74 
 
 part I. The Paisley Manufacturers made propositions nearly similar 
 
 — of Paisley. to t h ose at Glasgow. 
 
 — of Man- The Merchants of Manchester required, that the freight 
 
 should he fixed at sB4 outwards, and at ^812 per ton home- 
 wards, with an exemption from the payment of duties in India, 
 and the opening of the trade to China for every species of 
 British manufacture, 
 —of the Ma- The third kind of claims for participating in the benefits of 
 
 nufacturers, 
 
 who work on the trade, were the requisitions of the Manufacturers who work 
 
 materials, 
 
 partly Asia- on ma terials, partly Asiatic, and partly European. 
 
 ly European. rpj ie Manufacturers of Gunpowder in London came under 
 
 — of the A 
 
 rfrTof^G 11 *^is description. They had presented successive memorials to 
 powder. tlle Board of Trade, which stated, that several of the Directors, 
 at different times, had declared it would be a wise measure to 
 make London the grand depot for saltpetre, and that they 
 assured the consumers, that orders had been sent out for 5,000 
 bags to be put on board each ship, instead of 3,000, the usual 
 quantity, and yet that the ships, in the current season, had 
 substituted sugar in place of saltpetre ; — that the quantity put 
 up for sale had been so small, that the number of bidders had 
 upheld the price, to the great injury of the Manufacturers of 
 Gunpowder, and of the Public ; for although the duty paid by 
 the Company, which amounted to seven shillings and nine-pence 
 per hundred- weight, was considerably reduced in September 
 1791, yet, from the Company's own account it would appear,, 
 that though the saltpetre was put up, in that year, at thirty-one 
 
 shillings, 
 
75 
 
 shillings, from a larger quantity not being in the market, the par t l 
 Company alone received the benefit, since the average of the 
 sales in that month had been d£2. 5s, and in September 1792, 
 ^B3. *Js. lOd. ; — that though Government, in time of war, pro- 
 hibited the exportation of gunpowder, saltpetre, &c, yet when 
 satisfied for what purposes these goods were to be applied, they 
 had always granted permission for an exportation ; — that the 
 powder-mills at Liverpool, Bristol, and Kendal, had no connec- 
 tion with the London Manufacturers, but from their situation, 
 supplied the African markets ; — that our Indian Provinces 
 supply every other nation but their own ; for foreigners of every 
 description may purchase unlimited quantities of saltpetre at 
 Calcutta, which they can send home in their own ships, and sell 
 at their respective markets, to the injury of our navigation and 
 the industry of Great Britain. 
 
 Upon these grounds the Manufacturers entered into a 
 minute examination of the prices of gunpowder, and endeavored 
 to prove, that the accounts given by the Directors were fallacious. 
 
 The Manufacturers, upon the whole, were satisfied with 
 the Act of Parliament, which ordered saltpetre to be put up at 
 thirty-one shillings ; but they were dissatisfied with the Com- 
 pany, who had frustrated the intentions of the Legislature, by 
 not putting up a sufficient quantity to answer the demand of the 
 market/ 1 ) 
 
 L 2 Though 
 
 (1) Reply of the Committee of Warehouses, to the Memorial of the Gunpowder- 
 makers of London. (Debrett 1793 ) 
 
76 
 
 partl Though the claim of the Adventurers, in what has been 
 
 ciamTof the terme d tne Southern Whale Fishery, did not come under the 
 
 inlth^soath- description of any of the manufacturing and mercantile classes 
 
 Fishery. * °f Opponents to the Company, it may here be introduced, as 
 
 indirectly connected with the whole. 
 
 It ought to be recollected, that some private Adventurers 
 from India had embarked in the scheme of a traffic to the coun- 
 tries bordering upon the Spanish limits, near Nootka Sound ; — 
 that the jealousy of this people had led them to a violence, 
 which had nearly brought on a general war between the two 
 Crowns : an arrangement, however, took place, which opened 
 the Southern Whale Fishery to British Adventurers. 
 
 The owners of the ships employed in this adventure 
 required, that if the Company's privileges should be renewed, 
 regulations for the Southern Whalers might be enacted, to 
 enable them to enjoy the benefit of a Carrying Trade into the 
 Pacific Ocean, by the way of Cape Horn, to the Northward of 
 the Equator, without interfering with the other branches of the 
 Company's trade : — this claim was referred by the Commissioners 
 for the Affairs of India, to the Court of Directors, for infor- 
 mation/ 1 ) 
 General Upon the general principle of the claimants for participating 
 
 opinions of- x ° ■ x r r ° 
 
 fered, at the m the Company's trade, without being sharers in their stock, 
 
 time, upon " w 9 ° ' 
 
 the whole of opinions were given nearly to the following effect. 
 
 That 
 
 (1) Letters of the President of the Board of Commissioners, to Mr. Baring. (Printed 
 Papers, respecting the Negotiation, No. III. Articles 9 and 10.) 
 
77 
 
 That the case, in itself, was novel in its nature, and com- ^^^ 
 plicated in its probable effects. That it was novel, that a privilege 
 should be granted by the Legislature, proceeding upon a specific 
 agreement, for a valuable consideration, in which any, but the 
 contributors to this consideration, could benefit by the grant : — 
 no claim for such a participation had, hitherto, occurred in the 
 Annals of Parliament, or in the history of trade : — if the simple 
 case should be stated (without mentioning the necessity of giving 
 every practicable encouragement to the Manufacturers and Mer- 
 chants, who so fully merited protection), it could not require a mo- 
 ment's reflection to decide : — that it was complicated in its proba- 
 ble effects, because it reasoned upon an agreement which was yet in 
 contemplation only ; — that the business was open to the Legisla- 
 ture, to offer conditions to the Company, and the Company were in 
 a situation to accept of them, as far as they might consider them to 
 be for their interest : — and that, at this time, the Company were 
 asking some advantages for themselves, and willing to concede 
 others, for the common prosperity of the Empire : — On the one 
 hand, therefore, it was contended, that either their privileges must 
 be renewed to them, in such a manner as to enable them to dis- 
 charge their debts, and to carry on their trade connected with 
 the revenues of the Provinces, that is, in such a manner as to 
 preserve their credit, and foster their commercial enterprizes ; 
 or, on the other, that they must be given to them (if the claims 
 of the Private Traders were complied with) under such con- 
 ditions 
 
78 
 
 part % ditions as would disappoint the expectations of the Public, for a 
 participation in the revenues. 
 General ar- When the Merchants of Exeter asked to be permitted to 
 
 gurnents on 
 
 the claims of prepare woollens for the China market, or to send them thither, 
 
 the Mer- ■ r 
 
 chants of they did not reflect, that it was of consequence to the Company 
 to have this article prepared in such a manner as to preserve the 
 confidence of the Chinese, which it had required more than a 
 century to gain, and which was so perfect, that the Company's 
 mark or stamp being on the goods, was held to be a sufficient test 
 of their quality, fineness, &c. without examining the bales: — 
 besides, if the Company were to be controlled in the purchase 
 of their woollens for exportation, there is an end of the freedom 
 of trade, which hitherto has been deemed the source from 
 which it springs. 
 —-on those If the Company were to be compelled to take tin, copper, 
 
 prietors of ^ c j n an indefinite quantity, from Cornwall, however it 
 
 the Mines in ' ^ J ' ' 
 
 Cornwall. might suit " the necessities or profits of the Proprietors of the 
 " Mines," it might not suit the market in India, or in China, 
 and, of course, not accord with the necessities of the Company; 
 — or if the Proprietors of the Mines were to send ships of their 
 own to China, with their produce, the Company's tonnage must 
 be lessened, in the proportion that the Cornish tonnage was 
 created, and the Company's sales diminished, in the proportion 
 that the Cornish ships brought either raw materials for our 
 manufactures, or articles for our consumption. 
 
 if, 
 
79 
 
 If, in the same manner, the Company were to be excluded part i. 
 from the home sale of their Piece Goods, and yet to pay "T7°™ hose 
 
 ■ J r * oftheManu- 
 
 the same duty they now do, on re-exportation, then the trade ^ cturers of 
 must cease : — if they were to bring home cotton- wool for the 
 manufactures, and yet to allow the cotton fabrics of Britain to 
 meet them, not only in the foreign European markets, but in 
 India and in China, then industry in India would be checked, 
 and the remittance of portions of the revenue by trade (even 
 without a profit) be at an end. 
 
 If the import of saltpetre, one of the staples of Bengal, on those 
 
 of theManu- 
 
 could be allowed to every country (at least a thousand tons of facturers of 
 
 Gunpowder. 
 
 it), and put into the hands of the Manufacturers of Gunpow- 
 der, who draw a most ample profit from their skill and labor, 
 then saltpetre would no longer be an article in the Company's 
 sales ; and foreigners, who might bring it home, would have 
 almost an exclusive possession of the trade. 
 
 If, lastly, the Southern Whalers were to be allowed to rove on those 
 
 uncontrolled (and perhaps they might stretch towards India and them whale 
 China), then the trade would, in fact, be laid open, at least so 
 far as the number of these rovers might go : — the consequence 
 would be, that the exporter of woollens might become an 
 adventurer in the cargoes of these rovers ; the proprietor of 
 metals, an unproductive exporter and importer in these uncer- 
 tain bottoms ; no India piece goods j could be sold in Britain, for 
 the home market ; and the Company could have a partial trade 
 only in the foreign markets : — hence it could not be expected, 
 
 that 
 
80 
 
 parti, that the Company, under such conditions, could bring home 
 raw materials to their rivals in the British markets, or that the 
 rovers themselves, whose professed object was fishing, might 
 not be tempted to visit India or China, from motives of interest. 
 In every view, therefore, the case was complicated, and the 
 Public waited with anxiety to discover, whether it was possible 
 to reconcile these jarring interests. 
 Particular ar- We have next to state the substance of the particular 
 
 guments on , . i •, i 
 
 each of these answers which, at the time, were made to each of these specific 
 
 claims. 
 
 claims. 
 
 on those In reply to the Exeter propositions, it was said, that the 
 
 Merchants, complaint made against the Company did not proceed, either 
 from the demands of the Company having become less, or from 
 the trade having shifted from Exeter, and Long-Ells having 
 been taken from another place, but from the demand for Long- 
 Ells having become so large as to raise the price of wool, and 
 that the Exeter Merchants could not meet the Foreign Manu- 
 facturers in Europe, who were in competition with them, par- 
 ticularly those of Spain, Switzerland, and Silesia, nor sell at a 
 rate sufficiently low at the Spanish ports, where a preference had 
 been given to the Sargas of their own country, over English 
 Long-Ells, formerly sent to South America ; but as the Sargas 
 had risen in price, from the expence of the long land carriage, 
 between the Spanish manufactories and the sea-ports, the Exeter 
 Merchants hoped to recover that market. 
 
 It 
 
81 
 
 It was admitted, as a principle in commerce, that the profit f^ RT 3 
 from a manufacture, does not depend so much upon the price 
 given for any one article, as upon the quantity of that article 
 actually sold in any market ; the Company, therefore, had to 
 suppose, either that England could not produce a greater quantity 
 of wool, fit for making Long-Ells, than the Exeter Manufac- 
 turers required for supplying the Company's demand, or to 
 allow, what the Exeter Merchants wished, that is, to engross 
 the whole profit from dying and preparing the woollens, without 
 having competitors in London. 
 
 In replv to the Gentlemen interested in the Mines of Corn on those 
 
 1 J ... of the Pr °- 
 
 wall, a reference was made to the quantity of British metals prietors of 
 
 the Mines in 
 
 which had heen exported, since the Company had introduced the Cornwall. 
 sale of them in the China market, in preference to the tin and 
 copper of Japan, with which that market had formerly been 
 supplied. Calculating, therefore, from their past profits, the 
 Proprietors of the Mines in Cornwall, wished to bind down the 
 Company to accept an indefinite quantity of these metals ; that 
 is, they wished to make them the buyers of whatever quantity 
 they could furnish. The plan of having their own ships to carry 
 out their metals to China, supposing no agreement had been 
 made with the Company, could only terminate in their en- 
 trusting the sale to the Private Adventurers ; but a few 
 experiments would satisfy them, that their produce would not 
 have been received by the Chinese, without being assayed by the 
 
 M Company 
 
82 
 
 part I. Company, though British metals, or bars of tin, pass cur- 
 rent, under the Company's mark or stamp ; and that the returns, 
 in raw materials and other articles, would have yielded them an 
 uncertain profit, because this profit was to be divided between 
 them and the Private Adventurer. 
 
 It was, perhaps, from these circumstances, that they re- 
 quired the Company to furnish them with tonnage, at a cheaper 
 rate than they themselves could procure it ; or that they wished 
 to bind the Company to take an ascertained quantity of metals, 
 annually, at a fixed price. 
 ——on those The reply to the demands of the Cotton Manufacturers, 
 
 of the Cot- r J ' 
 
 tonManufac- came partly from the Company, and partly from the Dealers in 
 Manchester, India Piece Goods. The Directors finding that a claim was to 
 
 Glasgow, &c. ° 
 
 be brought forward by the Cotton Manufacturers, appointed a 
 Select Committee to report on the subject, and the substance of 
 their report was, as follows : 
 
 That the distress which the Manufacturers had complained 
 of, in I7885 had not arisen from the Company's exposing to sale 
 any unusual quantity of India Piece Goods, but from the Manu- 
 facturers, themselves, having pushed their enterprizes beyond all 
 bounds, upon fictitious capitals. To prove this assertion, they 
 produced a statement of the progress of the Company's sales, 
 compared with the quantity of cotton imported, and the 
 variations which the sales have undergone, for a period of 
 twenty years. 
 
 The 
 
83 
 
 The sales of the British Manufactures, they observed, t ^^ I J; 
 have been in proportion to the increased importation of the raw 
 material ; and though it is impossible, perhaps, to produce an 
 account of the value, yet, from the publications of the Manu- 
 facturers, themselves, we find, in 1788, the following statement : 
 
 In 1783, the value of the manufactured goods was esti- 
 mated at .§£3,200,000 ; in 1787, at ^7,500,000. Whether this 
 estimate be correct or not, the progressive improvement, it may 
 be inferred, was great and rapid, and in favor of the British 
 manufactures. 
 
 The report, after observing, that no part of the raw mate- 
 rial is the produce of Great-Britain, furnished a statement, to 
 shew, that one moiety is the produce of countries or colonies not 
 subject to it, and illustrated this statement by observing, that 
 we were indebted to France, for several millions of pounds weight 
 of cotton, and to Portugal, for a still larger quantity, and, there- 
 fore, that the Manufacturer might apprehend a greater danger 
 from foreign competition, than from the import of Piece Goods 
 by the Company. 
 
 The Company, in explanation, produced accounts, in 1788, 
 to shew, that seventeen twentieth -parts of the whole of the 
 calicoes imported, were re-exported ; and twelve twentieth- parts 
 of the whole of the muslins were also re-exported ; realizing, 
 thereby, the tribute which India pays to Great -Britain, through 
 the medium of its commerce : — they thence concluded, that not 
 one tenth-part of the whole of the callicoes, imported from India, 
 
 M 2 were 
 
84 
 
 part I. were consumed in Great Britain, while nine-tenths contributed 
 to the various branches of our commerce and navigation ; — that 
 no means could prevent the foreign trade from India coming to 
 Europe, short of an annihilation of the manufactures of the 
 Natives, who are British subjects ; — that the goods would find 
 their way, by being smuggled into Britain : the sales, for 
 instance, at L'Orient, in 1791, consisted of no less than 
 717?042 pieces, the value of which, in London, at the same 
 period, would have been ,§£1,228,000 ; and to this might be 
 added, the general importation or consumption of India calli- 
 coes and muslins, upon the Continent of Europe. 
 
 If, it was added, one Manufacturer in Great Britain, by 
 the aid of machinery, can perform what requires ten, twelve, 
 or perhaps fifteen persons, to execute in India, it would be 
 hard to deprive so many of our own Indian subjects of the 
 means of subsistence, merely to gratify the expectations of 
 others. 
 
 The Silk- weavers of Spitalfields, in the same manner, 
 blamed the East-India Company for their imports, but soon 
 found, that their rivals were the smugglers from Lyons. The 
 Dutch, more wise, depressed their woollen manufactures at 
 Leyden, rather than exclude the woollens of Great-Britain, 
 which, for a long time, formed an important article in their 
 Carrying Trade. The Company, therefore, trusted, that after 
 risking their capital, and adding extensive and productive domi- 
 nions 
 
85 
 
 nions to the Crown of Great-Britain, their commerce to the PART s - 
 
 East-Indies would be left to them entire/ 
 
 The reply of the Wholesale Dealers in India Piece Goods General ar- 
 guments of 
 
 was direct, and addressed to the manufacturing towns, which the Whole- 
 sale Dealers 
 
 had required the prohibition of this article in the home market : — in India Piece 
 
 Goods. 
 
 In general, they pleaded, in opposition to the propositions from 
 Glasgow, Paisley, and Manchester, that however desirable it 
 might be to give every encouragement to our home manufactures, 
 such encouragement must be compatible with the protection of 
 the Merchants, who had vested their capitals in the long esta- 
 blished business of purchasing and retailing India Piece Goods, 
 and not less so, with the justice due to the Indian subjects of 
 the King ; — that the Dealers in India Piece Goods, for the home 
 market, had vested large capitals, almost exclusively, in this 
 branch of business ; — that,, as wholesale dealers, they had 
 formed large connections, not only with the retailers of India 
 Piece Goods, but with the retailers of the imitations of them, 
 manufactured in Britain ; — that the Merchants and Dealers in 
 India Piece Goods, had regularly paid the duties, or conformed 
 to the revenue laws of the kingdom ; and that, if any great 
 national advantage required this trade to be abolished, they 
 would rely on the liberal spirit of the British Government for 
 indemnification, but if a demand, only, from certain manu- 
 facturers, who, with incredible success, have imitated the Piece 
 
 Goods 
 
 (l) Report of the Select Committee of the Court of Directors upon the subject of the 
 Cotton Manufactures of this Country, February 1st, 1793. 
 
86 
 
 parti. Goods of India, to prohibit the sale of them in the home market, 
 and, at the same time, to have the duty on exporting them con- 
 tinued, was all that appeared, then the most public reasons alone 
 could justify the Legislature, in listening to such a claim ; because 
 it would occasion a reduction of the public revenue of ^100,000 
 per annum ; — it would encourage and increase smuggling ; and 
 it would depress and annihilate the legal dealers, though sub- 
 jects of equal importance to the Public as the manufacturers : — 
 assigning, however, every pre-eminence and importance to the 
 Cotton Manufactures which they could desire, the Dealers in 
 India Piece Goods submitted, that if this article should be pro- 
 hibited, at the Company's sales, for home use, it still would form 
 a part in the private assortment of every retailer : — the Illicit 
 Trader, indeed, would purchase India Piece Goods for re- 
 exportation, but he would send them to countries favorable 
 for smuggling them again into Britain ; and if the taste of 
 his customers, or the fashion, called for India muslins, no 
 prohibition could prevent smuggling, and the prices would rise 
 with the magnitude of the penalty. 
 
 Certain silk Piece Goods were prohibited for home consump- 
 tion, and, for that reason, they were more sought after ; — 
 Cambrics were prohibited, in like manner, but from experience, 
 the prohibition was withdrawn' 
 
 The Dealers in India Piece Goods next stated, that sup- 
 posing the proposition of the home manufacturer to be complied 
 with, it would not promote his own interest ; — that this scheme, 
 
 besides, 
 
87 
 
 besides, would be injurious to the revenue, and to thousands part I. 
 of inoffensive people in Derbyshire, Bedfordshire, and in 
 Bristol, and to the colony of Moravians, in Yorkshire, who 
 were employed in adding ornaments of tambour, and other 
 works, to India muslins ; and to thousands in the manufac- 
 turing towns, who were employed in the same way, on the home 
 fabrics. 
 
 It might be true, that the prohibition of Piece Goods, for home 
 consumption, might not, at first sight, appear fatal to the Com- 
 pany, because they must necessarily have a remission of the 
 duties which they now pay on that article ; but this measure 
 would raise up competitors in the Clandestine Traders, and 
 make a difference of twenty per cent., at least, upon the whole 
 amount of their sales, or ^258,132 per annum on ^£1,290,661, 
 and yet the Private Traders would bring goods into the market, 
 under the pretext of re-exportation, but, in fact, to be secretly 
 disposed of in the London retail shops. 
 
 Every man in this business knew, that the muslins of 
 India, and of the home manufacture, were combined in his assort- 
 ments ; — every dealer in India Piece Goods knew, also, that 
 the high freight, insurance, and interest of capital for two 
 years, laid a duty of eighteen per cent, on his imports ; and 
 this, surely, was all the embargo on the sale which the home 
 Manufacturer could, in reason, demand. 
 
 The dealer in home-made muslins must confess, that he had 
 his share in the foreign markets, and that the plan proposed 
 
 would 
 
88 
 
 part I. would enable him to meet the Company there, thirty per cent, 
 cheaper than, at this time, he could do : — the object of the Manu- 
 facturer, therefore, was plain ; he wished to engross the whole 
 of the home market, and to divide the foreign market with the 
 Company, on the idea that, at last, he could engross both 
 markets; — not contented with the enjoyment of the riches, 
 which, twenty years before 1/93, he could not have expected, 
 he now would unite with his own, the wealth of India; but it 
 would, indeed, be a poor consolation to the State, if experience 
 should prove these Manufacturers to be in an error, to be 
 obliged to return to the former system, when perhaps it might 
 be too late to regain the mercantile eminence, which a rash ex- 
 periment had lost to the Public/ 1 ) 
 
 The consequences of yielding to these requisitions, it was 
 next said, would be more fatal in India than even in Britain. 
 The Foreign Companies and Adventurers in the East, when they 
 knew that the Company had stopt their purchase of Piece Goods 
 for the home market, and had competitors in British manufac- 
 tures in the foreign market, would suspend their purchase of 
 muslins in India, till the market fell to so low a rate, that they 
 could carry them to the Continent of Europe, upon terms infi- 
 nitely lower than any home manufacturer could sell his goods; — 
 the cultivator of cotton in British India, when the weaver could 
 
 no 
 
 (1) Letter from the Committee of the Buyers of Piece Goods, for Home Consumption, 
 to the Right Hon. Henry Dundas, 6th April 1793. 
 
89 
 
 no longer live by his art, must destroy his cotton plant, and part f. 
 sow grain and vegetables for his subsistence ; — the chain between 
 the cultivator and the artizan, being broken, the quit-rent of lands 
 could no longer be paid ; — the weaver, who had depended upon 
 a foreign demand, having no stock beforehand, would, in a few 
 months, lay aside his loom ; — the very materials upon which our 
 Cotton Manufacturers depend, would, of course, cease to be fur- 
 nished from the British Provinces, and must be brought through 
 the trade, and from the settlements of rival Indian or European 
 powers ; till, at last, these home manufacturers would ex- 
 perience the evils which they had brought on the cultivators of 
 the cotton-plant in India ; on the native weavers of piece goods ; 
 on the Nation, by a defalcation in the revenues of the Provinces ; 
 and on the Company, by whose efforts their skill and industry 
 had originally been called into exertion. 
 
 It will readily be allowed, they added, that the profit from 
 the sale of India Piece Goods in the home market, was an inferior 
 consideration to the Public, to that of the prosperity of the ma- 
 nufactures in Britain ; — but it ought to be remembered, that the 
 East-India trade forms one great concern, and that the parts of it 
 are so linked together, that the loss of one branch might affect 
 the whole of a commerce, which afforded additions to our home 
 revenues, and employment to our seamen, and which excluded 
 our European rivals from those markets, or levied a tribute upon 
 them, in proportion to the sums they paid for our Indian im- 
 ports ; — upon the whole, that the object of the Legislature would 
 
 N be 
 
90 
 
 part I. be to encourage the home manufactures, by imposing a duty on 
 the industry of our foreign dependencies, but such a duty, only, 
 as would keep both in a fair competition, and neither destroy 
 the one, nor the other. 
 
 After adducing these arguments, it was concluded, that the 
 prohibiting the sale of Piece Goods, except plain muslins, ex- 
 ceeding ten shillings per square yard ; and wrought muslins, exceed- 
 ing twenty shillings per square yard, and yet requiring eight per 
 cent, on muslins for re-exportation to a foreign market, open at the 
 same time, to the home manufacturer, would be impolitic and 
 unjust ; — that the requiring the importation, duty free, of fine 
 Cotton-wool from India, to be manufactured in Britain, and sent 
 to the East, would cut off from the Hindoo weaver, the export 
 trade to Britain, and reduce him to an accumulation of dis- 
 tress ; — and that, lastly, the denying him the aid of the cotton 
 machinery, supposing that his prejudices, or the cheapness of 
 nis labor, would accept of this aid, would be ruining a people, 
 who have furnished to the ancient, and to the modern world, the 
 luxuries of taste and magnificence. 
 
 It farther was said, as a particular reply to the Cotton Ma- 
 nufacturers of Manchester, that having obtained a great profit, 
 by imitating the Indian fabrics upon Indian materials, they now 
 asked what the common interest of the Empire could scarcely 
 allow, and what would have tended to destroy the cultivation of 
 the very materials on which they depended ; — they required, that 
 British muslins should be received, duty free, in all the ports of 
 
 British 
 
91 
 
 British India, that is, that the revenues of the Provinces should parti. 
 be abridged ; — they required, that the Company should import, 
 annually, a quantity of fine cotton-wool, and other materials, 
 proportioned to the demand of Manchester, that is, either to 
 raise the price of cotton to the Indian manufacturer, or to deprive 
 him of it ; — they required, that all Indian cotton goods should 
 be prohibited to be worn in Great-Britain, and that the impor- 
 tation, for foreign use, should not exceed the average of the last 
 ten years, that is, they would have, exclusively, the home mar- 
 ket, and almost exclusively the foreign markets ; — not contented 
 with a flourishing trade, they sought the annihilation of the 
 Indian manufacture, in the very art upon which they themselves had 
 grown rich. They would not be satisfied with a moderate tax on 
 Indian cottons, to give a preference in Britain to the home ma- 
 nufactured muslins, hut they required, that the Indian fabrics 
 should not be worn in Britain, and that the same tax should be 
 continued, on the re-exportation of them to foreign markets ; 
 but, had the Peace continued, they did not reflect, that by the 
 Commercial Treaty with France, the cottons of that country, 
 made from the raw materials of India, might have been imported 
 into Britain, upon payment of a duty of twelve per cent., and 
 that the French might have obtained a preference in our markets, 
 to the exclusion of our own colonies. 
 
 With the Glasgow Manufacturers, they would not allow 
 the exportation of cotton machinery, without reflecting, that they 
 could not prevent the best artizans in that line, who are generally 
 
 N 2 dissatisfied 
 
92 
 
 PART i. dissatisfied and extravagant, from emigrating to India, and 
 introducing this machinery, more speedily than the cheap price 
 of labor, or the prejudices of the Natives in India, would pro- 
 bably have called for it. The cultivation and improvement, 
 thus, of the very country from which they were to draw (duty 
 free) raw materials, for the art by which they had themselves 
 become opulent, must be checked and discouraged, to gratify 
 men who had risen to unexpected affluence. 
 
 That a Private Merchant should sell his goods for money, or 
 in exchange for other goods, is natural and correct , but, that a 
 Manufacturer, who subdivides labor among individuals, and 
 acquires riches from their labor, should wish to render barren 
 the soil which yields him materials, and could think of making 
 the people wretched who had taught him his art, is scarcely 
 reconcileable to the principles of liberal artizans or merchants. 
 
 General ar- In reply to the Memorial of the Manufacturers of Gunpow- 
 
 guments of 
 
 the Commit- der, reference was made to the report of the Committee of 
 
 tee of Ware- A 
 
 houses, in Warehouses upon this subject. The Memorial of these Manu- 
 
 answertothe x 9 
 
 claims of the f ac txirers had been presented to the Board of Trade, and trans- 
 
 Manufactu- * 
 
 r owde f r Gun * mitted bv ■*> to tne Sectors, on the 6th February 1793. The 
 Committee gave it as their opinion, that if the permission to 
 import a thousand tons of saltpetre should be granted, it would 
 establish a precedent, which would apply, with perhaps greater 
 force, to raw materials of every kind. These Memorialists ap- 
 pear to have had in view the establishing of two principles, viz. 
 that Great-Britain ought to be the general depot of saltpetre, 
 
 for 
 
93 
 
 for the purpose of supplying all foreign nations with gunpowder ; part t. 
 — and that, as a raw material, the importation of saltpetre 
 ought to be duty free, and supplied, at so cheap a rate, as to 
 enable the Gunpowder Manufacturers to bear down every com- 
 petition. 
 
 The Committee contended, that the first proposition was 
 not practicable, and if it were, it could only be accomplished 
 through the medium of an exclusive Company ; — that it was 
 true, saltpetre was produced in great abundance, and sold at a 
 very low rate, in Bengal ; it was also true, that this article might 
 be produced almost every where, and that, both from prudence 
 and from necessity, in the expectation of a war, Government 
 had prohibited the exportation of saltpetre and gunpowder. 
 
 After exhibiting an account of the quantity of saltpetre 
 imported into Great-Britain, between the 5th January 1780, 
 and the 5th January 1793, and the countries from which the 
 same was impprted, and an account of the quantity of saltpetre 
 exported from Great -Britain, between the 5th January 1780, 
 and the 5 tb January 1791, and the countries to which it was 
 exported, to shew that, notwithstanding the great variation in 
 the price of saltpetre, the exportation had been trifling and 
 accidental, excepting only in one of the articles to Ireland, and 
 the other to Africa, they concluded, that the Company offered 
 saltpetre at a price below its cost, with the object of enabling the 
 Manufacturer to make Great-Britain a depot of that article : — as 
 
 to 
 
94 
 
 part. i. to supplying all foreign nations with gunpowder, the Committee 
 conceived it to be impracticable. 
 
 To the second proposition of the Manufacturers of Gun- 
 powder, the Committee replied, that though they did not combat 
 the general principle, that the importation of raw materials ought 
 to be free, yet they contended, that commerce was so combined 
 and interwoven with the revenues, and with the existence of our 
 empire in India, that the separation of them would become 
 impracticable, as the trade could only be carried on, with advan- 
 tage to the Public, through the medium of an exclusive Com- 
 pany. 
 
 The Committee then pointed out, that by a late Act of 
 Parliament, the Company were compelled to offer saltpetre for 
 sale, at a price which left a loss, and that this operated as a 
 bounty to the Manufacturer; from which circumstance they 
 deduced, that if a free importation should be allowed, the Corns 
 pany neither could extinguish their debts, nor meet the expecta- 
 tion of the Public on the subject of the revenue. Digressing 
 then from this general topic, the Committee examined the rea- 
 sons which could be adduced, for granting this indulgence to the 
 Manufacturers of Gunpowder, and furnished a statement of the 
 prices of saltpetre and gunpowder, from 1783 to 1789, inclu- 
 sive, and an account of the prices given by the Manufacturer, 
 the prices charged to the Company, and the prices charged to 
 the Owners of Ships ; and then stated the value of the materials 
 
 of 
 
95 
 
 of which a barrel of gunpowder was composed, making allowance PART *• 
 for the loss of weight in refining the saltpetre, the sale price and 
 discount, in 1783, and the profit for home consumption, or for 
 exportation ; and from these documents they inferred, that there 
 was no illicit trade in this article, or that the foreign manufacturer 
 did not interfere in the sales of this country. Referring, lastly, 
 to a late Act of Parliament on the subject, which directed, that 
 the Company should put up to sale five thousand bags more than 
 the average of what had been sold at the four preceding sales, 
 at the price of thirty-one shillings per hundred- weight, in time of 
 peace, and forty shillings in time of war, they annexed the par- 
 ticulars of the quantity which had been offered for sale, and of 
 the quantity sold, for thirty years past, and concluded, that the 
 Company furnished more than was sufficient for the demand. 
 These circumstances, they observed, would shew, that when 
 the Manufacturers applied for a reduction in the price, it was 
 accompanied with an expectation, that the reduction would in- 
 crease the quantity sold. 
 
 The Manufacturers demanded a hundred thousand bags, or 
 about seven thousand five hundred tons. An account, in answer, 
 was given, of the quantity of saltpetre put up, sold, and refused, 
 with the average price of each sale, and each year, for the last 
 thirty years, which, the Committee concluded, would best ex- 
 plain the actual state of the disputed 
 
 Having 
 
 (1) Report of the Committee of Warehouses on the Memorial of the Manufacturers 
 of Gunpowder, and other Commodities made from Saltpetre (1793) 
 
v& 
 
 PART I. 
 
 General re- 
 ference to 
 the subse- 
 quent nego- 
 tiation. 
 
 Having thus brought under review the propositions of the 
 Opponents of the Company, for a participation in the trade on 
 their own risk, without being sharers in the stock, and having 
 examined the articles in detail, in case this participation could not 
 be obtained, viz. the conditions suggested respecting the Com- 
 pany's exports, imports, rates of freight, and home sales, it may 
 be proper to leave these subjects, as well as the scheme of 
 having Agents for the Private Merchants trading to India or 
 to China, through the Company's tonnage, till we come to treat 
 of the actual progress of the negociation ; — the propositions will 
 then come into a more specific form, as they were examined, dis- 
 cussed, and modified by Government, in consequence of a fuller 
 production of the whole evidence and statements, of the argu- 
 ments, in the Courts of Directors and Proprietors, and commu- 
 nications between the Directors and Government. 
 
*T«ian v 
 
 PART IT. 
 
 REPORT ON THE NEGOCIATION, BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND 
 THE HONORABLE EAST-INDIA COMPANY, FOR THE RENEWAL 
 OF THE COMPANY'S EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES OF TRADE, FOR 
 TWENTY YEARS, FROM MARCH 1794; AND OUTLINE OF THE 
 EXISTING SYSTEM OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, AS ESTABLISHED AT 
 THAT PERIOD. 
 
 THE fluctuation of opinions on the subject of Indian Affairs, PART ir. 
 winch we have endeavoured to detail, will discover the difficulties Difficulties 
 
 t m devising a 
 
 under which Government were placed, in devising a system that system of 
 
 Government 
 
 would accommodate the interests of the East-India Company to and of Trade 
 
 r J for British 
 
 the expectations of the commercial and manufacturing bodies in India - 
 Great-Britain and Ireland. 
 
 O The 
 
98 
 
 partii. The Report on the important and national subject of Indian 
 
 affairs in 1793, may be comprehended under the following heads, 
 
 1st. The discussions between Government and the East- 
 India Company, 'previously to the subject of Indian Affairs being 
 brought before Parliament. 
 
 2d. The proceedings in Parliament, connected with those 
 of the East -India Company, while the renewal of the exclusive 
 privileges was a subject of deliberation and decision. 
 
 3d. Digest of the Act, 33d George III. Cap. 52, establish- 
 ing the existing system of Indian Affairs. 
 Preliminary j (j^e p r0 np ress f ^ e discussions, between Government 
 
 information r o ? 
 
 the'courtof an ^ ^ e East-India Company, previously to the subject of 
 Directors. Indian Affairs being brought before Parliament, was, as follows : 
 In September 1^91, the Court of Directors appointed a 
 Select Committee, to take into consideration the export trade 
 from Great-Britain to the East-Indies : — This Committee ascer- 
 tained the quantity and value of the exports from Britain to 
 India, and the profit or loss on the sale of them ; — the exports, 
 in private trade, allowed to the commanders and officers of the 
 Company's ships ; — the illicit trade to the East- Indies ; — the 
 means of computing the quantity of tonnage unoccupied in the 
 Company's ships, on the outward voyage ; — and the endeavors 
 of the Company to extend the consumption of British manu- 
 factures and produce in the East-Indies. 
 
 The statements upon these subjects were illustrated with 
 general remarks on the exports to India, by the Company and 
 
 by 
 
99 
 
 by individuals ; and with an examination of the schemes which PA.RTH 
 might occur to Private Merchants, seeking to extend their trade 
 to countries in which the Company's efforts had, hitherto, proved 
 unsuccessful, particularly to Japan and Persia : for the Com- 
 pany had foreseen that speculators, unacquainted with their 
 successive efforts, might calculate upon the commercial advan- 
 tages of an open trade, to those countries. 
 
 The Company also appointed Select Committees, very early 
 in the Session of Parliament 1792-3, to report on the subject of 
 the Cotton Manufactures of Britain, in addition to their memo- 
 rial, on that subject, in 1788 ; on the claims which might arise, 
 on the part of Ireland, for a participation in the India and China 
 trade ; and on the references from the Board of Trade, on 
 the importation of saltpetre, in consequence of repeated appli- 
 cations from the Manufacturers of Gunpowder. 
 
 With such evidence before them, the Public perceived, that 
 the Company were disposed to afford the fullest information 
 respecting the revenues and trade of India, and the trade to 
 China ; and that they were prepared to meet their opponents, 
 upon any propositions, regarding the East-India Commerce, 
 which might come under the consideration of Parliament. 
 
 The Commissioners for the Affairs of India had also been By the Com. 
 
 missioners 
 
 attentive in bringing evidence before the Public. for the Af- 
 
 fairs of India. 
 The President had, during six successive sessions, sub- 
 mitted to the House of Commons, statements of the situation of 
 Indian Affairs, distinguishing the progress of the revenues of 
 
 O 2 India, 
 
100 
 
 PART II. India, and the charges and amount of debts and interest annu- 
 ally arising on them. This information he continued, on a more 
 extensive scale, in the month of February 1793, at the time 
 when the opinions of the Public were fluctuating, between the 
 opposite systems of an open, and a regulated trade. 
 
 Every possible information, thus, was afforded, which could 
 prepare the Proprietors of India Stock, the various mercantile 
 and manufacturing bodies in the kingdom, and the Public, in 
 general, for judging of the system required for Indian 
 Affairs. 
 Conduct of The President of the Board of Commissioners for the 
 
 His Majes- 
 ty's Ministers Affairs of India, addressed the Court of Directors, in the month 
 
 on opening 
 
 thenegocia- Q f J anuar y 1793, expressing his desire to have the most full 
 Company, discussion with the East-India Company, upon the, different 
 points, in the important and extensive subject of their affairs, 
 with a view to submit propositions respecting them to Parlia- 
 ment, and allowed them to give the communications any form 
 which might best suit the freedom of enquiry requisite on 
 this public measure/ 1 ) 
 TheDirectors The Court of Directors, on receiving this communication, 
 
 siness to the referred the management of the business to their Committee of 
 
 Committee _^ ._ . 1 
 
 of Corres- Correspondence, with instructions to make reports respecting 
 
 pondence. 
 
 their proceedings, when they might deem it necessary : — This 
 
 Committee, 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman of the 
 Company, dated 14th January 1793. (Printed Papers respecting the Negotiation for a 
 Renewal of the Company's exclusive Trade, No. I.) 
 
1Q1 
 
 Committee, in consequence of the powers vested in them, PART If. 
 transmitted to the Board of Commissioners, hints for the ar- 
 rangement of the negociation, for a renewal of the Company's 
 exclusive privileges, viz. 
 
 That the Government of India, with the conduct and manage- Hints offered 
 
 • i -r» iii • ky this Com- 
 
 ment of the territorial Revenues, should be continued under the mittee,asthe 
 
 basis of the 
 
 system of 1784, as explained and improved by subsequent Acts negociation. 
 of the Legislature ; — that the Company's trade should also 
 remain, and be carried on, under the management of the Court of 
 Directors, with exclusive privileges ; — that as there were several 
 points, in which the legal powers of the Company were deficient, 
 for common purposes, provision should be made to remedy this 
 inconvenience, under separate heads, or in detail, or that 
 general powers should be vested in the Government in India 
 for this purpose, to a defined extent ; — that the commercial 
 dividend of eight per cent, per annum, should be secured to the 
 Proprietors ; — that a part of their bonds, and some part of 
 their debts should be converted into a regular fund or stock, 
 redeemable by instalments, or otherways ; and that, after pro- 
 viding, in a manner satisfactory to the Public, sufficient sums 
 for liquidating their debts, and for the currency of their affairs, 
 they should be permitted to make such an addition to their 
 dividends as might be equitable, but, at the same time, to parti- 
 cipate in any surplus with the Public. 
 
 In reply, the President of the Board of Commissioners stated The Presi- 
 
 / dent of the 
 
 his general ideas upon these subjects, reserving the privilege of Board of 
 
 re- considering ers ' observa- 
 
102 
 
 part ii. re-considering the various points, if, upon farther evidence, it 
 tjonsontheie mjgbt be necessary to alter his opinion. 
 
 On the subject of the Government of India, and the ma- 
 nagement of the territorial Revenues, he was of opinion, that it 
 would be better, and more wise, they should be conducted by a 
 Court of Directors and a Board of Commissioners, than to 
 substitute a new system, originating in plausible and untried 
 speculation. 
 
 On the continuation of the Company's exclusive privilege, he 
 was of opinion, that it might be continued " a Regulated Mono- 
 <poly " (explaining that term to be, a trade, which should insure 
 to the Merchants and Manufacturers of Britain and Ireland, an 
 export, to the full extent of the demands of India, and an im- 
 port of raw materials from India, suited to the wants of the 
 Manufacturers), and that the produce should be brought home, 
 at a rate as reasonable as the circumstances of the two countries 
 would admit. In illustration, he considered it to be a leading 
 principle, that every thing should be done by the East-India Com- 
 pany, that might be possible, to bear down the Clandestine Trade; 
 and, for this end, he suggested that an additional tonnage, 
 adequate to the exports from Britain and Ireland, and to the 
 imports from India, should be furnished, at a rate of freight, 
 that would not bring any improper burden on the manufacturing 
 interests ; as it would be admitted, that the Company could afford 
 to be the carriers, both of Indian and European goods, cheaper 
 than any individual merchant could do on his private capital. 
 
 Upon 
 
103 
 
 On the subject of the regulations which attached to India PART II. 
 and to Europe, he was of opinion, that from the existing state 
 of the Company's affairs, after discharging annually, at least, 
 s£500,000 of their Indian debt, and after paying charges of 
 merchandize, dividends upon stock, and every other burden at 
 home, there would remain a surplus of sBjOOfiOO j — that this 
 surplus ought to be disposed of, in raising the dividend from eight 
 to ten per cent. ; — that the debt abroad should be reduced to the 
 sum of .§£3,000,000, at which it ought to be continued ; — that 
 the debt of the Company, at home, including the debt transferred 
 from India, would not exceed the sum of ,§£4,000,000; ex- 
 cluding from it, however, first, a sum equal to the debt due 
 by Government to the Company, leaving that to be set off 
 against the annuity due, or that might be sold by the Company, 
 and next leaving out the capital of India Stock, ,§£5,000,000, and 
 such floating debts as might accrue in the ordinary currency of 
 the business, amounting to .§£2,454,579, because a full equivalent 
 for both of these, would be found in the assets of the Company, 
 at home, afloat, and abroad, amounting to ,§£12,913,854, ex- 
 clusive of the debts owing to the Company in India; — taking 
 it, then, for granted, that the Company would not think of 
 reducing this debt lower than ^£1,500,000, which they could 
 circulate in bonds, the whole of the debt, for which provision 
 was to be made, was .§£2,500,000. 
 
 Two methods for discharging this debt were obvious, either 
 by adding one million to the Capital Stock of the Company, by 
 
 which 
 
104 
 
 part ii. w liich ,§£2,000,000 sterling would be raised, for the extinction of 
 the debt, or by funding the debt, and paying it off by instal- 
 ments. The first method he preferred ; and on the whole, under 
 all these circumstances, in connexion with the benefits which the 
 Company had derived from the Commutation Act, he concluded, 
 that the Public was warranted to expect a sum of partici- 
 pation, not less than ^500,000 per annum, if that sum should 
 remain, after answering the other claims, to which a preference 
 should be allowed/ 1 ) 
 
 The Court, on the first view of these conditions, and to 
 prevent an improper use being made of them, sent an advertise- 
 ment, comprehending the substance of them, to the Bank and 
 Stock Exchange, and ordered it to be inserted in the News- 
 papers, that the Proprietors might have the earliest and fullest 
 information of this first stage of the negociation/ 2 > 
 Reply of the The Court, on this occasion, framed observations on the 
 
 to°?he obser- different points in the preceding communication, of which the 
 
 vationsofthe ~ -,, . . .# ■, , 
 
 President of following is the substance. 
 
 Commission- The general condition, respecting the Government and 
 
 Revenues, the Court received with satisfaction ; but they sub- 
 mitted, that the Commerce and Revenues of India could not be 
 separated, with safety to the Empire; — that a description of ships, 
 
 built, 
 
 (1) Mr. Dundas's Letter to the Chairman (Mr. Baring), 1 6th February 1 793. (Printed 
 Papers respecting the Negociation, No. I.) 
 
 (2) Proceedings of the Court of Directors, 17th February 1793. (Printed Papers, 
 No. I.) 
 
105 
 
 built, equipped, armed, &c, would be required for this com- part ii. 
 merce, which could not carry exports and imports at the 
 cheapest rate of freight, as the Company considered the price 
 paid for them, to be a sacrifice of their commercial, to their 
 territorial interests ; instead, therefore, of entering into an inde- 
 finite engagement, they offered to furnish, every season, for the 
 accommodation of British and Irish exports, four ships for 
 Bengal, two for Madras, and two for Bombay, of eight hundred 
 tons each, at the freight of ^B10 per ton, weight or measure- 
 ment. Recruits, however, were not to be sent to India on these 
 vessels, and the Court expected that an enumeration of the 
 articles to be considered as manufactures should be made, from 
 which all naval and military stores were to be expressly excepted. 
 On the subject of the import of raw materials, to the ex- 
 tent of the manufactures exported, they submitted, that a 
 correct description of what was to be deemed raw materials 
 should be given, because this indefinite term might embrace a 
 considerable portion of the whole investment, as four ships 
 could bring a moiety of the Company's most valuable imports. 
 On this account, they would prefer authorizing their Presidencies, 
 to grant bills on the Company, at the exchange of two shillings 
 the rupee from Bengal, two shillings and three-pence from 
 Bombay, and eight shillings the pagoda from Madras. If, from 
 unforeseen circumstances, their Presidencies should be unable 
 to grant such bills, then individuals might be at liberty to send 
 home such articles, as should be specified to be equal in amount 
 
 P of 
 
106 
 
 part li. f tonnage to their exports, and at the freight of ^12 per ton, 
 weight or measurement; the goods, however, to pass through 
 the Company's warehouses in London ; and this rate they affirm- 
 ed to be lower than what was paid at Ostend, and trusted that 
 it would bear a proportionate advance in time of war. 
 
 On the subject of the actual situation of the Company's 
 affairs, they admitted that, in time of peace, the annual surplus 
 would probably exceed ^1,200,000 ;— that ^500,000 might be 
 annually applied to the liquidation of the Indian debts, if there 
 should be a sum sufficient for that purpose; and that a sum, 
 not exceeding .§£500,000, should be participated annually with 
 the Public ; but they thought, that the liquidation of the debts 
 in India must, for the present, operate, in some degree, upon 
 this participation : — they considered, that the Separate Fund, or 
 cash of the Company, which belonged solely to them, would 
 remain as their property, and form no part of the present 
 arrangement. By the operation of the Commutation Act, they 
 admitted, that the Company had reaped material advantages ; 
 but contended, that the Public had benefited to an extent much 
 beyond <^H ,000,000 sterling, annually, in the balance of trade, 
 which had been retrieved from smugglers, and from Foreign 
 Companies, and concluded, on the whole, with acceding to the 
 term of twenty years, to commence from the expiration of their 
 subsisting term. 
 
 Their opi- Some difficulty arose, at this juncture, respecting the trade 
 
 nion on the 
 
 conditions re- to China, in the event of the Embassy of Lord Macartney 
 
 being 
 
107 
 
 being attended with success. The Directors gave it as their part ii. 
 unanimous opinion, that any interference with the exclusive <i uiredforthe 
 
 r * Company, in 
 
 trade to China would be attended with the most injurious theev( r nt of 
 
 J territorial ac- 
 
 consequences to the British Nation ; and that if any cession fom^chi- 
 should be obtained, distinct and separate from the Continent, nese * 
 and wholly free from the authority of the Chinese Government, 
 then British and Irish manufactures might be sent, on freight, to 
 such settlement, on the Company's ships, consigned to their 
 super-cargoes, but that any intercourse, farther than the sale of 
 such exports by the Company's servants, and granting bills, 
 at the actual rate of exchange, for them, by persons not under 
 the covenants of the Company, would be attended with the 
 worst consequences/') 
 
 On the 22d of February, a General Court of Proprietors 
 was held, when the substance of the transactions, now detailed, 
 was laid before them by Mr. (afterwards Sir Francis) Baring, 
 the Chairman, with the object of receiving a sanction from that 
 Court, of the principles upon which the Directors had entered 
 on the negociation. 
 
 The only objections to it were, that the Company's rights 
 to the territories had not been admitted in the propositions ; — 
 that if the collective assets, or commercial claims of the Com- 
 pany were worth twelve millions, ten per cent., or the legal interest 
 of this sum, was not a commercial dividend ; — and that the debts 
 
 P 2 should 
 
 (l) Letter from the .Chairman, Mr. Baring, to Mr. Dundas, 21st Feburary 1793. 
 (Printed Papers, No. I.) 
 
108 
 
 ^5^3 should, in part, have been liquidated, before a claim of .§£500,000 
 for the Public, could have been made, this being five parts to 
 the Public, and one part only to the Company. 
 
 The answers given to these objections were, that as the 
 
 exclusive privileges were to be renewed for twenty years, the 
 
 rights of the Company to the territories were left open ; — that 
 
 Government was not to have more than ,§£500,000 per annum, 
 
 whatever the surplus might be, and if there should be a less 
 
 surplus, Government would receive a less amount. 
 
 Substance of The Court of Proprietors, without giving the sanction to 
 
 of the P Court * fte Directors which had been moved for, adjourned to the 24th 
 
 on these sub- February, when a motion was made, " That it be referred back 
 
 lects. 
 
 ** to the Court of Directors to continue their negociation for 
 ' carrying those principles into effect, this Court relying on due 
 e attention being paid to securing to the Company the estimated 
 ' annual surplus in England, and for that purpose, by proper 
 ' regulations, to simplify and render the trade, to be allowed to 
 1 individuals, as plain and free from dispute as may be, and also 
 ' to guard the exclusive trade of the Company from injury and 
 ' innovation ; and the said Court of Directors are, from time 
 ' to time, to report their proceedings to the Court of Proprie- 
 < tors." 
 
 A debate arose on the question, " How far the adopting 
 ' this motion would pledge the Court to sanction the future 
 ' measures of the Directors V It was, in general, agreed, that 
 
 the adopting the motion was only approving of the principles 
 
 upon 
 
109 
 
 upon which the negotiation had commenced, without fettering PART «• 
 the Directors in the progress of the treaty with Government, to 
 which such approbation did not extend. 
 
 On the 8th of March, another General Court was held, 
 when the Chairman stated, that the Directors had prepared a 
 Petition to Parliament, for enlarging the term of their exclusive 
 privileges. 
 
 The Petition (after recapitulating the substance of the Act, Petition of 
 
 , .. . . the Company 
 
 the 21st Geo. ill, " for establishing an agreement with the to Parliament 
 
 . . for a renewal 
 
 " United Company of Merchants trading to the East-Indies ") of their ex- 
 clusive privi- 
 represented to the House of Commons, " that the system esta- legesof trade. 
 
 " blished by this Act, for the Government of the territorial 
 
 " acquisitions in the East-Indies, for the management of the 
 
 " revenues, and for conducting the affairs of the Company, 
 
 " aided by the regulations introduced in subsequent Acts, had 
 
 " been found by experience to be adequate to these ends ; — that 
 
 " as this system had proved equally advantageous to the Com- 
 
 " pany, and to the Public, the Company prayed that leave might 
 
 " be given to bring in a Bill, for enlarging the term of their 
 
 " exclusive trade, and for continuing in them the Government 
 
 " and management of their territorial acquisitions and revenues, 
 
 u in the manner prescribed by this, and by subsequent Acts of 
 
 " Parliament, without prejudice to the rights of the Company, 
 
 M or to the claim of the Public, as in a former act had been 
 
 " provided."^ 
 
 Matters 
 
 (l) Petition of the East-India Company to the House of Commons, for enlarging the 
 term of their exclusive privileges, dated 6th March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. II.) 
 
110 
 
 part il Matters being brought to this point, a conference was held, 
 
 Conference, on t ne |2th of March, between the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 
 between His 7 * 
 
 Majesty's an( j the President of the Board of Commissioners, on the one 
 
 Ministers and 7 
 
 t hC of Cor-" P ar *> an ^ tne Committee of Correspondence on the other, to 
 respondence, se ^j e t j ie regulations, under which the exclusive trade of the 
 
 on this sub- o » 
 
 ject# Company was, in future, to be conducted. 
 
 Opinions of The Committee, in a report dated the 13th March, stated 
 
 !eeu C p°on?his tne opinions of His Majesty's Ministers to be;— that the exports 
 and imports, to and from India, were to be extended by all 
 possible means ; — that the exports from Europe were to be com- 
 bined, in a certain degree, more or less, with the . import of 
 goods from India; — that measures were to be devised, to convert 
 the Clandestine Trade into a fair and legal traffic, through the 
 medium of the Company, and that the charges of seven per 
 cent, which the Proprietors of Private Trade pay to the Com- 
 pany, were to be moderated: 
 
 To these principles the Committee not only had assented, 
 but were ready to second them, by every effort in their power. 
 They represented, however, that whatever might relate to the 
 liquidation of their debts, and to the expectations of the Public, 
 had proceeded upon the faith, that the exclusive trade was to be 
 continued, and that it was upon this ground, the Court of Pro- 
 prietors had approved of the principles upon which the negocia- 
 tion had been opened. 
 
 Doubts, however, might arise, whether the quantity of 
 tonnage offered by the Directors was sufficient ? — whether the 
 
 rate 
 
Ill 
 
 rate of freight and the rate of exchange were satisfactory ? — and part it. 
 whether it would be right to prohibit persons, exporting manufac- 
 tures, to invest the proceeds in the produce of India ? 
 
 In explaining these doubts, the Committee reported, in 
 general, that His Majesty's Ministers seemed to think, the quan- 
 tity of tonnage would be sufficient for some years ; — that, as the 
 rate of freight was less than what it would cost the Company, 
 and less than what individuals paid at Ostend, and as the 
 exporters would obtain returns, through the medium of the 
 Company's cash, at a more beneficial rate of exchange than 
 foreigners could procure, they were of opinion, the Clandestine 
 Trade would be effectually checked. 
 
 The Committee subjoined, that a distinction ought to be 
 made, between trade that is foreign, and trade that is clandes- 
 tine : — the former, it was not possible, or desirable, to suppress ; 
 and the latter could only be completely controlled, by restraining 
 all exportation from the British territories in India, except 
 through the medium of the Company, by which both Foreign 
 and Clandestine Trade would be diminished. 
 
 The Committee then enumerated the articles which composed 
 the bulk of Clandestine Trade, outwards, viz. naval and military 
 stores, liquids, and metals : — the first they considered to be out 
 of the question, and the second nearly so ; and with regard to 
 the metals, they could not be taken on the same principle as 
 manufactures, because the value of metals is so great, that if 
 individuals could send them out, in any quantity they chose, then 
 
 the 
 
112 
 
 part ii. the bills on the Court of Directors, for Copper alone, would 
 bring distress on the Company's engagements at home. 
 
 The rate of exchange which they had offered, they con- 
 sidered to be a liberal and a full answer to this question, and to 
 any objections which the Manufacturers could make, in support 
 of their scheme of having persons, as Agents in India, not under 
 the covenants of the Company, to restrain their transactions. 
 After stating the difficulty of allotting the tonnage homewards, 
 in return for the exports, the Committee concluded by a refe- 
 rence to the former letter of the Court of Directors to the 
 President of the Board of Commissioners, in which an enumera- 
 tion of the imports for private trade was required, without which 
 the exclusive privilege of the Company would be lost, as they 
 would have to provide the private merchants and manufacturers 
 with freight, at a cheaper rate than they could procure it else- 
 where/^ 
 Conference, On receiving this report, His Majesty's Ministers desired 
 
 Majesty's a conference with the Committee of Correspondence, and 
 
 Ministers c 7 
 
 Committee * nt i mateal , at ^ e same time, that a letter from the persons 
 denceTnthe connecte( ^ w ^ tn tne Clandestine Trade (of which a copy had 
 ciaifdestfne 16 Deen sent *° tne Chairman) contained matter which required 
 Trade. much elucidation ; — that, upon national grounds, Government 
 
 considered the subject of Clandestine Trade to be of great im- 
 portance, 
 
 (1) Report of the Committee of Correspondence, dated 13th March 1793. (Printed 
 Papers, No. II.) 
 
113 
 
 portance, and were at a loss how it was possible, if the facts part ir. 
 asserted in the letter on the Clandestine Trade were true, to bring 
 forward Indian affairs in Parliament, without some provision 
 being made on this particular point, such as " that it should be 
 i( lawful, in future, for British subjects, and others living 
 " under the protection of His Majesty, in India, or elsewhere, 
 " to purchase goods from, or sell goods to, the subjects of all 
 " nations, without exception, or to act for them on agency .W 
 
 A Court of Proprietors was held, on the 21st March, when Opinions of 
 
 r p 'the Court of 
 
 the Chairman stated, that in the neffociation with Government, Proprietors 
 
 ' ° on this sub- 
 
 the Directors were not, as yet, enabled to state any new matter i ect - 
 to the Court, which had not already been under their consider- 
 ation ; — that the President of the Board of Commissioners had 
 delayed introducing his propositions to the House of Commons, 
 on the commercial concerns of the Company ; — and that he 
 meant, first, to bring forward bis propositions relative to the 
 political government of India, but intended merely to submit 
 them to the House, as subjects for consideration. In this stage 
 of the business, therefore, the Chairman wished the Court of 
 Proprietors to adjourn for a few days. 
 
 The clause, however, as proposed by the persons connected 
 with the Clandestine Trade, to have Agents in India, produced 
 considerable anxiety, and difference of opinion, among the Pro- 
 prietors ; a proposition was therefore made, that this clause 
 
 Q should 
 
 (1) Letter from the Right Honorable Henry Dundas to the Chairman, 18th March 
 1 793, with Copy of the proposed clause. (Printed Papers, No. II.) 
 
114 
 
 *^ T M. should be permitted to be inserted in the proposed Act. This 
 the Chairman considered to be improper, till it could be laid 
 before the Proprietors, with the observations of the Court of 
 Directors upon it. 
 
 It was the opinion of some of the Proprietors, that if the 
 resolutions, intended to be submitted to Parliament, should not 
 previously be known to, and discussed by the Court of Pro- 
 prietors, it would be difficult to have any of them altered, 
 after they had been formally adopted by the House of Com- 
 mons. 
 
 This circumstance led to a train of detached observations 
 on the rate of freight. It was, in general, contended, that the 
 freight ought to be as low as would enable the British Merchant 
 to trade to India ; — that the shipping ought to be taken up on 
 contract, and the preference given to the lowest bidder ; — 
 that the foreign trade to India wonlH be of advantage to the 
 public revenue ; — that the Company might be considered as 
 holding an Empire, and acting as Agents for the Public, and 
 accountable receivers of the revenues of the British possessions ; 
 — and that the commercial benefits (the China trade being kept 
 out of view) were but of inferior consideration to the political 
 advantages. 
 
 In reply, it was said ; — that the rate of freight proposed was 
 lower than could be had at Ostend ; — that it was not meant to mo- 
 nopolize the shipping, for the benefit of the old shipping interest ; 
 — that the commercial interests of Britain with the East were 
 
 £0 
 
115 
 
 so interwoven with the exclusive privileges of the Company, par tjit: 
 as well as with the political importance of India to Britain, 
 that it was impracticable to separate them ; — that while a due 
 regard should be had to the interests of the British Merchant 
 and Manufacturer, the prosperity of our territorial possessions 
 in India, and the increase of our commerce, formed only one 
 subject ; — that the commercial transactions of the Company, 
 as the medium through which our produce was to pass to the 
 East, and the produce of the East to have a transit to England, 
 were inseparable from the political prosperity of our Provinces ; 
 or, in fact, that they formed the value of the Provinces to the 
 Empire ; hence the value of the revenues of India to the State 
 depended upon the commercial exertion of the Company ; — and 
 that, lastly, to satisfy all parties, a clause ought to be intro- 
 duced into the new Act, for regulating the price of the freight 
 to be paid on the export of British manufactures. 
 
 On the subject of the propositions, by the persons con- 
 nected with the Clandestine Trade, it was in answer asserted, 
 that such a clause would be destructive of the Company's exclu- 
 sive trade, and deprive them of the advantages which they had 
 enjoyed, under the sanction of their original charters from the 
 Crown, and repeated Acts of Parliament. 
 
 On the subject of the Separate Fund, it was asserted, that — and on 
 
 the Separate 
 
 when the Company agreed to yay ,§£400,000 to Government, it Fund. 
 was settled, that .§£288,026 of their own property should be at 
 their disposal ; — that, on this subject, nothing should be left 
 
 Q 2 undefined, 
 
116 
 
 part ir. undefined, and that the Directors ought to consider what would 
 be the best mode of securing to the present Proprietors the 
 interest of this Separate Fund. 
 
 The Court, after hearing these observations, adjourned to 
 the 27th of March. 
 Opinion of The attention of Government, was, in this stage of the 
 
 the Com- * ' & 
 
 mittee of negociation, fixed on the numerous claims of those who con- 
 
 Correspon- ° 
 
 denceon the s idered their interests to be implicated in the decision of the 
 
 subject of 
 
 Private Legislature ; — it will, therefore, be proper to give the view of 
 
 each, in succession. 
 
 On the subject of Private Trade, the Committee of Cor- 
 respondence represented, that it would not be reasonable and 
 just to the Proprietors, to reduce the charges below five per 
 cent., which amount, it was to be recollected, included every 
 expence, viz that of landing, of housing, of delivering goods, 
 of warehouse rent, and of public sale. 
 
 —on the Rate On the subject of Freight, the Committee maintained, that 
 
 of Freight. J ■ • ? 
 
 if they engaged ships at ^820 per ton, it would cost them more 
 than ^€22 ; but if the Company should be desired to make a 
 farther sacrifice to the manufacturing interests, the Directors 
 would recommend to the Proprietors, to accept of ^£20 per ton, 
 in time of peace, on condition that this sum should be divided 
 *into ^£8 for the outward freight, and «s£l2 for the homeward 
 freight. If sBS outwards, should be fixed on, then individuals 
 might fill up the tonnage, with profit to themselves only, 
 and try to bring home their returns on foreign ships, if 
 
 they 
 
117 
 
 they could find a cheaper freight; — a circumstance which, instead part ir. 
 of diminishing, would tend to increase the Clandestine Trade, 
 though all parties were desirous to suppress it/ 
 
 On the claims of the Shipping Interest, the President of 7T. on the T 
 
 rr ° 7 Shipping In* 
 
 the Board of Commissioners gave it as his opinion, that, as he terest * 
 had discouraged every suggestion, tending to set aside the 
 valuable capital employed in the shipping interest of the Com- 
 pany, so he thought that the subject could not be a matter of 
 Parliamentary arrangement ; and therefore recommended it to 
 the discretion of those who managed the commercial interests of 
 the Company, that, on the one hand, the freight should be 
 settled on fair and equitable terms, and, on the other hand, that 
 persons, who had embarked their property in the shipping con- 
 cern, should not be kept in constant agitation, by discussions on 
 the tenders of speculators in this branch of the business/ 2 ) 
 
 The claims of the different manufacturing and mercantile Claims of the 
 
 manufactur- 
 
 hodies, next pressed upon the notice of Government. Some of i»g and mer- 
 cantile bo- 
 them (as stated in Part I.) had proceeded upon the vague reso- dies. 
 
 lutions which had been previously circulated, to influence the 
 
 public opinion ; others of them upon the idea of increasing the 
 
 quantity of exports on the Company's ships, on a freight more 
 
 reasonable than individuals could furnish it. Each of these 
 
 claims 
 
 (1) Letter from the Chairman to the President of the Board of Commissioners, 2lst 
 March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
 (2) Letter of the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, dated 
 23d March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
118 
 
 part ir. claims had been laid before the Directors, for their consideration, 
 and the Court were required to afford their observations on this 
 subject, that upon an impartial review of the situation of the 
 Company, and of the expectations of the Claimants, Govern- 
 ment might be enabled to frame propositions for the consideration 
 of Parliament. 
 
 The resolutions, and the substance of the memorials offered 
 in explanation of them, before the opening of the negociation, 
 have already been examined. The different mercantile and 
 manufacturing bodies, now became more moderate in their 
 demands, and seemed to hold out terms more compatible with 
 the continuation of the Company's exclusive privileges ; — it 
 remains, therefore, to advert to them under this new aspect, 
 first in the order in which they came before His Majesty's 
 Ministers, and next, as they were matters of observation by the 
 Court of Directors. In this way, the result will be discovered, 
 in the resolutions upon the whole subject, transmitted by the 
 President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, and 
 Court of Directors, for their examination, and that of the Court 
 of Proprietors, as well as the substance of the opinion of those 
 Proprietors, on the various points on which they and the 
 mercantile bodies differed. 
 
 Demands of 1. The Gentlemen interested in the Mines in Cornwall (as 
 
 the Proprie- v 
 
 tors of the has been noticed in Part I.) required, that an option might be 
 
 Mines |n t y ^ ■ -° 
 
 Cornwall and given to them, either to sell their produce to the East-India 
 
 of opinion of ~ 
 
 HisMajesty's Company, or to export it, on freight, in the Company's ships, or 
 
 them. j n 
 
119 
 
 in ships hired bv themselves ; with an option, also, to have their re- PART *h 
 turns, either by payment of the sale amount into the Company's 
 treasuries, and to receive bills on the Court of Directors at the 
 current rate of exchange ; or, by the import of raw materials, on 
 freight, on the Company's ships, or in ships hired by themselves ; 
 and, also, that the China market might be opened to them. 
 
 When the President of the Board of Commissioners, trans- 
 mitted Lord Falmouth's letter, on this subject, to the Court of 
 Directors, he, at the same time, intimated to his Lordship, that 
 the Company were willing to bind themselves, to export eight 
 hundred tons of tin, annually, at the rate of d&7% per ton, 
 provided they could find a sale for it, in the Indian or Chinese 
 markets ; and gave it as his opinion, that the Company should be 
 relieved from this obligation, to the extent of four hundred tons, 
 or a lesser number of tons, if, at the end of each successive four 
 years of their term, they should be able to prove, to the satis- 
 faction of the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, that the •-.•-.--:-- 
 
 •: 
 
 markets abroad did not admit of a sale, to the whole amount of 
 the stipulated quantity/ 1 * 
 
 2. The Merchants of Exeter represented, that the Com- of the 
 
 pany's annual exports of Long-Ells had, within the last few chants, and 
 Xears, increased from ^60,000 to near ,s£400,00G ; — that the His Majesty's 
 
 -■.«... iii i 1, Ministers on 
 
 price or wool, in consequence, had advanced to such a degree, as them. 
 to operate as a bounty on the rival manufactures of neighbouring 
 
 states 
 
 (1) Letters from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, dated 
 23d March 1793, and to Lord Falmouth, dated 22d March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III). 
 
120 
 
 PART ir. states, so that the European demand for this article, at Exeter, 
 was diminishing, while that for China was increasing, and 
 raising the price, a circumstance which had cut them off from 
 the European demands ; — they required, therefore, that the 
 Long-Ells might be prepared and dyed at Exeter, instead of 
 being prepared and dyed in London, which encouragement, 
 if granted, would turn the price in their favor ; — and, on the 
 whole, that they might have a participation in the export trade 
 to China. 
 
 In the letter transmitting this Memorial to the Court of 
 Directors, the President of the Board of Commissioners observed, 
 (as on the preceding article) that it was impossible to bring for- 
 ward the grievance, as a matter of Parliamentary arrangement ; 
 but if the Company could give the Manufacturers a participation 
 in the dying business, it would be worthy of their liberality, as 
 an encouragement to a branch of British industry .< ! > 
 of the 3. The Adventurers in the Southern Whale Fishery re- 
 
 Southern 
 
 Whalers, and quired, that permission might be given to them to extend their 
 
 opinion of ° 
 
 His Majes- ran^e into the Pacific Ocean, bv the wav of Cape Horn, to the 
 
 ty's Ministers ° ' J J l 
 
 on them. Northward of the Equator. 
 
 In conveying this requisition to the Chairman, the Presi- 
 dent of the Board of Commissioners suggested, that it would be 
 proper for Government to know what the existing conditions 
 
 were, 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, trans- 
 mitting a Memorial from the Merchants of Exeter, dated 23d March 1793. (Printed Papers, 
 No. III.) 
 
121 
 
 were, under which the Southern Whale Fishery had heen con- part n. 
 ducted, in its relation to the East-India Company. 
 
 The Chairman replied, that it was his decided opinion, the 
 privilege which the Southern Whalers enjoyed, could not he 
 enlarged, without extreme danger to India, and to the trade to 
 China, as these rovers might visit the Coasts of India or China ; 
 and that it was necessary to prevent all communication between 
 them, and the Settlement at Botany Bay/ 
 
 4. The requisitions of the Cotton Manufacturers of Man- f 
 
 i /~ii • • the Cott °n 
 
 Chester, were next conveyed to the Chairman, with the answers Manufactu- 
 rers, and 
 which had been made to their Delegates, in a conference between conduct of 
 
 His Majes- 
 
 them, and the King's Ministers. Their first demand was, that tys Ministers 
 
 respecting 
 
 the freight outwards should not exceed «§£4 per ton, and home- them. 
 ward ^B12 per ton ; to which the answer was, that, under all 
 the circumstances of the East-Tndia trade, Government could 
 not urge the Court of Directors, to go lower than ^£5 for the 
 export, and aB15 for the import. The next demand was, that 
 the Manufacturers of this kingdom should be exempted from all 
 import and export duties in India. It was answered, that it was 
 reasonable the Company should be paid the expence of pilotage, 
 and other incidental charges ; and if the present duties exceeded 
 what was necessary for these purposes, they should be lowered 
 to that standard. The third demand was, that all goods of 
 
 R Private 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, on the 
 subject of the Southern Whale Fishery, 23d March 1793, and Answer of the Chairman, 
 29th March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
122 
 
 PART ii. Private Trade, particularly those for home consumption, should 
 be delivered when required, the freight and duties being first 
 paid. It was answered, that as this requisition referred to raw 
 materials, proposed to be brought home in return for exports 
 from Great-Britain, and not as articles of commerce, exposed 
 at the Company's sales, the Directors did not see any difficulty 
 on the subject, Government having recommended it to their 
 liberal consideration. The fourth requisition was, that the 
 China market should be opened, for the import of every species 
 of British manufactures, or that they might be sent from India, 
 in case it should not be permitted to trade direct to China. The 
 answer was, that the trade between India and China, from the 
 nature of it, could not be carried on in any other way, than by 
 the ships employed in the country trade, which were at liberty 
 to carry to China any article they could find in India, and 
 British exports among others. 
 
 The following propositions were made, at this period of the 
 negociation, by a more numerous body of Delegates from Man- 
 chester, and the following answers were given by Government. 
 
 Their first proposition was, that the East-India Company 
 should not, in future, expose to sale any cotton goods, manu- 
 factured in the East-Indies, except for exportation. It was an- 
 swered, that the Company seemed to be so little concerned in 
 this particular, that the proposition could not create any diffi- 
 culty ; but that Government were of opinion, the Manufacturers 
 of Great-Britain would be infinitely more in danger of suffering 
 
 from 
 
123 
 
 from a total prohibition, than they would be from a legitimate 
 trade in this article, and had desired the Manufacturers to sug- 
 gest the most effectual regulations for preventing smuggling. 
 
 The second proposition was, that the Company should bring 
 home a given quantity of fine cotton -wool, and other raw mate- 
 rials, for the supply of British manufactures. It was answered, 
 that both Government, and the Company, would promote this 
 importation, and that a certain proportion of tonnage should be 
 allotted, annually, to individuals, to supply themselves with raw 
 materials, through the agency of free merchants, appointed, as 
 at present, by the East-India Company, and under the control 
 of the Presidencies in India. 
 
 The third proposition was, that the East-India Company 
 should not expose to sale, in any one year, a greater quantity of 
 manufactured cotton goods of India, than they had done on the 
 average of the last ten years. It was answered, that limiting 
 the Company's imports would only divert the trade into foreign 
 channels, at the expence of the commerce of Great-Britain, 
 without benefiting the Manufacturers.^ 
 
 The requisitions from Glasgow nearly approached those 
 from Manchester, respecting India Piece Goods, but went farther 
 in regard to the conditions, under which this body were disposed 
 to acquiesce in the renewal of the Company's exclusive privileges. 
 They required, that the term of these privileges should be con- 
 
 R 2 siderably 
 
 (t) Minutes of Conferences between His Majesty's Ministers, and the Delegates from 
 Manchester, 9th and 20th March 1/Q3. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
124 
 
 *^^3 siderably short of twenty years ; — that the East-Ir dia Company 
 should not import, for home sale, any piece goods, except plain 
 muslins, exceeding ten shillings per square yard, and wrought 
 muslins, exceeding twenty shillings per square yard ; — that the 
 existing duties upon these Piece Goods should continue, but 
 only eight per cent, draw-back be allowed on exportation ;— that 
 British merchants should have a right to export manufactures, 
 and import raw materials, in vessels of their own, to countries 
 within the Company's limits, liable only to the duties payable by 
 foreign nations, but that the trade should be confined to London, 
 and the cargoes pass through the Company's warehouses ; — that 
 the exportation of cotton machinery should be prohibited ; and 
 that the line of the exclusive trade should be drawn considerably 
 to the Eastward and Northward of the Cape of Good Hope. As 
 far as regarded the commerce, the same answer was given, as to 
 the requests from Manchester, while the other demands were held 
 to be inadmissible.^ 
 Opinion of On the subject of the Clandestine Trade, the President of 
 
 the President 
 
 of the Board the Board of Commissioners gave it as his opinion to the Chair- 
 
 of Commis- x 
 
 sionersonthe man and Court of Directors, that both on national grounds, 
 
 Clandestine 7^ 
 
 Trade, as anc j from a consideration of what was due by the East-India 
 
 connected J 
 
 with these Company to their own credit and interest, indulgences ought 
 to be given by them to the Manufacturers, for the purpose of 
 
 laying 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, dated 
 22d March 1793, transmitting a Copy of the Propositions of the Delegates from Glasgow, 
 (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
125 
 
 laying a foundation for placing all the clandestine imports from PART ] \- 
 India, in a train of being brought into a legitimate trade, and, 
 at the same time, sent some suggestions upon this subject, of 
 which the following is the outline. 
 
 That all persons residing in India, under the protection of 
 the Company, should be allowed to act as Agents for any mer- 
 chant who might please to employ them ; the persons so acting, to 
 be under covenants with the Company, and under the control of 
 the Presidencies in India ; — that all persons, resident in India, 
 should be allowed to send home, in the Company's ships, such 
 goods as they pleased, paying a freight not exceeding ^15 per 
 ton ; or such sum, as that the freight, to India and home, should 
 amount, in the whole, to ^20 per ton, in the time of Peace ; 
 — that the charges made by the Company, on the sales of goods 
 shipped from India, by individuals, should not exceed three per 
 cent.; — that His Majesty's British and Irish subjects should be 
 permitted to export all kinds of goods to India, with the ex- 
 ception of military stores, and certain bulky articles of naval 
 stores, viz. masts, spars, cordage, anchors, pitch, tar, and 
 copper, the freight of such exports to be at the rate of s£5 per ton, 
 in time of Peace ; — and that it should be lawful for the Servants 
 of the Company to recover their property, in any foreign coun- 
 try, in the same manner as the rest of the King's subjects were, 
 
 or might be entitled to do.W 
 
 Having 
 
 (l) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, on the 
 subject of the Clandestine Trade, and enclosing a paper, intitled " Suggestions," dated 
 22d March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
126 
 
 part II. Having thus brought under review the modifications to 
 
 M ^ n " er ^ n which the various parties, immediately or remotely interested in 
 Committee t j ie renewa l of the East-India Company's exclusive privileges, were 
 pondence ar- disposed to acquiesce, and having stated the manner in which His 
 the^conside^ Majesty's Ministers proceeded, in laying the whole before the 
 Courts of Di- Committee of Correspondence, for their consideration, with the 
 Proprietors, opinions of the members of that Committee on particular points, 
 it remains, only, to detail the specific answers given by this Com- 
 mittee, in which it will be found, each claim was examined 
 separately, and in the relation which it bore to the others, as well 
 as to the principles upon which the negotiation had originally 
 been commenced. 
 
 With the evidence thus digested, the actual state of the 
 question will be discovered, as proposed in the form of the 
 resolutions, to the Committee of Correspondence, that it might 
 pass the examination of the Courts of Directors and Proprie- 
 tors, before the whole subject should be submitted to Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 The Committee of Correspondence, with such numerous 
 claims on the Company before them, considered, that it would 
 bring tbe nature and objects of these claims, and the Company's 
 answers to them, more immediately under the notice of His 
 Majesty's Ministers, if each particular claim should be stated 
 separately, and next, the general circumstances which affected 
 either the permanency of the Company's term, or the practi- 
 cability 
 
127 
 
 eability of carrying into effect the principles, upon which the PART n. 
 pending negociation had advanced almost to a conclusion. 
 
 The claims, or propositions, of the mercantile and manu- 
 facturing bodies, and the replies of the Committee to them, 
 may be arranged in the following order. 
 
 On the subject of Shipping, the Committee referred, for an Observations 
 
 of the Com- 
 answer, to the letter of the President of the Board of Commis- mittee on the 
 
 subject of 
 
 sioners, dated the 22d of March, in which he had given it as Shipping. 
 his opinion, that this subject must be left to those who had the 
 management of the commercial interest of the Company ; — that 
 the freight, however, should, at once, be settled, on fair and 
 equitable terms, to prevent the constant agitation which must 
 arise, from the tenders of speculators in this business ; and, in 
 this opinion, the Committee fully acquiesced. 
 
 On the subject of the claims of the Proprietors of Mines Postpone an 
 
 answer to the 
 
 in Cornwall, the Committee delayed giving a positive answer, Proprietors 
 
 of Mines in 
 
 till the subject should be more fully matured by communications Cornwall. 
 from the Board of Commissioners. 
 
 On the subject of the application from the Delegates of Observations 
 
 J rr & # of the Com- 
 
 Exeter, the Committee considered it to be an interference with mittee on the 
 
 demands of 
 
 the detail of their commercial concerns, which they, from the the Exeter 
 
 f J Merchants. 
 
 nature of the case, could not consent to place under any regula- 
 tions or control whatever, though they were constantly ready to 
 extend the sales of the manufactures of their country. 
 
 On the subject of the Southern Whale Fishery, the Com- on the 
 
 Southern 
 
 mittee repeated the opinion formerly expressed by the Chairman, Whale Fish. 
 
 that 
 
128 
 
 part il that farther permission to these rovers to extend their present 
 
 range, would be destructive of the trade to India, and to China ; 
 
 and that the Company could not consent to any alterations in 
 
 the licences under which the Whalers act, but transmitted a 
 
 copy of the covenants with them, for the consideration of the 
 
 Board of Commissioners. 
 
 on the On the subject of the memorials and conferences, respect- 
 claims of the 
 
 Manufactur- ' m g the Cotton Manufactures, between His Majesty's Ministers 
 
 ers of Man- & * J a 
 
 Chester and anc | the Delegates from Manchester and Glasgow, the Com- 
 mittee, in general, supposed, that the Legislature would include 
 the whole under one head, because, though their objects were 
 different, their interests must be the same ;— and, therefore, 
 confined their observations to the commercial demands, and set 
 aside the others insisted upon by the Manufacturers, as matters 
 upon which the Legislature would decide. 
 
 On the subject of the claims which regarded Freight, the 
 Committee stated, that they would fully reply under the head of 
 Clandestine Trade ; and, on this point, observed only, that they 
 hoped it was not the intention of Government to authorize any 
 commerce from Great Britain, or Europe, to China, direct or 
 indirect, except through the medium of the Company. 
 
 On the subject of the Home Consumption of India Piece 
 Goods, the Committee replied, that the proposed restrictions 
 would be equally applicable to other articles, as to those brought 
 from India ; but if the Cotton Manufacturers should persist in 
 their request, to have the exclusive supply of the whole of the 
 
 British 
 
129 
 
 British consumption of Piece Goods, the Committee would ^J* T ri - 
 recommend to the Courts of Directors and Proprietors, to yield 
 to such request, provided the Company were placed, in other 
 respects, upon an equal footing* with Private and Clandestine 
 ^Traders, and with Foreign Nations. 
 
 On the subject of the importation of raw materials, and 
 the limitation of the sales of the Company, the Committee 
 replied by a reference to the answers given by Mr. Pitt and the 
 President of the Board of Commissioners, at the conference with 
 Messrs. Gregg and Frodsham, viz. that raw materials should be 
 brought home, in return for the exports of Great-Britain, but 
 the return should not comprehend articles of commerce, exposed 
 at the sales of the East-India Company ; and to the answer 
 given to the more numerous Delegation from Manchester, viz. 
 that it would be the business of Government, and of the Com- 
 pany, by every possible means, to promote the importation of 
 raw materials from India ; and that the Company should appro- 
 priate, annually, a certain quantity of tonnage, to bring home 
 such articles as private adventurers might think fit, through the 
 agency of free merchants, appointed by the East-India Com- 
 pany, and under the control of their Governments in India ; 
 and concluded, that limiting the Company's imports would only 
 -divert the trade into a foreign channel, without benefiting the 
 Manufacturers. 
 
 On the subject of the Clandestine Trade, the Committee ©n the 
 
 replied, in general, that they had been willing to provide a ton- Trade!* 5 " e 
 
 S nage, 
 
130 
 
 part II. nage, at a freight lower than could be had from Ostend to India, 
 which was «s£10, and from India to Ostend, which was ^815 : 
 hence they offered freight at ^22 per ton. 
 
 If Government, however, should be of opinion, that the Com- 
 pany were to furnish ships at the aggregate rate of ,§£20, per ton, 
 the Committee thought, that the division of ^£5 outward, and 
 gSl5 home, would bring a considerable loss on the Company, 
 because the private adventurer might then avail himself of the 
 cheap freight outward, and leave the homeward tonnage to be 
 filled up by the Presidencies abroad : — hence, if the object was 
 to encourage Private Trade, and to suppress Clandestine Trade, 
 the freight, out and home, ought to be more equally divided. 
 Propositions Having stated the answers of the Committee of Corres- 
 
 in the Memo- 
 rial of the pondence to the various claims affecting the privileges of the 
 
 persons inte- 
 
 rested in the Company, it remains to examine the general propositions and 
 Trade. explanations, in the Memorial from " a Committee appointed 
 
 " by several mercantile houses, acting as Agents for the East- 
 " Indies/' and the answer of the Committee to these propo- 
 sitions/' > 
 
 This Memorial stated, that when the Company acquired 
 political and territorial power in India, the servants and depen- 
 dants of the English Government had amassed large sums ; — 
 that as they had no idea of colonizing, they wished to remit 
 their fortunes to Europe, through the Company's trade, but this 
 
 being 
 
 (1) Answers of the Committee of Correspondence to the claims of the Merchants and 
 Manufacturing Bodies, 25th March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
131 
 
 being prohibited, these sums had created a large trading capital, PART H - 
 Which had passed into the hands of other European maritime 
 nations, and thus had turned our acquisitions into a loss, both 
 to the Company, and to Great Britain ; — that the amount of this 
 capital, without exaggeration, might be computed, since the ac- 
 quisition of the Dewannee, at about ten millions sterling ; — that 
 this prohibition still continued, though the means of remedying 
 the evil were obvious, viz. receiving into our Indian treasuries 
 the fortunes of individuals, and granting bills for the amount, 
 on the Court of Directors ; a measure which would make 
 London the general mart for the productions of the countries 
 under the management of the Company ; — that this measure 
 would have prevented the illicit traffic carried on by the subjects 
 of Britain, between India and Europe ; a traffic which had been 
 consolidated into a regular system of Clandestine Foreign Com- 
 merce to and from India ; — that penalties and forfeitures tended 
 only to perfect the artifices by which the Clandestine Trader had 
 evaded the laws, of which fact Government had been so sensible, 
 that it had not made any efforts to enforce them, because such a 
 proceeding could only have added disrespect and discredit to the 
 other injuries sustained by the nation ; — that the Company ought 
 to return to the policy which, alone, would have prevented these 
 evils, as the question was not about annihilating the Clandestine 
 Trade, but modifying it ; — that although provision had been 
 made in the projected Act, for extending the export of British 
 manufactures to India, and for enabling the Private Merchant 
 
 S 2 to 
 
132 
 
 ^l^w *° rece * ve hi s returns for them, no provision had been thought 
 of, for bringing home the fortunes of British subjects in India; 
 or for encouraging the native Indian merchants, our subjects, 
 to trade with this country ; — that the only remedy (it was 
 affirmed) which appeared practicable, was " to attract, by 
 " proper measures, to this country, the traffic carried on by 
 " British subjects, between India, and the foreign parts of 
 " Europe," by reducing the rate of freight, and lowering the 
 high duties paid by private adventurers to the Company ; and, 
 in illustration, it was added, that the exclusive privilege, it had 
 been found^ could not annihilate the foreign trade to India, but 
 would only prevent the importation of Eastern goods into 
 Britain ; — that the reduction of the freight, and lowering the 
 duties, would have the effect to increase the importation, and 
 would add to the number of buyers at the Company's sales, so 
 " that the Company would receive a large amount from trade, 
 instead of a small amount from duties ; and, in proof, it was 
 said, the Clandestine Trade, in 1791? employed 10,255 tons, while 
 the Public and Private Trade of the Company employed ? ,500, of 
 which the privileged goods, shipped in India, amounted only to 
 300 tons ;— that when the Company resolved to reduce the 
 freight to ^815 per ton, homewards, they calculated, very justly, 
 that this reduction of the rate of freight would be more than 
 compensated, by the per-centage on the increased importation of 
 private goods ; — that, in the same way, if the duties on the 
 imports, for which the Company now draw seven per cent: 
 
 (their 
 
133 
 
 (their own charges not exceeding one per cent.) were lowered, ^ RT 3 ' 
 they would only have sacrificed a small part of their present 
 gains, to receive a greater profit, for hy diminishing the duty to 
 three per cent., they would encourage importations, and receive 
 a greater amount than they did at seven per cent. ; hence the 
 importations, by foreign adventurers, on British capitals, would 
 gradually be transferred to London. 
 
 Such seemed to be the whole of the argument, in this 
 Memorial : — all that followed, though set down under heads, as 
 arguments, seemed to be only collateral illustrations of this one, 
 of which the substance was, that the State and the Nation 
 would benefit in a greater degree, by lowering the freight 
 and duties, than by keeping them at the present standard ; 
 — that the ships employed in the India Commerce (distinguish- 
 ing it from that to China) would be increased one half, and 
 in time of Peace perhaps would be doubled ; — that the duties 
 to Government (deducting charges, commission, &c.) would 
 become a clear gain to the Public ; — that the manufactures of 
 the East, would be improved, by their being purchased by resident 
 Agents, accustomed in the trade, instead of being bought by 
 super-cargoes, strangers to the commerce, and compelled to buy, 
 in most instances, at an advanced price ; — that London would 
 become the mart of Europe for India goods ; — that instead of a 
 fall of prices, a great variety in the assortments would augment 
 the number of purchasers, and of orders from all parts of Europe 
 and America ; — that the export trade of Britain, thus, would be 
 
 increased, 
 
134 
 
 part II. increased, by London becoming the general seat of Indian 
 commerce, in the proportion that the Indian imports to it would 
 be augmented, and that this would be the sure means of obtain- 
 ing the highest price for exports ; — that the merchants from 
 abroad, coming to our India sales, would, with that object, 
 combine other speculations in other commodities of this country ; 
 — that the increase of imports, would proportionally increase 
 British tonnage; — that the illicit traffic from India, to foreign 
 ports, would be drawn from them to this kingdom ; — that the 
 fraudulent abuse of the revenue laws would be done away, both 
 as they regarded duties and drawbacks, and that, in this manner, 
 the whole of the evil would be suppressed, and the revenue 
 receive a double accession, one from the increase of Indian 
 imports, and another from the extinction of smuggling. 
 
 It was admitted, that the Indian administration at home, 
 
 seconded by the measures of Lord Cornwallis, had, in part, 
 
 reformed the abuses complained of, but still, that the laws of 
 
 this country had been evaded, by the servants of the Company 
 
 carrying on illicit trade ; but that, if the measures which have 
 
 been enumerated should be adopted, the necessity of those 
 
 restrictive laws would be obviated : — that by the regulation of 
 
 1781, British subjects were forbidden to act as Agents in India, 
 
 for foreigners, because it was supposed this prohibition would 
 
 prevent the influence of the English from being employed in aid 
 
 of foreigners, rivalling the Company in Europe, and would 
 
 prevent individuals, under the British Government, from dealings 
 
 in 
 
135 
 
 in India with the subjects of other nations ; but that experience PART n / 
 had shewn the fallacy of both these expectations : — that the 
 British subjects, as far as they had been connected with 
 foreigners in India, had only preserved their influence over their 
 commercial transactions, and hence the profits of Agency had 
 been so much clear gain to the subjects of this country ; that 
 British subjects, therefore, who were resident in India, should 
 have the same privileges as foreigners, that is, of taking commer- 
 cial orders from all those who would employ them : — and that the 
 whole of the evils, therefore, would be remedied, by introducing 
 the following clause into the new Act, " That it shall be lawful, 
 " in future, for British subjects, and others living under the 
 " protection of His Majesty, in India or elsewhere, to purchase 
 " goods from, or sell goods to, the subjects of all nations, with- 
 " out exception, or to act for them on Agency.' ' 
 
 The answer of the Committee of Correspondence, to this Answers of 
 
 the Commit- 
 
 Memorial, was introduced with the remark, that the object at tee of Corre- 
 spondence to 
 
 which the Memorialists aimed, might be judged of from their these P r °- 
 
 & J b positions. 
 
 avowing themselves to have been Agents in carrying on an illicit 
 trade, though they reprobated any disrespect to the laws of their 
 country, and held the practice to be a degradation to those who 
 embarked in it : — that, notwithstanding this avowal, the object 
 of the Memorialists evidently was, to overturn a system of policy 
 established by the Legislature, in the last century, and continued 
 to the present period, although this system was congenial to all 
 our laws respecting colonial trade : — that the laws in favor of the 
 
 East- 
 
136 
 
 *t? T /*' East-India Company have not, as the Memorialists supposed, 
 been directed to annihilate a Foreign East-India Trade, but to 
 prevent such trade being carried on by British subjects, on British 
 capitals, to the injury of our navigation, and established practice 
 in business : — and that the preambles to these Acts will shew the 
 object to have been public benefit, which was best secured 
 through the medium of an exclusive Company. 
 
 The Committee, after these preliminary observations, stated 
 the following specific answers to the general argument of the 
 Memorialists. That the term, " Trading Capital" was impro- 
 perly applied to the fortunes of individuals, which were clandes- 
 tinely remitted to Europe : — that a greater loss would have been 
 sustained, if, upon the theory of the Memorialists, an investment 
 had been made in India, on account of the Company : — that the 
 property to be remitted, had been acquired in a clandestine man- 
 ner, and, therefore, that concealment must have been the object 
 of the parties, who would not have chosen to have exposed their 
 transactions to the knowledge of the Directors : — that the prin- 
 ciple of the Memorial was, because illegal practices have pre- 
 vailed, the Clandestine Traders should be legalized : — that the 
 Committee considered this principle to be absurd, and that the 
 advantages held out, under it, to the Company and to the Public, 
 were, in fact, intended for the benefit of the Agents in Clan- 
 destine Trade only : — that the supposed loss of ten millions to the 
 Nation must either mean a loss to British subjects, who had remit* 
 ted this sum, or a loss to Great-Britain and Ireland, from whose 
 
 trade 
 
137 
 
 trade and circulation, this amount was presumed to have been part ft, 
 withdrawn : — that the fact, however, was, that individuals, to 
 obtain the highest rate of exchange, had entrusted their money 
 to persons unworthy of credit ; hence the loss they frequently 
 incurred must be supposed to constitute a small part of these ten 
 millions sterling ; — the rest must depend on the rate of exchange 
 which they accepted from foreigners, compared with the rate 
 they might have expected from the Company , — that the current 
 rate of exchange, at that time, was at two shillings and three- 
 pence ; at this time there have been no remittances in Calcutta, 
 though the Government was disposed to draw on the Court of 
 Directors, at the rate of one shilling and eleven-pence, the cur- 
 rent rupee : — that few individuals, who were not obliged to 
 conceal their operations, would accept a less rate of exchange 
 than two shillings : — that as the Company, at that time, lost 
 by their investments, the plan of the Memorialists would have 
 reduced the produce of the rupee to less than one shilling and 
 six-pence; therefore, though no correct estimate could be 
 formed on the subject, yet if the Clandestine Traders had 
 realized one shilling and six -pence the rupee, suffering a loss of 
 ten millions, the sales, for their account, must have amounted to 
 forty millions : — that in 1 77^, the Governments in India tried 
 the scheme of the Memorialists, and drew bills on the Company, 
 to the amount of ,§£1,420,421, at one, two, and three years' 
 sight : — that the consequence was, a distress from which the 
 Company were relieved by the Public, on condition that the 
 
 T drafts 
 
138 
 
 part II. drafts from India should, thenceforward, be limited to ,§£300,000, 
 per annum : — that, looking at this fact, some reason ought to 
 have been given in the Memorial, why the Company were to 
 charge themselves with a loss of ten millions sterling, to relieve 
 individuals, who had acquired and remitted their fortunes in a 
 clandestine manner : — that the commerce, between India and the 
 Continent of Europe, was different, at this time, from what it 
 had formerly been, and chiefly consisted in bringing Indian 
 produce and manufactures for consumption on the Continent : — 
 that the object of the arrangement between Government and the 
 Company, therefore, was not to annihilate trade with such 
 foreigners as might carry it on, bonujide, on their own account, 
 but to extend the trade to and from India, through the medium 
 of the Company, in such a way as to make London the great 
 emporium for Indian commodities ; and that, so far from its not 
 being intended, in the projected Act, to make provision for 
 bringing home the property of British subjects in India, the 
 sum of «§£500,000 annually was proposed to be appropriated 
 towards liquidating the debts of the Company in India ; a sum 
 which would be fully sufficient for the purpose of remitting 
 home the fortunes which could be honorably acquired in that 
 country ; — that with regard to the Natives, their interests 
 would also be secured : — that the remedy, in the Memorial, of 
 attracting to this country " the traffic carried on by British 
 " subjects between India and the foreign ports of Europe," 
 was, in fact, the principal object of the pending negociation 
 
 with 
 
139 
 
 with Government : — that, for this purpose, an oner had been PART H. 
 made of freight, at a lower rate than what it would actually 
 cost the Company, and cheaper than what individuals must pay 
 at Ostend : — that the Directors had acquiesced in lowering the 
 duty payable to the Company, and the charges of merchandize, 
 for landing, housing, &c. from seven to five per cent. : — that 
 the object, therefore, was not to annihilate the foreign trade, 
 but to take away from the Clandestine Trader every excuse for 
 evading the law : — that the document, upon which the argu- 
 ment of the Memorialists rested, was inaccurate in every respect ; 
 for, first, there was no proof, that in 1791, 10,255 tons of the 
 Clandestine Trade were British property ; next, that the aggregate 
 tonnage of British importations in 1791, instead of 7,500, 
 was 7*950 tons : — that the Company's tonnage, which sailed in the 
 season 1791-2, was 10,193 tons, exclusive of the ships for 
 China : — that the tonnage agreed for in 1792-3 (at the date of 
 this answer), amounted to 17,199, besides 1,700 tons proposed 
 to be sent to the Coast of Malabar, and the whole, exclusive of 
 the China trade. The Committee, therefore, inferred, that if 
 the estimate was erroneous, the conclusions from it were equally 
 so : — that it would be necessary for the Company to sell, an- 
 nually, goods from India to the amount of ^2,314,000, to 
 enable them to fulfil the expectations of the Public from the 
 proposed arrangement, but that it would require proof, not 
 assertion, to establish, that ,^3,470,000 could be added to the 
 annual sales of the Company, or that India could furnish such 
 
 T 2 addition, 
 
140 
 
 part ii. addition, by adopting the clause proposed in the Memorial, in 
 which the circumstance seemed to have been forgotten, that in 
 proportion as the quantity of goods increased in any market, 
 the price would be diminished : — that if the estimate was fal- 
 lacious, the plan proposed to be rested on it must be imprac- 
 ticable; and if adopted, could only operate to the destruc- 
 tion of the Company : — farther, that the argument in the Me- 
 morial, that competition in India would improve the quality of 
 the Piece Goods, contradicted itself, since the quality of this 
 manufacture would necessarily be debased, till a new race of 
 artizans should be formed, to supply so rapid an increase of 
 demands for Indian manufactures. On the whole, the Com- 
 mittee stated it to be their opinion, that fraudulent abuses of 
 the revenue laws, in India, had, by no means, been so excessive 
 as the Memorialists had held forth ; but allowing these abuses 
 to be great, the natural consequence of introducing Agents in 
 India, for Private Merchants in Britain and Ireland, could only 
 tend to an increase of these abuses/ 1 ) 
 Further ob- Having stated the particular answers to the principles upon 
 
 servations on 
 
 this subject which the Memorial was founded, and endeavoured to shew, that 
 
 submitted by 
 
 the Commit- the facts, upon which the arguments in it rested, were fallacious, 
 
 tee to Go- 
 vernment, the Committee subjoined the following additional observations, 
 
 for the consideration of His Majesty's Ministers. 
 
 Without entering into the question respecting the Com- 
 pany's rights to the territorial revenues, the Committee laid it 
 
 down 
 
 (1) Memorial respecting Clandestine Trade, withllemarks of the Committee of Cor- 
 resnondence *' ~reon. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
141 
 
 down as a ground of argument, that our Asiatic Provinces PART II. 
 ought to be governed upon principles, which have constantly 
 been applied to possessions of a colonial description : — that the 
 avowed object of all parties was to suppress the Clandestine 
 Trade, and to render London the depot, and British shipping 
 the carriers, of Indian produce ; but if foreigners should be 
 enabled to trade upon equal terms with the English, as the 
 Memorial proposed, and yet be without the expence of esta- 
 blishments, and if they could be supplied by British subjects, 
 and aided by British capitals, they would, in that case, be better 
 served than the Company : — that, by such a change, the objects 
 attempted to be obtained, would be frustrated^ and the Clandestine 
 Trade would remain : — that the clause, besides, would operate 
 to the encouragement, both of Foreign and Clandestine Trade, 
 but would not bring that trade to Britain : — that it was not the in- 
 tention of Government to encourage one party to the prejudice of 
 another, but to enable the fair trader to act with the same ad- 
 vantages that the smuggler had done : — that if the demands and 
 the expectations of the manufacturers, at home, had any weight, 
 that weight fell into the scale of the exclusive privileges of the 
 Company, whose interests ought not to be sacrificed to men in 
 the habit of evading and breaking the laws, and who now had 
 avowed a design to legalize that, which all parties professed a 
 wish to annihilate. 
 
 On the whole, the Committee hoped, that, under the 
 circumstances they had stated, any permission which might be 
 
 given 
 
142 
 
 ^ ART i 1 ; given to foreigners in the trade, would be confined to India : — 
 that no person should be permitted, under the new Act, to 
 become an Agent to foreigners or others, who was not under 
 covenants with the Company, and under the control and authority 
 of the Presidencies in India ; and that no British Agent should 
 be suffered to lend, or to advance money, for the benefit of 
 foreigners, in trade, nor to trade themselves to any place on this 
 side the Cape of Good Hope, except to Great-Britain : — and, 
 lastly, that such Agents should not be permitted to interfere in 
 the markets in the purchase of Piece Goods/ 1 ) 
 Reply of the When the Memorialists had perused this answer, they re- 
 
 Memonahsts l J 
 
 to the an- plied to it, in the following terms. 
 
 swers, and ■ 7 ° 
 
 observations <e ^y e nave seen w ith concern, the reasonings of the Com- 
 
 Corres ^d " nrittee of Correspondence on the subject of the Clandestine 
 ence. a Trade with India, and feel our characters, in offering our 
 
 " opinions, misrepresented. We disavow any intention of at- 
 " tacking, directly or indirectly, the exclusive privilege of the 
 " Company, and we declare ourselves unconnected with any 
 " description of persons, who have brought forward pretensions 
 " inimical to the renewal of the Company's privileges. Our 
 " sole object was, to bring the Foreign Trade carried on from 
 " India to Europe, and from Europe to India, by British sub- 
 " jects and by British capitals, under foreign flags, into a le- 
 " gitimate line through the Company. We have seen, that the 
 
 restraining 
 
 (l) Additional Remarks of the Committee of Correspondence on the Memorial respect- 
 ing Clandestine Trade, 25th March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
143 
 
 " restraining Act of 1781, has proved inefficient. We wish PART ir. 
 
 " only to turn the trade into its natural channel, and to check 
 
 " the political and moral evil of a disregard to the revenue laws 
 
 " of our country : — hence our proposition of a measure for 
 
 " preventing the trade to and from India, to foreign ports, by 
 
 u doing away the restraints of the Act 1781, on British sub- 
 
 " jects acting as Agents in India ; and hence our desire, that 
 
 " all His Majesty's subjects, resident in India, may be at liberty 
 
 " to purchase goods from, or to sell goods to, the subjects of 
 
 {* all nations whatever." 
 
 The Court of Directors replied, that measures of this kind 
 were in contemplation, and that, with some explanations, con- 
 cessions would be made, almost equal to what the Memorialists 
 had in view. Under these circumstances, they hoped that any 
 permission which might be given to foreigners, or to their trade, 
 might be confined to India : — that no person, who was not under 
 covenants with the Company, or under the control of their foreign 
 Presidencies, would be allowed to lend, or to advance money 
 in trade for the benefit of foreigners, and that the Company's 
 servants would not themselves be authorized to trade, or to 
 interfere in the markets : — and this amounted, nearly, to what 
 the clause in the Memorial proposed. 
 
 It appeared, thus, that the Directors had agreed with the 
 Memorialists in their principles, but that they differed from 
 them in their conclusion. The Memorialists sought to remove 
 the restrictions in the Act 1781, and, as far as the trade in 
 
 India 
 
144 
 
 PART ii. India was concerned, the Company gave up the most material 
 part of these restrictions. The Memorialists did not mean that 
 Agents, resident in India, should be out of the control of the 
 Company ; on the contrary, they proposed, that such Agents 
 should act under its licence, but that this control should not 
 prohibit them from the enjoyment of a liberty of trade : — they 
 did not propose, that British subjects should be allowed to lend 
 their money in aid of foreign adventurers to Europe, nor be 
 themselves traders to the foreign ports of Europe, but only that 
 they might lend money, at interest, to foreigners in the country, 
 as well as to others : — it was, in fact, as impossible to interdict 
 them in this particular, as it was to prevent foreigners from 
 being purchasers of India Piece Goods in the markets. The 
 meaning of the Memorialists, respecting the loss of ten millions, 
 had equally been misunderstood in the answer : — they did not re- 
 fer to the loss of individuals, or that the Company ought to have 
 borne such a loss as ten millions sterling, but meant only, that 
 there would be a national loss, by paying foreign ships, foreign 
 sailors, foreign agents, and foreign duties, by the profits of 
 sales centering in foreign countries, by the dishonesty of agents 
 employed there, and by the expence of the exchange to England. 
 The Memorialists did not say, that the concern, through foreign 
 channels, had been a losing one, but if it had proved such, they 
 affirmed, that the Nation would have gained, on the whole, by 
 bringing the value to Britain. They had no idea, they asserted, 
 of burdening the Company with the loss, nor of shifting it from 
 
 one 
 
145 
 
 one class of British subjects to another, or from individuals to PAUT ]I - 
 the Company, for this, they allowed, would not have aided their 
 argument ; but still they held, that the Company's investments 
 would have been increased, and their sales at home greater, by 
 the accesion of the fortunes of British subjects, which had gone 
 into foreign channels : — the Company had been satisfied of the 
 force of this argument, by adopting the plan of remittance in 
 1JT85, at which time the fortunes of individuals were received 
 into the Indian Treasuries, and the re-payment provided for by 
 the increase of investments, which was precisely the point that 
 the Memorialists desired : — the measure of the Bengal Govern- 
 ment, in 1770, was not a fair trial of the plan now proposed ; 
 it miscarried, because it was hastily resolved on, without per- 
 mission from the Company, and carried to excess without 
 provision of goods, fitted either in quantity or quality, for the 
 Company's sales, and at a time when their affairs in India 
 were in disorder. The Memorialists, further asserted, that this 
 measure had been misrepresented, by the Court of Directors, 
 and charged with consequences which did not probably belong to 
 it, and, therefore, militated nothing, at this time, against the 
 adoption of the proposed clause. This fact shewed only, the 
 mischief of an ill conducted plan, but not what the same 
 measure, if properly concerted, would have produced. Skill 
 and integrity, in the purchaser abroad, must be allowed to be 
 necessary to success : — without either, or both, small investments 
 would turn out ill ; but an unfavorable issue, of this description, 
 
 U could 
 
146 
 
 part ii. could authorize nothing against larger investments, if well 
 provided for, and did not affect the argument in the Memorial, 
 which was, to grant admission to Private Adventurers, themselves, 
 or by Agents, through the Company's channel, and at a moderate 
 rate of freight and other charges, to enter into the trade to and 
 from India : — as long, therefore, as a general demand for Indian 
 goods in Europe should continue, there would be no diminution 
 in the price, whether the importations to any particular place were 
 more or less. The Memorialists, therefore, required only, that 
 the goods, which went into foreign channels, should be brought 
 to England : if this did not produce an increase of importation, 
 on the whole, it could not augment the price, and could not, at 
 all events, affect the price of so universal an article of demand 
 as Piece Goods. 
 
 The Memorialists farther stated, that the observations of 
 the Committee of Correspondence, that those persons who had 
 acquired fortunes clandestinely, would not, from any temptation 
 in the profits, expose their remittances to the Directors, was 
 contradicted, by the experiment in YJT®, which amounted to- 
 gB\ ,420,000, and, in this instance, the parties might have 
 remitted their fortunes through Agents, without being deemed 
 culpable at Leadenhall Street. To differ, they added, about 
 words, was not the object of either party, for private property, 
 remitted to Europe, is as much a trading capital, as the Com- 
 pany's revenues remitted in trade from India ; for both con- 
 stituted a fund for investment, and each year's remittance of 
 
 both 
 
147 
 
 both terminated in Europe, and these funds and investments f AR J lf ; 
 continued from year to year. The Memorialists did not require, 
 that the trade which foreigners carried on, hond-Jide, to other 
 ports in Europe, should be annihilated, but only that the trade 
 on British capitals, through foreign channels, should be done 
 away. 
 
 To the objection, in the answers, to the accuracy of the 
 account of foreign tonnage, the Memorialists replied, that 
 several foreign ships had not yet sailed, and therefore were not 
 included in this list : — that the Lisbon ships, destined for the 
 Clandestine Trade, cleared out for the regular ports of Goa and 
 Mozambique : — that instead of saying the Dutch, it might have 
 been said, foreign Companies' ships, in general, were not in- 
 cluded in the list ; — but though it might be conceded, that the 
 estimate was too high, it would be granted, that the Clandestine 
 Trade, whatever it was, ought to be added to the Company's 
 sales : the Memorialists, therefore, argued, that whether the 
 supply to Europe, from India, be greater, or not, than the 
 exports, it would be better, if no other return could be made, 
 that they should come legally to London. 
 
 *■ The objection, that foreigners would, by this clause, be in 
 abetter situation than British subjects, because they could trade 
 without the expences of establishments, the Memorialists as- 
 serted, would not be a consequence of admitting the clause 
 into the new Act, because foreigners, under it, were to trade 
 through British Agents. It was not said, that the British exports 
 
 U 2 to 
 
148 
 
 PART If. 
 
 Result of 
 these argu- 
 ments, and 
 effect of 
 them on 
 the public 
 opinion, res- 
 pecting the 
 Renewal of 
 the Compa- 
 ny's Exclu- 
 sive Privi- 
 leges. 
 
 to India would be increased, but only, that the enlarged trade 
 from India would increase the re-exports to other parts of the 
 world. In the same way, the clause did not aim at authorizing 
 British Agents in India to trade to foreign ports in JEurope, but 
 to London alone, for re-exportation, a circumstance which 
 would be more favorable to the Company, than the regulating 
 Act of 1781. Upon the whole, the object of the Memorialists, 
 they said, was a moral one, that of preventing evasions and 
 abuses of the existing laws of the country, by legalizing the 
 trade, now known under the name of Clandestine/ 1 ) 
 
 Having detailed both the particular and general proposi- 
 tions of those who formed pretensions on the East-India 
 trade, without being sharers in the stock, with the arguments 
 which were brought in support of their plans, and having next 
 stated the answers of the Committee of Correspondence and 
 Court of Directors, both to the particular claims, and to the 
 Memorial of the Clandestine Traders, it may he proper, in this 
 stage of the business^ to advert to the public opinions, at this 
 juncture, respecting the approaching application of the Com- 
 pany to Parliament on the subject of Indian affairs. 
 
 In the first place, it appears, that the general principle 
 upon which the negociation had opened, was uniformly the rule 
 of conduct on the part of Government, viz. -that it would be for 
 the public interest, to combine with the trade of the East-India 
 
 Company 
 
 (1) Letter dated April 2d 1/93, from Richard Muilman and Co,, William and Thomas 
 Eaikes and Co., and Edmund Boehm and Co., to the Chairman. 
 
149 
 
 Company, an increase of British exports, equal to the largest part ir 
 possible demand of the East, and an increase of Eastern 
 imports of raw materials, for the British manufacturer, who 
 exercised his industry on fabrics made from them ; and, at the 
 same time, to afford protection to our Indian Provinces, that 
 is, to the general industry of the Natives, and to their manufac- 
 tures in demand in Europe* 
 
 It appears, next, from the whole of the preceding detail, 
 or from the claims of the manufacturers, of the merchants, 
 and of the commercial speculators, that those claims assumed 
 new aspects, after it had been discovered that the intentions 
 of Government were to submit to the Legislature, the ex- 
 pediency of renewing the Company's privileges, under certain 
 modifications, calculated for promoting the general interests of 
 the Empire. 
 
 The Claimants, at this time, changed their object, for 
 they now attempted to place the Company under conditions, 
 which the Court of Directors, in their answers, held to be 
 equivalent, if not to a deprivation of their exclusive privileges, 
 at least to such limitations in the exercise of them, as would 
 render the trade, in a great degree, unproductive to the 
 Company. 
 
 The Court of Directors, therefore, resisted the restrictions 
 on the mode of providing their exports, and opposed the projected 
 imports of private merchants for sale at home ; at the same time, they 
 conceded, under the general principle upon which the negoeiation 
 
 had 
 
150 
 
 part. n. had been opened, several of the points originally controverted, 
 viz. they offered to afford tonnage, outwards and homewards, to 
 the Private Adventurer, at a cheaper rate than he could have 
 procured it for himself, but under the condition, that this im- 
 portation of Indian produce should be reserved to the Com- 
 pany, to make up the assortment for their sales ; and held, that 
 if the piece goods for home consumption should be prohibited, 
 the duty on re-exportation should cease and determine; and 
 lastly, that in the whole arrangement, it might be made practi- 
 cable for them to liquidate their debts, to the sums at which 
 it had been agreed they ought to remain, and that it might be 
 left in their power to fulfil the expectations of the Public, for a 
 participation in the Surplus Revenue. 
 
 It appears, lastly, from the whole of the preceding detail, 
 that the Memorial on Clandestine Trade, though it embraced the 
 general maxim of increasing the trade to and from India to 
 Britain, yet pointed out no new means for this end, but only 
 those which had been tried, and were in agitation, and, in a 
 measure, agreed on, as subjects in the pending negociation, viz. 
 lowering the rate of freight, and the duties payable to the Com- 
 pany on Private Trade. 
 
 Having reviewed the Memorial, the answers, and the reply 
 to them, the actual state of the business, at this time, may 
 be correctly ascertained. Government were acting for the 
 general prosperity of the Empire, and determined to review 
 the whole of the subject, under an impression, that it was of 
 
 importance 
 
151 
 
 importance to turn the Clandestine Trade into a legal channel, PA *T ii: 
 particularly when men, who had been acquainted with the 
 nature of it, if not connected with it, were pointing out specious 
 plans for this public end. 
 
 On a retrospect of the events, to which both the Me- 
 morial, the answers, and the replies referred, it appears, 
 that the conclusions drawn from the facts, to which the 
 Company appealed, were more conformable to experience in 
 trade, than those from which either the Memorial or the 
 reply reasoned : — the fact, for example, was true, as stated 
 in the Memorial, that the Governments in India had refused 
 to remit the fortunes acquired by their servants, because 
 the current coin in India would have been totally drained by 
 such a measure, and because the Presidencies were under the 
 instructions of the Directors, to send as much bullion from the 
 surplus revenue from India to China, as might be practicable, 
 to save the expence and risk of sending bullion from Europe : — 
 The effect of this mistaken policy was, that the Indian manu- 
 factures, from the want of a circulating medium, were at a 
 stand. But supposing this stoppage not to have happened, the 
 demands for Indian produce, in Europe, did not then exceed the 
 imports which the Company were making : — had they, therefore, 
 taken up the monies which individuals wished to remit to Eu- 
 rope, for bills to be paid in London, the payments must have 
 been made, whether the produce of the sales had answered them 
 
 or 
 
152 
 
 P wL3 or not * ** snou ^ °e recollected, that Piece Goods, &c. could 
 not be found, at the time, in India, equal to the sums which 
 could have been borrowed from individuals, and that they could 
 not have been sold in Europe, either for home consumption, or 
 for re-exportation ; of course, the loss would have endangered 
 the Company's credit. 
 
 The fact was not less true, that in 1770, the commercial 
 theory of the Memorialists was put to the test of experiment. 
 The Governments abroad took up money, to the amount speci- 
 fied in the reply, and enlarged the investment, but the sales in 
 Europe did not answer the payments of the bills ; — the Com- 
 pany were, therefore, obliged to have recourse to the public aid, 
 and received it, on condition that they should be restrained in 
 future, from drawing bills on the Court of Directors, beyond 
 the annual amount of ^300,000. 
 
 Government, in this manner, although solicitous to devise 
 
 a system of trade, that should be accommodated to the common 
 
 prosperity of the Company, and of the general merchants, were 
 
 satisfied that it was easier to entertain speculative hopes, than 
 
 to lay down practical rules, subservient to the general interest of 
 
 the Public. 
 
 Opportum- The President of the Board of Commissioners, under this 
 
 by His Ma- impression, communicated to the Chairman the opinion, that 
 
 ten/to all the Government did not wish to bring forward any thing to 
 
 bring for- Parliament, till | a full explanation could be had of the 
 
 lest evidence, controverted points, between the Company and the mercantile 
 
 bodies ; 
 
# 153 
 
 bodies ; and upon this subject, in as far as regarded the Com- ' PART II. 
 pany, they ought to decide for themselves, and not to be clog- 
 ged by the participation claimed on behalf of the Public, because 
 this amount might be obtained, although the exclusive term 
 should cease, and the experiment be made, which had been 
 proposed by the Manufacturers of Great -Britain. 
 
 Such were the circumstances in which the negociation was Critical state 
 placed, at the critical period when the conditions upon which ciation at tbi* 
 
 period, 
 
 the new Act was to proceed, were finally to be arranged for the 
 consideration of Parliament. 
 
 The Manufacturing and Mercantile Bodies (we have seen) 
 were urging the admission of their plans, and the Company 
 resisting such parts of those plans, as they deemed to be incom- 
 patible with the progress and prosperity of their trade. 
 
 In this situation of affairs, it became necessary to bring 
 before the Proprietors, the claims of the Private Traders, and 
 the plans of the Memorialists, on the subject of Clandestine 
 Trade, with the answers of the Committee of Correspondence, 
 and the reply on the part of the Memorialists ; — the Commis- 
 sioners for the Affairs of India, accordingly, transmitted the 
 whole claims and evidence to the Court, that the Proprietors 
 might discuss the various points affecting their interests, upon 
 the fullest information ; and to afford them this opportunity, the 
 propositions intended to be laid before Parliament were de- 
 laved, till the contested points, between the Manufacturing and 
 
 X Mercantile 
 
154 . 
 
 part II. Mercantile Bodies and the Company should be more at issue. 
 
 than, at this juncture, they appeared to be/ 1 ) 
 The Com- The Committee of Correspondence having had the whole 
 
 ConSpon- of these papers before them, and having transmitted their 
 quire, that remarks and observations upon them to Government, requested, 
 
 the resolu- . . . 
 
 tions, to be as a preliminary to their taking the opinion of the Proprietors, on 
 
 submitted to 
 
 the Legisia- the whole of the subject, that the resolutions, intended to be 
 
 ture, should 
 
 be laid before submitted to the House of Commons, should be put into form 
 
 a General 
 
 Court. for their perusal. 
 
 This requisi- The proposed resolutions respecting the Government and 
 
 tion granted, —-,*—,. . . ... 
 
 and expiana- Trade of India were, in consequence of this requisition, trans- 
 
 tions of diffe- ■='#■«• r 
 
 rent points in mitted to the Chairman, as the substance of what was intended 
 
 the resolu- 
 
 tions given to be submitted to Parliament. 
 
 by the Presi- . * . 
 
 dent of the It was at this period, that the Commissioners for Indian 
 
 Board of 
 
 Commission- Affairs desired to learn, whether their President was warranted 
 
 ers. 
 
 to suppose, that the East-India Company would acquiesce with 
 His Majesty's Ministers, in the two points upon which the nego- 
 ciation seemed now to turn, viz. whether the Company would 
 agree to give the proposed encouragement to the trade and 
 manufactures of Great-Britain and Ireland ? — and whether the 
 plan for putting an end to the Clandestine Trade, now carrying 
 on between India and Europe, would meet the suffrages of the 
 Court of Proprietors ? The resolution, respecting the prohibi- 
 tion 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, 24th 
 March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. III.) 
 
155 
 
 tion of muslins for home sale, it was added, though it was PART If. 
 inserted among the others, that the Court might have the whole 
 subject before them, at the instance of those immediately 
 interested in this point, would probably undergo a further 
 consideration ; for it appeared, that those who urged this request, 
 were acting upon too narrow a view of the subject/ 1 ) 
 
 The Commissioners next felt it to be proper, before the 
 meeting of the Proprietors, to state to the Chairman, that the 
 participation of .^500,000 to the Public, ought not to be con- 
 sidered as the sole object of Government, in recommending to 
 Parliament the prolongation of the Company's exclusive term :— 
 that the Manufacturers, though they probably would find them- 
 selves mistaken in the prospects which they had formed, were 
 still disposed to try the experiment of export, on bottoms of 
 their own, independently of the Company's shipping : — that the 
 Company, perhaps, greatly overvalued the advantage of an 
 exclusive trade to India, and, that the manufacturers of Great- 
 Britain and Ireland were not less under a delusion, in their 
 expectations of a freedom to trade. The great object of Govern- 
 ment had been, to collect the various interests of Great-Britain, 
 respecting the Provinces in India, and after viewing the whole 
 of the evidence, they were disposed to think, that the East-India 
 Company, as the medium of Government in India, and the 
 channel of remittances from it, was the most fit instrument for 
 
 X 2 the 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commiisioners, to the Chairman, 26th 
 March 1703. (Printed Paper*, No. IV.) 
 
156 
 
 PAItT II. the Public : — not but that the purpose of the Nation might be 
 served, without the aid of an exclusive trade, but that the same 
 commercial privileges could not be applied to the trade to China, 
 which must continue to be carried on, under an exclusive privi- 
 lege. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it was the wish of Govern- 
 ment, that the East-India Company should fully deliberate and 
 make up their opinions, on the conditions under which the privi- 
 leges were to be renewed ; as the Directors and Proprietors 
 must now have perceived the situation in which Government was 
 placed, relatively to the Company ; — the notice had been given 
 in the last session of Parliament ; the remaining period of the 
 existing Privileges was short; and a speedy decision upon this great 
 national subject had, of course, been in the expectation of the 
 Legislature.^ 
 Th3 Com- On receiving these communications, and the proposed reso- 
 
 mitree of ° . 
 
 Correspon- lutions, the Committee of Correspondence were of opinion, that 
 
 dence request J x 
 
 a further de- the Directors would require some further time to prepare the 
 explanations, with which it would be necessary to bring the 
 whole business before the Proprietors, and, therefore, informed 
 the Board of Commissioners, that they would request the Court 
 of Proprietors, summoned for the 27th March, to postpone 
 their deliberations upon the subject for a short time/ 2 > 
 
 After 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, 27th 
 March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. IV.) 
 
 (2) Letter from the Chairman to the President of the Board of Commissioners, 27th 
 March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. IV.) 
 
157 
 
 After unfolding the circumstances in which the negociation F v ART f T ; 
 was placed, at the time the Resolutions were conveyed to the f h u e bS R e n s ^ u ° f 
 Chairman, the following abstract of those Resolutions will exhibit ^^ l £\ Q 
 the state of the business, as it came before the Court of Pro- SriSmenuw 
 prietors, and may be compared, afterwards, with the aspect which Jre the Court 
 they assumed, when they passed into a law. tors.° pne 
 
 1. The territorial acquisitions and revenues, were proposed 
 to remain with the Company, during the further term of their 
 exclusive trade, without prejudice to the claims of th^e Public or 
 of the Company, but subject to such appropriation of revenues 
 and profit of trade, as might then, or hereafter, be provided 
 for by authority of Parliament. 
 
 2. Commissioners were to be appointed by His Majesty, 
 agreeably to the Act 1784, and subsequent Acts, for the better 
 regulation and management of the Affairs of the East-India 
 Company. 
 
 3. The salaries, allowances, charges, and expences, at- 
 tending the execution of this Commission, were to be paid and 
 defrayed, quarterly, by the Company, upon a certificate, under 
 the hand of the President of the Board of Commissioners, to 
 the Court of Directors. 
 
 4. The government of Fort William was to be vested in 
 a Governor General and three Counsellors ; the Government 
 of Fort St. George and Bombay, respectively, in a Governor 
 and three Counsellors, with such powers, and under such 
 regulations, as by any Act of Parliament such Governor 
 
 General 
 
158 
 
 part ii. General, and Governors and Counsellors, have been, respectively, 
 vested with. 
 
 5. His Majesty was to be vested with the power of re- 
 calling any of the Company's officers and servants in India ; such 
 recall being signified to the Court of Directors by the King's 
 Sign Manual, countersigned by the President of the Board of 
 Commissioners for the Affairs of India. 
 
 6. The Company's exclusive trade, within the limits now 
 enjoyed by them, was to be continued for a farther term of 
 twenty years, to be computed from the 1st of March 1794, but 
 liable to be discontinued at the end of such period, if three years 
 notice should be given by Parliament ; the Company, at the same 
 time, to be under the regulations, to be subsequently detailed, 
 for promoting the exports from Great Britain and Ireland, and 
 for encouraging individuals to carry on trade to and from the 
 East-Indies. 
 
 7. It was to be lawful for His Majesty's British, and other 
 European subjects, to export from London, upon their proper 
 risk and account, to the countries within the Company's limits, 
 in ships to be provided by the East-India Company, any goods, 
 wares, and merchandize, the growth and manufacture of the 
 said dominions, except military stores and ammunition, masts, 
 spars, cordage, anchors, pitch, tar, and copper. 
 
 8. It was to be lawful for the Company's servants, or for 
 persons acting under their licence, to consign and put on board 
 the ships of the Company, bound to Great Britain, goods, 
 
 wares, 
 
159 
 
 wares, and merchandize, on the risk of the private owners, PART n. 
 deliverable at the port of London. It was to remain for con- 
 sideration, whether the article of Piece Goods should not be 
 excepted. 
 
 9. The Company were to be under an obligation to provide, 
 at reasonable rates of freight, between the 31st October, and 
 1st February, in each season, not less than three thousand tons 
 of shipping for the exports of private individuals, and for 
 bringing home the returns for the same, with the private trade 
 of such persons as should be lawfully entitled to import goods 
 into this kingdom ; — and, farther, regulations, for augmenting 
 the quantity of tonnage, were to be made, as circumstances might 
 require them 
 
 10. The rate of freight was not to exceed a£5 per ton, to 
 be paid by the exporter from Britain to India, and ,§£15 per ton, 
 by the importer from India to Britain, so that the whole freight 
 might not exceed sB20 per ton. This rate, however, was to be 
 subject to an increase, in the time of war or hostilities, pro- 
 portioned to the rate of tonnage paid by the Company, for the 
 hire of ships for their own trade. 
 
 11. The exporter was to give notice, in writing, to the 
 Secretary of the Company, before the last day of August, in 
 each year, specifying the quantity of tonnage required, and to 
 pay one moiety of the freight for the same, and the other moiety, 
 on the goods being shipped, or to give such security as might be 
 satisfactory to the Court of Directors. 
 
 1 2. Persons 
 
160 
 
 PART ii. 12. Persons putting goods on board the ships in India, 
 
 were to give notice, in writing, to the proper officer at the re- 
 spective Presidencies, within such reasonable time as should be 
 appointed for that purpose by each Presidency, and to make 
 deposits in the treasuries, or to give security to the respective 
 Governments, for the quantity of tonnage specified in the notices. 
 
 13. If any vacant tonnage should remain, it was to be 
 occupied by the goods of the Company ; and if the quantity of 
 tonnage, either in Great-Britain or in India, should exceed the 
 quantity the Company were bound to provide, in each year, 
 respectively, the whole tonnage provided was to be distributed 
 among the parties requiring the same, in proportion to the quan- 
 tity specified in their respective notices. 
 
 14. All persons residing in India, in the service of the 
 Company (Governors, &c. and Agents employed at the Au- 
 rungs, in procuring the Company's investments, excepted), 
 and all persons residing in India under the Company's licences, 
 were to be permitted to act as commercial Agents, on behalf of 
 the exporters or importers of goods, without incurring any 
 penalty. 
 
 15. If, upon a representation to the Directors by the Pri- 
 vate Traders, of want of a sufficient number of persons to act 
 as Agents in India, the Court should fail to license the requisite 
 number, it was to be lawful for the Traders to represent the same, 
 either to the Lords of the Treasury, or to the Commissioners 
 
 for 
 
161 
 
 for the Affairs of India, who were to oblige the Court of f ART IT ; 
 Directors to appoint the requisite number of Free Merchants. 
 
 16. The duty of five per cent., according to an Act of 
 William III. payable to the Company, on goods imported from 
 the East-Indies, on the account of Private Traders, was to be 
 discontinued, and a duty, not exceeding three per cent, on 
 Private Trade, was to be granted in lieu thereof, on the true 
 and real value, or sale amount of such goods. 
 
 17. The raw materials, imported from India by indivi- 
 duals, were, upon requisition by the importers, at any time 
 after the landing, and before the sale thereof, to be valued, and, 
 upon payment of the three per cent, on the estimated value, 
 with the duties and customs, and charges of freight, to be 
 delivered over to the importers. Such goods as should not be 
 delivered as above, were to be deposited in the Company's 
 warehouses, and sold on account of the owners, by inch of 
 candle, at the office of the Company, and the prices paid into 
 the Company's treasury, for the use of the owners ; and all 
 other goods imported by individuals, were to be sold and 
 managed, according to the bye-laws of the Company, for the 
 management of Private and Privileged Trade. j 
 
 18. All restraints by law upon the Company's servants, 
 preventing them from recovering their just debts in foreign 
 parts, were to be removed. 
 
 19. The clear revenues, arising from the British terri- 
 tories in India, were to be granted to the Company, during the 
 
 Y farther 
 
162 
 
 w^L3* f artner * erm * n tne exc ^usive trade, and to be applied to defray, 
 first, the military charges ; next, to the payment of the interest 
 of debts incurred by the Company in India ; third, to the civil 
 and commercial charges ; fourth, to constitute a sum, not less 
 than one Crore of current rupees in every year, for the provision 
 of the Company's investment of goods for Europe ; fifth, to be 
 increased by annual advancement to the Commercial Boards, for 
 the provision of investments abroad, in the extent to which the 
 interest of the debt should be reduced, by extinction or transfer ; 
 otherwise the surplus, thus accruing, was to be applied to the 
 liquidation of the debts in India, and to such other uses and 
 purposes, as the Directors, with the approbation of the Board 
 of Commissioners, might specify. 
 
 20. A proportion of the debts of the Company in India, 
 not exceeding ^500,000 per annum, was to be remitted home, 
 by bills on the Court of Directors, at equitable rates of ex- 
 change ; and in case the creditors did not subscribe to this 
 amount, but preferred being paid their claims in India, the 
 Governor General and Council were to be authorized to grant 
 bills of exchange on the Court of Directors, at the rate of other 
 monies paid into the Company's Treasury at Fort William, and 
 to apply the sums so raised, or whatever surplus might remain 
 of them,, to the discharge of the said debts, till the debts, bear- 
 ing interest in India, should be reduced to ^3,000,000 sterling. 
 
 21. During the term of the exclusive trade, the proceeds 
 of the sales in England, and of the Private Trade, after provid- 
 
 Y ing 
 
163 
 
 ing for the current interest and other charges of the Company, part n. 
 were to be applied, first, in payment of a dividend of .§£10 per 
 cent, per annum ; next, in payment of a sum, not exceeding 
 ^£500,000 per annum, for the discharge of bills of exchange 
 drawn for the transfer and diminution of the debts of the Com- 
 pany in India, till the same should be reduced to three millions 
 sterling ; third, in payment of a sum, not exceeding ,§£500,000, 
 in every year, into the Receipt of His Majesty's Exchequer ; — 
 and, in the event of any deficiency in the said funds in any year, 
 for satisfying such last payment, the sum deficient was to be 
 made good out of any surplus which might remain, from the 
 nett proceeds of any subsequent year, after the payment of the 
 said ,§£500,000, in each year, respectively, when the debts in 
 India should be reduced to ,§£3,000,000, and the bond debt in 
 Britain to ,§£1,500,000. The surplus of the nett proceeds, after 
 the provisions now specified, and after the payment of the ten 
 per cent, dividend, and the sum of ,§£500,000 into the Exche- 
 quer, after making good all former deficiencies, was to be 
 applied in ' the following manner, namely, — one sixth part was 
 to be reserved by the Company, for their own use, and applied 
 in augmentation of the dividends, and the residue of this surplus 
 set apart, and, from time to time, paid into His Majesty's Exche- 
 quer, to be applied as Parliament should direct, without any 
 interest to be paid to -the Company for the use thereof, but be 
 considered and declared a collateral security to the Company, 
 for the capital stock, and the dividend of ten per cent. 
 
 Y 2 22. The 
 
164 
 
 part ir. 22. The Court of Directors were, within the first fourteen 
 
 sitting days next after the 30th March in every year, to lay 
 before Parliament an account (according to the latest advices) 
 of the annual produce of the revenues in India, under the heads 
 of the different Presidencies and Settlements, and an account of 
 the goods and stores, within their limits, with the annual dis- 
 bursements ; — an account of their debts abroad, rates of interest, 
 and annual amount of interest ; — a state of their effects in each 
 Presidency, consisting of cash and bills in the treasuries, goods 
 and stores, and debts owing to the Company ; — and a list of their 
 several establishments, and the salaries payable at each Presi- 
 dency ; and also to deliver another account, made up to the 1st 
 day of March, preceding the delivery thereof to Parliament, 
 containing the amount of the proceeds of the sales at home, of 
 the commercial and other charges in Britain, of their bond and 
 simple contract debts, with the rates of interest they respectively 
 carry, the annual amount of such interest, and a state of the 
 cash in the treasury, and other effects at home or afloat. 
 
 23. All Piece Goods, manufactured in India/ China, or 
 Persia, or within the Company's limits, were to be prohibited 
 from being worn or used, within the realm of Great-Britain. 
 
 24. All Piece Goods imported were to be lodged in the 
 warehouses of the Commissioners of Customs, to be there kept 
 till the re-exportation thereof, and to he liable to the several 
 laws and statutes made and now in force, for or concerning the 
 
 sale 
 
165 
 
 sale and re-exportation of wrought silk, Bengal stuffs, &c. pro- PART lL 
 hibited to be worn in England. 
 
 25. For securing the benefit of the traffic in India Piece 
 Goods, and to encourage the re-exportation thereof, the duties 
 payable on importation were (as long as the prohibition of their 
 being worn in this kingdom should remain in force) to cease or 
 be discontinued. 
 
 26. The East-India Company were to be enabled to add 
 ^£1 ,000,000 to- the present capital stock of ,§£5,000,000, by 
 opening a subscription, to the amount of ^81, 000,000, at the 
 
 rate of dB for every ^100 of capital stock, or, at such 
 
 other rate as the Directors, with the approbation of the Board 
 of Commissioners, should direct. The subscribers were to have 
 the same benefits as the other Proprietors of India Stock. 
 
 27. The Company were to apply a sufficient part of the 
 sum to be raised by the said subscription, to the reduction of 
 their bond debt to ^1,500,000. 
 
 28. The Company were to be prohibited from again 
 increasing their bond debt, beyond the said amount of 
 .^£1, 500,000.0) 
 
 As the Chairman had received the copy of these resolutions, Proceedings 
 
 of the Court 
 
 on the 26th, and the explanatory letter of the President of the of Proprie- 
 tors, on the 
 Commissioners, on the 27th March, and the Court of Proprietors 28th March 
 
 r 1793. 
 
 had been summoned on the 28th of March, on special affairs, 
 
 he 
 
 (1) Resolutions transmitted by the President of the Board of Commissioners to the 
 Chairman, 26th March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. IV.) 
 
166 
 
 part ii. he represented to them, at this meeting, that it might be proper 
 to postpone their discussions for a few days, during which time 
 the Directors would prepare the whole evidence on the subject, 
 for their examination. 
 
 The papers respecting the claims of the Manufacturers and 
 Merchants, and the Memorial and answers, on the subject of 
 Clandestine Trade, were however read to the Court, as prepara- 
 tory steps to the perusal of the resolutions/ 1 ) 
 
 The Court of Proprietors, on this occasion, wished for 
 information on particular points : — this led to discussions of 
 some length, upon the following topics, viz. the Surplus ; — the 
 Separate Fund ; — the sale of India Piece Goods in the home 
 market ; — the Freight for Private Imports and Exports ; — and 
 the Term of the Exclusive Trade. 
 
 It may be useful, upon each of these points, to advert to 
 the nature of the subjects upon which the explanations were 
 desired. 
 
 The territorial revenues, including subsidies, and the whole 
 income from the Company's property acquired in India, both 
 before and since the Cession of the Provinces, after deduct- 
 ing the civil and military charges, and paying the annual 
 interest of the existing debt, had been stated, at this juncture, 
 by the Directors, in their computation laid before the House of 
 Commons, to leave a residue of ,§£1,200,000 : — of this sum, 
 ^500,000 was to be annually appropriated to the liquidation of 
 
 the 
 
 (1) Minutes of General Court, 28th March 17Q3. (Printed Papers, No. VI.) 
 
167 
 
 the Company's debts in India, and .§£500,000 to be paid to the ^ T ^ 
 Public. 
 
 It was suggested, that explicit terms should be introduced, 
 in the new Act of Parliament, to secure to the Proprietors an 
 ultimate claim to the remaining Surplus, which it had been 
 stated was to be lent to Government without interest; other- 
 wise, though it might stand as a deposit in the Hands of Govern- 
 ment, and a guarantee of the Company's capital, yet, at some 
 future period, it might be taken from the Company. 
 
 It was explained, that the appropriation of the Surplus, as 
 pointed out in the resolutions, marked a progressive increase of 
 dividend, according to the degree of prosperity in which* the 
 Company's affairs might be found. One-sixth was to go for 
 immediate appropriation to the Company, and the remaining 
 five-sixths were to be a loan to Government, without interest, 
 and to be considered as a collateral security, and guarantee for 
 the capital, and, therefore, would operate, both as an induce- 
 ment to Government to watch over the affairs of the Company, 
 and to the Company to make every exertion in improving the 
 revenues of the Provinces committed to their administration. 
 
 On the subject of the Separate Fund it was suggested, that 
 care should be taken to have it secured to the Proprietors, by 
 express provision in the Act. In reply, it was said, that the 
 existing Act of Parliament secured this fund to the Proprietors, 
 and that it must remain as their distinct property, since, after 
 the bond debts were reduced to £\> 500,000, the Cpmpany were 
 
 to. 
 
168 
 
 F^? T ll J *° nave a P ower to divide a part of the remaining Surplus ; — that 
 the Directors had brought this subject forward merely as one 
 ground of the negociation, and that care should be taken to 
 secure, in the most positive manner, the Separate Fund, by the 
 new Act, to the Proprietors. 
 
 On the subject of the sale of the Indian Piece Goods in the 
 home market, it was suggested, that the total prohibition of 
 them would involve the ruin of a numerous set of merchants, 
 who had embarked their capital in this kind of trade : — that the 
 prohibition of plain and wrought muslins, below a certain value, 
 would destroy what kept up the fashion for them to the home 
 manufacturers, and bring a positive loss on the Company : — 
 that, from the year 1785 to the year 1790, the importation of 
 Piece Goods, upon an average, had amounted to .§£900,000, per 
 annum : — that under the proposed restriction, such muslins 
 would not amount to more than ^5000 per annum : — and that 
 the dealers frequently sold home-made, for Indian muslins : — If 
 the prohibition, therefore, should be enacted, those who had been 
 engaged in the trade of the India Piece Goods, must open houses 
 at Ostend and Dunkirk, to smuggle the article into the British 
 market ; and the trade thus, to please the home manufacturers, 
 would pass out of its accustomed channel, to the annual injury 
 of the Company's receipt of ^700,000 sterling; — what was 
 still more extraordinary, these manufacturers were asking, under 
 this prohibition, that they might be allowed to import raw 
 materials in vessels of their own, and, at the same time, that 
 
 cotton 
 
169 
 
 cotton machinery might be prohibited from passing to India. P V ART * r ; 
 Upon these arguments the Court resolved, " That it is the opi- 
 " nion of this Court, that the purchasers of Piece Goods are 
 <{ peculiarly entitled to the protection of His Majesty's Govern - 
 " ment, and to the support of this Company." ^ 
 
 On the subject of Freight it was suggested, that upon a 
 minute examination of the Company's imports and exports, 
 the profits chiefly arose from the connection between the 
 trade, and the revenue : — that the Company were bound to 
 promote the exports and imports, in a political, rather than in a 
 commercial view : — that the Freight offered, in the conferences 
 with Ministers, of eight ships, at ,§£10 per ton, outwards, and 
 5^12 per ton, homewards, being below the price at Ostend, in 
 the years 1790 and 1^91, was a full encouragement to private 
 trade, corresponding to the principle upon which the negociation 
 had been opened ; and that a clause, regulating the rate of 
 freight, for the export of the British manufactures, ought to be 
 introduced in the new Act. 
 
 Upon the subject of the Term of the Exclusive Trade, it was 
 suggested, that as the negociation now stood, the term should 
 commence on the 1st of March 1?94, that is, on the day on 
 which the old term expired. 
 
 To understand the discussions which took place, at the on ,be 
 
 r 3d of April, 
 
 meeting of the Court of Proprietors, on the 3d April 1/93 (the ^93. 
 
 Z period 
 
 <l) Resolutions of the General Court, 28th March 1793. (Printed Papers, No. VI.) 
 
170 
 
 ? A j RT Ji' period when the negociation, between Government and the Com- 
 pany might be considered as almost perfected) we have first to 
 attend to the opinions given on the motion made by the Chair- 
 man, for an approbation from the Court of Proprietors of the 
 report of the Committee of Correspondence, upon the resolu- 
 tions transmitted by the President of the Board of Commis- 
 sioners, for the consideration and acquiescence of the Proprie- 
 tors: — and for this purpose, the proceedings, both of the 
 Courts of Directors and Proprietors, from the 23d January, to 
 the time when the decision of the Proprietors upon the resolu- 
 tions sent by the Commissioners was called for, must be recapi- 
 tulated. 
 Recfjpituk- On the 23d of January, the General Court of Proprietors 
 
 lion of the 
 
 proceedings expressed their approbation of the preliminary steps taken by 
 of Directors, the Court of Directors, for settling the principles upon which 
 the negociation was to proceed. 
 
 On the 22d of February, the Court approved of the report 
 of the Committee, on the subject of any claims that might arise, 
 on the part of Ireland, either to participate in the India or 
 China trade. 
 
 On the 25th of February, the letter of the Chairman, to 
 the President of the Board of Commissioners, dated the 23d 
 of that month, requesting an explanation (for the satisfaction 
 of the Proprietors) of the intentions of Government, on the 
 participation of the Surplus with the Public, was laid before the 
 General Court: — This letter stated that doubts had arisen, 
 
 respecting 
 
171 
 
 • • • 
 
 respecting the participation of the Public, after the Company's PART ,r - 
 debts in India, and in Europe, should be reduced to a certain 
 specified amount, and asked, whether, in the event of other 
 debts being incurred, the participation with the Public was still 
 to take place? 
 
 The President of the Board of Commissioners replied, that 
 the principle was fixed, viz. that the debts were to be re- 
 duced in India, and left at ^3,000,000; the debt in England 
 was to be reduced to ,s£l, 500,000, and to remain at that sum : 
 — that if any new circumstance should arise, by which either of 
 these debts might be increased, a sum of ^500,000, out of 
 the surplus, was to be appropriated to the reduction of such 
 new debt, until it should be reduced to ^3,000,000 in India, 
 and ,s£i, 500,000 at home ; and that, till this operation should 
 be completed, the sum for the Public must be postponed or 
 delayed, till the sum of ,§£500,000 could be appropriated to the 
 liquidation of the debt, in the same manner as it was proposed 
 might be done at this time. 
 
 The Court of Proprietors, therefore, with this body'of evi- 
 dence before them, acquiesced in the principles already specified, 
 for the renewal of the Company's exclusive privileges, with the 
 provision in favor of the Merchants and Manufacturers of 
 Great-Britain and Ireland. 
 
 On the 8th of March, the Court of Proprietors, considering 
 the whole of these circumstances, approved of a Petition to the 
 
 Z 2 Honorable 
 
172 
 
 PART Ji. Honorable House of Commons, for leave to bring in a Bill for 
 the renewal of the Company's exclusive privileges. 
 
 On the 22d of March, the Chairman laid before the Court 
 of Proprietors, a letter from the the Committee appointed by 
 several mercantile houses, acting as East-India Agents, on the 
 subject of Clandestine Trade, and the President's letter on the 
 same subject, of the 18th March. 
 
 The opinion of the Court upon this business was delayed till 
 the 28th. The Court, in the mean time, considering the state 
 of the Company's bond debt, adopted the resolution of the 
 Court of Directors of the 21st March, viz. (i That immediate 
 " notice be given (if it shall receive the approbation of the 
 " General Court) to discharge ^7^0,000 of the Company's 
 " bonds on the 30th September next,, and that a lottery will be 
 (i drawn, for that purpose, on Tuesday the 26th instant, at the 
 " India-House, when any Proprietor, or person interested in 
 " the same, may attend."^) 
 
 On the 28th of March, the various documents respecting the 
 negociation were laid before the General Court, but the delibera- 
 tions upon them were postponed for a few days. A resolution of 
 the Directors, respecting the Separate Fund, was also adopted, 
 as a preliminary to these deliberations, in substance as follows : 
 " That in consequence of an agreement made between the East- 
 " India Company and the Public, by the Act, 21st George III, 
 " cap. 65, for the renewal of the exclusive privileges for ten 
 
 " years, 
 
 (I) Minutes of Court, 21st March, 17Q3. (Printed Papers, No. VI.) 
 
173 
 
 " years, the sum of «§£767,21S. fa lOd, then standing upon J^ 1 ™- 
 " their books as the balance of their cash, should be divided 
 " in manner following, that is to say ; — the sum of ,§£400,000 
 " to the Public, in full of all demands to that period ; — the sum 
 " of ,§£14,004. 10s. reserved to pay off bonds advertised to be 
 " paid off; — the sum of ,§£65,188, to pay arrears of dividends 
 " to Proprietors ; and the further sum of ,=£288,025. 17*. 10c?. 
 " to the Company, as their share of the surplus profits of the 
 " said Company's concerns, up to the said period, to be by 
 ** them appropriated, under certain restrictions, to the increase 
 " of their dividends, at the rate of one per cent, per annum : — 
 " that, in consequence of this division of surplus profits of the 
 " said Company, up to the year 1781, guaranteed by the faith 
 ** of the Public, a sum of .§£400,000 has been paid to the 
 " Public, by the said United Company :— that .§£14,004. 10s. 
 " has been applied as far as demanded : — that <£65,188 has 
 " been also applied in the same manner, but that, in conse- 
 " quence of the heavy expences to which the Company have 
 " been exposed, in the defence of their dominions in India, and 
 (( of the increase which they have been necessarily obliged to 
 u make to their capital, for the purpose of carrying on an in- 
 " creased trade, no part of the said sum of ,§£288,025. 17s. 10c?. 
 " amounting, with interest thereupon, on the 1st March 1793, 
 " to the sum of ,§£467,896. ?s. 4d. reserved to the Company, 
 " has hitherto been applied to the purposes intended by the 
 " Legislature : — that it appears, that the sum of ,§£9,500 capital 
 
 stock, 
 
174 
 
 tart I r. 4{ stock, standing in the name of the late Secretary and the 
 Treasurer, should be sold, and added to the before-mentioned 
 sum : — that it appears consistent with the public faith, that at 
 a time when good management has brought about so favorable 
 an alteration in the affairs of the East-India Company, and 
 that it is in contemplation for the Public to participate once 
 more with them, in the trade and surplus revenues of India, 
 to an amount, on the part of the Public, exceeding what 
 was intended by the Act, 21st Geo. Ill, the same sum of 
 ^288,025. 17*. 10c?., amounting, with interest thereupon, to 
 ^467,896. fs. 4d,, and the produce of the ^9,500 capital 
 stock, justly due to the India Company, as the arrears of their 
 share of a participation, of which the Public has so long ago 
 received their proportion, should be effectually secured to the 
 said Company, previous to any division of the future profits 
 of the said Company. 
 
 " That the Committee of Correspondence, therefore, be 
 requested to communicate with His Majesty's Ministers, and 
 to express to them, in behalf of the Proprietors of East-India 
 Stock, the reliance of the Court, that in the Bill intended to 
 be submitted to the Honorable the House of Commons, re- 
 specting the Company's privileges, an adequate and proper 
 provision will be made, for the securing to them the full 
 enjoyment and benefit of the Separate Fund, according to the 
 true intent and meaning of the Act, 21st George III.(° 
 
 On 
 
 ( 1 ) Resolutions of the Court of Directors, 27th March ] 793. (Printed Papers, No, VI.) 
 
175 
 
 On reviewing these various topics, in connection with the PART rI - 
 resolutions which had heen transmitted by the President of the 5 e P ort °t«he 
 
 ' Committee of 
 
 Board of Commissioners to the Court of Directors, we are pre- Corres P ond - 
 
 J r ence on the 
 
 pared to understand the report of the Committee of Correspon- K esolu f""» 
 
 r r r transmitted, 
 
 dence, in answer to those resolutions. This report was the b J ? e /|"f 81 " 
 
 ' « dent of the 
 
 foundation of the proceedings of the Courts of Proprietors, on Commi° f 
 
 ussion- 
 
 the 3d and 11th of April, when the negotiation might be consi- consideration 
 dered to be finally arranged between the Public and the Com- motors. °" 
 pany. 
 
 We have, therefore, first to give the substance of the report, 
 next to advert to the leading points upon which the opinions of 
 the Proprietors turned, and, lastly, to the decision to which 
 these opinions led. 
 
 The report of the Committee of Correspondence, dated 1st 
 April 1793, stated, that the opinion of the Board of Commis- 
 sioners was, that the East-India trade, combined and connected 
 as it had been with the remittance of revenue, might most 
 advantageously be conducted by an exclusive Company, " so 
 " regulated, as to insure to the merchants and manufacturers 
 " the certain and ample means of exporting to India, to the full 
 " extent of the demand of that country for the manufactures 
 " of this, and likewise a certainty, that in so far as the produce 
 " of India affords raw materials for the manufacturers of Great- 
 " Britain or Ireland, that produce should be brought home, at 
 " a rate, as reasonable as the circumstances of the two countries 
 " would admit of/' 
 
 1. In 
 
176 
 
 part II. 3, In answer to the first resolution, the Committee sug- 
 
 gested, that instead of the appropriations of the revenue being 
 such as " shall he now or hereafter made, or provided for hy 
 " Parliament," such variation, in this respect, as might be 
 necessary, should be with the consent of the Company. 
 
 2. That the power proposed to be given to the Commis- 
 sioners for the Affairs of India, in respect to the appropriation 
 of the revenues, by any future Act or Acts, should also be with 
 the consent of the Company. 
 
 3. To the third resolution, the Committee made no reply. 
 
 4. That it might be advisable to continue the foreign Go- 
 vernment under the existing laws. 
 
 5. That the Court of Directors should have the same 
 power of removing, or recalling their servants, as they had at 
 this time. 
 
 6. That agreeably to former practice, and to the spirit of 
 the conferences on the subject of the pending negociation, the 
 term, and the notice of three years, should be considered as sepa- 
 rate and distinct ; — that the arrangement proposed to vary the 
 present mode of liquidating the debts of the Company, by which, 
 besides ^ the discharge of one million sterling per annum of the 
 Indian debts in Europe, the whole of the surplus, which might 
 then arise, should be applicable also to the payment of debts, 
 whereas it was proposed to limit the liquidation of these debts, 
 in the first instance, to ,§£500,000, and then to apply a similar 
 sum to the Public use, before any further progress could be 
 
 made. 
 
177 
 
 made. A short term, liable to unforeseen events, interruptions, part ij. 
 and war, would not be adequate to the liquidation of the Com- 
 pany's debts, previously to the expiration of the term ; and they, 
 therefore, trusted, that the exclusive trade would be granted, for 
 twenty years, determinable on three years' notice by Parliament, 
 and payment of the debt due, by the Public, to the Company. 
 
 7- That the power of export and import, to be given to 
 the Private Traders, should be confined to a specified quantity of 
 tonnage. 
 
 8. That the opening the trade, for import of all sorts of 
 merchandize from India, would be held as going beyond the 
 original principle of the negociation, which was to bring home 
 the produce of manufactures exported, and to promote the home 
 manufactures, by furnishing them with raw materials, but not 
 to confer on Private Merchants, the undefined privilege of 
 imports in general. It was not intended, originally, to render 
 the Manufacturers and Merchants independent of the Company, 
 in respect to general imports ; for an offer was made to give 
 them bills of exchange for their money ; but, if the right of 
 general merchandize should be granted them, it would operate 
 to the prejudice of the Company, and of the Public, by risking 
 the fund from which the plan of participation could be 
 realized, and extend the commerce of foreigners, beyond the 
 bounds of utility to the Empire : but, at all events, this privi- 
 lege ought not to extend to Piece Goods, the general import of 
 which would be injurious to the British Manufacturers them- 
 
 2 A selves, 
 
ITS 
 
 part II. selves, who seemed to be sensible of this truth, from their 
 expressing fears respecting the importations of the Company. 
 From the nature of the case, besides, the Company's importa- 
 tion of Piece Goods must be limited by their means of purchase : 
 — if, then, the Piece Goods Trade should be opened, it would be 
 impossible to guess how far speculations might go, though it 
 was easy to foresee, that they would proceed to ruinous lengths, 
 by raising the price in India, and depressing the sale at 
 home ; which, under the proposed regulations, would be dons 
 by foreigners, as well as by British Clandestine Traders. It 
 might, perhaps, be of little moment to individuals, whether 
 they gained or lost by a single adventure ; but it was material 
 to the Company, under heavy and extensive debts and en- 
 gagements, that it could look forward, with confidence, to 
 means for the discharge of both. It, in fact, would be desira- 
 ble for the British Manufacturer, that Piece Goods should rather 
 remain, exclusively, with the Company, than be prohibited. — A 
 manufacture was not, like raw materials, capable of being pro- 
 duced in numerous places, and in a short time, to supply almost 
 any demand. — A moderate competition would advance the price 
 and depreciate the quality of Piece Goods, in India, while a 
 moderate addition to the quantity usually imported, would dimi- 
 nish the value very considerably, at the Company's sales. Under 
 these circumstances, no article was more favorable for a selec- 
 tion than Piece Goods, or less objectionable to the new principle, 
 which it was in contemplation to introduce ; — but without such 
 
 selection, 
 
179 
 
 selection, the Committee were apprehensive, that it would be 
 impossible for the Company to liquidate their political debts, and 
 still less to furnish a participation to the Public, to the extent 
 which was proposed. 
 
 9. That the Company had no objection to furnish three 
 thousand tons of shipping, for the accommodation of the Private 
 Traders, but they could not judge of any farther augmentation, 
 until the mode and regulations for that purpose should be de- 
 tailed. 
 
 10. That they referred to the objections which had been 
 made to the division of the rate of Freight, at «s£15 per ton, 
 homewards, and to the necessary increase of this rate of Freight, 
 in time of war. 
 
 11. That it would be necessary to make provision for any 
 injury by demorage, in the ships waiting for Private Trade, or in 
 the case of goods not being sent in due time. In this last case, 
 the freight deposited should be forfeited, or some payment made, 
 to satisfy the Company for the damage they might sustain, by 
 the regular course of their business being interrupted. 
 
 12. That the sorts of goods to be shipped in India should 
 be specified, or the exceptions enumerated, and if the Company 
 should furnish the required quantity of tonnage, it could not be 
 material to the Private Traders, what ships the goods were 
 carried in ; but the Company ought to be left at liberty to send 
 the goods, in any ship that might be most convenient. 
 
 2 A 2 13. To 
 
 PART II. 
 
180 
 
 part ir. 13. To the thirteenth resolution, the Committee made no 
 
 reply. 
 
 14 and 15. On these resolutions two questions arose : 
 — first, whether Agents should be left at liberty to take com- 
 mission from, and encourage a trade by foreigners ? — and, 
 secondly, what indulgences should be granted to these Agents, 
 in India ? No satisfactory reason had been assigned for over- 
 turning the system established by the Act, 21st George III, cap. 
 65, sect. 29, and former Acts, respecting shipping, subscrip- 
 tions, &c. which they hoped would be continued : — that what- 
 ever character the Agents might possess, they ought not to be 
 suffered to traverse the country at pleasure, and that the 
 28th section of the same Act should be continued, by which 
 the Company's servants, who were under covenants, were con- 
 fined to a residence at the principal Settlements, or within ten 
 miles thereof; adding, as a reason, that the European character 
 could not be held too high in India, or the Company's servants 
 placed in too respectable a situation, relatively to the other 
 Europeans, if the Provinces in India were to be preserved, 
 as a dependency of Great-Britain : — that the introduction of 
 the Supreme Court of Judicature had been intended for the 
 relief of the Natives, but, in many instances, it had tended to 
 depress the character of the Europeans, and had forwarded the 
 interested and oppressive views of the Natives : — these facts were 
 so well ascertained, that the Legislature had found it necessary 
 
 to 
 
181 
 
 to confine the jurisdiction of this Court to Calcutta, and its ^5L3' 
 environs, because it was found, that impressions had been made . 
 on the minds of the Natives, to the prejudice of the European 
 character : — that the most distinguished servants of the Com- 
 pany had entertained these ideas, and facts had proved, that, 
 both in a political, and in a commercial light, every endea- 
 vor ought to be used to check, but not to increase, the number 
 of Europeans, resident at the different Aurungs. It was no 
 argument, that foreigners were permitted, by treaty, to be 
 Agents, and that British subjects, though not in the service of 
 the Company, were to be found at the Aurungs ; or that it 
 would be better to fill these places with servants under covenants : 
 — that, although the Governments in India possessed sufficient 
 power to punish unlicenced individuals, yet coercive measures 
 were seldom resorted to : — that the Natives could, at this time, dis- 
 tinguish between foreigners, unlicenced persons, and the servants 
 of the Company, but they could not distinguish between a free 
 Merchant, or Agents, and the Company's resident servants : — 
 at all events, the persons who might proceed to India, as Free 
 Merchants, should be limited, as to residence, to ten miles round 
 the Presidency, and the privileges to such Agents should be 
 settled and defined, because the present covenants were not appli- 
 cable to the case : — all the covenants of the Company's servants 
 must be revised and varied, to make them correspond with the 
 total alteration of system, which the innovation of admitting 
 Agents would produce ; and military officers must be prohibited 
 
 from 
 
182 
 
 part ir . f rom becoming commercial Agents, or interfering in commercial 
 concerns of any kind. 
 
 16 and 1JT. That the charge of three per cent, on Pri- 
 vate Trade, for the expences of the Company, had been fully 
 discussed. 
 
 18. That before the Committee could give any opinion, 
 respecting the removal of the restraints laid by law, on the ser- 
 vants of the Company, in the recovery of their debts in foreign 
 parts, an explanation of the object of this resolution should 
 be given. 
 
 19. That if it should be considered expedient to send goods, 
 or money, from India to China, for the purchase of an invest- 
 ment, a specific provision should be made for that purpose. 
 
 20. That they hoped the debts in India might be reduced 
 to .=£2,000,000. 
 
 21. That as the new stock, to be subscribed for, would pro- 
 duce an amount beyond what might be sufficient to reduce the 
 bond debt to .^l, 500,000, the excess might be applied, as far 
 as it would go, to the discharge of the other debts of the Com- 
 pany in England ; and that the remainder, requisite for the 
 discharge of debts, must come out of the annual ordinary 
 receipts of the Company, and the balance of cash on the 1st 
 March, 1793 : — that these particulars did not appear to have 
 been attended to, in this resolution, neither had the Company's 
 Separate Fund been noticed in it, nor the engagements they were 
 under, respecting the payment of their Indian debts ; and that 
 
 the 
 
183 
 
 the payment of ,§£500,000 should only take place, after the expi- PART n . 
 ration of the existing privileges : — the reservation of ,§£500,000, 
 per annum, to the Public, went beyond what had been expected, 
 and it had been understood, that, after the preceding payment, 
 the Public should receive, out of the surplus cash, a sum not 
 exceeding ,§£500,000 : — that the payment of this sum, at all 
 events, and the creating of any deficiency in such payments, into 
 a debt, might authorize a demand, that would exceed the Com- 
 pany's annual ability ; more especially when it was projected, 
 that the Public claim should be increased, from three-fourths to 
 five-sixths : — that the surplus was taken at ,§£1,200,000, de- 
 ducting therefrom the sum of ,§£500,000, for the liquidation of 
 debts, there would remain ,§£700,000, which would afford a 
 much larger dividend, on the former system of one-fourth, than 
 what was now proposed ; but as the Proprietors had not acqui- 
 esced in this mode of participation, their share was to be two 
 per cent, additional dividend, while that of the Public was to be 
 ,§£500,000, if there should be so much surplus remaining, an- 
 nually, after allotting ,§£500,000 for the payment of debts : — and 
 that if the exclusive trade should be rendered a name only, then 
 the proportion of profits to the Proprietors ought to be increased ; 
 but under the proposed arrangement, there would be no prospect 
 of an additional emolument, or of establishing the Guarantee 
 Fund, to which the Proprietors could look up. 
 
 It must be admitted, the participation of the Public would 
 be a charge, or outgoing, from the capital stock, until the debts 
 
 of 
 
184 
 
 part If . f the Company should be liquidated, and, therefore, it had been 
 explained to the Public, that after the Indian and European 
 debts should be reduced to the sums proposed, the Proprietors 
 were to receive an additional dividend, in the first instance, and 
 this was immediately to follow the payment to the Public of 
 ^500,000 ; after which the Guarantee Fund was to commence, 
 and to be continued, till it produced five millions sterling ; and 
 this fund was to become a collateral security for the stock of the 
 Company, and for their dividend of ten per cent., in case of 
 disaster, or that their exclusive privileges should not be continued 
 to them, at the expiration of the proposed term : — previously, 
 therefore, to any payment to the Public, provision should be 
 made, for leaving a sufficient current cash in the Company's 
 hands, for their ordinary payments and outgoings, otherwise, 
 till new money came in, in the course of the year, the 
 Company must either be in an insolvent state, or must borrow 
 money, which, as they were to be restricted from increasing 
 their bond debt, might be impracticable. 
 
 22. That the accounts of the revenues, &c. should be 
 prepared conformably to this resolution. 
 
 23, 24, and 25. That if these resolutions should be enact- 
 ed, it would tend to the ruin of the Company's sales, throw the 
 whole of the Piece Goods Trade into the hands of foreigners, 
 and be of no benefit to the Manufacturers ; and that, if 
 India muslins should continue to be in fashion, they would find 
 their way into Britain, through smuggling ; or if disused, the 
 
 demand 
 
185 
 
 demand for home Piece Goods would, of course, diminish and part ii. 
 disappear. 
 
 27. That the sum of money to he raised hy subscription 
 to the capital stock (and to be applied to the reduction of the 
 bond debt to .^l, 500,000) should, after paying the bonds, be 
 applied to discharge other debts, and not come to be a Partition 
 Fund. 
 
 28. That it might be worth consideration, whether there 
 should not be a power in the India Board, or in the Lords of 
 the Treasury, to authorize the Company to borrow money on 
 bond, to a limited amount, exceeding <§£1, 500,000. The exi- 
 gencies of the Company's affairs might, at some particular 
 season, require such temporary advance, which might be pro- 
 cured from the Bank, but, without such authority, the Bank 
 might object to lend the money. 
 
 After making these specific observations on the resolutions, 
 the Committee concluded their report, by observing, that they 
 solicited only such regulations as were necessary for the 
 safety of the Provinces in India, and for the purpose of liqui- 
 dating the Indian debts in Europe ; objects which were not less 
 important to the Public, than to the East-India Company.^ 
 
 The whole subject, in this form, was now to be laid before 
 the Court of Proprietors ; and the object of the Directors, in 
 
 2 B this 
 
 (1) Report of the Committee of Correspondence, dated 1st April 1793, on the Reso- 
 lutions transmitted by the President of the Board of Commissioners. (Printed Papers, 
 No. V.) 
 
186 
 
 part II. this appeal to the General Court, was to have the report of 
 their Committee, which had been adopted by themselves, sanc- 
 tioned by the Proprietors. 
 Motion made For this purpose, the Chairman moved, in the General Court, 
 
 in the Court 
 
 of Proprie- the following resolution, viz. " That the Court of Proprietors 
 
 tors, in con- 
 sequence of & approve of the answer which has been transmitted by the 
 
 this Report. 
 
 " Court of Directors to the Board of Commissioners, relative 
 i( to the letter received from the President, and to the resolu- 
 " tions which he meant to have proposed to the Honorable 
 " House of Commons."^ 
 Opinions of The opinions of the Proprietors, on the one hand, were : — 
 
 the Proprie- 
 tors upon the That an immediate approbation, on their part, would preclude 
 
 Resolutions 
 
 and Report, them from future discussions on the most important points, 
 when the reply of the President of the Board of Commissioners, to 
 the observations of the Committee of Correspondence, should 
 come before a subsequent General Court : — that by a short 
 delay, in expectation of farther explanations and concessions 
 from the Board, the Court would be in possession of the whole 
 subject : — that, by approving of the principles on which the 
 Court of Directors had, hitherto, conducted the negociation 
 with Government, and by recommending to them, in the future 
 progress of this negociation, to act in subservience to these 
 principles, the ultimate sanction by the Proprietors, as it then 
 would result from full information of the whole business, would 
 be more effectual : — that this approbation would obviously 
 
 be 
 
 ()) Minutes of the General Court, held the 3d April 1793. (Printed Papers, No. VI.) 
 
187 
 
 be not only more dignified in its kind, in those who gave it, but ^ A . RT n J 
 more honorable to those who were to receive it : — and that a dis- 
 cussion, at this time, could do no more than express confidence in 
 the Directors, whereas an ultimate sanction would evince, not 
 only progressive confidence, but a full and final acknowledgment 
 of their whole exertions and services. 
 
 The opinions, on the other hand, opposed to these rea- 
 sonings, were : — that the conduct of the Directors demanded 
 immediate support from the Proprietors, and that a decision on 
 the answers and observations on the Resolutions, transmitted by 
 the President of the Board, was necessary to give energy to 
 their future conferences with His Majesty's Ministers, because 
 it would mark that the opinions of the Directors, were those of 
 the Proprietors : — that the principle upon which the negociation 
 had hitherto been conducted, had, at an early period, been sanc- 
 tioned by the General Court : — that if the conduct of the Direc- 
 tors had been in conformity to this principle, this conduct ought 
 now to receive the most public support : — and that the giving 
 of this sanction did not pledge the Proprietors any farther than 
 to an approbation of the answers now under their notice, but 
 left every part of the subject open to future discussion. These 
 explanations induced the General Court to vote an approbation 
 of the answer of the Committee on the Resolutions. 
 
 The subjects which chiefly attracted the attention of the Subjects 
 
 which princi- 
 
 Court of Proprietors were, the rate of Freight, and the securing pally attract- 
 ed the atten- 
 
 the Separate Fund to the Company. tion of the 
 
 Proprietors, 
 
 2 B 2 The 
 
188 
 
 PART II. The following proposition was brought forward on the 
 
 subject of Freight : — " That this Court do concur in opinion 
 " with the President of the Board of Commissioners, that the 
 " freight, respecting the ships now in the employ of the East- 
 u India Company, should be settled, once for all, on a fair and 
 " equitable footing ; and that the Court of Directors should be 
 " requested to take the same into their consideration, as well as 
 " such farther regulations, in respect to the hiring and building 
 u of ships in future, as shall enable the Company to carry on 
 " their trade, henceforward, to the greatest advantage; and 
 " propose and lay before the Court, such arrangements as they 
 " think best suited to that purpose, in order that some perma- 
 " nent system may be established, upon principles of fair, well 
 " regulated, and open competition, but the said system not to 
 " affect the existing ships, which it is the wish and recommen- 
 " dation of this Court to continue in their service, at a fixed 
 " rate, and in preference, so long as they shall be judged fit 
 u for the service." M 
 
 The arguments adduced in support of this resolution were, 
 in substance, as follows : 
 
 That as Acts of Parliament had passed, for the better 
 regulation of the Company's affairs, and laid down a particular 
 line of conduct, not only for their political, but for their com- 
 mercial interests, (as in regulating the amount of bills which the 
 Company could draw or accept in one year, and the mode by which 
 
 their 
 
 (!) Minutesof the General Court, held the 3d April, 1793. (Printed Papers, No. VI ) 
 
189 
 
 their sales were conducted, &c), it would have been desirable, if ^ ART n ; 
 the President of the Board of Commissioners had also laid down 
 regulations for Freight: — that as he had thought the rate of 
 Freight could not be made a matter of Parliamentary arrange- 
 ment, but must be left with the Directors, their discretion and 
 exertions were now called for, on this important subject : — 
 that the President had given his opinion, that if the East- 
 India Company did not contribute their aid to the essential 
 objects of the export of British goods, and import of Indian 
 raw materials, by furnishing freight at a cheaper rate than any 
 individual could do, it would be a proof, of the allegations 
 of the Clandestine Traders, that the Company's trade had not 
 been conducted upon the true principles of commercial eco- 
 nomy : — that the Committee of Mercantile Houses, acting as 
 Agents for Clandestine Traders, in the East-Indies, had affirmed, 
 that the high freight and duties, payable to the Company, were 
 the great obstacles to the trade coming to this country, and 
 going to other parts of Europe, and, therefore, that the lowering 
 the Freight of the ships, employed in the Indian commerce (dis- 
 tinguished from that of China) would increase the tonnage one- 
 half, and, in time, perhaps double it. In illustration of this par- 
 ticular point, it was asserted, that it would be allowed the 
 Shipping Interest (as it was termed) should give way to a system 
 of economy, which, at once, would procure the use of ships 
 of a proper size, afford, on reasonable conditions, employment 
 for the present valuable tonnage in the Company's service, and 
 
 preserve 
 
190 
 
 part n. preserve to the Captains and Officers, a preference in an employ, 
 to which they had been brought up : — that it was a gross abuse 
 (it was added) that, because an Officer had not a friend to 
 advance ^10,000 for him, as a price which, it was said, had 
 been paid for the command of an Indiaman, he must, however 
 deserving, wear out his life in a subordinate situation : — that the 
 55th Bye-Law of the Company, by which no ship under eight 
 hundred tons burden could be employed, required to be altered, 
 if not rescinded : — that the new imports, for example, of sugar, 
 and the tonnage to be afforded for the imports of the Private 
 Merchants, made such a regulation as injurious as it was unne- 
 cessary : — that large savings had already been made, by the reduc- 
 tion of freight ; and it was expected, about «s£200,000 might still 
 be saved, annually, if a fair competition among the freighters of 
 ships should be admitted : — that the rate might then be brought 
 lower than even ,§£20, though that sum was admitted to be 
 lower than the Private Merchant could furnish freight for him- 
 self : — that this rule, however, applied only to the price of the 
 Freight to be paid by the Manufacturers and Merchants, for 
 their exports and imports, but did not, in any degree, provide 
 for the rate of Freight to be paid, by the Company, to the Ship- 
 owners : — that, on the whole, the discretion of the Directors, 
 to which the Proprietors were ready to appeal, ought, at this 
 juncture, to be exerted in fixing regulations for Freight : — that 
 economy, in this important article, would be equally advanta- 
 geous to the Company, and to the Public, by adding the saving 
 
 to 
 
191 
 
 to the surplus, which was ultimately to be divided between both : part ir. 
 — that it had been difficult, because opposing interests had 
 existed among the Proprietors, to draw the line for a regulation 
 of Freight ; — and that it would have been better if Parliament 
 had decided the point ; yet if this should be left to the Directors, 
 the resolution moved for, would tend to produce the same be- 
 neficial end. 
 
 On the subject of the Separate Fund it was moved : — 
 " That it be recommended to the Court of Directors to provide 
 " in the negociation with His Majesty's Ministers, that the 
 " surplus to be applied, as a collateral security for the capital 
 " stock, and the dividend of ten per cent, thereupon, may pre- 
 " serve to the Proprietors the actual value of the present and 
 " all additional stock." C 1 ) 
 
 In support of this motion it was said, that in the event of 
 the Company being deprived of their privileges, a right ought to 
 be vested in the Proprietors to the whole capital which they were 
 going to embark, under the sanction of the new Act, besides 
 their nominal capital of ^£5,000,000 : — and that the Public would 
 readily admit, that, in the course of twenty years, the Company 
 might be exposed, not only to numerous risks from commercial 
 adventures, but to political contingencies, requiring this addi- 
 tional security to be given to the Proprietors. 
 
 Though on a subject of such magnitude and national Farther Con- 
 importance, as an arrangement of the British Government and tween His 
 
 Majesty'sMi- 
 Trade nisters and 
 the Directors. 
 
 (1) Minutes of the General Court, held the 3d April, \7Q3. (Pi inted Papers, No. VI.) 
 
192 
 
 part n. Trade in the East-Indies, patient investigation and fair discussion 
 were allowed to the Directors and Proprietors, by His Majesty's 
 Ministers, yet, considering the reasonings of the Proprietors, 
 in connexion with the report of the Committee of Correspon- 
 dence, it will afford an interesting retrospect to the Public, in 
 general, if we sketch out the discussions which took place on 
 this occasion. 
 Answers of The President of the Board of Commissioners transmitted, 
 
 the President 
 
 of the Board on the 15th of April, an answer to the report of the Committee 
 
 of Commis- 
 sioners, to the of Correspondence, which had been adopted by the Directors 
 
 Report of the 
 
 Committee of and General Court, in which the controverted points were 
 
 Correspon- 
 dence, examined, and, in general, adjusted, to the satisfaction of all 
 
 parties. 
 
 The answer was introduced with an examination of the 
 particular subjects, in which it was apprehended the opinions of 
 the Committee were inconclusive, and reminded the Directors of 
 the real and supposed interests which various descriptions of men 
 had brought forward, and of the difficulty in adjusting them. 
 
 The principle, originally admitted as the basis of the nego- 
 tiation, was next adverted to, and the observation repeated, that 
 a system of Indian Affairs could not admit of being disjointedly 
 considered, but must embrace the interests equally of the Com- 
 * pany, and of the Public ; and that the important concerns of 
 Great Britain, in regard to its Indian Provinces, must be 
 settled, in a manner substantially beneficial to the extension of 
 commerce, and to the improvement of the revenue i — that, under 
 
 this 
 
193 
 
 this impression, the Board of Commissioners had conveyed resolu- PAllT H - 
 tions to the Chairman and Court, which it was intended should 
 become the basis for the new Act, and recommended them to the 
 examination and acceptance of the East-India Company : — that 
 these resolutions were inferences only, drawn from the princi- 
 ples expressed in the letter of the President, of the 16th Fe- 
 bruary : — and that the following explanations of the manner 
 in which they had entered into the detail of the business, 
 would shew, what the particular points were, in which His 
 Majesty's Ministers were of opinion, the Courts of Directors 
 and of Proprietors, in their adoption of the report of the Com- 
 mittee of Correspondence, had misapprehended the nature of 
 the system, proposed to be founded on the principles which both 
 these Courts had previously sanctioned. 
 
 In illustration of this general observation on the report, 
 the objections which had been offered against each of the reso- 
 lutions, were examined in their order. 
 
 1. On the requisition, that the consent of the Company 
 should be required to any appropriation which Parliament might 
 make of the future surplus of revenues, there was no difficulty 
 in explaining, that the subsequent appropriations related only 
 to a further surplus, beyond the public participation, and after 
 the Guarantee Fund had been completed, which could scarcely 
 take place during the proposed term ; and therefore, as it was 
 unnecessary to differ about the terms of a future arrangement, 
 
 2 C it 
 
194 
 
 part ii. it was agreed, that the words " now, or hereafter" should be 
 omitted. 
 
 2. Upon the same ground, the Commissioners had no 
 objection to the words " consent of the Company " being intro- 
 duced into the clause, which vested the specified powers in the 
 Board of Commissioners, subject to such directions for the 
 appropriation of the revenues, and to such other rules, as might 
 be provided for by Act of Parliament. 
 
 3. and 4. The requisition of the Committee, that it might 
 be advisable to continue the foreign governments, under the 
 existing laws, rather than to alter them, the Commissioners had 
 no difficulty to acquiesce in ; explaining, that the only object 
 was, to collect, as much as possible, the existing laws into one 
 Act. 
 
 5. To the power of the Directors of recalling their servants, 
 as at present, there could be no objection. 
 
 6. With respect to the period of the proposed exclusive 
 privileges, the Commissioners admitted, that a short term, might 
 not be adequate to the liquidation of debts, and to the 
 establishment of the Guarantee Fund ; but explained, that every 
 calculation had proceeded upon the idea, that twenty years 
 would be more than sufficient, and that this point had only 
 become material from the different opinions which had arisen, 
 respecting the experiment which the manufacturers wished to 
 make. 
 
 7- The 
 
195 
 
 7. The difficulty respecting the amount of exports and PART n. 
 imports to the Private Traders, particularly the import of all 
 sorts of merchandize from India, it was admitted, required a 
 more full examination. 
 
 8. and 9. That the three thousand tons were only one half 
 of what the Directors had proposed ; but to make this matter 
 perfectly clear, the Board allowed that the public mischief of 
 the Clandestine Trade, to the navigation, revenues, and general 
 commerce of the kingdom, had not, at first, been fully seen, 
 but thought, that it was of importance to divert the course of 
 this trade into a regular and legitimate channel. The Company 
 had objected to Private Traders importing Piece Goods ; the 
 Manufacturers wished to discourage the importation altogether ; 
 but the Board thought, that the Clandestine Trade would be 
 continued, although Private Traders were prohibited importing 
 this article, and that the manufactures of India, which found 
 their way to Europe, would be brought to London, as their 
 general emporium, and in British shipping, legally autho- 
 rized : — If the Company, however, could shew, that by the 
 extension of their own trade for exportation, or by an exten- 
 sion of the indulgence already granted to Private Traders, 
 the ground upon which the proposed resolution on this subject 
 had proceeded, could be done away, the Board had no objec- 
 tion to admit the point, respecting which the Company were 
 so solicitous. 
 
 2 C 2 10. On 
 
196 
 
 part n. 10. On the subject of the rate of freight, the Commis- 
 
 sioners adhered to the idea expressed in the letter of the 16th 
 February, " that the exports and imports must be done at a 
 " rate of freight so reasonable, as to satisfy the merchants and 
 ** manufacturers of this country, that the effect of the mo- 
 " nopoly of the East-India Company is not calculated to bring 
 " an unnecessary, and, of course, an unjust burden on the 
 " manufacturing interests of Great-Britain and Ireland " : — that 
 when the Commissioners urged the Company to give Freight at 
 ^820 per ton, it was because the Private Merchant insisted he 
 could afford it at a rate, not exceeding a£14 per ton for the 
 whole voyage, out and home : — it might be true, that the 
 Company, upon a consideration of their own situation and 
 commerce, might find it convenient to keep up a shipping ca- 
 pital, on a higher scale of Freight than adventurers might be 
 disposed to accept of, but the difficulty would still recur, why 
 this should be done at the expence of the Private Traders, who 
 were willing to try the experiment of encreasing the exports to 
 India, and who complained, that the system pursued by the 
 Company, in the exports from this country, brought a burden 
 upon the Private Trader, which would be removed, if the exclusive 
 privileges did not exist : — that the question could only be solved, in 
 one of two ways, either by the Company giving the tonnage at a 
 rate satisfactory to the private exporter, or by the private exporter 
 furnishing shipping to himself, under such licence and regulation 
 
 as 
 
19; 
 
 as might be expedient : — if this last mode were adopted, it would PAR Tir ; 
 solve many difficulties : — the inconveniences, however, which 
 might arise to our Indian Empire, from an unrestrained inter- 
 course with the Natives, every man possessed of local knowledge 
 had admitted ; — but till such inconvenience could be removed, 
 shipping must be found by the Company, at the moderate rate 
 of ^20 per ton, and, till further arrangements could be devised, 
 for obtaining a lower rate of Freight in the Company's own 
 shipping, ,§£5 outward, would remove every ground of com- 
 plaint : — that then the experiment for the exports of this country 
 might be fairly made; but if the same purpose could be an- 
 swered, the export might be made higher, and the import 
 tried lower : and if there was complete evidence that the trade 
 through Ostend would cease, if the rate, home, was stated 
 at ^815, and the duties exacted by the Company were reduced, 
 there could be no objection to adopting ggl5 as the freight 
 home, and ^85 as the freight out : — this would give an un^ 
 equivocal proof of the wish of the Company to make the fair 
 experiment, which the manufacturers of Great-Britain and 
 Ireland desired for their exports; the answer, therefore, of 
 Government, that they wished to encourage the export of 
 British and Irish manufactures to India, and the import of raw 
 materials from it, to put an end to the Clandestine Trade, was as 
 clearly ascertained in the detail, as the principle was, in which 
 the negociation originated ; and if this could be done, even with 
 
 a loss 
 
198 
 
 part II. a i oss to the Company, in the article of Freight, it was a duty 
 they owed to the Public. 
 
 11. and 12. There could be no objection to introduce 
 explanatory words, respecting the rate of Freight in war, or in 
 circumstances which might increase the Company's Freight ; and 
 no objection could be made to the Company's being at liberty to 
 put the goods of the Private Traders into the ships that might be 
 most convenient for them. 
 
 14. and 15. On the question, whether Agents should be- 
 at liberty to take commissions from, and encourage trade 
 through foreigners ? the Board of Commissioners explained ; 
 that our Indian Provinces have never been, nor can be con- 
 sidered, as resting on the same footing with colonial possessions ; 
 and that, if foreign nations trade with our Indian subjects on 
 their own capitals, which they must do, if sufficient latitude be 
 not given to individuals to bring home their fortunes, through the 
 medium of a legitimate trade, this would be of advantage to 
 Britain, and obviously so to the industry of our Indian territories- 
 This being the case, it seemed to be better that the Agents should 
 be British subjects, than the subjects of foreign nations, because 
 British subjects would be under the licence and control of the 
 Company's Governments in India, a point which had been 
 deemed essential in the character of Agents : — that whether the 
 trade now existing be viewed as the fair trade of foreigners, or 
 the Clandestine Trade of British subjects, the agency must be 
 
 either 
 
199 
 
 either through British subjects, or natives, our subjects, in part u. 
 India ; so that the object was only to legalize an existing prac- 
 tice : — that whether it would be more expedient to establish 
 such Agents, under regulations and control, or to allow them 
 to continue acting, as they now do, in opposition to law, ad- 
 mitted not of any question : — that an unrestrained intercourse 
 with the Natives of India would be dangerous, was true ; and it 
 Was, for this reason, that it had been deemed the most safe and 
 expedient measure, to continue the exclusive privileges of the 
 Company, provided such propositions should be acquiesced in, 
 as might draw the trade from foreigners and clandestine mer- 
 chants into a legitimate channel : — that the mischiefs to which 
 the Directors referred, had been remedied by the amendments 
 which the Legislature have made on the jurisdiction of the Su- 
 preme Court ; and other inconveniencies had been corrected, by 
 the regulations of Lord Cornwallis, for the protection of the 
 weavers and manufacturers of India : — that the erroneous policy 
 of the 29th section of the Act, 21st of Geo. Ill, cap. 65, ought 
 to be amended : — that there could be no doubt of the propriety 
 of continuing the 28th section of that Act, which confined the 
 Company's servants, who were under covenants, to a residence 
 at the principal seats of Government, or within ten miles of 
 them ; nor to the 30th section, which came under the principle 
 of control, provided a fair latitude be given for bringing home 
 the fortunes of individuals, through a legitimate channel. 
 
 16 and 
 
200 
 
 v^LU' ^ anc * ^7' ® Q * ne su ^J ec<: °f increasing the three per cent, 
 
 duties, proposed to be paid to the Company on Private Trade, 
 the Commissioners observed, that if the Committee meant mere- 
 ly a defalcation from the cash estimate, the conclusion they drew 
 did not follow : — that the manifest advantages arising from a 
 low duty, and from a moderate rate of Freight, even below 
 ^815, would be compensated, by encouraging the importation 
 directly to London, and, of course, would discourage Clandes- 
 tine Trade : — that the Company's estimate of this duty was only 
 ^BJOfiOO P er annum, and that a larger importation would 
 bring up the profit to the full of that estimate ; but even sup- 
 posing a loss of ^40,000, it ought not to be put in competition 
 with a national object, that of abolishing the whole, or great 
 part, of the Clandestine Trade. 
 
 18. The object of taking off all restraints laid by law on 
 the servants of the Company, to recover their just debts in 
 foreign parts, it was explained, was to enable the Company's 
 servants, who have shipped goods which have been sold on the 
 Continent, to recover the value of them. 
 
 19. That there could be no objection to the Company 
 sending money, or goods, from India to China, for the purpose 
 an investment from thence, if it should be found more beneficial 
 to remit money home, through China, than direct from India ; 
 and that provision might be made in the Act to allow the Com- 
 pany to remit from India to China, for procuring an investment 
 there. 
 
 20 That 
 
201 
 
 ^il&^20. That there could be no objection, also, to the debts \ ART II ; 
 in India being reduced to two millions, if the Company should 
 think it more expedient. 
 
 21. On the idea of the Directors, that the amount arising 
 from the purchase of the new stock, beyond what would reduce 
 the Bond Debt to 1,500,000, should be applied in discharge of 
 the other debts of the Company in England, and on the 
 clause which they proposed, respecting the engagements the 
 Company might be under, for the payment of the India 
 debt, the following observations occurred : — that, in the first 
 place, the Directors founded their opinion on former nego- 
 ciations and modes of arrangement, under circumstances dif- 
 ferent from the present time ; in particular, that they had 
 not adverted to the effects of the Commutation Act, which, 
 independently of all claim to the territorial revenues, had raised 
 the expectation of the Public for a compensation from the 
 Company : — that, in the next place, if the circumstances were, 
 as under the Act 1781, the Public would have .§£900,000 out 
 of the .=£1,200,000, and the Company .=£300,000 ; but, by the 
 present plan, .§£500,000 of the ,§£1,200,000 went to the reduc- 
 tion of the debt, before any participation : — that, in the third 
 place, the exclusive trade might be considered as a separate 
 advantage for the Company, connected with the two per cent, 
 additional dividend : — that it was never meant, under the new 
 system, to form such a distribution, as two per cent, additional 
 dividend, and the exclusive trade to be the separate share of the 
 
 2 D Company, 
 
202 
 
 partjt. Company, but that it was intended the Company, and the Public, 
 should participate in a fixed proportion ; and in order to be 
 certain on the subject, it was settled, that it was to arise out of 
 the whole amount of the trade and of the revenue : — that, so far 
 from no notice having been taken of the engagements the 
 Company were under, " respecting the payment of the Indian 
 " debt, which should be provided for, in the first instance, and 
 " the new arrangement of ,§£500,000, to take place from the 
 " expiration of the existing one," it was obvious, from the 
 last cash estimate of the Company, and from the papers 
 laid before Parliament, that the whole amount of the principal, 
 due on account of the debt transferred, was ,§£1,354,050: — 
 that, of this, the payment of one million was provided for, 
 in the present year, by the estimate, besides repaying the 
 .=£600,000 borrowed of the Bank, on mortgage of the Com- 
 pany's Annuities, and that a balance was estimated to remain 
 in the treasury, of ,§£679,396 : — that the exigencies of this 
 year were, therefore, provided for, on the present plan of pay- 
 ing one million of Indian debt : — that the two millions, besides, 
 might be raised by the new capital, of which ,§£1,700,000 
 would be required to reduce the bond debt to .§£1,500,000 : — 
 that the remaining ,§£300,000 would be applicable to the increase 
 of dividend, not provided for in the estimate, viz. .§£150,000, 
 (two per cent, on the ,§£5,000,000, and ten per cent, on the 
 additional capital of .§£1,000,000, for half a year) ; this would 
 leave ^£150,000 to be added to the balance of cash, and would 
 
 make 
 
203 
 
 make the amount .§€829,496, on the 1st March 1^94 :— that partit. 
 the payment, therefore, of ,§£500,000 to Government, in the 
 present year, even supposing also the repayment of the whole 
 sum of ,§£600,000 to the Bank, would only operate as a reduc- 
 tion of the total balance on the 1st March 1794, which would 
 otherwise amount to above ,§£829,000 in the current year : — 
 that the subscriptions in India, besides, would not probably be 
 so great, as to occasion a demand of more than ,§£500,000 next 
 year ; — that no objection had been made, or was intended to be 
 made by Government, to the right of the Company to the 
 Separate Fund, or to its being ascertained and liquidated, in 
 any manner the Company might please, provided that no 
 proposition should be made to disturb the cash estimate of 
 the present year, or to interfere with the appropriation which 
 had been held out to the Public, to take place in the course of 
 it : — that the objection to any deficiency in the participation 
 with the Public being made good, from the excess of surplus 
 in the succeeding year, was obviated, by stating, that under 
 a proper administration of the Company's affairs, no such defi- 
 ciency was likely to exist ; but, to preserve consistency in the 
 whole plan, provision for it must be adhered to ; — that it had 
 been explicitly agreed to, that the sum allotted for the extinc- 
 tion of debts, and for the increase of dividend, should have a 
 preference over the participation of the Public ; a rule which did 
 not interfere with the Government being indemnified for the loss 
 of one year, from the exceedings of another, nor with the interest 
 * 2 D 2 either 
 
204 
 
 part II. either of the Proprietors, or Creditors ; — that as the management 
 of the commerce rested, exclusively, with the Directors, at- 
 tention to the interest of the Public required, that a large sum, 
 in a particular year, should not go to the Guarantee Fund, if 
 accidents, in a former year, should have prevented the Public from 
 receiving its full rate, for sound policy required, that the partici- 
 pation of the Public should be guarded in every respect : — and 
 that no objection was intended, to a reserve being made for the 
 discharge of such new debts as might be contracted. 
 
 23, 24 and 25. The objections of the Committee to the 
 clauses which prohibited Piece Goods from the Company's sales, 
 were admitted, because after reviewing the different aspects of 
 this subject, the Board were of opinion, that a compliance with the 
 wishes of the Cotton Manufacturers would be productive of serious 
 mischief to themselves, to the dealers in Indian Piece Goods, 
 and to the revenue, and because the competition in the home 
 market, appearing at the Company's sales, was of material 
 consequence. 
 
 28. On the suggestion of the Directors, that a power should 
 be given to the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, or to the 
 Lords of the Treasury, to authorize the Company to borrow 
 money on bond, to a limited amount, it was observed, that if 
 the exigencies of the Company's affairs, at any time, should 
 require this temporary advance from the Bank, no objection 
 would be made, provided the sum borrowed be to a moderate 
 amount, and for a limited time. 
 
 Having 
 
205 
 
 Having thus explained all the points, essential either to the part II. 
 interests of the Company, or to the Public, on the principle 
 suggested in the letter of the President of the Board of Com- 
 missioners, of the 16th February, the answers concluded with 
 observing, that the terms on which the exclusive trade ought to 
 be granted, would not bring into risk any of the expectations held 
 out to the Proprietors of India Stock, since those expectations 
 were well founded, and perfectly secure, independently of any 
 exclusive privilege of trade; because the policy of continuing 
 the privileges of the Company rested on principles of expediency, 
 not totally, but in great measure, distinct from the pecuniary 
 interests, either of the East-India Company, or of the Public.^ 
 
 Two days after receiving this communication, the Committee Report of the 
 
 Committee 
 
 of Correspondence made a report upon it, which was adopted of Corre- 
 spondence on 
 
 by the Directors, and transmitted to the Board of Commissioners. th 's explana- 
 tion. 
 
 After expressing their satisfaction with the manner in which 
 the points in debate had been discussed, they submitted the fol- 
 lowing concluding observations. 
 
 They acceded to the term for the new privileges, as explained 
 in the sixth resolution : — they referred their anxiety to exclude 
 any competition with the Company in the importation of Piece 
 Goods, to necessity, which would shew, that this part of their 
 privilege was required, to enable them to discharge their debts, 
 
 and 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, 15th, 
 April 1793, (Printed Papers, No. VII.) 
 
206 
 
 part ii. anrt to fulfil the expectations held out to the Public, under the 
 new arrangement : — and that though the Company had been 
 vested with this exclusive power, yet individuals had been, and 
 hereafter would be, permitted to import Piece Goods, as long as 
 such importation should not be injurious to the Company's sales, 
 or to the views of Government for participation. 
 
 They subjoined, on the subject of Freight, that if the Ma- 
 nufacturers of Britain and Ireland should have the rate outwards 
 too low, they would sutler by paying ^15 per ton, on the Freight 
 of raw materials homewards ; for ^Bl5 home Freight might 
 divert the trade from London, and introduce the import of the 
 produce and manufactures of India to the continents of Europe 
 and America. On these grounds they submitted, that a small 
 variation in the division of the freight, viz. ^=6 out, and ^814 
 home, would be better terms for the attainment of the object 
 recommended by Government. 
 
 After acknowledging the concession which Government 
 had made, on the fourteenth and fifteenth resolutions, that the 
 prohibition of the consumption of India Piece Goods in this 
 country, would be injurious to the Public, and to the British 
 Manufacturers themselves, without producing any good effect 
 whatever, they prayed for some relief, both to the Company 
 and to the Private Traders, in their competition with foreigners, 
 on account of the heavy duty on Piece Goods, in their transit 
 through Great -Britain. 
 
 On 
 
207 
 
 On the subject of the appropriation of the Separate Fund, PART u. 
 the Directors requested, also, that while care should be taken, 
 not to interfere with the participation of the Public, the amount 
 of this Fund, viz. .§£467,896, and .=£9,750 capital stock, 
 should remain at interest, at four per cent., in the hands of 
 the Company, to be applied as additional dividends to the 
 Proprietors, at the rate of ten shillings per cent, per annum, 
 to commence after the first ,§£500,000 should have been actually 
 paid to the Public, and to continue until the Separate Fund and 
 interest should be exhausted ; and as there could be no doubt, 
 that this Fund would be sufficient to insure the dividend, during 
 the term proposed, they thought this plan would prevent fluc- 
 tations in the value of the Company's stock. 
 
 They submitted, next, that by charging the deficiency of 
 the participation which might happen in any year, as a debt, to 
 be liquidated by the exceedings of any following year, the 
 principle upon which a plan of participation had been originally 
 formed, and agreed to, had, in some degree, been deviated 
 from, and that the pecuniary interests of the Public had obtained 
 a decided preference over those of the Company; — taking, then, 
 a retrospect of this part of the subject, they stated, that what- 
 ever surplus might remain, must arise from the political or 
 commercial affairs of the Company ; supposing, then, that the 
 surplus revenue would produce <g£l, 000,000, half that sum must 
 go to discharge debts, and the other be paid into the Exchequer 
 for the benefit of the Public j — in this case, the Company would 
 
 receive 
 
$08 
 
 part ii. receive no benefit from the India revenues ; and hence, when the 
 debts should be reduced to the sum proposed, the Company 
 would participate, but to a trifling extent, in the proportion of 
 the present produce of the India revenues : — All the Company's 
 advantages, and, even their dividend, must arise from commer- 
 cial resources, and, after all, if the trade should produce more 
 than sufficient for their dividend, the surplus would be applied 
 to general purposes, and, in the mean time, to the liquidation 
 of their political debts : — -they, therefore, did not think, that the 
 Proprietors of India Stock had received any benefit from the 
 Commutation Act, because their dividend, before 1784, was 
 eight per cent., and had not been more since that period : — that 
 they had, however, been enabled, by the operation of this Act, 
 to liquidate their debts contracted during the war, but the 
 Public had derived a proportionable benefit from the suppression 
 of smuggling, and the increase of home revenues. 
 
 If the whole surplus should not produce sufficient for the 
 additional dividend, for the debts, and for ^500,000, for the 
 Public, whatever sum might be received by the Public, would 
 place the cash of the Company in a dangerous situation, and 
 expose them to the mercy of every administration for relief. 
 Could, indeed, a permanent peace be relied on, the surplus would be 
 sufficient to answer every purpose, but in the event of a war, the 
 consequences must be rendered as little injurious to the Company 
 as possible : — that, in twenty years, the Public would receive ten 
 millions, while the Company would only receive two millions, 
 
 liable 
 
209 
 
 liable to the circumstance of any contingent loss ; and, therefore, P ART Ir : 
 they requested, an assurance might be given, that any deficiency 
 which might arise, in any one year, on the participation of 
 the Public, should become a charge only on the surplus of 
 succeeding years, and hoped some farther explanation would 
 be given on the subject of the Guarantee Fund.W 
 
 To this Report the Board of Commissioners replied, that 
 though they could not recede, either from their reasonings, or 
 from the conclusions to which they led, with regard to the 
 participation with the Public, yet if, in the progress of the 
 business, no material objection occurred against the sugges- 
 tions of the Directors, the Board would be happy to acquiesce 
 in them. In general, the Board explained, that the participa- 
 tion with the Public was never meant to operate as a debt 
 against the Company, either with regard to their dividend, or the 
 payment of their creditors : — that the object of the resolution on 
 this subject was, that the deficiency of one year should be 
 supplied by the exceedings of subsequent years, instead of such 
 exceedings going to the Guarantee Fund : — If, for example, 
 the surplus of 1794, after paying the dividend of ten per cent, 
 and the ,^500,000 for the extinction of debts, should yield only 
 ^400,000 of participation to the Public, and if, in J 795, 
 the surplus should amount to ^600,000, after paying ^500,000 
 to the creditors, and the dividend of ten per cent, then the whole 
 
 2 E ^600,000 
 
 (1) Report of the Committee of Correspondence, dated 17th April, 17Q3, on the 
 observations of the President of the Board of Commissioners. (Printed Papers, No. VII.) 
 
210 
 
 PART N. .§£600,000 would be due to the Public, in place of ^100,000 of 
 it going to the Guarantee Fund, which it would do, if the de- 
 ficiency of I794 had not existed. 
 
 On the question, whether the Guarantee Fund was to 
 extend to the nominal, or to the real value of the Capital 
 Stock, the Board explained, that it would go to the real value 
 of the Capital Stock, at the rate at which it should be taken 
 in the proposed augmentation ; and that it would be necessary, 
 only, to compare the mode of participation proposed, in the 
 present negociation with that settled in 1J81S 1 > 
 
 The negociation, after these mutual explanations, on the part 
 of the Commissioners, and of the Directors, had now reached 
 the point, when the application of the Company for a renewal 
 of their exclusive privileges, under all the conditions and 
 modifications, which have been detailed, was to be submitted 
 to the Proprietors of East-India Stock for their final appro- 
 bation. 
 Recapituk- A General Court was summoned for this purpose, on the 
 
 evidence, as 20th of April. A statement of the progress of the negociation- 
 fore the had already been prepared for the use of the Proprietors, viz. the 
 prietors, for Resolutions proposed to be laid before the Honorable House of 
 
 their assent -it* /-n n r* 
 
 to the Treaty Commons ; — the Report of the Committee of Correspondence 
 
 with the Pub- 
 
 he on them ; — the answer made to this Report ; — the subsequent 
 
 observations 
 
 (1) Letter from the President of the Board of Commissioners to the Chairman, ISth 
 April, 1793, in answer to the Report of the Committee of Correspondence, 17th April, 
 1793. (Printed Papers, No. VIII.) 
 
211 
 
 observations of the Committee on this answer, and the reply PART " 
 of the Commissioners. 
 
 The Proprietors, with these documents, had the whole 
 subject under their consideration, and were, now, to decide on 
 the conditions under which they were to conclude their agree- 
 ment with the Public. 
 
 That no part of the evidence might be incomplete, the Opinions of 
 Court of Directors laid, also, before this General Court, the Directors, as 
 
 # submitted lo 
 
 Report of the Committee of Correspondence on the reply of the judgment 
 
 of the Court 
 
 the Board of Commissioners, of the 18th of April, explaining of Proprie- 
 tors. 
 the difficulties which had occurred, on the subject of the parti- 
 cipation with the Public. 
 
 The substance of this Report was as follows : — the Com- 
 mittee stated, that though their observations, on the sub- 
 ject of the participation with the Public, had not produced 
 the arrangement the Company had solicited, and though the 
 estimate, by which the mode of participation decided on by 
 Government, had been accompanied, might have received far- 
 ther elucidation, yet they offered their opinion to the Court 
 of Directors, that it would be expedient to close the nego- 
 ciation. 
 
 With the view of bringing the decision of the Proprietors 
 to this point, the Chairman moved, " That the Court of Pro- 
 " prietors, agreeing in opinion with the Committee of Corres- 
 pondence, as stated in their Report, approved by the Court of 
 ' Directors this day, do empower and recommend to the Court 
 
 2 E 2 "of 
 
 a 
 
212 
 
 part ii. « f Directors to continue the negociation with Government, 
 
 " for the purpose of a final arrangement/^ 1 ) 
 Substance of The opinions of the Proprietors were divided, on the ques- 
 
 the prelimi- , »»•«■■ i i • 
 
 nary argu- tion, whether it would be proper to agree to this motion, or to 
 
 ments of the 
 
 Proprietors, read the Resolutions, and annexed papers explanatory of them, in 
 
 for and 
 
 against an their order, and then to adopt them, with such modifications as 
 
 immediate 
 
 adoption of might be deemed expedient or necessary. 
 
 the motion 
 
 forconciud- On the one hand, it was contended, that the ability with 
 
 ing the Ne- 
 
 gociation. which the Committee of Correspondence had conducted the 
 conferences with Government, and the full and detailed manner 
 in which the Court of Directors had explained their motives, 
 for adopting the several Reports of their Committee, precluded 
 the necessity of minute discussions, by the Proprietors, upon 
 each of the Resolutions : — that though some of the Proprie- 
 tors, from their habits of attention, and from their talents for 
 public discussion, might be qualified to enter into all the points 
 in the negociation, yet that the majority of that respectable 
 body had not been accustomed to attend to controversies, 
 and had, therefore, reposed their confidence in the Court of 
 Directors : — that, in fact, many of the Proprietors were stran- 
 gers to the details of this extensive subject, and that, for these 
 reasons, the motion of the Chairman ought to be agreed to : — 
 because it was an expectation reasonably entertained by the 
 Directors, who must feel this approbation to be a fair return 
 for their services. 
 
 On 
 
 (l) Minutes of the General Court, held the 20th April 1793. (Printed Papers, No. X.) 
 
213 
 
 On the other hand, it was contended, that by reading the PART U. 
 Resolutions, and the subsequent reports explanatory of them, 
 the actual state of the negociation would be obvious to the Pro- 
 prietors in general, and each individual would determine, from a 
 sense of what so materially regarded his own interest, and from a 
 conviction of the able manner in which the Court of Directors 
 had conducted the business : — that this mode of proceeding 
 would still keep the business open for discussion, and would not 
 bind the General Court to any implicit acquiescence : — that though 
 the papers had been printed, many of the Proprietors were yet 
 strangers to the whole of the conferences which had taken place, 
 between the Commissioners, and the Committee of Correspon- 
 dence, from the first adoption of the principle upon which the 
 negociation had proceeded : — and that much benefit would be 
 derived from the opinions of the Proprietors, who had de- 
 voted their attention to every stage of the negociation, 
 and who, therefore, under such circumstances, must feel it to 
 be their duty, to throw light upon all the leading points, which 
 it was of importance to the General Court to be instructed in, 
 before they assented to what so materially affected the interests 
 of the Company. 
 
 These last arguments prevailed, and the plan of reading 
 the Resolutions in their order, with the reports and corres- 
 pondence explaining each, was adopted. 
 
 The substance of the debate will be best understood, by Particular 
 
 subjects up- 
 stating the particular points upon which the opinions of the on which the 
 
 43 * * - * * opinions ot 
 
 Proprietors 
 
214 
 
 part ii. Proprietors differed, viz. the Duration of the New Term ; — the 
 the General Importation and Sale of Piece Goods ; — the Participation of 
 
 Court seem- r J * J 
 
 ed to be at i ae Surplus : — the Guarantee Fund, and the Admission of 
 
 variance. r > ? j 
 
 Agents in India. We shall detail the opposite opinions on each 
 
 of these topics in their order. 
 
 — On the 1. On the Duration of the New Term, some of the Pro- 
 
 Term to be 
 given the prietors thought, that the right of Government to grant what 
 
 Company un- 
 der the New term they might consider to be most beneficial to the whole 
 
 Act. 
 
 Empire, made it impracticable for the Company to oppose their 
 intentions ; and that however desirable it might have been for 
 the Company to have had the additional three years, it could only 
 be solicited, but not contended for. Others of the Proprietors 
 thought, that as the uniform practice of Government had been 
 to grant the exclusive privileges of the Company for a certain 
 number of years, allowing three years of notice at the expira- 
 tion of the term, and as it had been the original intention 
 to continue this practice, it was so far a matter worth con- 
 tending for, that the withholding it was, in fact, depriving 
 the'Company of the advantages of three years' profit of the trade 
 and revenue, which, on a fair calculation, might be estimated 
 at ,5^1,800,000 : — supposing, then, they added, that at the 
 end of the twenty years, the exclusive privileges should deter- 
 mine, and the Company's affairs be wound up, and a final 
 dividend made of their property and effects, a loss of three 
 years would be found materially to affect the prospects of the 
 Proprietors. The Court, however, seemed to think, that as the 
 
 term 
 
215 
 
 term to be given was longer than had formerly been granted, part n. 
 this distant contingency was not to be apprehended ; the ac- 
 quiescence of, the Proprietors, therefore, was given to the term 
 for which the privileges were proposed to be renewed. 
 
 2. On the Importation and Sale of India Piece Goods, — On the 
 there seemed to be but one opinion among the Proprietors, viz. tion and Sale 
 
 of Piece 
 
 that considering the situation of the East-India Company, if Goods. 
 Piece Goods, as well as every other article of trade, were to be 
 open to Private Merchants, the Company had no longer any ex- 
 clusive privileges : — that, for years past, the Company had allowed 
 individuals to import Piece Goods, and they would continue 
 to do so, with a due consideration to the state of the market ; 
 but that, if this part of their exclusive privileges should be taken 
 from them, they could not meet the expectations of the Public : 
 and that it was the duty of the Company, to keep in their 
 power, such sorts as were proper for consumption in Great Britain, 
 otherwise their remittances would not answer the ends of the 
 proposed arrangement with the Public, and would not prevent 
 the imports of the Clandestine Trade, or render London the depot 
 of India goods. 
 
 3. On the Participation of the Surplus Revenue with the — On the 
 
 Participation 
 
 Public, some of the Proprietors were of opinion, that the of the Surplus 
 
 Revenuewith 
 
 object of Government was to obtain a large participation of the the Public. 
 profits for the Public, without any risk ; while it was proposed 
 to lay the whole of any contingent misfortune upon the Com- 
 pany, instead of making them Agents and factors for the Public : 
 
 — that, 
 
216 
 
 part II. — that, in 1781, Government were contented with three-fourths 
 of the surplus, when the Company were without the debt 
 incurred in the war of 1783; whereas, at this time ^500,000 
 per annum was demanded, without regard to the future debts 
 of the Company in India, for which they must pay eight per 
 cent., though the money might be raised, at home, at four per 
 cent. : — that the ^500,000 was, thus, to become a fixed annuity, 
 though the circumstances of the Company might be in the worst 
 situation : — that such a condition would injure the Guarantee 
 Fund, which had ever been held a collateral security for their 
 capital, and, of course, deprive them of a fair division of their 
 property and real effects : — that, on the whole, this was de- 
 parting from the principle, on which the negociation had com- 
 menced : — that, then, it was a share of the profits ; that, now, 
 it was to be a positive debt of the Company to the State, and a 
 demand on their capital of ^500,000 per annum : — that, then, it 
 was the equal participation of the surplus ; that, now, it is an 
 annuity, to continue, from one year to another, though the Com- 
 pany, from events in Europe or in India, might incur a new load 
 of debt : — and that this conduct was warranted by no precedent, 
 and could only be yielded to, from the necessity or actual state 
 of the negociation, and from the period in the session of Parlia- 
 ment, when it had become absolutely necessary for the Company; 
 to come to some final agreement with Government. 
 
 Others of the Proprietors were of opinion, that from the 
 manner in which Government had laid down the principle on 
 
 which 
 
217 
 
 which the negotiation opened, and from the concessions which ^515* 
 had been made, that the interest of the Company had not been 
 separated from that of the Public : — that, in the whole of the 
 negociation, Government had endeavored to combine both, and 
 to act with a due regard to each : — that looking at the transac- 
 tion, as one great subject, and comparing the existing state 
 of the Company's Affairs with that of 3781, and considering 
 the East-India Company, as trustees for a part of the British 
 Empire, acting for themselves, as well as for every other British 
 subject, the arrangement was equitable, though parts of it 
 might seem to be oppressive, when considered disjointedly :-— 
 that in the conferences with the Directors, the Commissioners 
 had sought information only : — that it was the duty of Govern- 
 ment to judge, and to submit that judgment to the wisdom of the 
 Legislature : — that if Ministers could have consented to take 
 the ^500,000, for the Public, as the equal residue of the surplus, 
 the terms, no doubt, would have been better for the Company, 
 but not so satisfactory to the Nation : — that there had been no 
 deviation from the principle settled, on the 16th February, nor 
 had the ,§£500,000 been given in (as had been explained in the 
 progress of the business) as a part of the India Budget, in the 
 statement presented to the House of Commons, as the amount 
 of cash to be depended on, by the Public, for the current services 
 of the year : — that no new principle, therefore, had either been 
 devised, or old one abandoned : — that it was not, then, a share of 
 the surplus only (as had been supposed), in whatever situation 
 
 2 F the 
 
218 
 
 ^3w the Company might be, and now a debt on the Company, but it 
 was a resource of Government, on which, under a due ad- 
 ministration of Indian Affairs, the Public might rely : — that it 
 had, besides, been explained to the Company, that ^500,000 
 should first go to discharge the debt in India, and next 
 «s£;500,000 to the Public ; but that if, from a deficiency of 
 surplus, in any one year, s£400,000 could only be received, 
 then the exceedings of the next year, instead of going to the 
 Guarantee Fund, should make up the deficiency of the former 
 year, and whatever surplus might remain, in conformity to this 
 system, should go to the Guarantee Fund to be secured in the 
 manner it had been provided for. 
 On the Gua- 4. On the subject of the Guarantee Fund, some of the 
 
 Proprietors were of opinion, that its stability was the point on 
 which the Company must rest, if, at any time, the exigencies 
 of their affairs required extraordinary aids : — that the proportion 
 of the surplus required by Government, endangered the very 
 existence of this Fund, hitherto held to be the best security of the 
 capital stock : — that in the event of a war in India, the payment 
 of «§£500,000 to Government would absorb the whole of this fund, 
 so that, at the close of the new term, instead of finding a collate- 
 ral fund of ten millions, the Company might have a debt to that 
 extent -.—that if the Guarantee Fund should not remain in the 
 power of the Company, in cases of exigency, they must borrow 
 money upon extravagant terms, though they had a right to a 
 sum absolutely their own, which now was to be deposited in 
 
 the 
 
219 
 
 the hands of Government : — that even if Government required part [}[• 
 this fund, as a gratuitous loan, it would be better to agree to pay 
 four per cent, for the money, and to adhere to the principle upon 
 which the participation had originally been introduced, as a part 
 of the negociation, or to break off the treaty altogether, unless 
 the Guarantee Fund should be subject to the call of the Com- 
 pany, in cases of emergency. 
 
 On the other hand, it was contended, that the whole of 
 of this reasoning proceeded on a partial, not on a full view of 
 the negociation : — that, instead of considering the Guarantee 
 Fund, separately, it ought to be viewed in its connection with the 
 whole of the other conditions, on which the privilege was to be 
 renewed ; in particular, that the concessions which had been 
 made by the Commissioners, in those points, which affected the 
 commerce of the Company, and left with them the revenues 
 connected with it, would place them in a situation, in which, 
 under a due administration, there could exist little danger of those 
 calamities, from which it had been predicted the Guarantee Fund 
 would suffer dilapidation : — that with regard to the ,^500,000 to 
 be paid to Government, from the surplus, it had not been stated to 
 Parliament, in the India Budget of the existing session (as has 
 already been noticed) as one of the annual resources of the 
 nation, that in the event of the debt being reduced to the speci- 
 fied amounts, the increase of dividend from the Guarantee Fund 
 was only to take place : — that in case of exigencies affecting the 
 
 2 F 2 general 
 
220 
 
 1 JART n. general security of the Empire, still the payment of ^500,000 
 of debt was to go on, and the participation with the Public to be 
 postponed, and made up from the exceedings of subsequent years : 
 — hence, that under the whole arrangement, the accumulation 
 of the Guarantee Fund was only to be affected, if adverse circum- 
 stances prevented the surplus rising to the amount, at which 
 it had been taken in the Company's own accounts, which had 
 been proceeded upon, as the basis of the proposed arrangement ; 
 — that, therefore, taking the term to be granted to the Company 
 into view, the measures to be adopted, for the liquidation of the 
 Indian and home debts, the preference allowed in the discharge 
 of them, and the participation with the Public, it was clear, 
 that the only circumstance which could interrupt the increase of 
 the Guarantee Fund, was a calamity common to the Company, 
 and to the whole of the Empire ; — and that, referring to the ap- 
 proaching expiration of the Company's privileges, with the man- 
 ner in which the various opposing interests of the Merchants and 
 Manufacturers, and of the Company, had been adjusted, it would 
 be unwise in the Proprietors, to give way to their fears and 
 apprehensions, respecting the Guarantee Fund, at the moment 
 when the negociation with Government was to come under 
 the deliberation of Parliament. 
 On the Esta- 5. Q n the subject of the permission to Agents for the 
 
 Agents, in Private Traders to settle in India, several difficulties occurred on 
 
 India, for the 7 
 
 Private Tra- tlie point, whether it would be proper to allow the Company's 
 covenanted servants, employed in the provision of their invest- 
 ments, 
 
221 
 
 ments, to act as Agents for British subjects, and for foreigners, fAKT il . 
 without distinction? — Many of the Company's junior servants, 
 who acted as Agents, had small allowances, and depended upon 
 the rewards which proceeded from the mercantile business they 
 did for others, and therefore it had always been a practice, to 
 allow them the indulgence of acting as Merchants. 
 
 In answer, it was said, that such a prohibition of Agency, 
 was perfectly consonant with mercantile practice : — that no pru- 
 dent trader would allow his servant to buy and sell the same 
 articles in which he dealt, for that this would be to allow a 
 servant to consult his own interest, in contradiction, and even 
 in opposition to that of his employer. As, however, the twenty- 
 ninth section of the Act, 21st. George III, was to be repealed in 
 the new Act, and the Company's servants, who acted as Agents, 
 to be placed under the control of the Directors, the supposed 
 evils of Agency would be removed. 
 
 After some general observations on the subject of Freight, The Direo 
 and on the amount to which the debts might be reduced, &c, powered by 
 
 .. ..... . ; ' ■ "■■ ", the Proprie- 
 
 the Court adopted the proposition of the Chairman, " that the tors to accede 
 
 to the terms 
 
 " Directors be empowered to continue the negociation with proposed by 
 
 Government, 
 
 " Government, for the purpose of a final arrangement. "^ for the re- 
 
 newal of the 
 II. Having reviewed the measures of Government, and of Company's 
 
 exclusive pri- 
 
 the East-India Company, previously to the subject of Indian vileges. 
 Affairs being brought before Parliament, we have next to re- 
 port on the Proceedings in Parliament, connected with those 
 
 of 
 
 (l) Minutes of the General Court, held the 20th April 179a. (Printed Papers, No. X.) 
 
222 
 
 part if. f the Mast-India Company, while the "Renewal of the Ex- 
 clusive Privileges formed a subject of deliberation and de- 
 cision hy the Legislature. 
 Substance of On the 23d of April, 1793, the President of the Board of 
 
 the Speech of 
 
 the president Commissioners for the Affairs of India, opened the business of 
 
 of the Board 
 
 of Commis- the Company's exclusive privileges, in the House of Commons, 
 
 aioners on 
 
 opening the anc i prefaced the resolutions which he had to submit to the 
 
 business in 
 
 the House of deliberations of Parliament, with observations to the following 
 
 Commons 
 
 purpose. 
 
 That it was not his intention to question theories in politics 
 or in commerce, but to rest a system for the British govern- 
 ment and trade in the East-Indies upon practice : — that it 
 would be unwise to forego substantial advantages, for those 
 which existed in speculation only : — that it would be impossible 
 to say what might be the consequences of a variation from the 
 present practice : — that the ships of the Company amounted to 
 eighty-one thousand tons : — that they were navigated by seven 
 thousand seamen : — that the raw materials annually imported 
 from the East, for British manufactures, amounted to ,g£700,000 ; 
 the annual British exports, to ^1,500,000, and that the fortunes 
 remitted to Britain, through the Company, or through other 
 means, amounted to, perhaps, one million. These facts had 
 made him cautious in listening to speculations. 
 
 On this ground he stated the general question, " Upon 
 " what principles ought the State to govern its Indian Posses- 
 sions* 
 
 n 
 
 (.X.c 
 
223 
 
 " sions, and under what regulations ought the trade to the PART n. 
 " Mast-Indies to he conducted ? " 
 
 On this subject he observed, that the Government of the Bri- 
 tish Possessions in India was, at present, vested in a Corporation, 
 connected with the Executive Power, and the superintending 
 authority of Parliament : — that the British Possessions enjoyed a 
 prosperity unknown in Hindostan, under the wisest of its Sove- 
 reigns, and were in a state of progressive improvement :— that 
 the following difficulties required consideration, before any 
 change could be listened to, viz. the effect of a separation of the 
 Governmen' from the trade; the compensation to the Company; 
 the commercial evils from delay ; and the effect on the Natives, 
 of receding from a system which they understood. 
 
 To remove these difficulties, he had asked of those who 
 had local knowledge and experience in governing India, what 
 buildings would be required by the Company for their trade, and 
 what by the Government, exercising the civil, military, and 
 financial powers ? What stores would be required for the pro- 
 tection and defence of the Settlements ? And whether they were 
 to be paid for on the principle of the original cost, or on that of 
 an equitable mercantile profit ? What officers would be required 
 for the Government, and what for commerce, both to ascertain 
 the functions of the separate departments, and the expences 
 which each would cost ? And what burdens the Company had 
 incurred, in acquiring and maintaining the territorial posses- 
 sions. 
 
224 
 
 part ii. sions, that he might form some estimate of the compensation, 
 which the Company, in reason and in equity, might claim. 
 
 He next stated, that the commercial embarrassments from 
 delay would be, — an interruption to the discharge, or liquidation, 
 of the Company's debts ; a check to the progress of an increas- 
 ing trade ; an opportunity to rival European powers to. grasp at 
 a share of the profits, from which they were, in a great degree, 
 at this time, excluded ; and a dangerous experiment on the minds, 
 not only of the Natives, our subjects, but on the opinion of 
 the Native Princes, among whom we hold, at this time, the 
 political balance. 
 
 On reviewing these difficulties, he had resorted to the His- 
 tory of the different Presidencies, and had found, that from the 
 period of the acquisition of the territories, the first characters who 
 had governed India, had differed respecting the political principles 
 on which the Provinces could be held by Britain ; the persons 
 in whom the Executive Power in India ought to be vested ; the 
 restrictions under which a subordinate power of legislating 
 ought to be laid ; the manner in which the territorial revenues 
 ought to be collected, as well as that in which the other revenues 
 ought to be levied ; and the Courts by which the judicial power 
 ought to be administered : — but finding differences of opinion 
 respecting the solution of each of these questions, he thought 
 it most safe to continue the existing system, because it had 
 been proved to be practicable by experience. 
 
 On 
 
225 
 
 On the subject of the Domestic Government he was of opi- partjit, 
 nion, that the present plan of administration was to be preferred 
 (under all the circumstances of commerce, connected with foreign 
 revenue) to that of placing the administration of the Govern- 
 ment, and of the revenue, in the State : — that this plan had been 
 found adequate to the objects of war and of peace, and that it 
 only ought to be amended, as far as it might be found experi- 
 mentally defective. 
 
 Having made these observations on the Foreign and Domes- 
 tic Government of the Asiatic interests of Britain, he proposed, 
 that the present system of direction and superintendance should 
 be continued ; with the variation, only, that His Majesty should 
 be vested with the power of promoting a certain number of mem- 
 bers, who were not of his Privy Council to seats at the Board 
 of Commissioners ; and that the appointments to the Foreign 
 Governments should remain with the Company, because this 
 afforded a mutual check, both on the Executive Power, and on 
 the Court of Directors. 
 
 The next general question was, — Under what plan ought the 
 trade to the East-Indies to he, in future, regulated ? On this 
 subject, the President of the Board stated, that commercial theories 
 were against the existing system, but that the experience of two 
 centuries was in its favor; and concluded, that the Company were 
 the means, by which the Indian Empire of Britain ought to be 
 administered : and though it had been held as a political absur- 
 
 2 G dity, 
 
226 
 
 fart II. ^ity, that a commercial body should administer an Empire* 
 because the very nature of this power rendered it impracticable for 
 Company's servants, either to conduct commerce upon correct 
 principles, or to govern our subjects in India, wisely or well ; 
 yet if the revenues of India must pass to Britain through the 
 trade ; if British staples, or British manufactures from Eastern 
 materials, have enriched our artisans and our Merchants ; if a 
 regulated trade can alone produce these ends.; if, since the ac- 
 quisition of the Dewanny, this trade has been rapidly improving, 
 and increasing, he inferred, from what the increase of the trade 
 had been, and from what its present state actually was, that 
 facts formed the ground of his opinion, and had been the basis 
 of the arguments used in all the preparatory stages of the nego- 
 eiation, whereas the arguments against the exclusive privileges of 
 the Company had not been supported by evidence. 
 
 It had been said> that the revenue might continue to pass 
 through the medium of the Company, though their exclusive 
 privileges were to cease and determine, and, if this should not 
 be admitted, that it might be distributed among Private Mer- 
 chants, and, through their credit, be realized in Britain, as 
 safely as through the Company. But this plan was in opposition 
 to the preceding evidence, and would be resorting to an expe* 
 riment of uncertain result. Supposing the attempt to be made, 
 the first consequence would be, colonization from Britain and 
 Ireland to India; the next, that the European character, which 
 can never, in the opinion of the Natives, be held too high, 
 
 would. 
 
227 
 
 would sink, and our power, of course, would decline ; — the f ART in- 
 consequence, also, would be, that adventurers from Europe 
 would find their Way into the armies of the Native Princes, and 
 our free traders supply them with military stores. 
 
 It had been said, farther, that the exports of British pro- 
 duce would be increased, if the trade were Jaid open. The 
 climate, however, was against the woollens, and the prejudices 
 of the Natives against the demand for our earthen -ware ; and 
 as to our manufactured cottons, the fabric was one which we 
 had imitated, but in which we could not excel the Indians. 
 These circumstances, if considered, would moderate the expecta- 
 tions from an open trade. 
 
 It had, in the third place, been objected, that monopolies 
 were destructive to commerce, and that the Company's regu- 
 lated trade came under this description. This opinion was 
 deduced from the resolutions of certain manufacturing and 
 mercantile bodies and associations, who owed the creation 
 of their manufactures, and consequently their riches, to the 
 East-India Company. 
 
 In estimating the merits of the Company, he wished those, 
 who entertained a different opinion from himself, would examine 
 the real profits which they received from the trade, and they would 
 find that the capital was ,=£5,000,000 : — that the dividend on 
 such a capital, after all risks,- was not more than ,^400,000, 
 out of a sum of no less than ^3,750,000, portioned out 
 among various interests : — that of this sum, the Merchants and 
 
 2G2 Ship-Owners 
 
228 
 
 part ii. Ship-Owners received, annually, ahout s£850,000 : — that the 
 charges of merchandize were a£350,000 : — that the goods ex- 
 ported, including private trade, did not amount to less than 
 .sg 1,550,000, and that the duties and customs to Government 
 were more than one million, annually. With such facts before 
 the House, he trusted that their good sense would not be led 
 away with speculative declamations. 
 
 Having thus given his opinion, respecting the Government 
 and the Commerce, the attention of the House was next directed 
 to the probable state of the Company, supposing it possessed of 
 no exclusive trade to India. 
 
 On this subject the argument was, that though the exclu- 
 sive privileges should expire in 1794, still the Company would, 
 under their Charters, be a Body Corporate, and entitled to trade 
 upon their Joint Stock : — that the most important Seats of Trade 
 would undoubtedly belong to them (Calcutta, Fort St. George, 
 Bombay, &c.) : — that, exclusive of the Dewanny, they had an 
 unalienable right to landed possessions, worth ,§£250,000 per 
 annum : — conformably, therefore, to the circumstances he had 
 detailed, in connection with this, the Government and terri- 
 torial revenues must remain with the Company, as the remitters 
 of the Public revenue; he thence inferred, that it would be 
 unavailing in the Private Trader, to enter into a competi- 
 tion with the Company, more particularly, since the effect of 
 the Commutation Act had nearly suppressed the Contraband 
 Trade. 
 
 This 
 
229 
 
 This speech was concluded by examining the objections to ^ ART f r» 
 the renewal of the Company's privileges. 
 
 To the objection, that the Company, from having a capital 
 provided for them, had been less anxious than they ought to 
 be, in their export trade, was opposed the amount of the 
 increased exports, and the efforts making to render them as 
 large as the demands of India would bear. 
 
 To the objection, that the Company had not sufficiently 
 encouraged the manufacturers, in affording them raw materials, 
 was opposed the amonnt of the raw materials imported, being 
 ^7M>000, P er annum, and the means that would be afforded 
 the Manufacturer to supply himself. 
 
 To the objection, that the Company had not allowed the 
 remittance of private fortunes, it was answered, that this error 
 originated in the Act of Parliament, which limited their accept- 
 ance of bills to «s£300 3 000 per annum. 
 
 To the objection, that these fortunes had become a capital 
 for the Clandestine Trade, was opposed, the provision to be 
 made of tonnage in the Company's ships, at a moderate freight, 
 to carry out goods, for all those who might choose to enter into 
 the trade, and to bring home, in return, raw materials for the 
 manufacturers ; a circumstance which would do away the temp- 
 tations to enter into the Clandestine Trade. By this expedient, 
 an open trade might be engrafted on the regulated privileges, 
 and thus, instead of the commercial adventurer of England and 
 
 Ireland 
 
230 
 
 fart ii. Ireland being- borne down By the Company, the Company would 
 afford them a fostering protection. 
 
 Having, then, laid before the House the resolutions, with 
 the modifications which have been stated, as acquiesced in by 
 the Company, three additional resolutions were subjoined, to 
 the following effect, viz. 
 
 " That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it will be 
 " for the mutual convenience and advantage of the Public, the 
 ie East-India Company, and the holders of certain Annuities, to 
 " the amount of ,§£2,992,440, 5s. capital, carrying an interest 
 e f after the rate of three per cent, per annum, amounting to 
 " ^89,773, 15s. (being part of the sum of ,§£4,200,000, due and 
 " owing by the Public to the Company) and which were sold 
 " by the Company, by virtue of an Act of Parliament of the 
 " 23d George II, that these Annuities, and likewise certain 
 " other Annuities, to the amount of ,§£1,207,559, 15s. capital, 
 u bearing an interest, after the like rate of three per cent, per 
 " annum, amounting to ,§£36,226, 16s. (being the remainder of 
 " the sum of ,§£4,200,000, due by the Public to the Company) 
 " and which, by virtue of different Acts of Parliament, the 
 " Company have been empowered to sell or mortgage, be placed, 
 " with the consent of the Company and annuitants, under the 
 " management of the Governor and Company of the Bank of 
 " England, and be engrafted upon, and consolidated with, the 
 " stock, called Three per Cent. Reduced Annuities, payable at the 
 (t Bank ; and such engraftment and consolidation, deemed and 
 
 " taken 
 
231 
 
 <c taken to be a redemption of the said several loans, between ^ ART **; 
 
 " the Public and the East-India Company ; and that, instead of 
 
 " the annual sum of ^126,000, in respect of the Annuities 
 
 " aforesaid, with an allowance for charges of management, 
 
 " being issued at the Exchequer to the Company, that this 
 
 " annual sum be, in future, issued at the Exchequer, to the 
 
 '/ Governor and Company of the Bank of England, for the use 
 
 " of the East-India Company, and of the annuitants, according 
 
 ei to their respective shares ; and that the allowances made to 
 
 * e the Company, in pursuance of an Act of 24th George II, for 
 
 " the charges and expences attending the receiving, paying, ■ 
 
 " transferring, and transacting the affairs of these annuitants, 
 
 " amounting to ^£1,68? per annum, be made to cease and de- 
 
 " termine." 
 
 " That it is the opinion of this Committee, that the power 
 " of the East-India Company, to sell or mortgage their share of 
 " the said Annuities, be preserved to them ; and that, after the 
 " said engraftment, or consolidation, the shares of the several 
 " annuitants, and of the Company, shall be subject to the like 
 " trusts and incumbrances, as would have obtained, if no such 
 " engraftment, or change of management, had taken place ; 
 " and that these annuities be made subject to redemption by the 
 " Public." 
 
 " That it is the opinion of this Committee, that if, under 
 " the present Embassy to the Court of Pekin, any cession of 
 " territory shall be obtained, distinct and separate from the 
 
 " Continent 
 
232 
 
 part. ii. a Continent of the Chinese Government, in that case, and so 
 " long as the same shall so remain, individuals shall be permitted, 
 " under such regulations and restrictions, as shall be approved 
 " of by the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, to 
 " export British and Irish merchandize in the Company's 
 " ships, at a moderate rate of freight, the same being consigned 
 " to the Company's Super-cargoes, or such other persons, as 
 " the Company, with the approbation of the said Board of 
 " Commissioners, shall license to reside for that purpose only ; 
 " — and that such persons shall be restrained from any con- 
 • " nexion, or intercourse with the Continent of China, from any 
 " other trade or concern whatsoever, save and except the sale 
 " of British and Irish manufactures, before mentioned, and 
 " from any interference with the affairs of the Company, and 
 " be subject to the usual covenants entered into by the servants 
 " of the Company, they paying the produce into the Company's 
 " treasury, for bills, at the actual rate of exchange at the time ; 
 " but that no person, whatever, be permitted to reside in any 
 " place or places, so ceded, or to trade or communicate with 
 " any port or place in China, who is not a servant of the 
 " Company/'O) 
 
 Objections To the principles upon which this system rested, as well as 
 
 offered to the 
 
 proposed sys- to the detail of its different branches, it was objected, that both 
 
 tem. 
 
 the 
 
 (1) Substance of the Speech of the President of the Board of Commissioners, and the 
 annexed Resolutions, printed in 1 793. Minutes of Court of Directors, 29th April and 1st 
 May 1793. (Printed Papers, No. X.) 
 
233 
 
 the principles, and the arguments supporting the propositions, 
 were in opposition to reason and policy : not that these terms 
 were personally applied to the Board of Commissioners, hut 
 to the system proposed, which was denounced, " a monstrous 
 " scheme." It was allowed, that an account of the internal state 
 of the Governments in India had been laid before Parliament, 
 particularly the branches which had been involved in obscurity, 
 or the revenues and expences of the different establishments, but 
 it was asserted, that though the exclusive privileges might be 
 renewed to the Company, the territorial acquisitions and revenues 
 ought to be taken from them. 
 
 The arguments offered to support this opinion were ; — that 
 there was no danger in resorting to approved theory : — that a 
 trading Company were unqualified, and unfit to be entrusted, with 
 the Government of valuable Provinces, because the interests 
 of the Sovereign, would be sacrificed to those of the Mer- 
 chant : — that this was the practice of the Romans, who taxed 
 their provinces in Asia, with one hand, and monopolized with 
 the other : — that it would be no innovation, or theory, to rein- 
 state the Company in the commercial character, in which they 
 had been prosperous, and to divest them of the political charac- 
 ter, for which they were unfit : — that so far from the Natives of 
 India having prospered under the Company, all the Acts of Par- 
 liament for the better government of India, during the last 
 twenty years, were evidences of the contrary : — that the danger 
 of alienating the Natives, who did not understand what was 
 
 2 H meant 
 
234 
 
 part ir. meant by the Company, or their government, was imaginary ; the 
 Natives knew only what the wealth of their country had been, in 
 former times, and that this wealth had been wrested from them : 
 — that the leading prejudices of the Natives were, to be governed 
 by an Emperor or a King ; — and, therefore, the Government 
 ought to be vested in His Majesty's person. 
 
 It was next asserted, that the difficulties of adjusting with 
 the Company, the value of their Dead Stock, or fortifications, 
 lands, stores, &c, were imaginary : — that the Native proprietors 
 had been reinstated in their lands, and that the Company would 
 hold their lands by a similar tenure as other land-holders : — that 
 the doubts and difficulties, in solving questions respecting the 
 Government, ascribed to those who had been vested with the 
 administration of India, did not prove that the exercise of the 
 Sovereignty in India should be entrusted to Merchants : — that the 
 attempt to please all parties concerned was the sole object of 
 Ministers ; the Public with <s£500,000, annually ; the Proprie- 
 tors with two per cent, additional dividend ; the Directors with 
 retaining their power and patronage, and the Shipping Interest 
 with a continuation of their contracts. This was only adding 
 one monopoly to another ; and the idea of giving an exclusive 
 privilege, and yet opening, through it, the trade to the Private 
 Adventurer, who might chuse to engage in it, was a fallacious 
 scheme : — that, supposing all these promises to be made good, the 
 interests of the Natives of India were to be abandoned : — that 
 the Councils abroad were as nominal, as the Directors were at 
 
 home ; 
 
home : — that the influence of the Crown, was to be indirectly, part ii. 
 but effectually increased, both in the appointment of Governors, 
 and in the patronage of the army : — that the Members of the 
 Board of Commissioners were to be paid ^5,000, per annum, 
 for their trouble, and yet all patronage was disavowed : — that 
 colonization from Britain was to be prevented, though the 
 nature of the climate alone would produce this effect : — that 
 it was true, the revenues could only be realized through trade, 
 but that the amount of the surplus might be paid into the Com- 
 pany's commercial treasuries, for bills on England : — that the 
 fact was admitted, that out of a revenue of .s£3, 700,000, which 
 the Company brought to England, they had, for their own use, 
 no more than .§£400,000 per annum, which was scarcely equal 
 to the legal interest of their capital ; and considering the risks 
 they ran, was a proof, that the Proprietors had received no 
 benefit from the territorial revenues : — that the increase of the 
 export trade was very questionable, if we might judge from the 
 late reports of the Select Committee of the Directors : — that the 
 export of bullion to China had increased, from 1785 to 1791 ; — 
 that we could not prevent the European or American States 
 from trading to India; and that, on the whole, the propo- 
 sitions were a combination of bad principles, with dangerous 
 practice/ 1 * 
 
 2 H 2 In 
 
 (l) Heads of Mr. Francis's Speech, in reply to that of the President of the Board pf 
 Commissioners; 
 
236 
 
 part ii. I n reply, it was said, that so far from the Company's Affairs 
 
 Answers having been better, before they had territorial possessions, Lord 
 
 objections. Qive's successes, in 17^7 > saved the Company from being bank- 
 
 lupts : — that the Provinces in the possession of the East-India 
 
 Company, compared with those of any independent power in 
 
 India, were, in fact, in an improved state of cultivation, and 
 
 that, under the proposed Act, the Company would be enabled to 
 
 pay a£500,000, per annum, to the Public, and yet divide ten per 
 
 cent, on their capital stock.W 
 
 Conduct of j n describing the progress of the Bill, as introduced for the 
 
 Directors in consideration of Parliament, it will be necessary to look at the 
 
 this stage of * 
 
 the business, measures taken by the Courts of Directors and Proprietors, at 
 this juncture, and to the degree in which their proceedings 
 contributed to the final arrangement of the business. 
 
 The Court of Directors agreed to the resolution, under 
 which the Company were to hold any territory, distinct and 
 separate from the Continent of China, and free from the juris- 
 diction and authority of that Government ; with the amend- 
 ment, that no person should be permitted to reside in the places 
 so ceded, or to trade or communicate with China, who should 
 not be a servant of the Company. 
 
 The Court next took into consideration the resolutions, 
 which regarded the placing what have been termed Indian 
 Annuities, under the management of the Governor and Com- 
 pany of the Bank of England, and the engrafting them upon, 
 
 and 
 
 (1) Parliamentary Register (1793), page 264. 
 
237 
 
 and consolidating them with, the Stock, called the Three per Cent, part n. 
 Reduced Annuities, payable at the Bank, &c. ; and resolved, 
 by ballot, that with respect to the resolution, proposing to 
 convert the debt of ^4,200,000, due from the Public, to the fund 
 of the Three per Cent. Reduced Annuities at the Bank, it might - 
 be proper, that the consent of the Company should, in future, 
 be required, in the execution of this plan, and that the annui- 
 tants could have no objection to an Act of Parliament so framed, 
 although they foresaw that difficulties would probably arise, in 
 carrying such plan into execution. 
 
 We have next to return to the proceedings of the House of Progress of 
 
 m the Commit* 
 
 Commons, which resolved itself into a Committee on the pro- tee of the 
 
 Whole 
 
 posed Bill on the Government and Trade of India. The two first House on 
 
 the clauses 
 
 resolutions passed on the 30th of April, and on the 2d of May, of the Bill 
 
 r r •'for the Go- 
 
 the third, fourth, and fifth also passed ; but when the sixth vernment 
 
 9 ' r and Trade of 
 
 resolution, which regarded the term to be given the Company India - 
 (or twenty years from the 1st of March 1794), was moved, 
 some observations were made in favor of the system of an 
 open trade ; and the propriety of having a Committee of 
 the House to examine this subject, was recommended, before 
 any system should be adopted. Both these general arguments 
 were over-ruled, and the whole of the original resolutions were 
 adopted, as well as the three additional resolutions which have 
 been detailed. 
 
 The resolutions respecting the Indian Annuities, and the On the indi- 
 
 an Annuity 
 
 power of the Company to mortgage them, and the right to be Bill. 
 
 given 
 
238 
 
 part II. given to individuals to trade, through the Company's tonnage, 
 to such places as might be obtained from the Chinese govern- 
 ment, under such restrictions and regulations as should be 
 approved of by the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of 
 India, were received without objection ; the Bill, therefore, 
 was read a first time on the 9th, and a second time on the 
 10th of May, and ordered to be committed on the 13th.0> 
 Abridged J n the first staff e of the Bill through the Committee, it was 
 
 view of the 
 
 objections objected, that the annual demand of «g£500,000, as a debt to 
 
 made to the J ' ' 
 
 Government become due by the Company to the Public, supposing a defi- 
 Bl11 - ciency to happen for several years, would embarrass the Com- 
 
 pany's affairs : — that vesting the King with the power of ap- 
 pointing a President and two Commissioners of the India Board, 
 who were to be paid by the Company, was unconstitutional, be- 
 cause it was contrary to the resolution which had passed in 1780, 
 " that the influence of the Crown had increased, was increasing, 
 " and ought to be diminished ;" and because public situations 
 ought to be paid by the Public. 
 Answers of- To these objections it was answered, that the Bill itself pro- 
 
 objections, vided against the first evil, since the deficiency of one year, was 
 to be made good by the surplus of the next. To the second 
 objection it was answered, that the influence of the Crown, 
 instead of increasing, had, on the contrary, been diminished; 
 but, at any rate, this appointment was not, or could not be 
 constitutionally vested in any but the Executive Power. 
 
 While 
 
 (.1) Parliamentary Register 0/93), page 523, &c.^ 
 
239 
 
 While the Bill was in this stage of it's progress, the Court part if, 
 ©f Proprietors met, on the 12th and 15th May. — The Chairman, Prac eeding 9 
 
 r J 'of the Court 
 
 on the former day, stated, that the object of the Court of Di- of Proprie- 
 tors, on the 
 
 rectors, in convening the Proprietors, was to submit to them a 12thof May, 
 copy of the Bill, intended to be introduced into the House of 
 Commons, as the ground of an agreement, for the renewal of 
 the Company's exclusive privileges, which bill had been referred 
 to a Committee of the Whole House, in order to have the 
 blanks in the several clauses filled up. 
 
 Upon a short reading of the clauses it was found, that the 
 difficulties, respecting some of the words in the preamble, had been 
 corrected .•—"the words, " Agreement made with the Company," 
 had been changed to, " it is expedient to make an Agreement, 
 " founded on the Act" 
 
 The amount of the expences of the Board of Commis" 
 sioners was fixed at ,§£1 6,000 per annum : — the powers of the 
 Governor General, whether at the Seat of Government, or in 
 any of the subordinate Presidencies, were continued; and the 
 power of the King, on the neglect of the Directors to fill up 
 vacancies, was explained, as intended to secure to the Company, 
 regularity in the Directors, in discharging the duty of speedily 
 making such appointments. 
 
 Upon the clause which restricted any person, during the 
 continuance of the exclusive privileges of the Company, " to 
 " export, ship, or carry out any military stores, masts, spars, 
 " cordage, anchors, pitch, tar, and copper, or to put on board 
 
 " any 
 
240 
 
 part it. « any of the Company's ships in the East-Indies, or bring or 
 " import into Great Britain, any Indian callicoes, dimities, 
 " muslins, or other Piece Goods, &c." it was contended, on 
 the one hand, that any restriction, on the export or import trade, 
 was unwise and impolitic, as the increase of the one governed 
 the other : — that the restriction of the export of copper, in 
 particular, might impede the progress of the Bill : — that by the 
 statement of the Committee of Accounts, the Company had 
 shewn they were losers by the exports, to the amount of 
 ^l 00,000 annually : — that private adventurers were ready to 
 try the experiment, and meet these losses : — that these accounts 
 could not be explained away, by bringing such loss under the 
 head of deficiency : — that if articles of value, as copper, and 
 bulky articles, as naval stores, were to be confined to the Com- 
 pany's exports, and not allowed to the Adventurers, trading 
 through the Company's tonnage, there would be nothing left to 
 the British manufacturers to export ; and that if the Company 
 were not restricted in the importation of Piece Goods, there 
 would be nothing left to the Private Trader. 
 
 It was contended, on the other hand, that all exceptions to 
 the Company's exclusive trade affected their privilege : — that if 
 the articles specified, were not preserved to the Company, 
 then the trade would become open, and the new grant not 
 worth purchasing from Government : — that the account stated 
 correctly the loss, on the exports, to be ,§£100,000 ; but this was 
 to be considered as a deficiency, as these exports were chiefly 
 
 consumed 
 
241 
 
 consumed by the Company's covenanted servants in India : — part n. 
 that if the value of three thousand tons of copper were ad- 
 .verted to, very cogent reasons for continuing the restriction 
 would be manifest: — that, on the whole, the Company must 
 guard against evasions of their privileges, particularly in naval 
 stores, which, if the situation of the British power, relatively 
 to the Native Princes was adverted to, would affect, not the 
 commerce only, but the political safety of the British Do- 
 minions. 
 
 These differences of opinion were adjusted, by its being 
 explained, that the Directors had offered to stipulate with the 
 Proprietors of Mines in Cornwall, for a thousand tons of copper, at 
 a stated price per ton, or, at the market price of the day, but that 
 the Proprietors of Mines, who deliver ore to the copper smelters, 
 could not fix the price, and that Government had agreed, it 
 was not reasonable, for the Company to bind themselves to 
 specific points, when the Proprietors of Mines had not a security 
 ready for their part of the compact. 
 
 On the subject of Freight (^5 outwards, and <s£15 home- 
 wards) it was asked by the Proprietors, if the Company were to 
 provide three thousand tons, and if there should be a deficiency 
 of merchandize to fill that tonnage, who were to sustain the 
 loss ? — In answer, it was said, that, in such a case, the Com- 
 pany might fill up the spare tonnage with naval and military 
 stores. 
 
 21 On 
 
242 
 
 part ii. On the subject of the Guarantee Fund, it was asked, if 
 
 a war should involve the Company, five years before the expira- 
 tion of the new term, in ten millions of debt, what security 
 would they have for the discharge of that sum, and the six 
 millions of capital stock ? — In answer, it was said, that by the 
 allotment of ,§£500,000 per annum, to discharge the Com- 
 pany's debts, and the sum set apart for the creation of the 
 Guarantee Fund, this danger was provided against. 
 
 It was further stated, on the subject of the Separate Fund, 
 that it had been agreed to divide one-half per cent, on the ca- 
 pital, and that the probability was, the Company would be able 
 to divide one-quarter per cent, on the next Midsummer's di- 
 vidend. 
 
 It was finally asked, what arrangement had been made of 
 the unsettled accounts of the Company, consisting, on the 
 one hand, of claims for military aid supplied by Government, 
 and, on the other, of claims on Government for the Manilla 
 ransom, and the support of prisoners, in the war concluded in 
 1763 ? — It was answered, that all the unsettled accounts were to 
 be considered as finally adjusted, on the 24th of December 1792. 
 
 The business, therefore, closed with the Court agreeing to 
 the original resolutions, and to the three additional resolutions, 
 which had been submitted to the House of Commons, re- 
 specting the transfer of the Indian Annuities to the Three per 
 Cents. &c. 
 
 On 
 
243 
 
 On the 15th of May, the Chairman laid before the Court part ir. 
 
 of Proprietors a copy of the Bill for the renewal of the Com- Farthe r pro- 
 ceedings of 
 
 pany's exclusive privileges, with the blanks filled up by the House the Court of 
 
 * Proprietors, 
 
 of Commons; the clauses, therefore, founded on the resolutions on the 15th 
 
 May, 1792. 
 
 formerly before the Court, were read. 
 
 On the subject of Freight, some of the opinions already 
 detailed were repeated, with the additional observation, that an 
 option ought to be left to the Company, of receiving ^B20 per 
 ton home, provided their ships had not freight for exports to 
 India, on account of the Private Merchants, to the extent of 
 three thousand tons. The original proposition, however, was 
 acquiesced in by the Court. 
 
 On the subject of the Separate Fund, it was thought, that 
 the dividing the additional half per cent, would, in fact, be 
 raising the stock on the Proprietors, and that the Public were to 
 have a participation of five- sixths of it, while the Company 
 were only to have one-sixth. In answer it was stated, that 
 according to law, the Separate Fund could not be touched, 
 before the Company had reduced their debts, both abroad and 
 at home, to the specified sums ; and that the Proprietors must 
 necessarily have the Separate Fund shared among them, and the 
 Government be, in no degree, participators. 
 
 On the additional clauses to the Bill, it was observed 
 that it was expected the Captains of the Company's ships 
 would be entitled to the benefits intended for Private Traders ; 
 and it was suggested, that it might be proper the Governor 
 
 2 12 General 
 
Common*. 
 
 244 
 
 part II. General should be vested with power to select that Member of 
 Council, whom he thought the most fit, to act as Deputy 
 Governor, during his absence in any of the subordinate Presi- 
 dencies ; or if he left India, or died, and no successor had been 
 appointed, that his office should be held by the Senior in Council^ 
 till the pleasure of the Directors could be known. 
 
 Indian An- We left the Bill for regulating the Government and Trade of 
 
 nuity Bill 
 
 passed the India, in the first stage of its progress through the Committee 
 of the House of Commons, on the 13th of May. On the 16th, 
 a motion was made for leave " to bring in a Bill, to permit 
 " goods and commodities, of the growth and manufacture of 
 " Asia, Africa, and America, legally imported into Ireland, to 
 " be exported from thence, under certain regulations, into 
 " Great-Britain." On the same day, on bringing up the Report 
 of the East-India Annuity Bill, it was contended, that the 
 holders of East-India Annuities ought to be paid off, at par,, 
 in 1794, by the spirit of former Acts of Parliament, and in 
 conformity to the notice given by the order of the House of 
 Commons, in 1791? that the Public would redeem and pay off 
 the Annuities in that year; but as this subject might become a 
 question of legal discussion, nothing ought to appear in the 
 present Bill, affecting that question. 
 
 In answer it was stated, that the Public were not, in any 
 degree, indebted to these annuitants, but to the Company, fo* 
 whom they were a collateral security. W 
 
 The 
 
 ^1) Parliamentaiy Register 0793); page 54f. 
 
245 
 
 The Report of the Committee on the India Annuity Bill was part ii. 
 
 read and agreed to, and the Bill was read a third time, and 
 
 carried up to the Lords, on the 22d May 1793.0 
 
 On the 17th of May, on the report of the Committee of Farther pro- 
 gress of the 
 
 the Whole House, on the Bill for regulating the Government Government 
 
 and Trade 
 
 and Trade of India being brought up, the clause, enabling His ™> in the 
 Majesty to appoint a President, and two Commissioners of the of the Whole 
 India Board, with salaries, was again objected to, on the ground 
 which had formerly been taken, of its being an unconstitutional 
 increase of the influence of the Crown, and an unnecessary 
 expenditure of money. 
 
 In reply, a comparison was made of the influence which the 
 proposed Bill, of 1783 would have created, compared with that 
 which was now represented to be unconstitutional. It was farther 
 said, that to disclaim all patronage, where power was to be 
 vested, was neither consistent with the fact, nor, in the present 
 instance, with the spirit of the Bill, where the least possible 
 degree of such patronage had been resorted to : — that the 
 magnitude of Indian affairs required Commissioners, who could 
 devote their principal attention to the subject, and carry the 
 proposed system into full effect. 
 
 These clauses, therefore, passed, as well as those which 
 were proposed, respecting the quantity of the copper (fifteen 
 hundred tons) for which the Company were to provide 
 shipping. 
 
 The 
 
 (1) Parliamentary Register (i793)> page 222. 
 
sion. 
 
 246 
 
 / 
 
 part ii. The clause for obliging the Company to take measures for 
 
 promoting useful knowledge, and the true religion, among the 
 Servants of the Company abroad, and the Natives of India, 
 was, in this stage of the Bill, admitted, without debate, though 
 we shall find it afterwards examined, and laid aside. 
 oif'iSe^Court When the Bill was in this advanced stage, we have again 
 
 o^thi^occa- to *°°k at ^e proceedings of the Court of Proprietors, in the 
 debate on the additional clauses brought forward, as riders to 
 the Bill, and on those which had originally, or in the sequel, 
 been acquiesced in by them. 
 
 On reading the clause, by which the Directors were to be 
 authorized and required to employ Chaplains in their chartered 
 ships, and to send out a sufficient number of Chaplains, Mis- 
 sionaries, and Schoolmasters, to India, there appeared some 
 difference of opinion. 
 
 The Chairman was asked to read the resolution to which the 
 Court of Directors had come, upon this subject, which, in 
 substance, was,-*-that both measures would be expensive in the 
 extreme, and the latter dangerous in its political tendency. 
 
 On the subject of Chaplains to the ships, it was contended, 
 on the one hand, that this was not any new measure, but one 
 founded on the Charters granted by King William and Queen 
 Mary, in which the Company were bound to send Chaplains in 
 every ship navigated by a hundred men : — that this had been 
 evaded, by sending only ninety-nine men and a boy : — that an 
 evasion, so gross, ought to be corrected, both because the 
 
 measure 
 
247 
 
 measure was in itself necessary, and because, under the terms PART n - 
 the Company were obtaining from the Public, expences ought 
 not to come into consideration, where the end to be obtained was 
 of such acknowledged importance. 
 
 It was contended, on the other hand, that the estimated 
 expense of Chaplains, for the Company's ships, would amount to 
 ^£20,000 per annum, and that it was impossible to say how 
 far the charges might go : — that the service of the Church of 
 England was read every Sunday, by an Officer, to the whole 
 ship's company, a practice which had been uniformly observed, 
 with as much decency as in any congregation on shore : — that, 
 .at all events, Chaplains ought to be given only to ships of a 
 thousand tons, and if sent, that they ought to be Clergymen 
 who had attained their twenty-eighth year, or who had the ex- 
 perience so necessary to procure them respect among seamen, 
 their situation being as delicate, as it was important. 
 
 , On the subject of sending additional Chaplains to the 
 foreign Settlements, and Missionaries and Schoolmasters, to 
 promulgate the Christian Religion, and useful knowledge 
 among the Natives ; it was contended, on the one hand, that the 
 Christian Religion having been the source of civilization in 
 Europe, it became a duty in the Company to extend the blessings 
 of it to the Natives of India, who were our subjects ; for, by 
 opposing its truths to their prejudices, the evils of their super- 
 stition might be diminished : — that if their minds could be brought 
 to our faith, they would, thereby, be conciliated to our govern- 
 ment : 
 
248 
 
 v AR T ** • ment : — that a more extensive diffusion of useful knowledge 
 among the Europeans, or their descendants, in India, might be 
 the means of influencing the Natives to adopt the true religion : 
 — that though the agency of Missionaries and Schoolmasters 
 would require to be placed under regulations, to prevent their 
 weakening the allegiance of the Natives, and though gaining 
 proselytes was not so much the object, as holding out true 
 religion to the Natives for choice, yet these measures might 
 have the effect to reform and convince them : — that when the 
 Missionaries were to be recommended by such high ecclesiastical 
 authority, as that of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, 
 there could be no danger ; and that the expence ought not to be 
 a matter of difficulty. 
 
 It was, on the other side, maintained, that the Natives, 
 in every age, had been zealously attached to their established 
 opinions : — that the ancient Missionaries, who were Jesuits, 
 however erroneous they might be in their creed, were yet not 
 less instructed, or zealous, than any modern Missionaries we 
 could send, and yet had failed in the attempt : — that though the 
 certificates of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York were 
 the highest that could be obtained, the clergy, who might be 
 disposed to undertake this service, ought, at least, to have 
 attained the age ? at which sacred duties, alone, could be pre- 
 sumed to be their object : — that Missionaries, though disposed to 
 traverse the country for proselytes, might, at times, yield to 
 other more lucrative temptations, particularly when the fact 
 
 was 
 
249 
 
 was adverted to, that the Natives, by listening to them, would part ii. 
 degrade themselves from their Casts : — that if the object was to 
 purchase children, and educate them in the true faith, such 
 additions to the Christian Church would be held in abomination 
 by the Hindoos : — that if converts, from selfish motives, were 
 made from among the lowest of the Casts, it would not tend to 
 conciliate the Hindoos of good character, either to our religion, 
 or to our government : — that if the conversion of the Natives 
 should be admitted to be impracticable, the present establish- 
 ments of Chaplains of the Company were equal to all the 
 situations of their servants, there being three Chaplains at the 
 Seat of the Governor General, one at Fort St. George, one at 
 Bombay, one with every large detachment of the army, and a 
 layman, who was paid to do the duties of Chaplain, with every 
 small detachment, and at every Factory : — that the plan of 
 sending Missionaries and Schoolmasters to convert and instruct 
 the Hindoos, on the whole, might lead to the worst of political 
 evils, the former might forget the purity of his mission, and 
 seek fortune in the armies of the Native States, or in illicit 
 trade ; and the latter must, if he succeeded, prevent the youth 
 from being sent to Britain, to acquire an European education 
 and habits, and thus be the means of forwarding colonization : 
 — that if we might judge from the consequences which Colleges 
 had had in America, we must decide, that these Institutions had 
 tended to alienate the attachments of the Colonists, from the Mo- 
 
 2 K ther 
 
25a 
 
 part II. ther Country, and were remote causes of the loss of the Provinces : 
 — that so strongly did the impolicy of this measure impress the Pro- 
 prietors, that rather than yield to it, they would relinquish the 
 advantages which the reciprocal conduct of the Legislature, and 
 of the Company, had nearly Drought into their possession : — 
 and that, at all events, the discretion ought to be left with the 
 Directors and Board of Commissioners, who would attemper 
 religious zeal with political prudence, and yet not be inattentive 
 to the promotion of true religion. , 
 
 The result was the following Resolution of the Court : — 
 "■ That it is the opinion of this Court, that if the Ecclesiastical 
 " Establishments in India should not be equal to the number of 
 " British subjects at the several Presidencies or Settlements, the 
 " same should be increased, and be made commensurate to the 
 " several British Protestant Communities in India ; and that to 
 a go beyond this Establishment is not only an unwise expen- 
 " diture of the Company's property, but may be dangerous to 
 " the peace and good order of the British Possessions in the 
 " East-Indies/' In illustration, a statement of the Eccle- 
 siastical Establishments, civil and military, at the different 
 Settlements of Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Bencoolen, Surat, 
 &c. amounting to ^=11,000 and upwards, was laid before the 
 General Court by the Directors ; and the Chairman and Deputy 
 Chairman were instructed to communicate a copy of this Resolu- 
 tion to His Majesty's Ministers, with the objections of the Proprie^ 
 
 tors 
 
251 
 
 tors to the principle of the clause, and the opinion of the Court, part ji. 
 respecting its consequences, if carried into a law/ 1 * 
 
 Though other particulars were stated, such as expressing a 
 desire that the Company should he exonerated from the claims of 
 individuals., in respect to any compensation which the Company 
 might be liable to answer or pay, on account of Private Trade 
 Goods, for embezzlements, waste, loss, or damage, during the 
 time they might be in their ships or warehouses, or in their 
 craft, carrying them up the river to Calcutta ; and whether the 
 Company's Captains were to pay only three, or be liable to seven 
 per cent. : — these subjects, however, were left to the discretion 
 of the Directors. 
 
 Having thus followed the Bill through its progressive The Govem- 
 stages, when the subject was merely in the form of a nego- T,ade Bil ! 
 ciation between Government and the Directors ; next, when it ward to a 
 
 third read- 
 assumed the regular appearance of Resolutions to be submitted in s- 
 
 to the Legislature ; and, lastly, when these resolutions assumed 
 
 the form of a Bill, modified in its clauses, by the House of 
 
 Commons, in consequence of their yielding, in some instances, 
 
 to the opinions of the Proprietors and Directors, and in others, 
 
 correcting the whole, we have reached the point when the BiH 
 
 was to be read a third time, and passed. 
 
 When the additional clauses were brought up, as riders to Substance of 
 
 the Debate 
 
 the Bill, it was objected, that the House had not had time to deli- on this occa- 
 sion. 
 berate upon the import of each of them : — that this was evading 
 
 2 K 2 the 
 
 (1) Minutes of Court. 
 
252 
 
 PART II. the forms of the House, which required deliberation to be slow, 
 before a Bill could pass into a law : — that some of the clauses 
 referred to subjects which were as novel as they were material, 
 particularly that one which regarded Nootka Sound, by which 
 ships from that quarter were to be licenced to trade to Japan 
 and China, but prohibited from bringing the produce of these 
 countries to Great-Britain. 
 
 In reply it was stated, that in all Bills which had important 
 subjects to arrange, new matter must necessarily arise in the 
 progress of discussion, and that the practice of Parliament had 
 always been, to introduce these subjects as additional clauses, or 
 riders, to a Bill, a practice which the nature and magnitude of 
 the present subject particularly required : — and that the whole of 
 the evidence had been on the table for a long time, and the deci- 
 sion on it expected. 
 
 To remove the difficulty, however, respecting the clause 
 which regarded the trade to Nootka Sound, as being a particular 
 subject, which, though connected with the Bill for regulating the 
 Government and Trade of India, had not, as yet, passed a Com- 
 mittee, the House resolved itself into one, to obviate this defect 
 in form. 
 
 It was stated against this particular clause, that, under it, 
 the subjects of Great-Britain, who might enter on the trade to 
 Nootka Sound, would carry it on, under greater disadvantages, 
 than the subjects of any other power, because they must trade 
 under a licence, while the other European or American traders 
 
 required 
 
253 
 
 required none : — that, by this measure, a possession, which had PART u. 
 nearly involved the country in a war (if there existed any per- 
 sons intending to trade to Nootka Sound) would go to the benefit 
 of Spain alone. 
 
 In reply, it was said, that the persons who were actually 
 engaged in this trade, had been consulted, and had agreed to 
 the clause, and that it was impossible to look forward to the 
 opinions of those, who seeing the profits of this trade under the 
 licence, might afterwards wish to evade this restriction for 
 clandestine purposes ; the clause therefore was agreed to. 
 
 A clause was next brought up, for giving the exporters of 
 goods, in the Company's ships, a right to carry out military 
 stores, ammunition, masts, spars, cordage, anchors, pitch, tar, 
 and copper. It was objected, that this would, in fact, be fur- 
 nishing the Natives with the means of resisting the Company's 
 Government, and that, therefore, it would be dangerous, in a 
 political view of the subject : — the export of military stores and 
 ammunition, therefore, was reserved to the Company. 
 
 A clause was next proposed, for giving a discretionary 
 power to the Directors, to remit such penalties as had been 
 imposed on brokers purchasing teas at the India House, where 
 they, by accident, failed in paying the price within the limited 
 three days. This clause was withdrawn, it being explained, 
 that the question might be brought forward at a future time. 
 
 On the third reading of the Bill, the objection, formerly 
 made, that the appointment of the new Commissioners for the 
 
 Affairs 
 
254 
 
 ],ART lr ; Affairs of India, with salaries, was an unwarrantable increase 
 of the influence of the Crown, was repeated, and illustrated, 
 by charges of inconsistency in such Members, as had voted the 
 necessity and expediency of decreasing that influence, in 1780. 
 When the question was put, " that the Bill do pass," it 
 was contended, that a Committee ought to have been appointed, 
 to call for such evidence, as might enable the House to form a 
 deliberate opinion upon this great national subject : — that 
 instead of this, the House had only been favored with a 
 speech from the President of the Board of Commissioners : — ■ 
 thai; the influence was the more dangerous, because it vested 
 power in persons, who were not responsible : — that the Bill of 
 1783 had kept the influence in the House of Commons, and did 
 not leave it with a commercial body : — that the present Bill had 
 neither object nor precise meaning, and yet grasped at the 
 patronage of India, in a way totally disconnected with responsi- 
 bility: — that the Directors were to become the mere tools of 
 Ministers : — that the whole was a system of deception, of fraud, 
 and of rapacity :-— that the Bill of 1784 only enacted, that the 
 Directors were to afford the Commissioners information respect- 
 ing the Company's affairs, abroad and at home, to observe the 
 orders of the Board, in every thing relating to the civil and 
 military Government and revenues of the British territorial 
 Possessions in the East-Indies, but that the declaratory Bill of 
 1788 gave to Ministers the uncontrolled power of appropriating 
 the revenues of India to such military establishments, as they 
 
 should 
 
255 
 
 should think fit to create or employ : — that, therefore, though, *^*L3 
 under the present circumstances, it might be expedient to renew 
 the Company's privileges, for four years from the expiration of 
 the present term, or to March 1798, no longer term should be 
 given. This restriction was asserted to be expedient, for poli- 
 tical and commercial reasons; because the Bill created an un- 
 constitutional influence of the Crown, pretended to give an 
 exclusive privilege of trade, and yet admitted provisions, which 
 counteracted the whole of this privilege : — that, thus, whatever 
 commercial plans might be adopted in India, they might be 
 overturned, at the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners, 
 though this Board might know much less of the business, than 
 the Agents whom they were condemning. 
 
 In reply to these objections it was stated, — that it must 
 appear a very singular circumstance to the Public, that this Bill 
 should have passed to the last stage of a third reading, with the 
 most general approbation, and that now, for the first time, it 
 should be reprobated, both in its principle and in its provisions : 
 — that this censure could only have proceeded from the Bill 
 having either been precipitated through the House, or from a 
 Member not having attended to his duty : the former, from the 
 evidence upon the table, could not be the case ; the latter, it 
 was impossible even to suppose the fact ; the simple inference, 
 therefore, was, that the Bill, being sound in its principle and 
 wise in its provisions, could not he opposed in its progress, 
 though it might be condemned, in general and angry words : — 
 
 that 
 
256 
 
 part ii. that the speech of the President of the Board of Commissioners, 
 so far from being the only information before the House, after 
 the fullest evidence had been afforded them, was only a de- 
 scription of the proposed system : — that the actual state of 
 Indian Affairs had been brought forward above two months past : 
 — that the Resolutions upon which the Bill was founded had been 
 before the House for a month : — that the manufacturing and 
 mercantile interests had been called upon to bring forward their 
 claims, and that means had been devised for satisfying them : — 
 that, for six years, annual statements of the Company's reve- 
 nues and charges had been laid before Parliament, and had 
 met its approbation : — that the general question of a regulated, 
 or open trade to the East-Indies, had been fully discussed in 
 Parliament, in the year 1783 : — that the plans which have been 
 suggested, for the Government and Trade to the East-Indies, had 
 been laid open, and yet, with all this evidence before the Le- 
 gislature, a complaint of precipitation, and of want of informa- 
 tion, was made, at the time when the system resulting from this 
 accumulation of evidence was ready for the sanction of Parlia- 
 ment : — that so far from there being any defect in the evidence 
 on the commercial branch of the subject, it had been too full, 
 to be perverted by prejudices or party views : — that the force of 
 this very evidence had dispelled speculative theories of trade, 
 and led to authenticated and practical inferences : — that the 
 claims of the Manufacturers had been engrafted on the privileges 
 of the Company : — that the increased influence of the Crown, 
 
 which 
 
257 
 
 which had been complained of, was obviated by the fact, that PART rr. 
 the existing system of the Company was only continued : — that 
 the clause respecting the information to be afforded by the Di- 
 rectors to the Commissioners, had been founded upon, to ground 
 the assertion, that the Board of Commissioners had arrogated 
 new powers in the Declaratory Bill, though these very powers 
 appeared in the sixth clause of the Bill of 1784, by which the 
 Board was authorized and empowered, from time to time, to 
 superintend and direct all acts, operations, and concerns, which 
 in any way related to the civil and military government, or re- 
 venues of the British Territorial Possessions in the East-Indies : 
 — that so different from the proposed bill of 1783 was the in- 
 fluence now condemned, in the present bill, that by the former, all 
 appointments, at home and abroad, amounting to not less than 
 four hundred, had been graspedat, but, by the 1 atter, no other 
 influence was to be found, but what was conformable to existing 
 Acts of Parliament : — that the former Bill would have increased 
 the influence of the Crown, when the Commissioners chose to 
 act in unison with it, and decreased it, when the party, in whom 
 the power was concentrated, chose to act in opposition to the 
 Crown : — and that, on the whole, as the House had evidence, on 
 the one side, and strong assertions, only, on the other, the period 
 of the exclusive privileges required to be, at least, twenty years. 
 These observations induced the House to adopt the proposition. 
 
 The only other clause which called for the attention of the 
 House was, that " for sending Chaplains, Schoolmasters, and 
 
 2 L " Missionaries, 
 
258 
 
 vl^LiS' " Missionaries, to promulgate useful knowledge and true re- 
 " ligion among the Natives of India." Similar observations 
 were offered in the House of Commons, for and against this 
 measure, as have been detailed, in stating the opinions of the 
 Court of Proprietors. 
 
 On the one hand, it was contended that it appeared from 
 history, and from the correspondence of eminent servants of 
 the Company, that the Natives, and particularly the Hindoos, 
 were sunk into the most abject ignorance and vice ; and that it 
 would be disgraceful to an enlightened and informed people, like 
 the English, to be less zealous in their duty, of bringing fifteen 
 or sixteen millions of our Indian subjects from this deplorable 
 situation, than the less instructed nations of Europe had been, 
 when no other apology could be offered, but that of saving the 
 expence which must attend this measure. 
 
 It was said, in answer, that all systems of proselytism were 
 wrong in themselves, and productive, in many instances, of 
 abuse and political mischief : — that the Church of England 
 was maintained, " not for the purpose of making proselytes, 
 " but because the system of religion which it professed to teach, 
 " was approved of by those who pay." 
 
 It was admitted, on the whole, by the House, that the 
 object of this clause was important, but it was doubtful whether 
 the means proposed would answer the end : — At any rate, 
 it was held, that this subject was not connected with the 
 Bill, and might be open for discussion at any future period. 
 
 The 
 
259 
 
 The clause, upon this last ground, was omitted, and the Bill part rt. 
 passed/ 1 * 
 
 The House of Lords, after a short discussion on the second Bill passed 
 
 # the House of 
 
 reading of the Bill, referred it to a Committee, m which, on the Commons 
 
 and carried to 
 
 one side, the expediency of continuing the present system was the Lord*. 
 maintained, hy an appeal to experience, and to the leading ob- 
 jects of the Bill ; — and, on the other, the Bill was reprobated, 
 on the ground of the unconstitutional appointments of a Presi- 
 dent, and two Commissioners of the India Board, with salaries ; 
 — on the impolicy of continuing the exclusive privilege of trade, 
 in preference to an open trade, under proper regulations ; and on 
 the inexpediency of granting so long a term as twenty years. 
 
 These objections were repeated in the Committee, as well 
 as the arguments for and against furnishing the Company's ships 
 with Chaplains, or sending, Chaplains, Missionaries, and School- 
 masters, to instruct the Hindoos in useful knowledge, and the 
 true religion. 
 
 The Bill, however, passed the House of Lords, without Bill passed 
 
 the House of 
 
 any amendments, and received the Royal Assent on the 11th Lords, and 
 
 received the 
 June 1793/ 2 ) RoyalAssent. 
 
 III. Having followed this important Act through all its Digest of the 
 
 . existing Sys- 
 
 progressive stages, we shall conclude this Report, with a. Digest tem of Indian 
 
 t Affairs, in the 
 
 of the Act 33c?. of Geo. III. Cap. 52, establishing the existing order of the 
 
 T • a . • subject. 
 
 System of India Affairs, distinguishing the branches of it which 
 
 2 L 2 were 
 
 (1) Parliamentary Register (1793), pages 565, 584. 
 
 (2) Parliamentary Register (1793), pages 239, 242 to 246, 252. 
 
260 
 
 part ii, were completed, from those which were left open, for the future 
 deliberation of the Legislature. 
 
 For this purpose we shall first state the Agreement between 
 the Public and the Company ; — secondly, the system of Domestic 
 Government ; — thirdly, the system of Foreign Government, with 
 the Judicial, Financial, and Military Branches, as far as they 
 were proceeded upon ; — and, lastly, the System of Trade. 
 1. The Agree-. 1. The Legislature, for a valuable consideration, agreed 
 
 ment be- 
 tween the t Q continue the Company's- exclusive Privileges of Trade for 
 
 Legislature 
 
 and theCom- twenty years, to be computed from the 1st of March 1794, sub- 
 ject to be determined at, or after that period, on three years' pre- 
 vious notice by Parliament, signified by the Speaker of the House 
 of Commons. The Act proceeding upon this agreement, was to 
 commence in Great-Britain, as soon as it should receive the Royal 
 -Assent, and in the East-Indies on the 1st of February 1794, 
 except where any special commencement was prescribed in it'. 
 
 2. Plan of 2. The Domestic Government was divided into two 
 
 Domestic 
 
 Government. Branches > that of the Company, by the Courts of Directors 
 and Proprietors, and that of the Board of Commissioners for the 
 Affairs of India. 
 
 The Branch ■■ rjij^ established constitution of the Courts of Proprietors and 
 
 vested in the J * 
 
 Courts of Directors was continued. The Directors were authorized to 
 
 Directors and 
 
 Proprietors. a pp i n t three of their Members to be a Committee of Secrecy, 
 through whom Dispatches, relating to Government, War, 
 Peace, and Treaties, might be sent to, and received from India. 
 This Committee, and the persons they employed to transcribe 
 
 secret 
 
261 
 
 secret dispatches, were to be sworn to secrecy. The orders of part ii. 
 the Directors, concerning the Government and the Revenues of 
 India, were declared not to be subject to revocation by the 
 General Court of Proprietors. The Court of Directors were to 
 have the power of appointing to the several Governments abroad, 
 viz. to the offices of Governor General, of Governors of the 
 subordinate Presidencies, of Members of the Councils, and 
 Commanders-in-Chief. None of the Commanders-in-Chief were, 
 ex officio, to be Members of Council, but the Directors, if 
 they thought fit, might appoint them to a seat, and to have pre- 
 cedence, in this case, above the other Members. The Directors 
 were to appoint to any of these offices, provisionally, but without 
 salary to the person appointed, till he actually acceded to the 
 office. If the Directors neglected to appoint to vacancies, for 
 two calendar months after the vacancy had been notified to them, 
 the King might appoint, in which case the Directors could not 
 remove the person appointed. In every other case, the Direc- 
 tors were to have the power of recalling, or dismissing any of 
 their servants. The existing appointments, however, were not 
 done away by this Act. The Directors, with the approbation of 
 the Board of Commissioners, were to be empowered to suspend 
 the extraordinary powers of the Governor General, and again to 
 revive them : — they were, further, vested with the power to 
 appoint the requisite number, only, of Cadets and Writers, and 
 to supply vacancies, according to returns from abroad. The 
 age of the Cadet, or Writer, was not to be under fifteen, and 
 
 not 
 
262 
 
 *^RTH- not to exceed twenty-two years, unless any Cadet should have 
 been one year in the King's service ; and, even in this case, the 
 age was not to exceed twenty -five years. 
 
 Disobedience to the orders of the Directors by their ser- 
 vants abroad, was declared to be punishable, as a misdemeanor, 
 and the same punishment was to be applicable to any breach of 
 trust or duty, or the making, or being a party to any corrupt 
 bargain, concerning any office or employment, whether by a 
 King's, or a Company's servant. 
 
 If a servant of the Company should be absent from his 
 , duty in the East-Indies, for five years, he could not resume his 
 rank, or serve again, unless he had been detained by sickness, 
 or by leave of the Company, on a ballot of three parts in four 
 of a General Court of Proprietors. In case of sickness, the 
 Directors were to be the judges of the excuses of the civil 
 servants, and the Directors and Board of Commissioners, 
 jointly, of the excuses of military servants. 
 
 The Company were not to grant any pensions, or new 
 salaries, beyond ^8200 per annum, to any one person, without 
 the consent of the Board of Commissioners, and were to lay 
 before Parliament, annually, a list of their establishments abroad 
 and at home ; in which list all pensions and salaries were to be 
 particularly noticed. The Directors were, also, annually to lay 
 before Parliament, complete accounts of all the affairs of the 
 Company, with the receipts and outgoings of the preceding 
 year, and estimates for the following year. 
 
 A special 
 
263 
 
 A special oath was prescribed to be, in future, taken by the PART 1L 
 Directors, prohibitory of their acting in this capacity, when 
 concerned in buying from, or selling to the Company any 
 goods ; and prohibitory of their being concerned in any shipping 
 employed by the Company, or accepting of any present for any 
 appointment to an office, or in being concerned in any trade, 
 contrary to the Act. 
 
 The established Constitution of the Board of Commissioners The Branch 
 
 vested in the 
 
 for the Affairs of India, was continued under the new Act, with Commission- 
 ers for the 
 the following additional provisions : — the person first named Affairs of 
 
 India. 
 
 in the King's Commission was declared to be President : — the 
 number of Commissioners was left indefinite, resting on the 
 pleasure of His Majesty, of which, however, the two Secretaries 
 of State, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, were to be three r 
 — the King might add two new Commissioners, who were not 
 Members of His Privy Council : — the King might also grant 
 a£5,000, per annum, among such of the Commissioners as he 
 pleases, which sum, together with the salaries of the Secretaries, 
 and other officers of the Board, and also the expences of the 
 Board, was to be defrayed by the Company, the whole not 
 exceeding ,§£16,000, per annum : — the Commissioners and Offi- 
 cers under them were to take an oath for the faithful discharge 
 of their duty : — the offices of Commissioner, and chief Secretary, 
 were not to be deemed new offices, or to disable the persons 
 holding them from sitting in Parliament ; neither was the 
 appointment of a Commissioner, not having a salary, nor that 
 
 of 
 
264 
 
 part II. of Chief Secretary (if a Member of the House of Commons) 
 to vacate their seats ; but the appointment of a Commissioner, 
 with a salary, was to vacate his seat. Three Commissioners 
 were to form a Board. 
 
 The powers of the Board were defined to be, as follows : — 
 to superintend, direct, and control all acts, operations, and 
 concerns, which relate to the civil and military government and 
 revenues of India : — to have access to the papers and records of 
 the Company, and to be furnished with such copies, or extracts, 
 of them, as they may require : — the Board, also, was to be 
 furnished with copies of all proceedings of General Courts of 
 Proprietors, and of Courts of Directors, within eight days, 
 and with copies of all dispatches from abroad, relating to the 
 civil and military Government and Revenues, immediately on 
 their arrival : — the Company were not to send orders, on these 
 subjects, until they were approved of by the Board ; and when 
 the Commissioners varied or expunged any dispatch, they were 
 to assign the reasons : — such dispatches were, in this case, to 
 be returned to the Court of Directors, within fourteen days : — 
 the Directors were to have the power to state their objections to 
 these alterations, and the Commissioners were to reconsider the 
 case : — if the Commissioners interfered with what the Directors 
 deemed matters of commerce, the Directors might apply to the 
 King in Council, to determine between them and the Board. 
 
 The Commissioners were not to have the power of appoint- 
 ing any of the Company's servants. If the Directors, upon 
 
 being 
 
265 
 
 being called upon to propose a dispatch, on any subject relating earth. 
 to the Government or Revenue, should neglect so to do, within 
 fourteen days, the Board were to have the power of originating 
 the dispatch, if they should deem the same necessary. The 
 Board were not to have the power of authorizing any increase of 
 salaries, or any allowance or gratuity to persons employed, in the 
 Company's service, in India, except the same should first be 
 proposed by the Company, and their intentions, or reasons for 
 such grants, certified to both Houses of Parliament, thirty days 
 before the salary could commence. 
 
 3. The system of Foreign Government was confirmed.-— 3 - plan of 
 
 J ° Foreign Go- 
 
 The Government General of Bengal was to continue Supreme, vernment. 
 and the Presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay were to be 
 subordinate to it ; — the Government of Bengal was to consist of 
 a Governor General, and three Members of Council ; — Fort 
 St. George and Bombay were to have each a Governor and 
 three Members of Council ; — these subordinate Presidencies, in 
 the particular cases of concluding treaties with the Native 
 Powers in India, levying war, making peace, collecting and 
 applying revenues, levying and employing forces, and in gene- 
 ral, in all matters of civil and military administration, were 
 placed under the snperintendence of the Government General of 
 Bengal, and, in all cases, were to obey its orders, unless the 
 Directors should have sent instructions to the contrary, not known 
 to the Government General ; but, in such case, the subordinate 
 
 2 M Presidencies 
 
26$ 
 
 part ir. presidencies were to give the Government General immediate 
 notice of the same. 
 
 The Civil Members of Council were to be appointed from 
 the list of civil servants, who have resided twelve years, in the 
 civil service, in India. 
 
 When a vacancy of Governor General, or Governor, might 
 happen, and when no provisional successor was appointed, it 
 was to be filled up by the Senior of the Civil Counsellors, till a 
 successor should arrive : — the vacant seat in Council, occasioned 
 by this contingency, was, during the time, to be supplied from 
 the Senior Merchants, at the nomination of the acting Gover- 
 nor General, or Governor, if only one Counsellor should then 
 remain : — the Governor General and Governors were to have 
 power, in case of vacancies in Council, to supply them from 
 the Senior Merchants, until successors, duly appointed, should 
 arrive to take their seats : — in all these cases, the salaries, 
 or allowances, were to attach to the acting members, while in 
 office. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief of all the Forces, when at either 
 of the subordinate Presidencies, was to have a seat at the Coun- 
 cil Board, but no salary from this privilege : — if the Provincial 
 Commander should be a Member of the Council, he might con- 
 tinue to deliberate, but was to have no vote, as long as the 
 Commander-in-Chief should remain at the Presidency. In case 
 any Member of Council should be disabled from attending, by 
 
 any 
 
267 
 
 any casual illness or infirmity, provision was made to supply his PAftT n. 
 place. 
 
 Upon the departure of any Governor, Member of Govern- 
 ment, or Commander-in-Chief, from India for Europe, or of 
 any written intimation delivered in by them, to this effect, such 
 departure, or writing, was to be held as an avoidance of office : 
 — no salary was to be payable to any officer, during absence, 
 unless employed in actual service ; and if an officer, unless on 
 service, did not return, his salary was to be deemed to have 
 ceased, from the day of his quitting the Settlement. 
 
 The mode of conducting business in the several Council 
 Boards in India, was defined to be, as follows : — 
 
 The subjects proposed by the President were first to be 
 discussed, and he was to have the power of adjourning any 
 questions, which might be proposed by the Members of Council, 
 but not more than twice, and within forty-eight hours, each time. 
 
 All orders were to be expressed, as made by the Governor- 
 General in Council, or Governors in Council : — powers were 
 given to the Governor-General, or Governors, to act contrary to 
 the opinions of the other Members of Council, but, in such 
 cases, the Governor-General, and Governors, were alone to be 
 responsible : — on such occasions, the Governor- General, or Go- 
 vernors and Counsellors, were to communicate to each other 
 their opinions and reasons, by minutes, in writing, and to meet 
 a second time ; and if both retained their first opinions, the 
 minutes were to be entered on the consultations, and the orders 
 
 2 M 2 of 
 
268 
 
 part ii. of the Governor- General, or Governors, were to be deemed 
 valid and put in execution. 
 
 In the event of the Governor-General visiting any subor- 
 dinate Presidency, he was to be vested with the power to appoint 
 a Vice-President, to act in Bengal, during his absence, who, 
 with the Council, was to administer the Government in that Pre- 
 sidency only : — the authority of the Governor- General, and that 
 of his Council, were transferred to the Council Board of the 
 Presidency, where he might be present, except in judicial cases. 
 When the Governor-General might be at a subordinate 
 Presidency, the Governor of that Presidency was only to have 
 one voice in Council, his other authorities, except in judicial 
 cases, becoming suspended ; and if the Governor-General should 
 be in the field, not attended by a Council, all the Governments 
 and officers were to obey his orders, he alone being responsible. 
 These extraordinary powers, however, were not to extend to 
 the imposing of taxes, nor to any act which might not be done 
 by the whole Council, nor to any judicial case, nor to the sus- 
 pension of any standing order of Government ; and these powers 
 of the Governor- General were not to be exercised by persons 
 casually succeeding to the temporary Government. 
 
 All the foreign Governments were laid under restrictions to 
 prevent war, or extension of territory, in India, unless hostili- 
 ties against the Company, or their allies, should render war, 
 and its consequences, unavoidable. 
 
 The 
 ' 8 M & 
 
269 
 
 The Members of the subordinate Governments, who might f^ T n ; 
 act contrary to this decree, or to the orders of the Governor- 
 General, were to be suspended from their offices, or dismissed 
 the service, besides being liable to farther punishment : — the 
 subordinate Presidencies, for the purposes of preserving unifor- 
 mity in the system of Government, were required, with every 
 possible dispatch, to communicate all matters of importance to 
 the Supreme Government : — the Governor- General, and Gover- 
 nors were vested with the power of apprehending all persons 
 suspected of illicit correspondence, and with the power of exa- 
 mining and cross examining witnesses, and the evidence given by 
 them was to be recorded : — these persons, in consequence, might 
 be tried either in India, or might be sent home for trial : — the 
 depositions of the witnesses, in the latter case, were to be sent 
 home, and to be received in evidence, but subject to impeach- 
 ment, in respect to the competency of the witnesses. 
 
 In all cases where there might be an equality of voices, the 
 acting President of the several Councils was vested with the 
 power of giving the casting vote. 
 
 The rule of promotion in India was to be, by seniority of 
 service only : — three years service was to qualify a civil servant 
 for a place of ,§£500 per annum, six years for a place of ,§£1,500 
 per annum, nine years for a place of ,§£3000 per annum, twelve 
 years for a place of ,§£4000 per annum and upwards : — no per- 
 son was to be entitled to hold two offices, where the joint emo- 
 lument might exceed these rules : — the Collectors of the Reve- 
 nue 
 
2?0 
 
 part II. nU e were to take the oath prescribed against the acceptance of 
 presents, and for rendering a faithful account to the Company of 
 what they should receive. 
 
 The acceptance of any present in India, by any servant of 
 the Crown, or of the Company, was declared to be punishable, 
 in the same way as extortion (except the fees of professional 
 men), and the Court, before which such offences should be tried, 
 on any conviction of the crime, was empowered to return the 
 present to the party who gave it, and to dispose of any fine, in 
 favor of the prosecutor. 
 
 Having thus extracted from the Act, the System of Foreign 
 Government which it established, we have next to sketch out 
 the Judicial, Military, and Financial powers under it, as far 
 as they were established by the Act itself, or were left open for 
 the future deliberations of the Legislature. 
 The Judicial The Judicial Power, as connected with the Domestic and 
 
 tinued as Foreign Governments, was continued, as regulated by existing 
 
 amended, or _ ' * .. T1 . x 
 
 left open for Acts or Parliament, and by practice in India. In so far, how- 
 
 the farther 
 
 deliberation ever, as regarded a general Judicial System for the foreign domi- 
 
 of Parlia- 
 ment, mons of Great-Britain in the East-Indies, this subject, upon 
 
 fuller evidence being obtained, was to be brought before the 
 Legislature, that it might be accommodated fully to the preced- 
 ing plan of Government. 
 
 The Act prescribed the method of suing for forfeitures and 
 penalties, and determined the legality of seizures : — it gave a 
 right of suing by Action, Bill, or Information, in any of the 
 
 Courts 
 
271 
 
 Courts at Westminster, in which case the " venue " was to be laid PART II: 
 in London, or in Middlesex, or in the Supreme Court of Judi- 
 cature in Bengal, or in the Mayor's Court, at Madras or Bombay ; 
 and in such suits, the legality of seizures of persons, ships, or 
 goods, was made cognizable : — in the case of misdemeanor, the 
 offenders were made punishable by fine and imprisonment ; and 
 if abroad, might be sent home, as part of the punishment, and 
 <a " capias" for arresting the accused party, was given, in the 
 first instance, which might be compounded for by bail. 
 
 With the object of securing to the Crown the duties for goods 
 unlawfully trafficked with, in the cases of forfeiture of goods, 
 the Attorney General might prosecute the offenders, or their 
 partners, by Bills in a Court of Equity, waving penalties, and 
 the Defendants were bound to make full discovery, upon oath, 
 of their illicit traffic, and were to be decreed to pay all the duties 
 thereupon, to Government, and gB30 per cent, on the value of 
 the goods, to the Company, and then to be relieved against all 
 other forfeitures : — the Company might, in like manner, proceed 
 against offenders, by a Bill in Equity, and if they failed, they 
 were to pay costs : — in the cases, however, where the Decree 
 should be against the Defendants, they were to pay the costs to 
 the. Crown, and to the Company : — if before any suit should be 
 commenced, a common informer should make known any offence 
 to the Company, or to the Attorney General, and either of them 
 should prefer a Suit in Equity, the informer should be entitled 
 to one third part of the value of the property which should be 
 
 recovered ; 
 
272 
 
 part ii. recovered ; but if the Directors should prefer a prosecution at 
 law, the informer might proceed, but could not discontinue the 
 suit without their consent : — in the case where the Company 
 were the first informers, the shares of penalties and forfeitures 
 were to belong to them, although the suit be commenced, after 
 the time elapsed for common informers to sue, or to prosecute 
 the offence : — in the case of a suit against the Company, or their 
 servants, for seizing, &c. the Defendant might plead the general 
 issue, and give the Act in evidence, and the burden of proof 
 should be on the Plaintiffs, that the seizure, &c. was unlawful, 
 and on nonsuit, verdict, or judgment, the plaintiffs were to pay 
 treble costs. 
 
 The Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court] of Judicature at 
 Fort William, in Admiralty cases, was made to extend to the 
 High Seas at large, by which means a defect of the Act, 1773, 
 for constituting that Court, was remedied. 
 
 With the object of increasing the number of Magistrates in 
 Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, the Supreme Court of Judica- 
 ture in Bengal was to issue Commissions of the Peace, in pur- 
 suance of the orders issued in Council for that purpose, and any 
 of the Justices so appointed, might, by order in Council, sit, 
 also, in the Courts of Oyer and Terminer, taking the oaths of 
 Justices in England, excepting the oath prescribed by the Act of 
 the 18th Geo. II. relating to qualifications by estate ; — the pro- 
 ceedings and judgments of Justices might be removed to the 
 Court of Oyer and Terminer, by " Certiorari" as might be done 
 
 into 
 
2?3 
 
 into the Court of King's Bench in England, and on similar con- part ii. 
 ditions, but could not be set aside for want of form, but on the 
 merits only : — the Justices might, also, associate with the Judges, 
 in causes appealed, when called upon so to do. 
 
 The Governments abroad were vested with the power of 
 appointing Coroners, to take inquests on the bodies of persons 
 coming to an untimely end, and were to fix the fees to be paid 
 for that duty. 
 
 The Justices of the Peace were also vested with the power 
 to appoint Scavengers, and to raise money by assessments, for 
 cleansing, watching and repairing the Streets of Calcutta, 
 Madras, and Bombay: — they also were to have the power of 
 licensing houses for retailing spirituous liquors, and to have 
 authority to extend, or contract, the boundaries of these seats of 
 Government. 
 
 No person was to be allowed to retail spirits, but such as 
 should be authorized to act under licence, under the same penal- 
 ties as are allowed by the laws of Great-Britain. Prosecutions 
 for any thing done under this Act, were limited to three years, or 
 if the party aggrieved should be abroad, to three years after his 
 return. 
 
 The existing Financial System in India was continued, with TheFinancial 
 
 Power conti- 
 
 the alterations which had lately been introduced into it. nue(1 in In - 
 
 dia, as exer- 
 
 The Act defined the provisions which regarded the mode of cised before 
 
 the passing of 
 
 Appropriation in India, and in Britain. Act, but v 5* 
 
 no 2 N In Appropria- 
 
 tions abroad 
 and at home. 
 
274 
 
 In India, the territorial revenues were to be applied, in the 
 first place, to defray all charges of a military nature ; — secondly, 
 to the payment of the interest of the debts there already due, or 
 that might, hereafter, be incurred ; — thirdly, to the payment of the 
 civil and commercial establishments ; — fourthly, to the payment of 
 not less than one million, per annum, for the Company's invest- 
 ments for Europe, and remittances and investments to China ; 
 and the surplus (if any should remain) was to be applied 
 in the discharge of debts, or such other purposes as should be 
 authorized by orders from home : — the sum allowed for invest- 
 ments might, from time to time, be increased, to the extent of 
 the diminution made in the annual amount of the interest of 
 debts paid in India, or transferred home : for which transfer, 
 provision was made to the extent of ^500,000 a year, by Bills 
 of Exchange, to be drawn upon the Company ; — and if the cre- 
 ditors should not subscribe to that amount, other persons might 
 subscribe, and the money advanced by them, for Bills, was to be 
 applied to discharge such debts : and this rule was to be con- 
 tinued till the India debts should be reduced to two millions. 
 The Company might increase these transfers, at home, but the 
 Governments abroad were restricted from exceeding the above 
 amount without orders. 
 
 In Britain, the nett produce of the Company's funds, after 
 payment of current charges, was to be appropriated, first, to the 
 payment of ten per cent, annual dividend, on the present, or 
 
 on 
 
275 
 
 on any increased amount of the capital stock of the Company ; — 
 secondly, to the payment of ^500,000, per annum, to be set apart, 
 on the first of March and the first of September, half yearly, and 
 applied to the discharge of Bills of Exchange for the reduction of 
 the India debt; — thirdly, to the payment of a like annual sum of 
 ,§£500,000, to the Exchequer, to be applied by Parliament for the 
 use of the Public, and to be paid on the 1st of January and 1st of 
 July, half yearly, by equal instalments ; — and, lastly, the surplus 
 was to be applied, for the more speedy liquidation of the India 
 debt till reduced to two millions, or, to the discharge of debts at 
 home, so as not to diminish the Bond Debt below <s£l, 500,000 : 
 — After these Appropriations, and after the debt in India should 
 be reduced to two millions, and the bond debt at home- to 
 ^1,500,000, one sixth part of the ultimate surplus was to be 
 applied to an increase of dividend on the capital stock, and the 
 remaining five sixths was to be made a Guarantee Fund, or 
 collateral security for the Company's capital stock, and 
 their dividend of ten per cent., until such fund, by the 
 monies paid by the Company, and the interest thereof, should 
 amount to twelve millions, and after that time the said five sixths 
 of the surplus was to belong to the Public, in full right. These 
 five sixths were to be paid into the Bank, and laid out in the 
 purchase of redeemable Annuities, in the names of the Com- 
 missioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, who were 
 also to receive the dividends of those Annuities, and lay them 
 out, in like manner, until twelve millions should have been in- 
 1a 2N2 ' vested. 
 
 PART II. 
 
276 
 
 part II. vested. When these purposes should be accomplished, the annual 
 dividends of the stock purchased therewith, were, in the first 
 place, to make good any defalcation in the Company's revenues ; 
 to pay the ten per cent, dividend ; and those dividends which 
 were ultimately to belong to the Public. If, on the Company's 
 exclusive trade being determined, their own assets should prove 
 insufficient to make good their debts, and also their capital stock, 
 rated at two hundred per cent., the excess of the Guarantee 
 Fund was to make good the deficiency, as far as it would extend : 
 — and in the event of the Company discontinuing their trade 
 altogether, such excess, if any, was to belong to the Public ; 
 but if the Company should continue to trade on a Joint Stock, 
 then the overplus, and the annual dividends thereof, were to 
 remain, as a like Guarantee, for a dividend of ten per cent., 
 and the capital rated at ^200 per cent., as long as the Com- 
 pany should trade on a Joint Stock, but, subject to the making 
 good any such deficiencies, the said fund was to be deemed the 
 property of the Public. 
 
 If the Bond Debt, at home, or the debts abroad, after 
 being reduced to the sums before limited, should be again 
 increased, the former appropriation was to be revived, until 
 those debts should be again diminished to their respective stan- 
 dards. 
 
 Any deficiency in the funds, to make good the ^500,000, 
 to the Exchequer, in any one year, was to be supplied from the 
 surplus of subsequent years, unless it should happen, in time 
 % of 
 
277 
 
 of war, or in circumstances incidental to war, in which case PART u. 
 the deficiencies were not to be carried forward as a debt on 
 the annual funds of the Company, nor to be brought for- 
 ward as a debt to be paid by the Company, unless only in 
 the event of their assets, on the termination of the exclu- 
 sive trade, affording more than sufficient to make good the 
 capital stock, rated at ^200 per cent. ; but any excess of such 
 assets, beyond that amount, was to be liable to make good the 
 deficiency of any such payments to the Public : — in the mean 
 time, no interest was to be computed on such deficiency. 
 
 The securities given by the Cashiers of the Bank were to 
 extend to the monies they might receive under this Act, and the 
 Treasury was to direct the allowances for management ; and, 
 if the India Company should make default, in any payments 
 directed by the Act, they might be sued, and should be liable to 
 pay '^15 per cent, damages, with costs of suit. 
 
 The Act further directed the manner in which receipts 
 should be given, and a power was lodged in the Treasury to give 
 the Company further time for payment, in cases of exigency ; — 
 and it was declared, that neither the claims of the Public, nor 
 of the Company, in India, should be prejudiced by the Act, 
 beyond the prolongation of the term of the exclusive trade. The 
 Act also contained a clause, of mutual acquittal of all outstand- 
 ing demands, between the Crown and the Company, to the 24th 
 day of December 1792. 
 
 The Act also recognized the rights of the Company to a 
 sum of ,=£467,896, 7s, 4d in money, and ^9,750, East-India 
 
 Stock, 
 
\ 
 
 278 
 
 part II. Stock, whicli sums constituted the Separate Fund of the Com- 
 pany (established under the Act of 1781), and it was observed 
 in the Act, that it would be more for the permanent interest 
 of the Company, to continue that money employed in trade, 
 computing an interest upon it, and to make it a fund, for a 
 permanent increase to their dividend, of ten shillings per cent., 
 than to draw it from their trading capital, for any sudden 
 distribution. The Act further authorized the Company to make 
 a dividend from the Separate Fund, and the interest thereof, 
 after the rate of ten shillings per cent, per annum, during their 
 further term, in the exclusive trade, and at the end of the term, 
 gave them a power of disposing of the remainder of this fund, 
 as they should think fit. 
 The Military The Military Power, under all the existing circumstances, 
 
 Power left 
 
 for future ar- was reserved, till the fullest evidence could be obtained, to form 
 
 rangement. 
 
 a system coincident with the Foreign Government, and with the 
 meritorious services of the Company's armies. 
 4. The Sys- 4. The East-India Company's exclusive privileges of trade 
 
 tem of Trade . 
 
 detailed. were continued for twenty years, from March 1/94, subject to 
 be determined at or after that period, on three years previous 
 notice by Parliament, signified by the Speaker of the House 
 of Commons, and subject, as to the trade to and from Jndia, 
 to the following limitations in favor of such Private Merchants 
 as might choose to trade thither : — In other respects, and to and 
 from China and other places, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, 
 the former restrictions against Private Traders were continued in 
 
 force. 
 
279 
 
 force. If the exclusive trade, thus limited, should hereafter be f ART 
 discontinued, the Company were still to retain their Corporate 
 Capacity, with power to trade on a Joint Stock, in common with 
 other British subjects. If, however, any new Settlement should 
 be obtained from the Chinese Government, separate from the 
 Continent of Asia, an export trade to it was reserved to the 
 Private Merchants, under certain conditions and regulations, 
 with respect to the Company ; and a clause was also introduced, 
 to protect the Southern Whalers, in the benefit of their Carrying 
 Trade into the Pacific Ocean, by the way of Cape Horn, to the 
 Northward of the Equator, limited to one hundred and eighty 
 degrees West Longitude from London : — and ships from Nootka 
 Sound were to be licensed to trade from thence to Japan and 
 China, but were not to bring any produce, or manufacture, of 
 those countries, to Great-Britain. 
 
 The limitations on the exclusive trade to and from India, 
 were as follows :— 
 
 All persons might export and import goods to and from 
 India, in the Company's ships, except that they should not 
 export military stores, ammunition, masts, spars, anchors, cor- 
 dage, pitch, tar, and copper ; nor import Indian callicoes, dimi- 
 ties, muslins, or other Piece Goods, made or manufactured with 
 silk or cotton, or with silk and cotton mixed, or with other mixed 
 materials, unless by leave of the Company. If the market should 
 not be sufficiently supplied with the prohibited articles of import 
 or export (with an exception of military stores and copper), the 
 
 Board 
 
280 
 
 PART ir. Board of Commissioners might open that trade, also, to indivi- 
 duals. If the Company should not export fifteen hundred tons 
 of copper, annually, Private Traders might export copper in 
 the Company's ships, to the amount of the deficiency. 
 
 The Company were to furnish Private Traders, till 1796, 
 with three thousand tons of shipping, yearly, computed on the 
 same principle as the Company's own tonnage : — the quantity 
 might be increased, by order of the Board of Commissioners, to 
 meet the demands of the Private Traders, and if the Board 
 should order more than the Company approved, they might 
 appeal from the order to the King in Council : — the Company 
 were also restricted from charging any higher Freight than gB5 
 per ton, outwards, and ^£15 per ton, homewards, except in time 
 of war, or in circumstances incidental, or preparatory to 
 war, when they might charge an increased rate of Freight, in a 
 due proportion to the rates at which they should take up their 
 own shipping ; but the proposed increase could only be made 
 with the consent of the Board of Commissioners, before whom 
 the Directors were also required, in 1^94, and in every third 
 year afterwards, to lay a statement of the affairs of Shipping, and 
 to abide by their order, touching any continuance, increase, or 
 abatement of the rate of Freight on Private Trade. 
 
 Private Traders were required to notify to the Company's 
 Secretary at home, and to the proper officers in India, at a time 
 limited, the quantity of tonnage wanted by them for the ensuing 
 season, with the place of destination, and the time when the 
 
 goods 
 
281 
 
 goods would be ready for shipping. At home, this notice was part ir. 
 to be given before the 31st August, for the ships of the ensuing 
 season, and Private Traders were to deposit, before the 15th 
 September, the sum for the tonnage, or to give security to the 
 Directors for payment of it ; and to deliver, before the 30th of 
 October, a list of the sorts and quantities of the goods intended 
 to be sent : — in failure of having them ready, by the day specified 
 in the notice, they were to forfeit their deposit, or the security, 
 and also their tonnage, for that turn. 
 
 Similar rules were prescribed for shipping, &c. goods in 
 India ; but it was left to the Governments there, to fix the time, 
 and to name the officers, to whom notices were to be given. The 
 Company was to have the benefit of all forfeited and vacant 
 tonnage, and if more should be demanded for Private Trade, 
 than the quantity limited, every person was to have his due 
 proportion, and notice was to be given thereof, seven days before 
 the day for making the deposits. All Private Trade was to be 
 registered in the Company's books, and in default of being 
 registered y to be considered as Illicit Trade, and punishable 
 accordingly. 
 
 The restrictions against the Company's servants, or others, 
 from acting as factors for foreigners, or lending money to 
 foreign Companies, or on bottomry of their ships, or assist- 
 ing them with remittances by bills, were repealed ; and all 
 legal impediments to the recovery of debts, under any pretence 
 
 2 O that 
 
282 
 
 vl^TJi *^at they were incurred illicitly, and against the letter of these 
 repealed laws, were removed; and all persons in India, not 
 specially prohibited by the Company, or restricted by their cove- 
 nants, were authorized to act as mercantile Agents, for any 
 person who might choose to employ them ; and if there should 
 be a want of factors (properly qualified and authorized) the 
 Company were to licence Free Merchants, with the approbation 
 of the Board of Commissioners, so that there might be always a 
 sufficient number of Agents for conducting the Private Trade 
 abroad ; — but the being factors was not to exempt any 
 person, from being amenable to the general authorities of the 
 Governments in India ; and all Agents were restricted from going 
 beyond ten miles from a principal Settlement, without special 
 leave. 
 
 As a farther relief to Private Traders, the duty of five per cent., 
 granted by an Act, the 9th of King William, on goods imported 
 in Private Trade, was, in respect to the India trade, repealed, 
 and the Company's usual charge of two per cent, discontinued ; 
 and in lieu thereof, and in satisfaction of the expences of un-. 
 shipping, hoyage, cartage, warehouse-room, sorting, lotting, 
 and selling private goods, the Company were to have £3 per 
 cent, on the gross amount of the sales of Private Trade. 
 The repeal, or the allowance thus substituted, was, however, 
 not to extend to special engagements made between, the Com- 
 pany, and any of their officers, touching their privileges. [ 
 
 For 
 
283 
 
 For the encouragement of the Manufacturers, who might ^JJJJ* 
 import any articles of raw materials, proper regulations were to 
 be framed and established, for bringing them to as early a sale as 
 possible ; and for preventing any undue preference, in the sales of 
 the same commodity, among any of the importers, whether the 
 goods should belong to the Company, or to individuals, the 
 sales were to be public, by inch of candle, and the whole con- 
 signment bought in by the Private Importer, was to be delivered 
 to him, on payment only of the duties, and other charges 
 thereon. All other goods imported in Private Trade, were to be 
 sold, and treated as heretofore, according to the Bye-Laws of 
 the Company; — and all such goods were to pay to Government 
 the same customs, as goods imported by the Company, on their 
 own account. 
 
 As the allowance of three percent., and the rates of freight, * 
 
 would be insufficient to indemnify the Company, for their actual 
 charges upon Private Trade, they were exempted from actions 
 for losses, embezzlements, &c. which a common carrier might, 
 in ordinary cases, be liable by law, to make good to the owner ; 
 but the Act provided, that the Company's officers, and all per- 
 sons, through whose means, or negligence, any loss should 
 happen, should be liable to make it good ; and gave a further 
 remedy to the owner, in certain cases, to recover satisfaction, 
 by enabling him to prosecute, under the written engagements, 
 or securities, taken by the Company, for the safe-keeping of 
 their own merchandize 
 
 2 O 2 All 
 
284 
 
 part ir. All the laws, prohibiting the import of goods from any 
 
 other place than that of their growth, and for continuing all 
 prohibitory laws, in respect to the consumption or wearing of 
 foreign manufactures, were continued. 
 
 All the old laws, for preventing Clandestine Trade with 
 India, and from lending to, or assisting, or being concerned with 
 foreign Companies, or foreign Traders, were wholly repealed, 
 and the following provisions were substituted in their place, 
 specifying that the penalties were made to extend only to such of 
 {lis Majesty's subjects as belonged to Great-Britain, Guernsey, 
 Jersey, Alderney, Sark, Man, Faro Isles, or to any of His 
 Majesty's Colonies, Islands, or Plantations in America, or the 
 West-Indies ; and that all vessels and goods forfeited, might be 
 seized by any of the Company's officers, in India, or China. 
 
 Persons going, unlawfully, to India, and trafficking there, 
 were to forfeit ships, vessels, goods, and merchandize, and 
 double the value thereof; one-fourth to the informers, and 
 three-fourths to the Company, they paying the costs of prose- 
 cution. 
 
 Persons going, unlawfully, to India, were to be deemed 
 unlawful traders, and subject to the foregoing penalties and 
 forfeitures, and might also be prosecuted for a crime and 
 misdemeanor, and be liable to fine and imprisonment, one moiety 
 of the fine to go to the King, the other to the Company, if they 
 prosecuted, or else to any other informer. 
 
 Persons 
 
285 
 
 Persons resorting, unlawfully, to India, might be seized and ^ ART u ; 
 sent home for trial, and, on their arrival, were to give bail, or 
 be committed to prison. 
 
 Persons dismissed the service, or whose licences should have 
 expired, were to be held as Illicit Traders, if they continued in 
 India, and subjected to penalties and forfeitures of goods, &c, 
 as such. 
 
 Goods shipped clandestinely, or such as were prohibited by 
 the Act, and goods unshipped at sea, were to be seized and for- 
 feited, with double the value, and the master, or other officer, 
 knowingly permitting or suffering the same, was to forfeit all his 
 wages to the Company, to be deducted out of the monies payable 
 to the owners, and be disabled from again acting in their service. 
 
 Any person, being a subject of His Majesty, who should 
 solicit for, or accept a foreign commission, to sail to, and trade 
 in India, was to forfeit ,^500, half to the Company, and half 
 to the prosecutor ; or the whole to the Company, if they 
 prosecuted. 
 
 All Governors and Counsellors were prohibited from trad- 
 ing, except for the Company, and all Collectors, Supervisors, 
 and others, employed in the collection of the Revenues of Bengal, 
 Bahar, and Orissa, or their Agents, or any person in trust for 
 them, were prohibited from inland trade, except for the Company* 
 The Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bengal, 
 were absolutely prohibited from traffic ; and no person, without 
 the permission of the Company, was to trade in salt, beetle-nut, 
 
 tobacco, 
 
286 
 
 part ir. tobacco, or rice, on pain of forfeiture of the goods, and treble 
 the value, one moiety to the Company, and the other to the 
 prosecutor. 
 
 No person was to send goods the produce or manufactures 
 of the East-Indies, from India, to the Continent of Europe, 
 by any other channel than allowed by this Act, on pain of 
 forfeiture of double the value ; but this restriction was not to 
 extend to persons acting as Agents, on the account, bond fide 9 
 of any foreign Company, or foreign Merchant. 
 
 The days and hours fixed by former Acts of Parliament, for 
 purchasers of teas to make their deposits, having been found 
 inconvenient to the trade, the Act, with their consent, fixed 
 Tuesdays and Saturdays, at the hour of three, for making their 
 deposits in future.^ 
 The Indian The Act respecting the Indian Annuities was considered as 
 
 Annuity Act 1* r •*• 
 
 an appendage an appendage to the Act, for continuing the exclusive privileges 
 
 to that on . 
 
 Government of the East-India Company. The preamble to the Indian An- 
 
 and Trade. * 
 
 nuity Act recited the substance of the Act of the 26th of the 
 King, " for enabling the East-India Company to raise money 
 " by a sale of Annuities, and by increasing their capital stock; " 
 and the Act provided, that the stock, called East-India Annui- 
 ties, created by the Act 23d George II, cap. 22, should be 
 transferred, with the consent of the Lords of the Treasury, 
 from the management of the East-India Company, to the ma- 
 nagement of the Governor and Company of the Bank of Eng- 
 land, 
 
 (1) Act 33d George III, cap. 52. 
 
287 
 
 land, and consolidated with the Three per Cent. Reduced Annuities. PART II. 
 The East-India Company were also empowered to add another 
 million to their capital stock, by subscription, making it, at this 
 period, amount to six millions/ 1 ) 
 
 (l) Act 33d George HI, cap. 47. 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
■ 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 ■ 
 
 Jl iCJJJ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS of the Merchants, Tradesmen, and Inhabi- No. I. 
 tants of the Town of LIVERPOOL, on the Subject of the Liverpool. 
 Trade of the East-India Company. 
 
 Liverpool, 23d November 1792. 
 At a Public Meeting of the Merchants, Tradesmen, and other Inhabi- 
 tants of the Town of Liverpool, called by the Worshipful Mayor, for 
 the purpose of taking into consideration, the measures to be adopted, 
 in order to obtain a participation of the Trade, in the Countries beyond 
 the Cape of Good Hope : 
 
 The Worshipful the Mayor in the Chair ; 
 Resolved Unanimously. 
 
 1. That the Creator of the Universe, by endowing different por- 
 tions of the earth with different products, has laid the foundation of 
 commerce, which having for its object the supply of mutual wants, may 
 be safely left to the regulations, which mutual interest points out, and 
 should, as far as possible, be free from every restraint. 
 
 2. That monopolies are destructive of these principles, because 
 they provide for the interest of the monopolist only, and enable him to 
 
 a fix, 
 
11 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I; fi x ^ a t hi s own pleasure, both the rate at which he buys from one 
 Liverpool, country, and sells to another, and the charge at which he carries the 
 commodities of each. 
 
 3. That the history of the East-India Company affords most 
 striking proofs of the consequence of trusting such powers to the discre- 
 tion of individuals ; and the injuries, which their monopoly of the trade 
 between Britain and India has produced to both countries, are of the 
 most serious nature. 
 
 4. That the principle, to which many of these are to be traced, is 
 the temptation which the possession of this monopoly has offered to the 
 East-India Company, to exchange the character of merchants, to that of 
 warriors and politicians, by which they have assumed the sovereignty of 
 twenty millions of men, with whom traffic was their first, and ought to 
 have been their only object. 
 
 5. That to support a dominion by force, which could not otherwise 
 be supported, they have been led to maintain vast and expensive civil 
 and military establishments, the whole charge of which must be defrayed 
 by the people of India, or Great-Britain, and seems a heavy and cruel, 
 as well as a useless burthen, on the connection between the two countries. 
 
 6. That peace is the natural, and ought to be the inseparable 
 attendant of commerce : that the possession of continental territories is 
 valuable only, as it is productive of commercial intercourse ; and that it 
 is probable the opening of the East-India Trade will render less frequent 
 those desolating wars, which have so often deluged the soil of that 
 unhappy country with the blood of its inhabitants, whilst they have 
 been equally fatal to this country, by the sacrifice of thousands of British 
 subjects, and the expenditure of millions of British treasure. 
 
 7. That 
 
APPENDIX. Ill 
 
 7. That the East-India monopoly prevents the free export of our No - *• 
 manufactures to one of the largest and richest regions of the world, Liverpool. 
 where there is reason to believe they might, in the course of open trade, 
 
 be increased in their vent, twenty-fold and upwards : that, under the 
 present system, the exports are conducted without a proper attention to 
 the change of circumstances and seasons ; and due means are not em- 
 ployed, for opening new sources of traffic on the Eastern Coast of Africa, 
 the Island of Madagascar, the countries that lie up the Streights of 
 Babelmandel, and on the Shores of the Persian Gulph ; with many of the 
 vast profusion of Islands that are scattered throughout the Indian Ocean, 
 all within the limits of the Company's monopoly, and yielding them 
 little or no advantage, but which the unfettered enterprize and skill of 
 individuals might soon explore, and render of the utmost importance. 
 
 8. That this monopoly choaks many of the infant manufactures of 
 Britain, as they arise, from the power it gives of lowering, at pleasure, 
 the rival manufactures of India, in the home market ; the loss sustained 
 being laid on such articles, as are the produce of the soil of India, which 
 habit has rendered necessary among us, and which are not to be obtained 
 elsewhere ; a power that, more than once, has destroyed the manufacture 
 of British porcelain, and that was employed to oppose and bear down 
 the manufacture of cotton, now risen to such national importance. 
 
 9. That the injuries to commerce and navigation have been 
 proportional, as may be clearly inferred. The practice, indeed, of 
 employing large vessels, on overcharged freights, is an open sacrifice 
 of the interest of the Company itself, to the selfish views of individuals, 
 and is an undeniable proof of the entire departure from the principles 
 of fair traffic, into which this monopoly has diverged : that all the 
 branches of those most important manufactures, employed in the build- 
 
 a 2 ing 
 
IV APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. ipg arK i equipment of shipping, are especially injured under the present 
 , Liverpool, system, which, also, obstructs the training of mariners, on which our 
 national safety and prosperity so particularly depend. 
 
 10. That the progress of time and experience has now effectually 
 removed the grounds on which the exclusive trade to India was origi- 
 nally supported, viz. the danger and expence of so distant a traffic ; 
 the free trade and manufactures of Great Britain have produced such an 
 influx of wealth, and accumulation of capital, that there is no adventure 
 too heavy for private merchants, or Companies of merchants, to under- 
 take : the genius, industry, and talents of our people are such, that 
 there is no part of the world, to which they cannot make a free trade 
 profitable, and that, nearly in proportion to its riches and population : 
 and such are the skill and enterprise of our navigators, that there is no 
 shore so dangerous, no region so remote, as to daunt their spirit, or 
 prevent their approach. 
 
 1 1 . That these facts are capable of collateral proof, from the 
 success with which the merchants of Portugal carried on a trade to 
 India, without any exclusive Charter, for a century and upwards ; and 
 still more, from the success of the merchants of North America, who 
 now traverse every part of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with vessels 
 of no larger a size than those usually employed on the Atlantic, and 
 who, with ^capitals comparatively insignificant, are opening most advan- 
 tageous channels of traffic, from which the British merchant, with 
 prior claims, superior skill, and irresistible capital, is by false policy 
 excluded. 
 
 1 2. That as it is the nature of trade to force its way through less 
 direct channels, when its natural course is obstructed, the products of 
 Britain now begin to be sent to the East-Indies, in American bottoms ; 
 
 and 
 
APPENDIX. V 
 
 and those of China, and the East-Indies, to be smuggled into Britain and No> I? 
 her colonies, through America and Ostend, to the injury of the British Liverpool, 
 trader and manufacturer, as well as of the British consumer, all of 
 whose interests are thus palpably sacrificed. 
 
 13. That these facts, while they point out the impolicy of the 
 present system of East-India monopoly, demonstrate, also, the impos- 
 sibility of its being continued, without measures of rigor which the 
 occasion will not justify, and more and more violence against the 
 true principles of commerce, now so well understood, and operating 
 with such great and rapid influence on the national prosperity. 
 
 14. That clear as we are in all these views, we are yet aware, that 
 difficulties may attend the overthrow of a false system, that has continued 
 so long, and connected itself so widely ; and we should condemn all 
 attempts for this purpose, that would sacrifice the interests of those 
 immediately concerned, in expiation of the mistaken policy of the 
 nation : but we wish the Public, at large, to see the evil of this monopoly 
 in its full extent, and the collected wisdom of the Legislature to be 
 employed in removing it, by methods consistent with true policy, and 
 the principles of justice. 
 
 15. That a petition be therefore presented to Parliament, praying, 
 that the whole of this important subject may be taken into consideration, 
 and that we may be permitted to be heard by counsel, and, if need be, 
 to adduce evidence, in support of our allegations, against the renewal of 
 an exclusive Charter, by which our interests, in common with the whole 
 
 t r i . 
 
 commercial, manufacturing, and, by consequence, landed interests of 
 the kingdom, are so manifestly injured. 
 
 16. That a Committee be now appointed, to prepare such petition, 
 for the consideration of a Public Meeting, to be hereafter called. 
 
 J7- That 
 
VI APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. l jr. That the said Committee be requested to correspond with such 
 
 Liverpool, other towns and places as they may think proper, in order to obtain 
 their co-operation with us, on this important business. 
 
 18. That these resolutions be published in such of the London 
 and Country Newspapers, as the said Committee may direct. 
 
 19. That the following gentlemen be appointed a Committee, and 
 that any three of them assembled, on due notice, be competent to act, viz. 
 
 The Worshipful the Mayor, 
 Nicholas Ashton, Esq. William Earle, Merchant, 
 
 John Dawson, Esq. Edward Rogers, do. 
 
 William Smyth, Merchant, William Rathbone, do. 
 
 Jonas Bold, Banker. Francis Trench, do. 
 
 Thomas Earle, Esq. Thomas Hodgson, do. 
 
 Willis Earle, Merchant, Thomas Hodgson, jun. do. 
 
 20. That a subscription be now opened, for defraying the expences 
 that may be incurred in the prosecution of this business, and that Messrs. 
 Charles Caldwell and Co. Bankers in Liverpool, be appointed Treasurers. 
 
 2 1 . That the thanks of this Meeting be given to the Mayor, for 
 the attention which he has shewn to this important business. 
 
 CLAYTON TARLETON, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 These resolutions were accompanied with the following circular 
 
 letter : 
 
 Sir, Liverpool, 2fth November, 1792. 
 
 I am directed by the Committee appointed for the purpose 
 of carrying into effect the annexed resolutions of a public meeting, held 
 here the 23d instant, to request you will have the goodness to commu- 
 nicate 
 
APPENDIX. vil 
 
 nicate them to such persons in your neighbourhood, as may be interested No. I. 
 in the success of the proposed measure ; and if they should concur with Liverpool, 
 us, in the propriety of the intended application to Parliament, it will 
 give us pleasure to co-operate with them. 
 
 We trust that these resolutions will be seen in their true light, as 
 originating in no views that are not strictly constitutional ; as influenced 
 by no motives of party, whatever ; as breathing no spirit, in any respect, 
 at variance with the rights of property, either public or private, but as 
 intended to express, and to justify, a general wish of opening to us 
 the trade to the East- Indies, and the countries beyond the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and as submitting it to Parliament to legislate, for the interests 
 of the nation, and those of a particular part of it, in such manner as it 
 may deem, in its wisdom, best calculated to promote the ends of a liberal 
 policy, and secure the principles of general justice. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JONAS BOLD, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee. 
 
Till APPENDIX. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 No^i. RESOLUTIONS of the Directors of the Chamber of Com- 
 Glasgow. merce and Manufactures at GLASGOW, on the Subject of 
 the Trade of the East-India Company. 
 
 Glasgow, 25th December 1792. 
 
 At a Meeting of the Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and 
 
 Manufactures, established by Royal Charter, in the city of Glasgow ; 
 
 Henry Riddell, Esq. in the Chair : 
 
 Having taken into consideration the propriety of an application to 
 
 Parliament, for laying open the trade to the Countries beyond the Cape 
 
 of Good Hope, upon the expiration of the present East-India Company's 
 
 Charter, they came to the following resolutions : 
 
 1 . That, confiding in the wisdom of the Legislature, to determine 
 
 the particular mode, by which the countries in Indostan, now under the 
 
 dominion of Great-Britain, shall be possessed, after the expiration of 
 
 the present Charter, we can entertain no doubt, that the East -India 
 
 Company will be liberally indemnified by Government, in some shape 
 
 or other, for any sacrifices of actual rights which they may then make. 
 
 2. That whether the East-India Company shall then retain the 
 
 territorial revenues of those Countries in Indostan, as at present, or not, 
 
 this can be no good reason for granting them an exclusive right of 
 
 trading, either to these Countries, or to all the other extensive and 
 
 populous kingdoms, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and Streights of 
 
 Magellan. 
 
 3. That 
 
APPENDIX. IX 
 
 3. That whatever good reasons may have existed, for granting this No. II. 
 monopoly to the East-India Company, at a former period, we apprehend, Glasgow. 
 that no such reasons exist now ; because the enterprize and capitals of 
 individuals, as well as of private companies of merchants, in Great-Bri- 
 tain, are, at this time, sufficient for carrying on trade and commerce to 
 
 thes6 distant regions ; and it is the situation of this country now, not 
 what it was formerly, that, we humbly hope, will regulate the decision 
 of a British Legislature, in the event of any application, by the East- 
 India Company, for a renewal of their Charter. 
 
 4. That if so large a capital as the East-India Company possesses 
 be absolutely necessary for carrying on a lucrative trade to these distant 
 countries, there will be nothing to prevent their enjoying the advantage 
 thereof, hereafter, without any renewal of an exclusive Charter ; but, if 
 not, there can be little doubt that the industry and economy of indivi- 
 duals will draw from thence a multitude of raw materials, necessary for 
 the manufactures of this country, as well as other articles of commerce, 
 upon better terms than they are now supplied, either by the East-India 
 Company, or by the French, Spanish, Dutch, or Portuguese nations. 
 And it may be presumed, that the same industry will push a much 
 greater proportion of British manufactures into these regions, than are 
 now exported thither. 
 
 5. That an extension of the commerce, when placed under liberal 
 regulations, by the united wisdom of the Legislature, will not only 
 increase the marine of Great-Britain, but also the revenues to Govern- 
 ment ; and every argument, therefore, both in point of freedom, and of 
 sound policy, is in favor of an open trade to the countries beyond the 
 Cape of Good Hope, and of course, against a renewal of any Charter to 
 
 b the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No. II. the East-India Company, or a grant to any other Company whatever, to 
 Glasgow, the exclusion of other British subjects from this commerce. 
 
 6. That, for these reasons, the Directors of this Chamber ought 
 to unite with other legal societies of this kingdom, in petitioning Parlia- 
 ment, if need be, for liberty to be heard by their counsel, against the 
 renewal of any exclusive Charter. 
 
 (Signed) HENRY RIDDELL, 
 
 Chairman. 
 Glasgow, 25th December l? 92. 
 
 The propositions, explaining these resolutions, were as follow, and 
 were transmitted, by the Chairman, to the President of the Board 
 of Commissioners. 
 
 1; That the term of the Charter shall be considerably short of 
 twenty years. 
 
 2. That the East-India Company shall not import, for home sale, 
 any piece goods, excepting plain muslins, exceeding ten shillings per 
 square yard ; and muslins, ornamented by the loom or needle, exceeding 
 twenty shillings per square yard. 
 
 3. That the duties upon piece goods, imported by the East-India 
 Company, shall remain as at present ; but, upon exportation, only eight 
 per cent, shall be drawn back. 
 
 4. That British merchants shall have a right to export manufac- 
 tures, and import raw materials (which shall be defined), in vessels of 
 their own, to and from any part of the world, which may be included in 
 the exclusive trade of the East-India Company, by their new Charter; 
 but when such merchants shall resort to the territories of the East-India 
 Company, then they shall be liable to the duties payable by foreign 
 nations. That this trade shall be confined to the port of London ; and 
 
 the 
 
APPENDIX. XI 
 
 the ships employed in it, shall load and discharge their cargoes at no No « & 
 other wharfs than those of the East-India Company. Glasgow. 
 
 5. That stipulations] shall be made in the Charter, to prevent, as 
 much as possible, the exportation and use of cotton machinery in India, 
 which has been invented and used in this country. 
 
 6. That the line of exclusive trade shall be drawn considerably to 
 the Eastward and Northward of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 19^ March 1793. 
 
 These are the outlines (in the words of Mr. Dunlop, the President 
 of the Meeting) of the Manufacturers' propositions ; but if they are not 
 listened to, it is necessary to state, that they seem disposed to combat 
 the renewal of the Charter, in so far as it relates to the commerce ; 
 although, I must again repeat, they will consider it as extremely unfor- 
 tunate, to be obliged to oppose measures, which may have the sanction 
 of Government, at a time when the support of every good subject is so 
 eminently necessary. 
 
 I am authorised to say, further, that if these propositions be not 
 thought admissible at present, the Manufacturers are willing, that the 
 present Charter should be renewed, during the continuance of the war 
 with France, and for two years after a peace shall be concluded, provided 
 the East-India Company shall accede to the second, fifth, and sixth 
 propositions, at the same time satisfying Government with regard to 
 revenue. 
 
 I hope you will admit the propriety of the first proposition : for 
 when commerce and manufactures are extending and improving, a term 
 of twenty years, for the duration of an exclusive Charter, embracing trade 
 and territory (the expediency of which, either in theory or practice, is at 
 least doubtful) seems by far too long a period. 
 
 b 1 Upon 
 
XU APPENDIX. 
 
 • 
 
 No II. Upon the second proposition it is unnecessary to enlarge, as so 
 
 Glasgow, much was said upon that subject on a former occasion, and as the East- 
 India Company, if I may be allowed to judge by the tenor of the report 
 of the Select Committee, dated the first of last month, are not unwilling 
 to make that concession. 
 
 The third proposition would add to the public revenue, and would 
 serve to protect the home manufactures, at foreign markets. 
 
 The fourth proposition the Manufacturers bring forward, owing to 
 the urgent necessity for raw materials, and under the full conviction, 
 that the plan proposed, of individuals or private companies exporting 
 and importing merchandize in the Company's ships, would be entirely 
 nugatory; for a trade so shackled, by means of ships, factors, ware- 
 houses, &c. at home and abroad, belonging to a Company, whose inte- 
 rests may not, perhaps, always be in consonance with those of private 
 adventurers, would be a source of eternal heart-burning and complaint, 
 sometimes proceeding from real causes, and sometimes from unfounded 
 jealousy, or inevitable disappointment. 
 
 To the fifth proposition, the Manufacturers think they have a strong 
 claim. By their labour, ingenuity, and money, the art of preparing 
 and spinning cotton-wool has been introduced, and brought to a high 
 degree of perfection ; it seems, therefore, but reasonable, that they 
 should endeavour to secure to themselves, and their country, the benefit 
 of those improvements, otherwise much distress might be the conse- 
 quence. 
 
 To the sixth proposition, it is hoped, there can be no objection, as 
 the Manufacturers do not wish to extend the limits of the free trade, so 
 far as to injure the East-India Company, but merely to give the country 
 
 at 
 
APPENDIX Xlll 
 
 at large, a chance of extending their trade to certain parts of the world, No - Ir - 
 to which the East-India Company have not hitherto directed their Glasgow. 
 attention. 
 
 With regard to the alternative of renewing the present Charter till 
 two years after peace, upon the East-India Company agreeing to the 
 second, fifth, and sixth propositions, and satisfying Government as to 
 public revenue, I shall only remark, that the war may put this country 
 on a new footing (I sincerely hope a much better footing) as to foreign 
 territory, and to trade in general. The success of the Embassy to China 
 will then be completely known ; and, besides, it seems a hardship upon 
 the manufacturers, to have arrangements pressed upon them, which they 
 cannot approve, and which are meant to endure for so long a period, at 
 a time when they are not only unwilling to agitate any popular question, 
 but are anxious to give their utmost aid and support to the measures of 
 Government. 
 
 I have written thus far, by the express desire of the Committee, and 
 I have now to apologize to you, for having trespassed so long upon your 
 time, in stating propositions, and discussing a subject, to which, I freely 
 confess, my information and abilities are very inadequate. 
 
 The manufacturing interest have, in my opinion, much to expect 
 from your openness and candour ; and I trust you will see the necessity 
 of informing them, when the business is to be before the House of 
 Commons, that they may have an opportunity of bringing forward their 
 propositions, in form. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, Sir, 
 Your most obedient, and most humble servant, 
 Glasgow, IQth March 1793. JOHN DUNLOP. 
 
 The Right Honorable Henry Dundas. 
 
Xl\ APPENDI X. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Glasgow. 
 
 While the Bill for the renewal of the Company's Privileges was 
 pending in Parliament, the following letters (varying in some degree 
 from the preceding resolutions and memorial) were transmitted to the 
 President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India. 
 
 Glasgow, 1st May, 1793. 
 Sir, 
 
 The Committee of Manufacturers met yesterday, and I 
 
 am desired to inform you of the result of their deliberations. I am also 
 
 desired to request, that you will, as soon as convenient, have a conference 
 
 with Mr. Robert Peele, and that you will do every thing in your power 
 
 to obtain for the country, the following important points : 
 
 1 . A prohibition, for home sale, of all East-India fabrics, similar 
 to those manufactured in Great Britain. 
 
 2. That the duties and drawbacks, on all piece goods, imported 
 from India, shall remain as at present. 
 
 3. That arrangements shall be made, for the importation of raw 
 materials from India. The first of these points is the same with the 
 first proposition of the English Manufacturers. The second does not 
 seem to have been attended to by them, although it is of the utmost 
 importance. The third is meant to be the same with their second pro- 
 position : but their third proposition seems to be rather unreasonable ; 
 for why should not the East-India Company be allowed to import piece 
 goods to any amount they please, if our home market is not interfered 
 with, and if, upon exportation, these goods shall continue to be charged 
 
 with 
 
APPENDIX. XV 
 
 with a duty of eight per cent., thereby giving a considerable revenue to N<vN. 
 Government, and protecting our manufactures at foreign markets. Glasgow. 
 
 The duty of eight per cent, upon seventeen hundred thousand 
 pounds (the quantity of piece goods imported from India) is a great 
 object to the British manufacture : and I have no doubt, that Govern- 
 ment consider it as a considerable object to the revenue. Indeed our 
 manufacturers are so much impressed with the conviction of its conse- 
 quence to them, that, rather than relinquish it, they would be willing 
 to make a concession from their first proposition, and allow the India 
 Company to import plain piece goods, for home sale, exceeding six 
 shillings per square yard, and ornamented piece goods, exceeding twelve 
 shillings per square yard : but this concession ought not to be made but 
 in the last extremity. 
 
 When I had the honor of seeing you, here, you will remember my 
 speaking to you about Government interfering with the East-India 
 Company, and endeavouring to postpone their future sales for home 
 consumption. This idea the Committee approve of, very much ; and if 
 it were done, there is no doubt that it would have an instant and highly 
 beneficial effect upon the muslin manufactures throughout. 
 
 Supposing Government were to buy the goods outright (the amount 
 sold inland being only ,£300,000 to ,£400,000) and export them, or let 
 them lay over for a year, the loss would be but trifling, and the good 
 done would be in an almost infinite ratio. 
 
 Perhaps the India Company would be willing to accept a sum of 
 money, to sell no more goods for home consumption ; or perhaps they 
 would have the generosity to make that concession, by way of douceur, 
 upon the terms of their new Charter being settled. If they are disposed 
 
 to 
 
XVI APPENDIX. 
 
 No. II. to do a handsome thing to the manufacturing interest, at no time could 
 Glasgow, they do it with more effect, or at so small an expence. 
 
 I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 Your most faithful and obedient servant, 
 (Signed) JOHN DUNLOP. 
 
 P. S. The Committee think the clause for the prevention of 
 smuggling, which you sent to them, a very good one. 
 
 Sir, Glasgow, 19th March, 1 793. 
 
 I am honored with your obliging letter of the l6th instant, 
 and am desired by the gentlemen of the Committee of Manufacturers to 
 return you their thanks for your very attentive communication. As 
 Mr. Dunlop, Chairman of the Sub-committee, has already wrote you 
 their sentiments (transmitted by this post), it supersedes the necessity of 
 my troubling you with any thing, at present, on a subject, which so 
 much occupies the attention of the manufacturers of this country. I 
 shall only add, that the manufacturers have carefully endeavoured to 
 prevent the renewal of the India Company's Charter from being a 
 question of popular discussion ; otherwise, no question, that I know of, 
 would have been seized with more avidity, and supported by more 
 numerous descriptions of people, in this part of the kingdom. They 
 preferred (from the situation men's minds were in) trusting their cause 
 more to the known wisdom and justice of His Majesty's Ministers, than 
 to any great political influence. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient and very humble servant, 
 
 JOHN MONTEITH. 
 
 Chairman of the Manufacturers. 
 
 The Right Honorable Henry Dundas. 
 
APPENDIX xv jj 
 
 No. III. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS of the Manufacturers at PAISLEY, on No.iil 
 the Subject of the Trade of the East-India Company. Paisley. 
 
 Paisley, 14th December 1792. 
 At a Meeting of Manufacturers and others, having interest in the Cotton 
 Trade, called by the Magistrates, in order to consider how they might 
 be affected by a renewal of the East-India Company's Charter, and 
 what steps it might be proper for them to take, in the view of that 
 event: 
 
 William Carlisle, Esq. in the Chair : 
 It was unanimously resolved : 
 
 1 . That the measures that shall be adopted by Government, 
 respecting the East-India trade, must have a direct influence upon the 
 Cotton manufacture in this kingdom, and demand the serious attention of 
 every person engaged in that important branch. 
 
 2. That monopolies, in general, are injurious to the community : 
 that permitting the monopolizing of a foreign trade, must check and 
 repress the commercial exertions of a nation ; and that, however the 
 granting exclusive privileges in trade may be thought necessary, in certain 
 circumstances, there can be no just plea for continuing them, when those 
 circumstances alter, and they are unnecessary and unwise in the present 
 advanced state of British commerce. 
 
 3. That the East-India trade, as hitherto carried on by the East- 
 India Company, has impeded the progress of the Cotton manufacture in 
 
 c these 
 
XV111 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. in.- these kingdoms, and, continued on the present system, threatens the 
 Paisley, immense property now vested in that manufacture. 
 
 4. That the permitting a free commerce with the extensive coun- 
 tries beyond the Cape of Good Hope, will supply the Cotton Manufac- 
 turers with the raw material, in greater plenty, and more variety, than 
 they have, hitherto, been able to procure it ; may furnish many articles of 
 importance in other manufactures, and to which the industry and inge- 
 nuity of the British artist may give high value ; may greatly increase 
 the national exports, and give a range to the British Manufacturers, far 
 wider than they have hitherto known. 
 
 5. That a petition, in name of the Manufacturers of this place, 
 be presented to Parliament, praying that this subject may be taken into 
 serious consideration, and that the petitioners may be allowed to state, by 
 counsel, the great interest which they have in this matter, the injury 
 which they apprehend, from continuing the present restraints on the 
 East-India commerce, and the advantages which they, in common with 
 the whole Manufacturers of Great- Britain, may expect, from permission 
 being granted to British subjects to trade beyond the Cape of Good 
 Hope, upon paying such rates and duties, as the wisdom of Parliament 
 shall see fit. 
 
 6. That a Committee be now appointed to prepare such petition, 
 for the consideration of a General Meeting, to be hereafter, called. 
 
 7. That these resolutions be published in such Newspapers as the 
 Committee shall direct. 
 
 8. That the following Gentlemen be the Committee : 
 The Chairman, Messrs. John Orr, 
 Messrs. Robert Corse, — . . . ■ Robert Orr, 
 
 Messrs* 
 
APPENDIX. XIX 
 
 Messrs. William Stuart, Messrs. James Cowan, No. III. 
 
 John Cochran, ■ Robert Buchanan, Paisley. 
 
 Andrew Brown, ; James Knox. 
 
 9. That a subscription be opened, for defraying the expence that 
 may be incurred in prosecuting the business. 
 
 c 2 
 
 
XX APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Nonr. PBOCEEDINGS of the Merchants and Manufacturers of 
 Manchester. MANCHESTER, on the Subject of the Trade of the East- 
 India Company. 
 
 In the beginning of March 1793, a Public Meeting was called by 
 the Boroughreeve and Constables of Manchester, to consider what steps 
 should be taken by the inhabitants, relative to the renewal of the East- 
 India Company's Privileges, at that time in agitation. 
 
 < A Committee of a considerable number of the principal Merchants 
 and Manufacturers was appointed, to consider, digest, and bring forward 
 such measures, as might appear best for the interest of the town. 
 
 After several meetings, without any specific resolutions being 
 adopted, but only general observations made by most of the members 
 on the nature of the business, it appeared to be the general sense of the 
 Committee, that a renewal of the Company's exclusive privileges should 
 be prohibited, if possible ; but, if that renewal could not be opposed on 
 proper grounds, to adopt such modifications in the Act, as would more 
 easily introduce into this country the natural products of the East, and 
 occasion the vent of many of the manufactures of this kingdom in foreign 
 parts, beyond the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 A Delegation was agreed upon, to attend Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas, 
 and to confer with them upon this matter. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Gregg, and Mr. William Frodsham, of Manchester, 
 and Mr. John Hilton, of London, were the Delegates appointed. 
 
 On 
 
APPENDIX. xx i 
 
 On the 16th March 1 793, these Gentlemen waited upon Mr. Pitt No. IV. 
 and Mr. Dundas ; and on requesting, in behalf of their constituents, a Manchester, 
 free trade to India, were informed, that no private ships would be admit- 
 ted to trade to India, but that a private trade, by the Company's ships, 
 would be granted to individuals, under such restrictions as shall be 
 thought compatible with the privileges, which they were about to renew 
 with the East-India Company. . , Rn . j 
 
 On specific propositions being desired, by Mr. Pitt and Mr. 
 Dundas, to be made by the Delegates, after a free trade was objected 
 to, the Delegates proposed, in writing : 
 
 a3]23fbafit»i 
 
 1. That the freight, outwards, should not exceed j£4 per ton 
 and, homeward, <£l2 per ton. 
 
 2. That the manufacturers of this kingdom should be exempted 
 from all import and export duties to India. 
 
 3. That all goods of private trade, particularly those for home 
 consumption, should be delivered up to the owners on demand, soon 
 after being landed, the freight and duties being first paid. 
 
 4. That the China market should be open for the import of every 
 species of British manufacture, from the other ports in India, in case it 
 should not be permitted to trade direct thither. 
 
 Sundry objections were made by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas to each 
 of the propositions ; and, after successive meetings, and some correspon- 
 dence between them and the Delegates, nothing decisive was determined 
 upon, before the Delegates returned to Manchester. 
 
 A Delegation was sent from the British Callico and Muslin Manu- 
 facturers to Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas, about the same time that the 
 application was made from the town of Manchester ; but the persons 
 delegated, and the objects of the delegation, differed, in some respect, 
 
 from, 
 
 
XXII APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IV. f r om each other. Mr. Thackeray and Mr. Simpson attended from 
 Manchester. Manchester, on the part of the British Callico and Muslin Manufac- 
 turers, who requested that a restraint, or prohibition, might take place, 
 respecting the introduction of India manufactures into England for 
 home consumption, and that the East-India Company might be obliged, 
 annually, to import into England a certain quantity of the finest Dacca 
 or Ahmood cotton-wool. 
 
 Nothing decisive was concluded on their behalf ; but the exclusive 
 trade was soon afterwards granted to the India Company. 
 
 Upon finding that these propositions were incompatible with the 
 renewal of the Company's Privileges, the Manchester Committee for- 
 warded the following observations : 
 
 1 . That, at any freight, we would prefer private ships ; nor do 
 we see any reason against their being allowed, as the difference of a flag 
 cannot obviate the evil of free shipping, should any exist. We must also 
 observe, that the Company have been offered freight at j[ 18 per ton ; that 
 they might have it at j£l6 per ton ; and that private ships are offered 
 at J[l4 per ton ; due attention being had to the size, force, and appoint- 
 ments, necessary insurance warranted to be done, at as low a premium as 
 is now paid upon private adventure, in the ships of the Company. We 
 cannot, therefore, but consider, if free ships be not permitted, any extra 
 freight exceeding £ 14 per ton (at which, since our conference, it has 
 been offered), as an oppressive tax imposed on private trade, for the 
 sole e molument of what is called the Shipping Interest : and to wish us 
 well, and, at the same time, to take from us the means of doing well, is 
 not, we are convinced, your desire. 
 
 2. That the Company should be indemnified the expences of 
 pilotage, and other such small charges, in India, is just ; but to prevent 
 
 disputes 
 
APPENDIX. XXIU 
 
 disputes and future ill-humour, a certain rate had better be fixed (say No. IV. 
 one-half, or one per cent.) : this will ascertain the imports and exports, Manchester 
 whilst the smallness of the duty will take away all pretence and desire of 
 evasion. 
 
 3. We beg leave to repeat what we before urged, that all articles 
 of private trade be delivered up to the owners, upon arrival, after 
 payment of freight and duties. 
 
 Unless this be permitted, the sinew of private adventure is cut. It 
 is so contrary to every system of private trade and economy, to that 
 control which every man should have over his property, and to the 
 exercise of that judgment, which is to regulate, and to ensure success to 
 every speculation, that, in a few years, when the profits on imports 
 become regulated, the liberty now proposed to be granted to individuals 
 will not avail them any thing. 
 
 We ought, likewise, to represent the disadvantage which the general 
 trade of the kingdom will labour under, by obliging every thing going 
 to, and coming from India, to pass through the medium of London. 
 
 4. We must express our great regret, that a direct trade to China 
 cannot, at present, be permitted ; but are willing to hope, that the 
 Company will not, in this trade, totally disregard the interests of the 
 Cotton Manufacturer, but be induced to send, for sample, both there and 
 to Persia, a few cotton velvets or velverets, of colours suitable to the 
 respective countries. The value to each need not exceed the amount of 
 from .£loo to jE 200. 0) 
 
 These propositions the Manchester Committee endeavoured to 
 
 strengthen, in so far as related to freight, by the following letter from 
 
 the 
 
 • 
 
 (l) Observations on the Answers to^the Propositions given in by Messrs. Gregg and 
 
 Frodsham, Delegates from Manchester. 
 
XXI V APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IV. the Committee of Liverpool, to whom they had referred upon that 
 Manchester, subject : 
 
 Liverpool, 8th March, 1793. 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Your letter, addressed to the Mayor, was, by him, laid before 
 the Committee appointed at a general Meeting, held on the 23d Novem- 
 ber last, for the purpose of considering on the measures proper to be 
 adopted, in order to obtain a participation of the trade to the countries 
 beyond the Cape of Good Hope ; and I am requested to acquaint you, 
 that, from the best information the Committee is enabled to obtain on 
 the subject, the Merchants of Liverpool would undertake, in time of 
 peace, to provide shipping, well fitted out and properly armed, for the 
 purpose of carrying on the trade in question, at the rate of j£l4 per 
 ton, out and home : they would engage, that the ships should be such, 
 as that insurance might be effected on them, at the same premium as 
 hath been actually paid on the vessels in the service of the East-India 
 Company ; and the Committee think the Merchants are well warranted 
 in this opinion, from knowing that very considerable sums have been 
 insured on the ships sent to the East-Indies, from America, and from 
 Ostend, at a premium not exceeding that paid on the ships employed by 
 the East-India Company ; and the merchants deem the rate of insurance 
 the criterion, whereby to judge of the equipment of a ship for such a 
 voyage. 
 
 This Committee will be extremely happy to receive the resolutions 
 mentioned in your letter, as soon as they are printed, and to correspond 
 with any Committee that may be formed in Manchester, on this business, 
 which is of the highest importance to the commercial interests of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 By 
 
APPENDIX. XXY 
 
 By to-morrow's post, I shall have the honor to transmit a copy of No. IV. 
 this letter to your Delegates in London, with any further information Manchester. 
 that may be given to the Committee, at its meeting to-morrow. 
 
 I am, with much respect, 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Your most obedient and humble servant, 
 
 THOMAS EARLE, 
 
 in the Absence of the Chairman. 
 
 To James Ackers, Esq. Boroughreeve of Manchester. 
 
 John Leaf, Esq. ") 
 
 Constables. 
 
 Joseph Hard man 
 
 , Esq. ) 
 
 The following clause was sent from the Manchester Committee to 
 the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, to be inserted in the Act for 
 renewing the Company's exclusive Privileges : 
 
 " And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that, from 
 " and after the passing of this Act, every piece of plain, checquered, or 
 " striped muslin goods, or goods made and manufactured with a figure 
 " in the loom, shall have, at each end of the piece, three blue stripes, 
 " the whole width of the piece, each stripe to be made with four blue 
 " threads at the least, and to be separated with a like number of undyed 
 " cotton weft, or shoot ; and that if, after the passing of this Act, any 
 «' piece of muslin goods, other than such as shall have at both, or one 
 " of the ends thereof, at least, three such stripes of blue threads, the 
 " whole width of the piece, each stripe consisting of four threads in 
 
 d " number, 
 
XXVI APPENDIX. 
 
 No. IV. if number, and separated by a like number of threads of undyed cotton 
 Manchester. <e weft, or shoot, shall be found in the possession of any manufacturer, 
 " draper, dealer, shopkeeper, or other person, who shall make, or expose 
 (t such goods to, or for sale, the same goods shall, in every such case, be 
 " forfeited, and may be taken and seized by any person or persons ; and 
 " the person or persons, in whose possession such goods shall be found 
 ci and taken, shall pay, besides the loss of such goods, the penalty of 
 ee twenty pounds, for every piece of goods so found and taken, not 
 " marked in the manner aforesaid, which said fine, penalty, and for- 
 <c feiture shall be sued for, recovered, levied, or mitigated, by such 
 " ways, means, or methods, as any fine, penalty, or forfeiture, may be 
 " sued for, recovered, levied, or mitigated, by any law or laws of Excise 
 " (so as the same be not mitigated to less than one-half of any such 
 " fine, penalty, or forfeiture, and the whole of the costs of proceeding 
 " to recover the same) or by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, 
 ** in any of His Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster, or in the 
 " Court of Exchequer in Scotland, respectively ; and that one moiety of 
 f i every such fine, penalty, or forfeiture, shall be to His Majesty, his 
 * Heirs, and Successors, and the other moiety to him, or them, who 
 " shall inform, discover, or sue for the same. 
 
 <e Provided always, that nothing herein - before contained shall 
 " extend, or be construed to extend, to any British muslin goods, 
 ef which shall have been manufactured previous to the passing of this 
 " Act, or to any foreign muslin goods, which shall have been sold by 
 " the East-India Company, to any person or persons, previous to the 
 t€ . passing of this Act, provided the owners or proprietors of such goods 
 " shall, within the space of one year after the passing of this act, give 
 " notice to some officer of His Majesty's Excise, of all such goods as 
 
 " shall 
 
APPENDIX. XXVU 
 
 " shall be in his, her, or their possession, and have the same marked No. IV. 
 
 " by such officer, with a proper stamp or mark, so that the same Manchester. 
 
 <e may always, thereafter, be known and distinguished from muslin 
 
 w goods, which shall be made or imported at any time after the passing 
 
 te of this Act; and every officer of Excise is hereby required, within 
 
 " forty-eight hours after any such application, to affix such stamp, on 
 
 " pain of forfeiture of five pounds for every default, to be recovered 
 
 " as aforesaid." 
 
 ■ \ h^tip. ^rl (fr. ri;> <virrii 
 
 d 2 
 
 
 i 
 LQod £*vfid« lisda, rloidw * 
 
 . 
 
xxviii APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 No. v. PROCEEDINGS of the Merchants of EXETER, on the 
 Exeter. Subject of the Trade of the East-India Company. 
 
 Exeter, January \6tk, 1793. 
 At a General Meeting of the Merchants of Exeter, held this day at 
 Bennett's Tavern, in the Serge Market, for the purpose of taking 
 into consideration the means to be adopted for resisting a renewal of 
 the exclusive Charter of the East-India Company : 
 
 Henry Waymouth, Esq. in the Chair : 
 It was resolved unanimously : 
 
 1. That monopolies are inconsistent with the true principles of 
 commerce, because they restrain, at once, the spirit of enterprize, and 
 the freedom of competition ; and are injurious to the country where they 
 obtain, because the monopolist, by fixing the rate, both of purchase 
 and sale, can oppress the public at discretion. 
 
 2. That the mercantile concerns of privileged bodies, necessarily 
 conducted by agents, who, far from being solicitous for their success, may 
 have interests of opposite tendency, must often languish, where the 
 economy and adroitness of individuals would render them prosperous, 
 whilst sources of wealth remain unexplored, which the enterprizing 
 spirit of private adventurers would instantly disclose. 
 
 3. That the abusive management of the English East-India Com- 
 pany has, among other instances, been particularly evinced to the Mer- 
 chants of Exeter, in the system pursued for their supply of Devonshire 
 
 woollens. 
 
APPENDIX. Xxix 
 
 woollens. This supply, however, procured through the medium of No. V. 
 factors resident in London, where the woollens are dyed and prepared, Exeter. 
 is attended with such enormous abuses, that a proposal has been lately 
 made to the Directors, and communicated to the Lords of Trade, (l) for 
 saving the Company ,£40,000 a year in the single article of Long Ells, 
 by furnishing it, in a finished state, from the country of manufacture, 
 where the cheapness of labour, local circumstances, and a variety of 
 causes, facilitate the preparation of woollens : whilst the situation of 
 London presents obstacles, and occasions expences, altogether unknown 
 
 in 
 
 (1) This letter is dated Exeter, January 25th 1793 5 and is as follows: 
 
 Sir, 
 
 We had the honor to address the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for 
 Trade, a copy of our resolutions of the 16th instant, on the subject of the East-India 
 Charter, of which a duplicate is annexed. 
 
 The zeal for promoting our commercial interests, is testified by their Lordships, in the 
 letters with which they honored us, on the occasion of Lord Macartney's Embassy, encou- 
 rages us to presume on a continuance of the same sentiments in our favor. 
 
 The grievances we, at that time, stated to arise from the system hitherto pursued, in the 
 exports of woollens to China, are now become so alarming, as to make us apprehend the 
 annihilation of our European trade, and the urgency of the case impels us to solicit the 
 Legislature for relief. 
 
 Should the subject attract their Lordship's notice, so as to encourage us to a more 
 circumstantial detail of our case, their patronage, we conceive, would support our claims, 
 and a communication of their pleasure, as to the mode of submitting our representations, 
 will be carefully observed. 
 
 We have the honor, &c. 
 
 SAMUEL BANFILL, 
 JOHN COLE, 
 SAMUEL TREMLETT. 
 
XXX APPENDIX. 
 
 No - v in Devonshire. Ttie offer, however, was declined, for reasons obvious 
 Exeter. to all, who are apprized of the chain which connects the parts of privi- 
 leged establishments. 
 
 4. That the increasing demand of Long Ells for China, which has 
 augmented, in a few years, from «£6o,000 to .£400,000 annually, is 
 among the causes of the rise of wool ; a circumstance which gives us 
 serious alarm. Gur usual markets of sale, in every part of Europe, and 
 particularly Germany and Spain, are enabled, by this rise of the raw 
 material here, to be supplied at home, or from other quarters, more 
 advantageously than from us. Those markets must gradually close, 
 whilst our trade passes to another quarter of the globe, through the 
 channel of a monopoly. 
 
 5. That a free exportation to the East, especially to China and the 
 surrounding islands, would not only substitute markets for those we are 
 losing in Europe, but disclose to the industry of England, and to the 
 woollen manufactory, in particular, inexhaustible sources of employ- 
 ment : an event, not less interesting to the landholder, than to the mer- 
 chant, from the additional value it would give to wool, already become of 
 unusual importance to the grower. 
 
 6. That the reasons which may have, at first, justified the estab- 
 lishment of an exclusive Company, have long since ceased to operate ; 
 the intelligence and capitals of British Merchants no longer requiring 
 exclusive Privileges, to give them energy. If some branches of the 
 Eastern trade demand resources, beyond the scope of individuals, Associa- 
 tions of Merchants, requiring no privilege but freedom of action, will be 
 formed to conduct them ; a subdivision of employment will ensue, which 
 will facilitate to each class the attainment of its particular object, and 
 procure to the public the greatest possible benefits. 
 
 7. That 
 
APPENDIX. XXXI 
 
 7. That the difficulties which may occur in the establishment of a No. V. 
 free trade to the Peninsula of India, where the revenues of territory are Exeter, 
 implicated with the profits of trade, and political intrigues with mercan- 
 tile operations, have no existence with respect to China, the principal 
 
 mart for woollens, where the access of Europeans is restrained to a single 
 port. 
 
 8. That, aware of the various interests involved in the complication 
 of India concerns, we disclaim the attempt of rash innovation, where 
 gradual reform may be, alone, compatible with the strict observance of 
 justice, to the numerous departments of the existing system, or with 
 security to the revenue and tranquillity of this country. 
 
 9. That a petition be presented to Parliament, praying that this 
 important subject may be impartially investigated, and such arrangements 
 made, as shall appear beneficial to the commercial, manufacturing, and, 
 in consequence, the landed interests of this country. 
 
 10. That a Committee be appointed to prepare such petition, to 
 correspond with the other trading towns of Great-Britain 3 interested in 
 the measure, and to confer with the members for the county of Devon, 
 the city of Exeter, and such other gentlemen in Parliament as they may 
 think proper, for the purpose of obtaining their assistance and support. , 
 
 1 1 . That a subscription be opened, for defraying the expences that 
 may be incurred in the prosecution of this business, and that Mr. John 
 Mitford be appointed Treasurer. 
 
 12. That the Committee do consist of the following Gentlemen : 
 
 The Chairman, 
 Mr. Samuel Banfill, Mr. Abraham Kennaway, 
 
 Mr. John Cole, Mr. John Mitford, 
 
 Mr. Richard 
 
XXXU APPENDIX. 
 
 No - v - Mr. Richard Collins, Mr. Samuel Tremlett, 
 
 Exeter. Mr. J. J. Hirtzell, Mr. George Waymouth, 
 
 and that any three may act, on giving due notice. 
 
 13. That Mr. Samuel Coggan be appointed Secretary, to whom it 
 is requested all letters on the subject be addressed. 
 
 14. That the thanks of this Meeting be given to the Chairman. 
 
 HENRY WAYMOUTH, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 Though these resolutions were formed on the l6th January 1793, 
 no steps seem to have been taken by the proposers of them, till the 
 month of March. At this time, it was supposed, the question respecting 
 the Government and trade of India would come under the consideration 
 of Parliament ; the following Memorial, therefore, was addressed to the 
 President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India. 
 
 Exeter, §th March 1793. 
 A renewal of the India Charter appearing to be in contemplation, 
 and the principle of introducing regulations, which may effectually 
 protect and encourage the manufacturing and commercial interests of 
 this country, pervading every part of your printed communications with 
 the Company ; on this subject, we, the Merchants of Exeter, are encou- 
 raged to solicit your attention to the state of our commerce, deeply 
 involved in the consideration, and which, far from being benefited by 
 the connections beyond the Cape of Good Hope, feels material injury 
 from the exports to China, and, we apprehend, will ultimately be ruined, 
 if the present system of supply continues to prevail. 
 
 Among 
 
 
appendix. xxxiii 
 
 Among the exports of this city, the article of Long Ells is, by far, the No. V. 
 most important : — the labour arising from the various processes of pre- Exeter, 
 paring this article, which is consumed, under different denominations, 
 throughout Europe, forms the industry and support of this place. You 
 are well aware, Sir, that the Company's annual exports of the same 
 article have increased within a few years, from <£6o,000, to near 
 .£"400,000, and the reports of the Committee of Directors afford reason 
 to believe a progressive increase of demand will, in a few years, nearly 
 double that supply. 
 
 An excessive advance of price has necessarily attended this unusual 
 demand for Long Ells, which bears a nearer proportion to the sum of our 
 European exports of the article : — this advance, which operates as a 
 bounty on the rising manufactories of neighbouring states, has affected 
 our trade, and creates serious alarm : — the European trade is diminish- 
 ing, whilst that with China augments : — this exchange of one market 
 for another would not become a subject for complaint, were both equally 
 accessible ; but, in the present instance, we are losing the old markets, 
 yet are excluded from the new : — the Long Ells for China being sent to 
 the Company in the raw state, afford no employment to the industry of 
 Exeter ; a circumstance so much the more mortifying, as a variety of 
 causes so favour us in the preparation of woollens, that we are enabled 
 to save the Company ten per cent, on the first cost of any part of their 
 Long Ells, the purchases and proportions of which may be entrusted to 
 
 our care. 
 
 The grievances we already feel, and the still greater we apprehend, 
 from the present system of the China trade, impel us to seek redress, 
 and we have deputed Mr. Samuel Banfill, Mr. John Cole, and Mr. John 
 Mitford, Merchants of this place, to submit our case to your considera- 
 
 e tion, 
 
XXxiV APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. tion, and to make such further explanations as shall be deemed neces- 
 
 Exeter. sary. 
 
 We trust that, under your patronage, a plan may be adopted for 
 admitting us to a participation of the export trade to China, or of secur- 
 ing such arrangements with the Company, as may be mutually bene- 
 ficial. 
 
 We have the honor to be, with profound respect, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient, and very humble servants, 
 
 C. WAYMOUTH, BROTHERS, 
 JOHN CRESWELL, and Co. 
 HENRY WAYMOUTH, and Co. 
 
 The Right Honorable Henry Dundas, 
 Secretary of State, &c. 
 
 This memorial Mr. Dundas transmitted to the Chairman, with the 
 following letter : 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I send you a memorial, which has been laid before me by some 
 Gentlemen) interested in the manufactures of the town of Exeter. On 
 the first view of the case, it does certainly appear to resolve into a com- 
 plaint that the East-India Company have been more liberal in their 
 exports of Long Ells, than is consistent with the interest of the manufac- 
 turers of Exeter ; but it is impossible to bring forward that grievance, or 
 the remedy for it, as a matter of Parliamentary arrangement. If in the 
 
 article 
 
APPENDIX. XXXV 
 
 article of their dying manufacture, the East-India Company can give the No. V. 
 Manufacturers of Exeter any participation upon equal terms, I should Exeter. 
 think it worthy the liberality of the Company to do so, that no branch 
 of the British industry may appear to suffer, even from the meritorious 
 exertions of the East-India Company. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 HENRY DUNDAS. 
 
 Whitehall, 23d March 1793. 
 
 Francis Baring, Esq. 
 
 Sir, Tavistock, 3d April 17 '93. 
 
 We, the principal Manufacturers of Long-Ells, at the town of 
 Tavistock, in the county of Devon, understanding that the Merchants 
 of Exeter have presented memorials, and delegated three of their body 
 to wait on you, as Secretary of State for the Home Department, praying 
 that the course of the Company's trade may be diverted from its usual 
 and regular channel, under the pretence of its being done at a cheaper 
 rate, &c. &c. : we humbly beg leave to assure you of our entire and 
 perfect satisfaction in the present solidity, conduct, and system of the 
 United East-India Company, their unparalleled punctuality of pay- 
 ments, and strict observance of contracts, having always induced us to 
 deal on considerable lower terms, than we could possibly venture to do 
 with private merchants. 
 
 We therefore pray, that a few interested individuals may have no 
 weight in your consideration, as a participation of any part of this trade 
 
 e 2 would, 
 
XXXVI APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. would, in all probability, endanger the very high repute and credit the 
 Exeter. Company peculiarly possess, in this branch of their commerce, the loss 
 
 of which would be of the most serious consequences to thousands in 
 
 this, and the adjoining counties, whose only support are dependant on 
 
 the same. 
 
 Trusting in your well known justice and impartiality to discourage 
 
 all improper speculative innovation, 
 
 We have the honor to remain, with the greatest respect, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your very obedient and faithful servants, 
 
 THOMAS WINDEATT, 
 JOHN GARLAND, 
 EDGECOMBE PARSON, 
 
 JOSEPH DAVY.w 
 
 The Right Honorable Henry Dundas. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 (1) Similar letters were sent to the Right Honorable Henry Dundas, from the follow- 
 ing manufacturing towns. 
 
 North Tawton, April gth, 1793. 
 (Signed by) John Prideaux, George Duranr, Francis Cole, 
 
 Charles Sweet, William Sweet, Josias Gard. 
 
 Modhury, Devon, April 3d, 1793. 
 (Signed by) Philip Perring, Charles Perring, Richard Perring, 
 
 John Wakeman, 
 Newton Allott, April 4th, 1793. 
 (Signed by) Solomon Tozer, Richard Milford Tozer. 
 
 Crediton. 
 (Signed by) John Wilsford, Nathaniel Haydon, William Vicary, 
 
 William Berry, George Shute, Wil i iam CouchC/ 
 
 John Fulford. 
 
APPENDIX. XXXVll 
 
 No. V. 
 
 Exeter, April 1 3 th, 1793. Exeter. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 We were favored, the 8th instant, through Mr. Bastard, 
 with two papers, on the subject of our application to you, as Delegates 
 from this place, the one transmitted by Mr. Farmer, and others inte- 
 rested in the woollen business ; the other by the factors, dyers, and 
 pressers of Long Ells in London. 
 
 To the first of these papers, entitled (e Observations on the Case 
 of Exeter," we have the honor to annex a separate reply. Permit us, 
 Sir, in this place, briefly to answer the second, which solely turns on 
 two points : 
 
 1. That Long-Ells can alone be completely prepared in London 
 and the vicinity, and no where cheaper. 
 
 2. That 
 
 Sandford. 
 (Signed by) Simon Tucker, Robert Tucker, P. Leach, 
 
 Samuel Brown. 
 Exeter. 
 (Signed by) John Couche. 
 
 Ashburton, 6th April; 1793. 
 (Signed by) George Winsor, William Sunter, Walter Soper, 
 
 Richard Soper, Thomas Eales, William Fabyan, 
 
 Moses Savery, John Berry, Henry Callard, 
 
 Joseph Sunter, John Winsor, John Counter, 
 
 Thomas Soper, John Caynter, Jun. John Tozer, 
 
 W. Berry, Edward Bovey, Jun. Solomon Tozer, Jun. 
 
 Wellington, 6th April, 1793. 
 (Signed by) Nicholas Were, Stephen Maltravers, Thomas Fox. 
 
 Plymouth, 13 th April, 1793. 
 (Signed by) Nicholas Hyne. 
 
XXXV1U APPENDIX 
 
 No. V. 2. That were this branch of industry removed from London, the 
 
 Exeter. capitals there embarked in it would suffer. 
 
 In reply to the first point, the assertion of the factors will, perhaps, 
 appear extraordinary, when it is known, that the Europeans, and other 
 purchasers of Long-Ells, who have the choice of the two markets, London 
 and Exeter, almost exclusively apply in preference to Exeter ; and that the 
 supply of the countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope, where the consu- 
 mers have not the choice, may be said to be the only one made from Lon- 
 don. We take this opportunity of repeating, what we have ever stated as 
 the basis of our application, that the Merchants of Exeter only wish for a 
 participation in supplying the East India Company with Long-Ells, so 
 far as they can furnish the article in as complete a state of finish, and at 
 least as advantageously, in every respect, as the Company obtain it under 
 the present system. 
 
 3. With respect to the injury that would be sustained by a removal 
 of any part of the supply of the Company, this apprehension must 
 appear altogether unreasonable, when it is considered, that the quantity 
 of Long-Ells at present exported to China, is ten-fold more than was sent 
 eight years ago ; that the Company are of opinion the export will 
 progressively increase in an equal proportion, and that Exeter only 
 solicits a third, or even a fourth of the business, from which share that 
 city would derive important relief, whilst a much larger would still 
 remain to the factors, dyers, &c. of London, than till lately they ever 
 enjoyed : — the supply of China is a recent acquisition to the trade of 
 London : — the supply of the European markets, which is injured by 
 that of China, is the established and staple trade of Exeter : — to conduct 
 that European trade, large fortunes are embarked in extensive establish- 
 ments, and that these establishments may not become wholly unpro- 
 ductive, 
 
APPENDIX. XXXIX 
 
 ductive, a small part of the supply of the Company, for China, is No.V. 
 solicited, since from the supply through the present channel, the injury Exeter. 
 is great to the trade of Exeter. 
 
 We must here observe, though we have already troubled you with 
 the remark, that the case of Exeter, from whence the usual trade 
 declined, is already a much harder one than any that can possibly arise 
 to London, from a compliance with our request ; especially when it is 
 considered, that in London, when one branch of trade fails, an infinity 
 of others is at hand, whilst, in the country, the traders are limited, by 
 their local situation, to the few objects which form the immediate com- 
 merce of their district. 
 
 We are not surprised that alarm should be expressed by the gentle- 
 men who signed the memorial, or excited among the manufacturers in 
 their immediate interest, at an application, the nature of which, it 
 clearly appears, they did not exactly comprehend ; but when the 
 grounds of our request, and the narrow limits to which it is confined, 
 are explained, we appeal to you, Sir, whether it ought to create emotions 
 of jealousy. 
 
 The " Observations on our Case," comprising a variety of heads, 
 we have judged it expedient to reply distinctly to each. 
 
 Aware that the multiplicity of your engagements leave you but 
 little leisure for perusing prolix memorials, we should not have presumed 
 to trouble you with a statement so minute, had not the " Observations " 
 appeared to require it. 
 
 We rejoice in the opportunity they have afforded for fair investiga- 
 tion ; conscious that, when our case is understood, no well-grounded 
 objection can arise from any quarter, notwithstanding a partial or 
 mistaken conception of our claim may have excited an alarm, which, 
 
 we 
 
Xl APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. we trust, enquiry will prove unfounded, even with the party with whom 
 Exeter. it originated. 
 
 We have the honor to be, with profound respect, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient, and very humble servants, 
 
 SAMUEL BANFILL, 
 JOHN COLE. 
 
 "Reply of the Merchants, Traders, fyc, of Exeter, to the 
 " Observations on their Case," by Mr, farmer and others. 
 
 The " Observations on the Case of the Exeter Merchants'" may be 
 arranged under six heads. 
 
 1 . That the exportation of Long-Ells to China has not increased the 
 price of that article in Devonshire. 
 
 2. That if the Company's demand had produced such effect, no 
 danger would thence arise to the European markets, since no substitute 
 for Long-Ells can be found. 
 
 3. That a principal cause of the high price of wool, was the 
 demand of English woollens for France. 
 
 4. That Exeter possesses no advantages in the purchase, prepara- 
 tion, dying, or finishing Long-Ells ; a manufacture, however, confessedly 
 peculiar to Devonshire, of which Exeter is the capital and centre. That 
 the art of dying is yet in its infancy in Exeter, and that if the art were 
 there, means for exercising it are not to be found. 
 
 5. That the object of the merchants of Exeter is to derive a profit 
 from the Long-Ells bought for the Company, which does not at present 
 
 obtain ; 
 
APPENDIX. x li 
 
 obtain; or, in other words, that their plan, instead of presenting No. v. 
 advantage to the Company, is of contrary tendency. Exeter. 
 
 6. That the preparation, dying, and finishing of Long Ells, is not 
 of that importance to the city of Exeter, represented by the merchants. 
 
 To these observations it is proposed distinctly to reply in the same 
 order. 
 
 First. To prove that the exports of Long Ells to China, have influ- 
 enced the price in Devonshire, it might be sufficient to state, that those 
 exports have increased in a few years, from a quantity scarcely deserving 
 mention, to near three-fourths of all the European exports of that 
 article, which is by far the principal of the Devonshire fabrics. 
 
 It is a notorious fact, that, for five years, the article has been rapidly 
 increasing in price, or, what is the same thing, decreasing in quality. 
 The assertion made in the remarks on our case, that, from 1785 to 1793, 
 the advance had been only one and a half per cent., could only arise 
 from an inattention to the circumstance, that, inferior classes of Long Ells 
 have, of late years, been substituted for the superior, and sold at the 
 same, or even higher prices, than the superior classes previously pro- 
 duced : — the Long Ells of the Company are chiefly of two sorts, Green 
 Forrells and Striped Forrells : — the latter always bear a price, ten to four- 
 teen per cent., higher than the former. The Company, during the 
 period alluded to, did not, we believe, pay an advance of price, exceed- 
 ing that, mentioned in the " Observations ;" but every manufacturer is 
 ready to confess, that the Green Forrells of the years 1784-5, were of 
 equal goodness to the Striped Forrells of 179I-2, though the article did 
 consequently advance, in fact, during the interval, twelve to fifteen per 
 cent., and from the fall of 1792, and first month ot 1793, it is con- 
 fessed, on all hands, to have advanced twelve per cent, more, 
 
 f It 
 
x lii APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. It is notorious to all acquainted with the woollen manufactory of De- 
 
 Exeter, vonshire, that where the price of any particular class remained from 1785- 
 to 1792, with the slight variation mentioned, as in some instances was 
 the case, the quality did not impoverish in the proportion we have stated.. 
 The advance of twelve per cent, paid by the Company on the 
 purchases they made, early in 1793, obtained on goods manufactured in 
 the summer and autumn of 179 2 > an d tne manufacturers paid a propor- 
 tional advance on the raw material, at and before the shear time of 
 1792 ; a remark which it will be proper to recal, under the third head. 
 
 In confirmation of those facts, which, we conceive, clearly establish 
 the position, that the demand of Long Ells for China does materially 
 influence the price of the article in Devonshire : — we shall state another, 
 not less conclusive : — since the present war, the woollen articles of 
 Norwich, Halifax, and Leeds, have fallen ten to fifteen per cent : — some 
 articles of Devonshire have fallen, though not in the same proportion. 
 Long Ells, however, which are the principal, have rather advanced than 
 fallen in price, the demand for China not being affected by a war in 
 Europe. 
 
 Secondly. That admitting the advance, no injury, it is said, can 
 arise, because the European markets can find no substitute. 
 
 To this assertion we shall oppose two facts, of very extensive opera- 
 tion, reserving the particular instances, which are unfortunately in the 
 possession of every mercantile house here, for the further conference it 
 may be necessary to have on this subject. 
 
 1. In the years 1783, 1784, and 1785, that is immediately after 
 the Peace, a principal export to Spain, was a class of Long Ells (of the 
 very quality, and texture used by the Company), called by the manufac- 
 turers 5 Piece and Quarter Sandfords ; by the Spaniards, Sargas. This 
 -vi article^ 
 
appendix. xliii 
 
 article, during the war, had been manufactured in prodigious quantities, at No - V". 
 the Royal Spanish Fabrics of San Fernando and Guadalaxara, and, during Exeter, 
 that period, was the principal substitute for English Long-Ells. We suc- 
 cessfully rivalled these Spanish fabrics, at the Peace, by our Piece and 
 Quarter Sandfords ; and during the years 17 83 , !7 84 j 1785, an -d 17 86, 
 this was a principal article of our exports. Our wool, which, from the 
 stock accumulated during the war, was at first cheap, was now considerably 
 enhanced, the Company's purchases were rapidly increasing, and the 
 Sargas became dear, or declined in quality. The Spanish government, 
 watching the moment, made a small addition to the duties, and from 
 that time not a hundredth part of the Sargas has been manufactured in 
 Devonshire, which were previously shipped for Spain. The present 
 reduced exports of the article are attended with circumstances so clearly 
 demonstrative of the fatal tendency of trifling advance, that we must be 
 permitted to state them. Our present missions are solely made for the 
 consumption of sea-ports, and the vicinities, where no land carriage is 
 incurred, and where the articles of Guadalaxara are subject to land 
 carriage, before their arrival at the place of demand. To be more 
 particular, Exeter supplies Cadiz, Seville, and Malaga, with Piece and 
 Quarter Sandfords, or Sargas, but the fabrics of (Guadalaxara supply 
 Madrid, and all the inland country : that is, the preference of the Exeter 
 to the Spanish article, and the contrary, solely turns on the expence of 
 carriage. 
 
 •2. The Spanish Americas were, till lately, the principal mart for 
 Long-Ells. That article formed a material part of the cargoes of the Flotas 
 from Cadiz, before the war, and of the vessels that have sailed from Spain, 
 
 for the colonies, in the years 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786, and 1787- 
 
 f 2 During 
 
xliv APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. During the war, when the stock of Long- Ells was exhausted in the 
 
 Extter. Spanish colonies, a coarse cotton fabric of Catalonia found its way to the 
 market, and was substituted for Long-Ells. The Swiss manufacturers, 
 seizing the moment, sent to Catalonia, (where their articles passed for 
 Spanish manufacture), coarse linens and cottons of Switzerland, to meet 
 the demand of the Spanish colonies. Linens and flannels, variously 
 prepared, of Silesia, were applied to the same purpose. At the peace, 
 Long Ells were sent, and, in a great degree, consumed as before ; but 
 whether the cause originated in the high price of Long-Ells, or in the 
 improved state of the Catalonia cotton, and the Swiss and Silesia articles, 
 we observe with alarm, that the demand of Long-Ells, for Spanish 
 America, has, in a manner, ceased since 1786 and 1787. 
 
 A few expeditions were made to Cadiz early in 1792 ; but we have 
 melancholy proofs to produce, in letters from the merchants of Cadiz 
 who demanded them, that the price being too high, cottons of Catalo- 
 nia, and articles of Switzerland and Silesia, must supply their place; 
 
 Thirdly. That the cause of the late rise of wool is not to be sought 
 for in the demand for France, we have simply to state, that the advance 
 obtained at the shear time of 179 2 > when the wool-dealers and manufac- 
 turers could have no well-founded expectation of such demand, and that, 
 so far as our experience and enquiries go, of the woollens of Devonshire, 
 sent to, or prepared for France, the quantity has been too inconsiderable 
 to affect, even in a slight degree, the price of wool. 
 
 Fourthly. On the fourth head, we must be permitted to be more 
 explicit. 
 
 The Manufacturers of Devonshire, of which Long Ells are the prin- 
 cipal branch, are prepared, dyed, and finished in Exeter, and thence 
 exported to every part of Europe. The labour arising from the various 
 
 branches 
 
APPENDIX. xlf 
 
 branches of this commerce, constitutes the general industry and support No. V. 
 of that city. The merchants of Exeter purchase the goods, or have Exeter, 
 them manufactured, on their own account, in the raw state, and their 
 business consists in a critical knowledge of the articles, and a skilful 
 management of the preparation ; the various processes of which are 
 chiefly conducted on their account, and always under their immediate 
 inspection. The rate of labour, the supply of water, the compactness 
 of their establishment for preparing, dying, and pressing goods, from 
 which immense savings of carriage accrue, the vicinity to the fabrics, 
 and a variety of other circumstances, afford to the situation of Exeter, 
 such advantages over that of London, in the preparation of woollens, that 
 our application rests on the ability to serve the Company, at least as 
 well as it is now served, and cheaper. We think it unnecessary to enter 
 into a detail of the parts of the preparations whence the savings accrue ; 
 but, we conceive, a convincing proof of our local advantages may be 
 found in a fact, which is incontrovertible. 
 
 Exeter supplies, almost exclusively, all the countries of Europe with 
 the manufactures of Devon, in a finished state, though the purchasers of 
 those countries, who have the choice of the two markets, London and 
 Exeter, have connections with London, for a variety of other concerns. 
 We are at a loss to understand the meaning of the assertion in the 
 " Remarks on our Case," that " if we had the art of dying, we have 
 u not the means of exercising it," when it is a notorious fact, that we are 
 preferred to London, for the exercise of that art, on all the fabrics of 
 Devonshire, by nearly all the countries of the world, those only excepted 
 beyond the Cape of Good Hope, where the exclusive privilege of the 
 Company prevails. 
 
 Fifthly, We shall not conceal for a moment, that the object of 
 our application is profit ; but that profit, we conceive, must be derived 
 
 from 
 
Ixvi APPENDIX. 
 
 No. V. from the most natural application of the truest principles of commercial 
 Exeter. policy, since it can only flow from an union of local advantages with 
 industry and skill. Unless we benefit the Company, whilst we are serv- 
 ing ourselves, our pretensions cannot avail, and, consequently, the 
 insinuation of the memorial refutes itself. 
 
 Lastly. In reply to the assertion, that the preparation of Long-Ells 
 is not of that importance we have represented to the city of Exeter, two 
 simple facts will be stated. 
 
 1. The preparation, dying, and pressing of woollens, form almost 
 the sole industry of Exeter. A few goods are manufactured in the city, 
 but the quantity is inconsiderable. 
 
 2. Of the woollens prepared in Exeter, the article of Long Ells, 
 distinguished under the various appellations of Ells, Long Seconds, 
 Seconds, Broads, Rachers, and Sandfords, form three-fourths, both in 
 quantity and value. From these two facts, which are incontrovertible, 
 it may be easily ascertained, whether the preparation of Long-Ells be, 
 or be not, of importance to the city of Exeter. 
 
 Before we close our reply, we must be permitted to observe, that 
 the nature of our claim does not appear to warrant, either the acrimony 
 of the remarks, and jealousy which is manifested, or the extraordinary 
 steps which are taken to resist it. We solicit a small share (a third or a 
 fourth only) of a trade, which has increased in a few years, from an 
 inconsiderable beginning, to a very large amount, and which is confessed 
 to be still progressive. This increase of the China trade has already 
 materially injured, and threatens, ultimately, to annihilate the European 
 trade of Exeter ; a trade long established, and of the utmost importance 
 to this place and county. Our request is founded on the ability to serve 
 the Company in the most complete and advantageous manner. 
 
 The small share we solicit would retain in employment some of our 
 labourers, who must otherwise emigrate with the trade ; and our expen- 
 sive 
 
APPENDIX. Xlvii 
 
 sive establishments, for the preparation of woollens, would continue to be, No - V. 
 in a certain degree, at least, productive ; whilst the city and vicinity of £xeter. 
 London will reap the advantages of a much larger share of the woollen 
 trade to China, which, to that metropolis, is a recent acquisition. If the 
 Factors of London, through the Manufacturers of Devon, in their 
 immediate interest, and the dyers and pressers of London, can furnish 
 the Long Ells of Devonshire to the India Company, on better terms, or 
 in a more perfect state, than the merchants of Exeter, through their 
 manufacturers, and their establishments for the preparation, we abandon 
 our claim. All we solicit, and we conceive it our right, is a fair com- 
 petition. If we maintain the conflict, and we know it is in our power, 
 our claim must appear modest and equitable, as it only pretends to the 
 half, the third, or even the fourth of a supply, which naturally belongs 
 to the merchants, dyers, and pressers, of the district, where the manu- 
 factory prevails, and would entirely concentre there, as does the supply 
 of all the other markets consuming the same articles, but for the parti- 
 cular system under which the China trade is conducted. 
 
 Samuel Banfiljl, 
 
 Committee of Merchants, Traders , &c. of 
 
 John Cole, 
 Richard Collins, 
 Edward Granger, 
 
 Exeter, for conducting the applications , &c. «{ Abraham Kennaway 
 on the India and China trade. John Mitford 
 
 George Waymouth, 
 
 JNO. J. HlRTZEL, 
 
 ^Samuel Tremlett. 
 Bennett's Tavern, 
 
 Exeter, April 15 th 1JQ3. 
 
xlviii APPENPIX. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 No. vi. MEMORIAL of the Merchants and Manufacturers of NOR- 
 Norwich. WICH, to the Right Honorable the Lords of Privy Council 
 for Plantations and Trade. 
 
 We, the Merchants and Manufacturers of Norwich, respectfully 
 beg leave to represent to your Lordships, the importance of the East- 
 India trade to the Manufacturers of this city, especially in the material 
 article of Camblets, which appears, from the report of the Honorable 
 Company, to be peculiarly adapted to the taste, climate, and consumption 
 of the populous and extensive Empire of China ; but under the authority 
 of the expiring East-India Charter, the Company have prohibited the 
 private trade, carried on by their officers and servants, exporting any 
 woollen and worsteds. 
 
 We, therefore, humbly entreat your Lordships' protection and inter- 
 position, that, in the formation of the new Charter, such arrangement 
 should be adopted as, in your wisdom, shall be deemed expedient for 
 the more effectual encouragement of the staple manufactures of this 
 kingdom, and, in particular, the worsted articles of this city, by enlarg- 
 ing and facilitating the means of their exportation, through the channel 
 of the East-India Company, and by relieving the private trade from the 
 prohibition to which it is now subject, having, from experience, great 
 cause to believe, that the commanders and other officers of the China ships 
 
 would, 
 
APPENDIX. Xlix 
 
 would, in their own investments, give a preference to the worsted No. VI. 
 commodities of Great-Britain. Norwich. 
 
 JOHN HARVEY, Mayor, 
 Chairman. 
 
 Norwich, 
 13th March 1793. 
 
 THE END, 
 
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