nisters have not had in view the hazardous experiment of dispersing, over all the brought, with so much advantage, both to the Company and the Public, to the single port of London. The Court, however, hope it will be understood by your Lordship, that they have entertained this opinion, not upon the ❘ ports of England and Ireland, a trade now narrow, and now justly exploded ground, which they are sorry to see has been imagined by your Lordship to exist, that the Company have ever considered a monopoly to be more beneficial, in all cases of foreign and distant trade, than an unrestrained commerce," but upon the conviction with which they have been impressed, that an exclusive trade with India is the only one really applicable to the maintenance of the public interests with that country, interwoven as that trade is with the very frame and integrity of those possessions, and resting, as it does, upon many highly important considerations, which are, in no wise, applicable to other commercial establishments. In support of these opinions, the Court beg leave to enclose abstract copies of the Accounts (A and B), which have been called for, and laid before the Committee of the Honourable House of Commons upon East-India Affairs, established in 1808, and continued to the present time, which they imagine will afford a fair representation of the trade in bullion and in goods carried on with India, as well by individuals as by foreign nations; and these Accounts will, they trust, establish, in a conclusive manner, the correctness of the sentiments entertained by the Court respecting this trade. In communicating, however, those sentiments of reluctance, by which the determination of the Court to submit the proposition in question to the Proprietors of East-India Stock is accompanied, the Court hope it will be clearly understood, that this determination arises from a presumption, that such military powers as are now vested in the Company will be left unimpaired, which can alone induce them to entertain an expectation of their being able in a manner satisfactory, either for the Company or the Public, to perform the part which has hitherto been assigned to the Company in the government of a distant empire; and also, that such regulations will be adopted, as will prevent the highly dangerous intercourse of Europeans with the East; and that such arrangements will be made, in respect to pecuniary matters, as will enable the Company to meet with confidence the present state of their affairs. The Court also hope, that in the extension of the trade which the Company now enjoy, His Majesty's Mi If the private intercourse with India should, in future, be extended, it may naturally be expected, that upon the return of peace, a number of British seamen will be thrown out of employ; and the Court are apprehensive that such an intercourse, carried on through the medium of Indian ships and Indian sailors, relaxing as it would do the spirit of the navigation laws, which have always been considered to be the basis of the maritime strength of this country, may be viewed by the nation with extreme alarm, and will probably give rise to many disorders. The Company's papers and offices might furnish material information, by which the rela. tion of the Indian trade with the naviga. tion system could be appreciated, and the Court, if it should be thought likely to be of public utility, are ready to have that information collected; but without such call, and without pressing their reasons at length, either upon your Lordship or the other Members of his Majesty's Government, they will content themselves with the declaration they have already made of their opinion upon this subject. The Court are desirous of taking this opportunity to offer some remarks, and to answer, in a cursory manner, part of those public accusations, which have been so assiduously urged against the East-India Company, and against the further continuance of a system, which, they hope, will appear to rest, not upon the grounds of individual interest, but upon the firm basis of national advantage. Whatever opinions the Court may deliver, upon a subject in which they are manifestly interested, will doubtless be received with circumspection; but the Court think, that they may be allowed, and with justice upon the present occasion, to assert, that the leading disposition of their minds is, to preserve the empire obtained in India to the parent state. The first, and the most prominent of the charges, which have, at various times, been brought against the Company, is the repeated calls which they are accused of having made upon the Public, for money for the prosecution of ruinous concerns; as if they had dissipated large sums in useless and improvident undertakings. Upon 1 1 : this head it may be sufficient for the | been under the immediate direction of His Court to observe, that their commercial affairs (and to those alone was the Company's management restricted) have been invariably attended with success, as they are prepared to shew, if the proof should be called for; and that these advantages have been sufficient to allow of a moderate dividend to the Proprietors of East-India Stock. Over and above this dividend, a surplus sum has been applied, arising from this source, towards the extension of that territory, the acquisition of which has Majesty's Ministers. But the Court are persuaded, that the magnitude of the affairs which the Company have had to manage, has been little known and little attended to, otherwise it would, at once, have been seen, that one of the principal difficulties with which the Company have had to contend, is a capital, not in any respect equal to the great extent, variety, and importance of those affairs. The disbursement of the Company upon the single article of commerce in goods and wares, &c. or of articles necessary for its management, a disbursement of sums going from and returning to the Company, from one moment to another was, at the close of the year 1811, not less than about £. 14,847,678 To this must be added, the amount of advances in India and at home, for stores of various kinds, applicable to the purposes of Government, and in constant use for military equipments, &c.; of cash, arms, &c. and of debts due to the Company from various states and princes, &c.; and other articles, making, at the close of the Indian year 1810, about - - 21,282,279 If to these sums be subjoined the absolute expenditure made by the Company, for the acquirement of a territory, with forts, ammunition, &c. and the actual purchase chase of many factories and territories, building of docks, purchase of forests, &c. including a considerable sum, which has been paid by them, at various times, to the Public, or disbursed for expeditions, and the maintenance of captures afterwards surrendered up to the enemy, viz. They form altogether an aggregate of The Capital of the Company is: - 15,052,170 £.51,182,127 - £.7,780,000 In money advanced by the adventurers, about Together 7,000,000 7,787,953 22,567,953 Constituting, at this moment, a permanent debt in India and in Europe. (See C.) This aggregate of 51,182,127l., a part of which sum only has been employed upon the territorial acquisitions of the Company, forms an outlay, beyond the capital of the Company, of so large an amount, as to make it more matter of wonder how the Company have hitherto been able to carry on the concern at all, than to render it extraordinary that they should have been constrained, respectfully and at various times, to represent the urgency of their affairs, and to press upon the Public for the mere return of those sums, which had been fairly expended by the Company abroad for the public service; a return which has never yet been granted to the Company, to the extent to which in justice it ought to have reached. In every war which has taken place since the Company became possessed of the territorial acquisitions, large sums of money have been expended in capturing the settlements of the French, Dutch, and Danes, and heavy expences incurred in keeping the same, till the political views of the Public occasioned these settlements to be restored, in return for other objects, in which the Company had no particular interest. The Company have also been compelled to pay part of the expence of capturing and maintaining an island afterwards reserved for the exclusive benefit of the Crown; to disburse a considerable sum for a force, of which the Public have derived all the benefit at home; and even to contribute to the Egyptian expedition, the whole of which expences the Company have always thought ought to have fallen upon the State. This large and necessary outlay in fact now constitutes the source of the Company's embarrassment. A considerable part of the money raised in India upon periodical loans to meet this outlay, has (as your Lordship well knows) by the terms of these loans, which made them payable if required, in England, and in consequence of a general reduction of interest from eight to six per cent. been at once thrown upon the Company for immediate payment in Europe; a sum which, with out the aid of Parliament, it is impossible for the Company to discharge. Of this large expenditure, sanctioned, and in many cases specifically directed by the Ministers of the Crown, it may with justice be asked, what part has been incurred for the partial or exclusive advantage of the Company ? - It is evident, that the whole concern has been begun and continued by private exertions alone; nor have the Proprietors received by any means an adequate recompence for those exertions; they have scarcely derived more benefit than the common interest of money. And if India be an object of regard to the world, the Company may have the satisfaction of thinking, that they at their own risk and expence, have rescued it from contending nations, and may claim the merit of having laid it at the feet of their country; acquired and preserved it is true, at a great pecuniary expence, and by such abilities and such exertions, both civil and military, as not only to reflect the highest credit upon the EastIndia Company, but also to raise, as the page of history will testify, the national character. They venture to hope, that when all the great political relations of this acquisition are considered, the price paid for it will not be deemed as out of proportion to its intrinsic value. The wisdom of Parliament will, the Court make no doubt, be applied to preserve what has been so acquired, and finally do justice to those, at whose risk it has been obtained; and not be induced to barter positive, and very large immediate advantages, against speculative notions and theoretical plans. In the second place, it has been often urged, that the Company have been favoured, during these exertions, with an exclusive trade, and that the nation has thereby lost an opportunity of extending their commercial enterprizes over a large quarter of the globe. It is true, that the Company have been favoured with this exclusive trade; but it may fairly be asked, would India have belonged to Great Bri tain if this exclusive trade had not existed? That this trade would have been of greater magnitude in the hands of individuals, is yet a matter that remains to be proved: but it is obvious, that during part of the above period, viz. from the year 1768 to 1812, the Public have received, in direct contributions from the Company, a sum not falling short of 5,135,3191. as will appear by the accompanying Account (D.) With respect to the immediate produce of this trade to the Public, the Court believe it will bear a comparison with that arising from any other distant possession. It produced last year to the Public the large sum of 4,213,425l. (E), viz. in customs 759,5951., and in excise 3,453,8301; and though this return to the Public be larger, as the Court have reason to think in respect to the capital employed, than the return from any other trade, it has, at the same time, been collected with a facility unknown to other concerns; an advantage which has been obtained, partly by the progressive enactment of regulations the fruit of many years experience, and partly by the concentration of the trade in a single port, and the prevention of smuggling, which has been the consequence of it. But what has never yet been fairly estimated in the existence of the East-India: Company is, that the whole of these returns have been brought into the exchequer of the Public, without the Public having been called upon for any direct contribution for the preservation of the source from whence they have had their rise, whilst the possessions of the Crown, in every quarter of the globe, have drawn from them a considerable sum for their support in troops. What has been saved to the State has thus, the Court conceive, been gained by the Public, and would amount, as the Court are satisfied, in only twenty years, to a sum of a very great magnitude. From the Navy, indeed, the East India Company have received important assistance; but such assistance, it must be recollected, has been afforded to them only in common with the rest of His Majesty's subjects. That the trade of the Company has been highly beneficial to the Public, in affording | portance, we are directed by the Court to a nursery for seamen in time of war and em- state, that as the pecuniary arrangements wealth, which has enabled this country to stand, almost alone, against the united exertions of nearly all Europe. Having offered these cursory observations upon matters of such obvious im JACOB BOSANQUET, The Right Hon. Lord Vis- A. An Account, shewing the Total Amount of the Official Value of the Bullion and Merchandize Imported into, and Exported from British India, (Bengal, Madras and Bombay) to London, America, and Foreign Europe, for Six Years, viz. from 1802-3 to 1807-8, both inclusive. Memorandum. There has been a small quantity of Bullion exported from India to Europe and America, to the extent of Sicca Rupees 1,75,316, but which is not material to the present Account. Note. The value of the Company's Imports into India is taken from the invoices of the ships as they arrived in India, with the addition of ten per cent. upon the invoice price outwards. The value of the British Private Trade, as also the American and Foreign European, is the Indian official value, and which appears to correspond pretty nearly with the market prices in India. In order to make a just comparison between the amount of the Company's and the Private or Foreign Trade, the goods should be exactly reduced to the same denomination of value; but this is not strictly practicable. East-India House, 4th March, 1812. Errors excepted, (Signed) ROBERT WISSETT. (VOL. XXII.)-Appendix. (L) B. AN ACCOUNT, shewing the Amount of the Official Value of the Bullion and Merchandize Imported into, and Exported from British India, (Bengal, Madras, and Bom bay) to London, America, and Foreign Europe, on an average of six Years, viz. from 1802-3 to 1807-8, both inclusive. being not a trade but a remittance, deducting the amount of the profit on exports. East-India House, 4th March 1812. C. Errors excepted, (Signed) ROBERT WISSETT. OUTLAY, Commercial and Territorial, of the East-India Company at Home and Abroad, made up, in respect to the Indian Accounts, to the 30th April 1810, the Home Accounts to the 1st March 1811. Balance of property at Bencoolen and St. Helena: the Outlay at these places being of an anomalous nature, it is stated separately 434,755 |