t Vide Select
Committee
Reports, 1781.
Edmund Burke
The duties of the Supreme Council had been reputed of so arduous a nature as to
require even ha legislative interposition. They were
called upon, by all possible care and impartiality, to
justify Parliament at least as fully in the restoration
of their privileges as the circumstances of the time
had done in their suspension.
But interests have lately prevailed in the Court
of Directors, which, by the violation of every rule,
seemed to be resolved on the destruction of those
privileges of which they were the natural guardians.
Every new power given has been made the source of
a new abuse; and the acts of Parliament themselves,
which provide but imperfectly for the prevention of
the mischief, have, it is to be feared, made provisions
(contrary, without doubt, to the intention of the legislature) which operate against the possibility of any
cure in the ordinary course.
In the original institution of the Supreme Council,
reasons may have existed against rendering the tenure of the Counsellors in their office precarious. A
plan of reform might have required the permanence
? ? ? ? 28 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
of the persons who were just appointed by Parliament to execute it. But the act of 1780 gave a duration coexistent with the statute itself to a Council not appointed by act of Parliament, nor chosen for any temporary or special purpose; by which
means the servants in the highest situation, let their
conduct be never so grossly criminal, cannot be removed, unless the Court of Directors and ministers of the crown can be found to concur in the same
opinion of it. The prevalence of the Indian factions
in the Court of Directors and Court of Proprietors,
and sometimes in the state itself, renders this agreement extremely difficult: if the principal members of the Direction should be in a conspiracy with any
principal servant under censure, it will be impracticable; because the first act must originate there. The reduced state of the authority of this kingdom
in Bengal may be traced in a great measure to that
very natural source of independence. In many cases
the instant removal of an offender from his power of
doing mischief is the only mode of preventing the
utter and perhaps irretrievable ruin of public affairs.
In such a case the process ought to be simple, and
the power absolute in one or in either hand separately. By contriving the balance of interests formed in the act, notorious offence, gross error, or palpable
insufficiency have many chances of retaining and
abusing authority, whilst the variety of representations, hearings, and conferences, and possibly the mere jealousy and competition between rival powers,
may prevent any decision, and at length give time
and means for settlements and compromises among
parties, made at the expense of justice and true
policy. But this act of 1780, not properly distin
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 29
guishing judicial process from executive arrangements, requires in effect nearly the same degree of
solemnity, delay, and detail for removing a political
inconvenience which attends a criminal proceeding
for the punishment of offences. It goes further,
and gives the same tenure to all who shall succeed
to vacancies which was given to those whom the
act found in office.
Another regulation was made in the act, which has
a tendency to render the control of delinquency or
the removal of incapacity in the Council-General extremely difficult, as well as to introduce many other
abuses into the original appointment of Counsellors.
The inconveniences of a vacancy in that im- Provisional
portant office, at a great distance from the fopracanauthority that is to fill it, were visible; but Cies.
your Committee have doubts whether they balance
the mischief which may arise from the power given
in this act, of a provisional appointment to vacancies,
not on the event, but on foresight. This mode of
providing for the succession has a tendency to promote cabal, and to prevent inquiry into the qualifications of the persons to be appointed. An attempt has been actually made, in consequence of this power, in
a very marked manner, to confound the whole order
and discipline of the Company's service. Means are
furnished thereby for perpetuating the powers of some
given Court of Directors. They may forestall the patronage of their successors, on whom they entail a line
of Supreme Counsellors and Governors-General. And
if the exercise of this power should happen in its outset to fall into bad hands, the ordinary chances for
mending an ill choice upon death or resignation are
cut off.
? ? ? ? 30 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
In these provisional arrangements it is to be considered that the appointment is not in consequence
of any marked event which calls strongly on the attention of the public, but is made at the discretion
of those who lead in the Court of Directors, and may
therefore be brought forward at times the most favorable to the views of partiality and corruption. Candidates have not, therefore, the notice that may be necessary for their claims; and as the possession of
the office to which the survivors are to succeed seems
remote, all inquiry into the qualifications and character of those who are to fill it will naturally be dull
and languid.
Your Committee are not also without a grounded
apprehension of the ill effect on any existing CouncilGeneral of all strong marks of influence and favor
which appear in the subordinates of Bengal. This
previous designation to a great and arduous trust,
(the greatest that can be reposed in subjects,) when
made out of any regular course of succession, marks
that degree of countenance and support at home which
may overshadow the existing government. That government may thereby be disturbed by factions, and
led to corrupt and dangerous compliances. At best,
when these Counsellors elect are engaged in no fixed
employment, and have no lawful intermediate emolument, the natural impatience for their situations may
bring on a traffic for resignations between them and
the persons in possession, very unfavorable to the interests of the public and to the duty of their situations.
Since the act two persons have been nominated to
the ministers of the crown by the Court of Directors
for this succession. Neither has yet been approved.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 31
But by the description of the persons a judgment may
be formed of the principles on which this power is
likely to be exercised.
Your Committee find, that, in consequence Stuart and
Sulivan's
of the above-mentioned act, the Honorable appointment
to succeed to
Charles Stuart and Mr. Sulivan were ap- vacancies.
pointed to succeed to the first vacancies in the Supreme Council. Mr. Stuart's first appointment in
the Company's service was in the year 1761. lie
returned to England in 1775, and was permitted to
go back to India in 1780. In August, 1781, he
was nominated by the Court of Directors (Mr. Sulivan and Sir William James were Chairman and
Deputy-Chairman) to succeed to the first vacancy
in the Supreme Council, and on the 19th of September following his Majesty's approval of such nomination was requested. In the nomination of Mr. Stuart, the Mr. Stuart's
situation at
consideration of rank in the service was the time of
his appointnot neglected; but if the Court of Direc- ment.
tors had thought fit to examine their records, they
would have found matter at least strongly urging
them to a suspension of this appointment, until the
charges against Mr. Stuart should be fully cleared
up. That matter remained (as it still remains) unexplained from the month of May, 1775, where, on
the Bengal Revenue Coosultations of the 12th of
that month, peculations to a large amount are charged
upon oath against Mr. Stuart under the following title: "' The Particulars of the Money uvjustly taken by
Mr. Stuart, during the Time he lwas at Burdwan. "
The sum charged against him in this account is
2,17,684 Sicca rupees (that is, 25,2531. sterling);
besides which there is another account with the fol
? ? ? ? 32 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
lowing title: " The Particulars of the Money unjustly
taken by Callypersaud Bose, Banian to the Honorable
Charles Stuart, Esquire, at Burdwan, and amounting
to Sicca Rupees 1,01,675" (that is, 11,7851. ), --a
large sum to be received by a person in that subordinate situation.
The minuteness with which these accounts appear
to have been kept, and the precision with which the
date of each particular, sometimes of very small sums,
is stated, give them the appearance of authenticity,
as far as it can be conveyed on the face or in the
construction of such accounts, and, if they were forgeries, laid them open to an easy detection. But
no detection is easy, when no inquiry is made. It
appears an offence of the highest order in the Directors concerned in this business, when,. not satisfied with leaving such charges so long unexamined, they should venture to present to the king's servants
the object of them for the highest trust which they
have to bestow. If Mr. Stuart was really guilty,
the possession of this post must furnish him not only
with the means of renewing the former evil practices
charged upon him, and of executing them upon a
still larger scale, but of oppressing those unhappy
persons who, under the supposed protection of the
faith of the Company, had appeared to give evidence
concerning his former misdemeanors.
This attempt in the Directors was the more surprising, when it is considered that two committees
of this House were at that very time sitting upon an
inquiry that related directly to their conduct, and
that of their servants in India.
It was in the same spirit of defiance of Parliament,
that at the same time they nominated Mr. Sulivan,
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 338
son to the then Chairman of the Court of Mr. SuliDirectors, to the succession to the same tion atsthue
time of his
high trust in India. On these appoint- appointments, your Committee thought it proper ment.
to make those inquiries which the Court of Directors
thought proper to omit. They first conceived it fitting to inquire what rank Mr. Sulivan bore in the
service; and they thought it not unnecessary here
to state the gradations in the service, according to
the established usage of the Company.
The Company's civil servants generally go to India as writers, in which capacity they serve the Companyfive years. The next step, in point of rank, is to be a factor, and next to that a junior merchant;
in each of which capacities they serve the Companythree years. They then rise to the rank of senior
merchant, in which situation they remain till called
by rotation to the Board of Trade. Until the passing of the Regulation Act, in 1773, seniority entitled them to succeed to the Council, and finally gave them pretensions to the government of the Presidency.
The above gradation of the service, your Committee conceive, ought never to be superseded by the
Court of Directors, without evident reason, in persons or circumstances, to justify the breach of an ancient order. The names, whether taken from civil or commercial gradation, are of no moment. The
order itself is wisely established, and tends to provide a natural guard against partiality, precipitancy,
and corruption in patronage. It affords means and
opportunities for an examination into character; and
among the servants it secures a strong motive to preserve a fair reputation. Your Committee find that
no respect whatsoever was paid to this gradation in
VOL. VIII. 3
? ? ? ? 34 NINTH REPO[RT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
the instance of Mr. Sulivan, nor is there any reason assigned for departing from it. They do not
find that Mr. Sulivan had ever served the Company
in any one of the above capacities, but was, in the
year 1777, abruptly brought into the service, and
sent to Madras to succeed as Persian Translator and
Secretary to the Council.
Your Committee have found a letter from Mr.
Sulivalln to George Wombwell and William Devaynes,
Esquires, Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the
Court of Directors, stating that he trusted his applications would have a place in their deliberations when Madras affairs were taken up. Of what nature those
applications were your Committee cannot discover,
as no traces of them appear onl the Company's records,- nor whether ally proofs of his ability, even
as Persian Translator, which mighllt entitle him to a
preference to the many servants in India whose study
and opportunities afforded them the means of becoming perfect masters of that language.
On the above letter your Committee find that the
Committee of Correspondence proceeded; and on
their recommendation the Court of Directors unanimously approved of Mr. Sulivan to be appointed to succeed to the posts of Secretary and Persian Translator.
Mr. Sulivan's Conformably to the orders of the court,
succession of
offices. Mr. Sulivan succeeded to those posts; and.
the President and Council acquainted the Court of
Directors that they had been obeyed. About five
months after, it appears that Mr. Sulivan thought fit
to resign the office of Persian Translator, to which he
had been appointed by the Directors. In April, 1780,
Mr. Sulivan is commended for his great diligence as
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 35
Secretary; in August following he obtains leave to
accompany Mrs. Sulivan to Bengal, whence she is to
proceed to. Europe on account of her health; and he
is charged with a commission from the President
and Council of Fort St. George to obtain for that
settlement supplies of grain, troops, and money, from
the Governor-General and Council of Bengal. In
October the Governor-General requests permission
of the Council there to employ Mr. Sulivan as his
Assistant, for that he had experienced (between his
arrival in Bengal and that time) the abilities of Mr.
Sulivan, and made choice of him as completely qualified for that trust; also requests the board to appoint him Judge-Advocate-General, and likewise to apply
to the Presidency of Madras for him to remain in
Bengal without prejudice to his rank on their establishment: which several requests the board at Madras readily complied with, notwithstanding their natural
sensibility to the loss of a Secretary of such ability
and diligence as they had described Mr. Sulivan to
be.
On the 5th of December following, the President
and Council received a letter from Bengal, requesting
that Mr. Sulivan might be allowed to keep his rank.
This request brought on some discussion. A Mr.
Freeman, it seems, who had acted under Mr. Sulivan
as Sub-Secretary whilst his principal obtained so much
praise for his diligence, addressed the board on the
same day, and observed, " that, since Mr. Sulivan's
arrival, he [Mr. Freeman] had, without intermission,
done almost the whole of the duty allotted to the post
of Secretary, which it was notorious Mr. Sulivan had
paid but little attention to; and neither his inclination
or duty led him to act any longer as Mr. Sulivan's
deputy. "
? ? ? ? 36 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
Here your Committee cannot avoid remarking the
direct contradiction which this address of Mr. Free.
man's gives to the letter from the President and
Council to the Court of Directors in April, 1780,
wherein Mr. Sulivan is praised for his " diligence and
attention in his office of Secretary. "
The President and Council do not show any displeasure at Mr. Freeman's representation, (so contrary to their own,) the truth of which they thus tacitly admit, but agree to write to the Governor-General
and Council, "that it could not be supposed that
they could carry on the public business for any length
of time without the services of a Secretary and Clerk
of Appeals, two offices that required personal attendance, and which would be a general injury to the
servants on their establishment, and in particular to
the person who acted in those capacities, as they
learnt that Mr. Sulivan had been appointed JudgeAdvocate-General in Bengal, -and to request, the
Governor-General and Council to inform Mr. Sulivan
of their sentiments, and to desire him to inform them
whether he meant to return to his station or to remain in Bengal. "
On the 5th December, as a mark of their approbation of Mr. Freeman, who had so plainly contradicted
their opinion of Mr. Sulivan, the President and Council agree to appoint him to act as Secretary and
Clerk of Appeals, till Mr. Sulivan's answer should arrive, with the emoluments, and to confirm him therein, if Mr. Sulivan should remain in Bengal.
On the 14th February, 1781, the President and
Council received a letter from Bengal in reply, and
stating their request that Mr. Sulivan might reserve
the right of returning to his original situation on the
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 37
Madras establishment, if the Court of Directors should
disapprove of his being transferred to Bengal. To
this request the board at Madras declare they have
no objection: and here the matter rests; the Court
of Directors not having given any tokens of approbation or disapprobation of the transaction.
Such is the history of Mr. Sulivan's service from
the time of his appointment; such were the qualifications, and such the proofs of assiduity and diligence given by him in holding so many incompatible offices,
(as well as being engaged in other dealings, which
will appear in their place,) when, after three years'
desultory residence in India, he was thought worthy
to be nominated to the succession to the Supreme
Council. No proof whatsoever of distinguished capacity in any line preceded his original appointment
to the service: so that the whole of his fitness for the
Supreme Council rested upon his conduct and character since his appointment as Persian Translator. Your Committee find that his Majesty has not yet
given his approbation to the nomination, made by the
Court of Directors on the 30th of August, 1781, of
Messrs. Stuart and Sulivan to succeed to the Supreme
Council on the first vacancies, though the Court applied for the royal approbation so long ago as the 19th of September, 1781; and in these instances the king's
ministers performed their duty, in withholding their
countenance from a proceeding so exceptionable and
of so dangerous an example.
Your Committee, from a full view of the situation
and duties of the Court of Directors, are of opinion
that effectual means ought to be taken for regulating that court in such a manner as to prevent either rivalship with or subserviency to their servants. It
? ? ? ? 38 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT CO1MMITTEE
might, therefore, be proper for the House to consider
whether it is fit that those who are, or have been
within some given time, Directors of the Company,
should be capable of an appointment to any offices
in India. Directors can never properly'govern those
for whose employments they are or may be themselves candidates; they can neither protect nor coerce
them with due impartiality or due authority.
If such rules as are stated by your Committee under this head were observed in the regular service
at home and abroad, the necessity of superseding the
regular service by strangers would be more rare;
and whenever the servants were so superseded, those
who put forward other candidates would be obliged
to produce a strong plea of merit and ability, which,
in the judgment of mankind, ought to overpower pretensions so authentically established, and so rigorously guarded from abuse. Deficiency The second object, in this part of the
ofipowers to plan, of the act of 1773, namely, that of
ministers of
government. inspection by the ministers of the crown, appears not to have been provided for, so as to draw
the timely and productive attention of the state on
the grievances of the people of India, and on the
abuses of its government. By the Regulating Act, the
ministers were enabled to inspect one part of the correspondence, that which was received in England,
but not that which went outward. They might
know something, but that very imperfectly and unsystematically, of the state of affairs; but they were
neither authorized to advance nor to retard any
measure taken by the Directors in consequence of
that state: they were not provided even with sufficient means of knowing what any of these measures
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 39
were. And this imperfect information, together with
the want of a direct call to any specific duty, might
have, in some degree, occasioned that remissness
which rendered even the imperfect powers originally
given by the act of 1773 the less efficient. This defect was in a great measure remedied by a subsequent act; but that act was not passed until the year 1780.
Your Committee find that during the Disorders
whole period which elapsed from 1773 to since1773.
the commencement of 1782 disorders and abuses
of every kind multiplied. Wars contrary to policy
and contrary to public faith were carrying on in
various parts of India. The allies, dependants, and
subjects of the Company were everywhere oppressed; *
dissensions in the Supreme Council prevailed, and
continued for the greater part of that time; the contests between the civil and judicial powers threatened
that issue to which they came at last, an armed resistance to the authority of the king's court of justice;
the orders which by an act of Parliament the servants were bound to obey were avowedly and on
principle contemned; until at length the fatal effects
of accumulated misdemeanors abroad and neglects at
home broke out in the alarming manner which your
Committee have so fully reported to this House. t
In all this time the true state of the sev- Proceedings
eral Presidencies, and the real conduct of inIndanot
the British government towards the natives, Parliament
was not at all known to Parliament: it seems to
have been very imperfectly known even to ministers.
Indeed, it required an unbroken attention, and much
* Vide Secret Committee Reports.
t Vide Select Committee Reports, 1781.
? ? ? ? 40 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE comparison of facts and reasonings, to form a true judgment on that difficult and complicated system
of politics, revenue, and commerce, whilst affairs were only in their progress to that state which produced
the present inquiries. Therefore, whilst the causes
of their ruin were in the height of their operation,
both the Company and the natives were understood
by the public as in circumstances the most assured
and most flourishing; insomuch that, whenever the
affairs of India were brought before Parliament, as
they were two or three times during that period, the
only subject-matter of discussion anywise important
was concerning the sums which might be taken out
of the Company's surplus profits for the advantage of
the state. Little was thought of but the disengagement of the Company from their debts in England, and to prevent the servants abroad from drawing
upon them, so as that body might be enabled, without exciting clamors here, to afford the contribution that was demanded. All descriptions of persons, either here or in India, looking solely to appearances at home, the reputation of the Directors depended
on the keeping the Company's sales in a situation to
support the dividend, that of the ministers depended
on the most lucrative bargains for the Exchequer, and
that of the servants abroad on the largest investments; until at length there is great reason to apprehend, that, unless some very substantial reform takes place in the management of the Company's affairs,
nothing will be left for investment, for dividend, or
for bargain, and India, instead of a resource to the
public, may itself come, in no great length of time,
to be reckoned amongst the public burdens.
In this manner the inspection of the ministers of
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 41
the crown, the great cementing regulation Inspectionof
of the whole act of 1773, has, along with has failedin
effect.
all the others, entirely failed in its effect.
Your Committee, in observing on the fail- Failure in
ure of this act, do not consider the intrinsic the act.
defects or mistakes in the law itself as the sole cause
of its miscarriage. The general policy of the nation
with regard to this object has been, they conceive,
erroneous; and no remedy by laws, under the prevalence of that policy, can be effectual. Before any
remedial law can have its just operation, the affairs
of India must be restored to their natural order.
The prosperity of the natives must be previously
secured, before any profit from them whatsoever is
attempted. For as long as a system prevails which
regards the transmission of great wealth to this country, either for the Company or the state, as its principal end, so long will it be impossible that those who are the instruments of that scheme should not
be actuated by the same spirit for their own private
purposes. It will be worse: they will support the
injuries done to the natives for their selfish ends by
new injuries done in favor of those before whom they
are to account. It is not reasonably to be expected
that a public rapacious and improvident should be
served by any of its subordinates with disinterestedness or foresight.
II. -CONNECTION OF GREAT BRITAIN WITH INDIA.
IN order to open more fully the tendency of the
policy which has hitherto prevailed, and that the
House may be enabled, in any regulations which
may be made, to follow the tracks of the abuse, and
? ? ? ? 42 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
to apply an appropriated remedy to a particular distemper, your Committee think it expedient to consider in some detail the manner in which India is connected with this kingdom, --which is the second
head of their plan.
The two great links by which this connection is
maintained are, first, the East India Company's commerce, and, next, the government set over the natives by that company and by the crown. The first of these principles of connection, namely, the East
India Company's trade, is to be first considered, not
only as it operates by itself, but as having a powerful influence over the general policy and the particular measures of the Company's government. Your Committee apprehend that the present state, nature,
and tendency of this trade are not generally understood.
Trade to In- Until the acquisition of great territorial
dia formerly
carried on revenues by the East India Company, the
chiefly in
silver. trade with India was carried on upon the
common principles of commerce, - namely, by sending out such commodities as found a demand in the
India market, and, where that demand was not adequate to the reciprocal call of the European market
for Indian goods, by a large annual exportation of
treasure, chiefly in silver. In some years that export has been as high as six hundred and eighty
thousand pounds sterling. The other European companies trading to India traded thither on the same
footing. Their export of bullion was probably larger
in proportion to the total of their commerce, as their
commerce itself bore a much larger proportion to
the British than it does at this time or has done
for many years past. But stating it to be equal to
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 43
the British, the whole of the silver sent annually
from Europe into Hindostan could not'fall very short
of twelve or thirteen hundred thousand pounds a
year. This influx of money, poured into India by
an emulation of all the commercial nations of Europe, encouraged industry and promoted cultivation
in a high degree, notwithstanding the frequent wars
with which that country was harassed, and the vices
which existed in its internal government. On the
other hand, the export of so much silver was sometimes a subject of grudging and uneasiness in Europe, and a commerce carried on through such a medium to many appeared in speculation of doubtful
advantage. But the practical demands of commerce
bore down those speculative objections. The East
India commodities were so essential for animating
all other branches of trade, and for completing the
commercial circle, that all nations contended for it
with the greatest avidity. The English company
flourished under this exportation for a very long series of years. The nation was considerably benefited
both in trade and in revenue; and the dividends of
the proprietors were often high, and always sufficient
to keep up the credit of the Company's stock in heart
and vigor.
But at or very soon after the acquisition How trade
carried on
of the territorial revenues to the English since.
company, the period of which may be reckoned as
completed about the year 1765, a very great revolution took place in commerce as well as in dominion;
and it was a revolution which affected the trade of
Hindostan with all other European nations, as well
as with that in whose favor and by whose power it
was accomplished. From that time bullion was no
? ? ? ? 44 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
longer regularly exported by the English East India
Company to Bengal, or any part of Hindostan; and
it was soon exported in much smaller quantities by
any other nation. A new way of supplying the market of Europe, by means of the British power and
influence, was invented: a species of trade (if such
it may be called) by which it is absolutely impossible that India should not be radically and irretrievably ruined, although our possessions there were to be ordered and governed upon principles diametrically opposite to those which now prevail in the
system and practice of the British company's administration.
Ivestments. A certain portion of the revenues of Bengal has been for many years set apart to
be employed in the purchase of goods for exportation to England, and this is called the Investment.
The greatness of this investment has been the standard by which the merit of the Company's principal
servants has been too generally estimated; and this
main cause of the impoverishment of India has been
generally taken as a measure of its wealth and prosperity. Numerous fleets of large ships, loaded with
the most valuable commodities of the East, annually
arriving in England, in a constant and increasing
succession, imposed upon the public eye, and naturally gave rise to an opinion of the happy condition
and growing opulence of a country whose surplus
productions occupied so vast a space in the commercial world. This export from India seemed to im
ply also a reciprocal supply, by which the trading
capital employed in those productions was continually strengthened and enlarged. But the payment
of a tribute, and not a beneficial commerce to that
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 45
country, wore this specious and delusive appearance.
The fame of a great territorial revenue, Increaseof
exaggerated, as is usual in such cases, be- expenses.
yond even its value, and the abundant fortunes of the
Company's officers, military and civil, which flowed
into Europe with a full tide, raised in the proprietors
of East India stock a premature desire of partaking
with their servants in the fruits of that splendid adventure. Government also thought they could not be too early in their claims for a share of what they
considered themselves as entitled to in every foreign
acquisition made by the power of this kingdom,
through whatever hands or by whatever means it
was made. These two parties, after some struggle,
came to an agreement to divide between them the
profits which their speculation proposed to realize
in England from the territorial revenue in Bengal.
About two hundred thousand pounds was added to
the annual dividends of the proprietors. Four hundred thousand was given to the state, which, added to the old dividend, brought a constant charge upon
the mixed interest of Indian trade and revenue of
eight hundred thousand pounds a year. This was to
be provided for at all events.
By that vast demand on the territorial fund, the
correctives and qualifications which might have been
gradually applied to the abuses in Indian commerce
and government were rendered extremely difficult.
The practice of an investment from the Progress of
revenue began in the year 1766, before investments.
arrangements were made for securing and appropriating an assured fund for that purpose in the treasury, and for diffusing it from thence upon the
? ? ? ? 46 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
manufactures of the country in a just proportion and
in the proper season. There was, indeed, for a short
time, a surplus of cash in the treasury. It was in
some shape to be sent home to its owners. To send it
out in silver was subject to two manifest inconveniences. First, the country would be exhausted of its circulating medium. A scarcity of coin was already
felt in Bengal. Cossim Ali Khan, (the Nabob whom
the Company's servants had lately set up, and newly
expelled,) during the short period of his power, had
exhausted the country by every mode of extortion; in
his flight he carried off an immense treasure, which
has been variously computed, but by none at less than
three millions sterling. A country so exhausted of
its coin, and harassed by three revolutions rapidly
succeeding each other, was rather an object that stood
in need of every kind of refreshment and recruit than
one which could subsist under new evacuations. The
next, and equally obvious inconvenience, was to the
Company itself. To send silver into Europe would
be to send it from the best to the worst market.
When arrived, the most profitable use which could
be made of it would be to send it back to Bengal for
the purchase of Indian merchandise. It was necessary, therefore, to turn the Company's revenue into its commerce. The first investment was about five
hundred thousand pounds, and care was taken afterwards to enlarge it. In the years 1767 and 1768 it arose to seven hundred thousand.
Consequen- This new system of trade, carried on
cesofthem. through the medium of power and public
revenue, very soon produced its natural effects.
The loudest complaints arose among the natives,
and among all the foreigners who traded to Bengal.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 47
It must unquestionably have thrown the whole mercantile system of the country into the greatest confusion. With regard to the natives, no expedient
was proposed for their relief. The case was serious
with respect to European powers. The Presidency
plainly represented to the Directors, that some agreement should be made with foreign nations for providing their investment to a certain amount, or that
the deficiencies then subsisting must terminate in an
open rupture with France. The Directors, pressed
by the large payments in England, were not free to
abandon their system; and all possible means of diverting the manufactures into the Company's investment were still anxiously sought and pursued, until the difficulties of the foreign companies were at length removed by the natural flow of the fortunes
of the Company's servants into Europe, in the manner which will be stated hereafter.
But, with all these endeavors of the Presidency,
the investment sunk in 1769, and they were even
obliged to pay for a part of the goods to private merchants in the Company's bonds, bearing interest.
It was plain that this course of business could not
hold. The manufacturers of Bengal, far from being
generally in a condition to give credit, have always
required advances to be made to them; so have the
merchants very generally, - at least, since the prevalence of the English power in India. It was necessary, therefore, and so the Presidency of Calcutta
represented the matter, to provide beforehand a
year's advance. This required great efforts; and
they were made. Notwithstanding the famine in
1770, which wasted Bengal in a manner dreadful
beyond all example, the investment, by a variety
? ? ? ? 48 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
of successive expedients, many of them of the most
dangerous nature and tendency, was forcibly kept
tip; and even in that forced and unnatural state it
gathered strength almost every year. The debts contracted in the infancy of the system were gradually
reduced, and the advances to contractors and mnanufacturers were regularly made; so that the goods
from Bengal, purchased from the territorial revenues,
from the sale of European goods, and from the produce of the monopolies, for the four years which ended
with 1780, when the investment from the surplus revenues finally closed, were never less than a million sterling, and commonly nearer twelve hundred thousand pounds. - This million is the lowest value of the goods
sent to Europe for which no satisfaction is made. *
Remittances About an hundred thousand pounds a year
from Bengal
to China is also remitted from Bengal, on the Comand the Presidencies.
of the product of that money flows into the direct
trade from China to Europe. Besides this, Bengal
sends a regular supply in time of peace to those Presidencies which are unequal to their own establishment. To Bombay the remittance in money, bills, or
goods, for none of which there is a return, amounts
to one hundred and sixty thousand pounds a year at
a medium.
Exports The goods which are exported from Eufrom Eng- rope to India consist chiefly of military and
India. naval stores, of clothing for troops, and of
other objects for the consumption of the Europeans
residing there; and, excepting some lead, copper uten* The sale, to the amount of about one hundred thousand pounds
annually, of the export from Great Britain ought to be deducted from
this million.
pany's account, to China; and the whole
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 49
sils and sheet copper, woollen cloth, and other commodities of little comparative value, no sort of merchandise is sent from England that is in demand for the wants or desires of the native inhabitants.
When an account is taken of the inter- Badeffects
of investcourse (for it is not commerce) which is ment.
carried on between Bengal and England, the pernicious effects of the system of investment from revenue
will appear in the strongest point of view. In that
view, the whole exported produce of the country, so
far as the Company is concerned, is not exchanged in
the course of barter, but is taken away without any
return or payment whatsoever. In a commercial
light, therefore, England becomes annually bankrupt.
to Bengal to the amount nearly of its whole dealing;
or rather, the country has suffered what is tantamount to an annual plunder of its manufactures and
its produce to the value of twelve hundred thousand
pounds.
In time of peace, three foreign companies Foreign
appear at first sight to bring their contri- companies.
bution of trade to the supply of this continual drain.
These are the companies of France, Holland, and
Denmark. But when the object is consid- Consequences of
ered more nearly, instead of relief, these their trade.
companies, who from their want of authority in the
country might seem to trade upon a principle merely
commercial, will be found to add their full proportion
to the calamity brought upon Bengal by the destructive system of the ruling power; because the greater
part of the capital of all these companies, and perhaps
the whole capital of some of them, is furnished exactly as the British is, out of the revenues of the country. The civil and military servants of the English VOL. VIII. 4
? ? ? ? 50 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
East India Company being restricted in drawing bills
upoll Europe, and none of' them ever making or proposing an establisllment in India, a very great part
of their fortunes, well or ill gotten, is in all probability thrown, as fast as required, into the cash of these
companies.
In all other countries, the revenue, following the
natural course and order of things, arises out of their
commerce. Here, by a mischievous inversion of that
order, the whole foreign maritime trade, whether
English, French, Dutch, or Danish, arises from the
revenues; and these are carried out of the country
without producing anything to compensate so heavy
a loss.
Foreign Your Committee have not been able to
companies'
investments. discover the entire value of the investment
made by foreign companies. But, as the investment
which the English East India Company derived from
its revenues, and even from its public credit, is for
the year 1783 to be wholly stopped, it has been proposed to private persons to make a subscription for
an investment oil their own account. This investment is to be equal to the sum of 800,0001. Another
loan has been also made for an investment on the
Company's account to China of 200,0001. This makes
a million; and there is no question that much more
could be readily had for bills upon Europe. Now, as
there is no doubt that the whole of the money remitted is the property of British subljects, (none else haviiig any interest in remitting to Eiurope,) it is not unfair to suppose that a very great part, if not the whole, of what may firnd its way into this new channel is not
newly created, but only diverted from those channels
in which it formerly rall, that is, the cash of the foreign trading companies.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 51
Besides the investment made in goods by Ofthe silver
foreign companies from the funds of British china.
subjects, these subjects have been for some time in
the practice of sending very great sums in gold and
silver directly to China on their own account. In
a memorial presented to the Governor-General and
Council, in March, 1782, it appears that the principal money lent by British subjects to one company
of merchants in China then amounted to seven millions of dollars, about one million seven hundred
thousand pounds sterling; and not the smallest particle of silver sent to China ever returns to India.
It is not easy to determine in what proportions this
enormous sum of money has been sent from Madras
or from Bengal; but it equally exhausts a country
belonging to this kingdom, whether it comes from
the one or from the other.
But that the greatness of all these drains, Revenue
above the
and their effects, may be rendered more investment,
visible, your Committee have turned their how applied.
consideration to the employment of those parts of
the Bengal revenue which are not employed in the
Company's own investments for China and for Europe. What is taken over and above the investment (when any investment can be made) from the gross revenue, either for the charge of collection or
for civil and military establishments, is in time of
peace two millions at the least. From the portion of
that sum which goes to the support of civil government the natives are almost wholly excluded, as they
are from the principal collections of revenue. With
very few exceptions, they are only employed as servants and agents to Europeans, or in the inferior
departments of collection, when it is absolutely im
? ? ? ? 52 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
possible to proceed a step without their assistance.
For some time after the acquisition of the territorial
Allowance revenue, the sum of 420,0001. a year was
to Nabob of
Bengal. paid, according to the stipulation of a treaty,
to the Nabob of Bengal, for the support of his government. This sum, however inconsiderable, compared to
the revenues of the province, yet, distributed through
the various departments of civil administration, served
in some degree to preserve the natives of the better
sort, particularly those of the Mahomedan profession,
from being utterly ruined. The people of that persuasion, not being so generally engaged in trade, and not
having on their conquest of Bengal divested the ancient Gentoo proprietors of their lands of inheritance,
had for their chief, if not their sole support, the share
of a moderate conqueror in all offices, civil and military. But your Committee find that this arrangement
was of a short duration. Without the least regard to
the subsistence of this innocent people, or to the faith
of the agreement on which they were brought under
the British government, this sum was reduced by a
How re- new treaty to 320,0001. , and soon after, (upduced. on a pretence of the present Nabob's minority, and a temporary sequestration for the discharge of his debts,) to 160,0001. : but when he arrived at his
majority, and when the debts were paid, ( if ever they
were paid,) the sequestration still continued; and so
far as the late advices may be understood, the allowance to the Nabob appears still to stand at the
reduced sum of 160,0001.
Native The other resource of the Mahomedans,
officers. and of the Gentoos of certain of the higher
castes, was the army. In this army, nine tenths of
which consists of natives, no native, of whatever de
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 53
scription, holds any rank higher than that of a Subahdar Commandant, that is, of an -officer below the rank
of an English subaltern, who is appointed to each
company of the native soldiery.
Your Committee here would be under- All lucrative
employstood to state the ordinary establishment: ments in the
hands of the
for the war may have made some alteration. English.
All the honorable, all the lucrative situations of the
army, all the supplies and contracts of whatever species that belong to it, are solely in the hands of the
English; so that whatever is beyond the mere subsistence of a common soldier and some officers of a
lower rank, together with the immediate expenses of
the English officers at their table, is sooner or later,
in one shape or another, sent out of the country.
Such was the state of Bengal even in time of profound peace, and before the whole weight of the public charge fell upon that unhappy country for the support of other parts of India, which have been desolated in such a manner as to contribute little or
nothing to their own protection.
Your Committee have given this short comparative
account of the effects of the maritime traffic of Bengal, when in its natural state, and as it has stood
since the prevalence of the system of an investment
from the revenues.
require even ha legislative interposition. They were
called upon, by all possible care and impartiality, to
justify Parliament at least as fully in the restoration
of their privileges as the circumstances of the time
had done in their suspension.
But interests have lately prevailed in the Court
of Directors, which, by the violation of every rule,
seemed to be resolved on the destruction of those
privileges of which they were the natural guardians.
Every new power given has been made the source of
a new abuse; and the acts of Parliament themselves,
which provide but imperfectly for the prevention of
the mischief, have, it is to be feared, made provisions
(contrary, without doubt, to the intention of the legislature) which operate against the possibility of any
cure in the ordinary course.
In the original institution of the Supreme Council,
reasons may have existed against rendering the tenure of the Counsellors in their office precarious. A
plan of reform might have required the permanence
? ? ? ? 28 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
of the persons who were just appointed by Parliament to execute it. But the act of 1780 gave a duration coexistent with the statute itself to a Council not appointed by act of Parliament, nor chosen for any temporary or special purpose; by which
means the servants in the highest situation, let their
conduct be never so grossly criminal, cannot be removed, unless the Court of Directors and ministers of the crown can be found to concur in the same
opinion of it. The prevalence of the Indian factions
in the Court of Directors and Court of Proprietors,
and sometimes in the state itself, renders this agreement extremely difficult: if the principal members of the Direction should be in a conspiracy with any
principal servant under censure, it will be impracticable; because the first act must originate there. The reduced state of the authority of this kingdom
in Bengal may be traced in a great measure to that
very natural source of independence. In many cases
the instant removal of an offender from his power of
doing mischief is the only mode of preventing the
utter and perhaps irretrievable ruin of public affairs.
In such a case the process ought to be simple, and
the power absolute in one or in either hand separately. By contriving the balance of interests formed in the act, notorious offence, gross error, or palpable
insufficiency have many chances of retaining and
abusing authority, whilst the variety of representations, hearings, and conferences, and possibly the mere jealousy and competition between rival powers,
may prevent any decision, and at length give time
and means for settlements and compromises among
parties, made at the expense of justice and true
policy. But this act of 1780, not properly distin
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 29
guishing judicial process from executive arrangements, requires in effect nearly the same degree of
solemnity, delay, and detail for removing a political
inconvenience which attends a criminal proceeding
for the punishment of offences. It goes further,
and gives the same tenure to all who shall succeed
to vacancies which was given to those whom the
act found in office.
Another regulation was made in the act, which has
a tendency to render the control of delinquency or
the removal of incapacity in the Council-General extremely difficult, as well as to introduce many other
abuses into the original appointment of Counsellors.
The inconveniences of a vacancy in that im- Provisional
portant office, at a great distance from the fopracanauthority that is to fill it, were visible; but Cies.
your Committee have doubts whether they balance
the mischief which may arise from the power given
in this act, of a provisional appointment to vacancies,
not on the event, but on foresight. This mode of
providing for the succession has a tendency to promote cabal, and to prevent inquiry into the qualifications of the persons to be appointed. An attempt has been actually made, in consequence of this power, in
a very marked manner, to confound the whole order
and discipline of the Company's service. Means are
furnished thereby for perpetuating the powers of some
given Court of Directors. They may forestall the patronage of their successors, on whom they entail a line
of Supreme Counsellors and Governors-General. And
if the exercise of this power should happen in its outset to fall into bad hands, the ordinary chances for
mending an ill choice upon death or resignation are
cut off.
? ? ? ? 30 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
In these provisional arrangements it is to be considered that the appointment is not in consequence
of any marked event which calls strongly on the attention of the public, but is made at the discretion
of those who lead in the Court of Directors, and may
therefore be brought forward at times the most favorable to the views of partiality and corruption. Candidates have not, therefore, the notice that may be necessary for their claims; and as the possession of
the office to which the survivors are to succeed seems
remote, all inquiry into the qualifications and character of those who are to fill it will naturally be dull
and languid.
Your Committee are not also without a grounded
apprehension of the ill effect on any existing CouncilGeneral of all strong marks of influence and favor
which appear in the subordinates of Bengal. This
previous designation to a great and arduous trust,
(the greatest that can be reposed in subjects,) when
made out of any regular course of succession, marks
that degree of countenance and support at home which
may overshadow the existing government. That government may thereby be disturbed by factions, and
led to corrupt and dangerous compliances. At best,
when these Counsellors elect are engaged in no fixed
employment, and have no lawful intermediate emolument, the natural impatience for their situations may
bring on a traffic for resignations between them and
the persons in possession, very unfavorable to the interests of the public and to the duty of their situations.
Since the act two persons have been nominated to
the ministers of the crown by the Court of Directors
for this succession. Neither has yet been approved.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 31
But by the description of the persons a judgment may
be formed of the principles on which this power is
likely to be exercised.
Your Committee find, that, in consequence Stuart and
Sulivan's
of the above-mentioned act, the Honorable appointment
to succeed to
Charles Stuart and Mr. Sulivan were ap- vacancies.
pointed to succeed to the first vacancies in the Supreme Council. Mr. Stuart's first appointment in
the Company's service was in the year 1761. lie
returned to England in 1775, and was permitted to
go back to India in 1780. In August, 1781, he
was nominated by the Court of Directors (Mr. Sulivan and Sir William James were Chairman and
Deputy-Chairman) to succeed to the first vacancy
in the Supreme Council, and on the 19th of September following his Majesty's approval of such nomination was requested. In the nomination of Mr. Stuart, the Mr. Stuart's
situation at
consideration of rank in the service was the time of
his appointnot neglected; but if the Court of Direc- ment.
tors had thought fit to examine their records, they
would have found matter at least strongly urging
them to a suspension of this appointment, until the
charges against Mr. Stuart should be fully cleared
up. That matter remained (as it still remains) unexplained from the month of May, 1775, where, on
the Bengal Revenue Coosultations of the 12th of
that month, peculations to a large amount are charged
upon oath against Mr. Stuart under the following title: "' The Particulars of the Money uvjustly taken by
Mr. Stuart, during the Time he lwas at Burdwan. "
The sum charged against him in this account is
2,17,684 Sicca rupees (that is, 25,2531. sterling);
besides which there is another account with the fol
? ? ? ? 32 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
lowing title: " The Particulars of the Money unjustly
taken by Callypersaud Bose, Banian to the Honorable
Charles Stuart, Esquire, at Burdwan, and amounting
to Sicca Rupees 1,01,675" (that is, 11,7851. ), --a
large sum to be received by a person in that subordinate situation.
The minuteness with which these accounts appear
to have been kept, and the precision with which the
date of each particular, sometimes of very small sums,
is stated, give them the appearance of authenticity,
as far as it can be conveyed on the face or in the
construction of such accounts, and, if they were forgeries, laid them open to an easy detection. But
no detection is easy, when no inquiry is made. It
appears an offence of the highest order in the Directors concerned in this business, when,. not satisfied with leaving such charges so long unexamined, they should venture to present to the king's servants
the object of them for the highest trust which they
have to bestow. If Mr. Stuart was really guilty,
the possession of this post must furnish him not only
with the means of renewing the former evil practices
charged upon him, and of executing them upon a
still larger scale, but of oppressing those unhappy
persons who, under the supposed protection of the
faith of the Company, had appeared to give evidence
concerning his former misdemeanors.
This attempt in the Directors was the more surprising, when it is considered that two committees
of this House were at that very time sitting upon an
inquiry that related directly to their conduct, and
that of their servants in India.
It was in the same spirit of defiance of Parliament,
that at the same time they nominated Mr. Sulivan,
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 338
son to the then Chairman of the Court of Mr. SuliDirectors, to the succession to the same tion atsthue
time of his
high trust in India. On these appoint- appointments, your Committee thought it proper ment.
to make those inquiries which the Court of Directors
thought proper to omit. They first conceived it fitting to inquire what rank Mr. Sulivan bore in the
service; and they thought it not unnecessary here
to state the gradations in the service, according to
the established usage of the Company.
The Company's civil servants generally go to India as writers, in which capacity they serve the Companyfive years. The next step, in point of rank, is to be a factor, and next to that a junior merchant;
in each of which capacities they serve the Companythree years. They then rise to the rank of senior
merchant, in which situation they remain till called
by rotation to the Board of Trade. Until the passing of the Regulation Act, in 1773, seniority entitled them to succeed to the Council, and finally gave them pretensions to the government of the Presidency.
The above gradation of the service, your Committee conceive, ought never to be superseded by the
Court of Directors, without evident reason, in persons or circumstances, to justify the breach of an ancient order. The names, whether taken from civil or commercial gradation, are of no moment. The
order itself is wisely established, and tends to provide a natural guard against partiality, precipitancy,
and corruption in patronage. It affords means and
opportunities for an examination into character; and
among the servants it secures a strong motive to preserve a fair reputation. Your Committee find that
no respect whatsoever was paid to this gradation in
VOL. VIII. 3
? ? ? ? 34 NINTH REPO[RT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
the instance of Mr. Sulivan, nor is there any reason assigned for departing from it. They do not
find that Mr. Sulivan had ever served the Company
in any one of the above capacities, but was, in the
year 1777, abruptly brought into the service, and
sent to Madras to succeed as Persian Translator and
Secretary to the Council.
Your Committee have found a letter from Mr.
Sulivalln to George Wombwell and William Devaynes,
Esquires, Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the
Court of Directors, stating that he trusted his applications would have a place in their deliberations when Madras affairs were taken up. Of what nature those
applications were your Committee cannot discover,
as no traces of them appear onl the Company's records,- nor whether ally proofs of his ability, even
as Persian Translator, which mighllt entitle him to a
preference to the many servants in India whose study
and opportunities afforded them the means of becoming perfect masters of that language.
On the above letter your Committee find that the
Committee of Correspondence proceeded; and on
their recommendation the Court of Directors unanimously approved of Mr. Sulivan to be appointed to succeed to the posts of Secretary and Persian Translator.
Mr. Sulivan's Conformably to the orders of the court,
succession of
offices. Mr. Sulivan succeeded to those posts; and.
the President and Council acquainted the Court of
Directors that they had been obeyed. About five
months after, it appears that Mr. Sulivan thought fit
to resign the office of Persian Translator, to which he
had been appointed by the Directors. In April, 1780,
Mr. Sulivan is commended for his great diligence as
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 35
Secretary; in August following he obtains leave to
accompany Mrs. Sulivan to Bengal, whence she is to
proceed to. Europe on account of her health; and he
is charged with a commission from the President
and Council of Fort St. George to obtain for that
settlement supplies of grain, troops, and money, from
the Governor-General and Council of Bengal. In
October the Governor-General requests permission
of the Council there to employ Mr. Sulivan as his
Assistant, for that he had experienced (between his
arrival in Bengal and that time) the abilities of Mr.
Sulivan, and made choice of him as completely qualified for that trust; also requests the board to appoint him Judge-Advocate-General, and likewise to apply
to the Presidency of Madras for him to remain in
Bengal without prejudice to his rank on their establishment: which several requests the board at Madras readily complied with, notwithstanding their natural
sensibility to the loss of a Secretary of such ability
and diligence as they had described Mr. Sulivan to
be.
On the 5th of December following, the President
and Council received a letter from Bengal, requesting
that Mr. Sulivan might be allowed to keep his rank.
This request brought on some discussion. A Mr.
Freeman, it seems, who had acted under Mr. Sulivan
as Sub-Secretary whilst his principal obtained so much
praise for his diligence, addressed the board on the
same day, and observed, " that, since Mr. Sulivan's
arrival, he [Mr. Freeman] had, without intermission,
done almost the whole of the duty allotted to the post
of Secretary, which it was notorious Mr. Sulivan had
paid but little attention to; and neither his inclination
or duty led him to act any longer as Mr. Sulivan's
deputy. "
? ? ? ? 36 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
Here your Committee cannot avoid remarking the
direct contradiction which this address of Mr. Free.
man's gives to the letter from the President and
Council to the Court of Directors in April, 1780,
wherein Mr. Sulivan is praised for his " diligence and
attention in his office of Secretary. "
The President and Council do not show any displeasure at Mr. Freeman's representation, (so contrary to their own,) the truth of which they thus tacitly admit, but agree to write to the Governor-General
and Council, "that it could not be supposed that
they could carry on the public business for any length
of time without the services of a Secretary and Clerk
of Appeals, two offices that required personal attendance, and which would be a general injury to the
servants on their establishment, and in particular to
the person who acted in those capacities, as they
learnt that Mr. Sulivan had been appointed JudgeAdvocate-General in Bengal, -and to request, the
Governor-General and Council to inform Mr. Sulivan
of their sentiments, and to desire him to inform them
whether he meant to return to his station or to remain in Bengal. "
On the 5th December, as a mark of their approbation of Mr. Freeman, who had so plainly contradicted
their opinion of Mr. Sulivan, the President and Council agree to appoint him to act as Secretary and
Clerk of Appeals, till Mr. Sulivan's answer should arrive, with the emoluments, and to confirm him therein, if Mr. Sulivan should remain in Bengal.
On the 14th February, 1781, the President and
Council received a letter from Bengal in reply, and
stating their request that Mr. Sulivan might reserve
the right of returning to his original situation on the
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 37
Madras establishment, if the Court of Directors should
disapprove of his being transferred to Bengal. To
this request the board at Madras declare they have
no objection: and here the matter rests; the Court
of Directors not having given any tokens of approbation or disapprobation of the transaction.
Such is the history of Mr. Sulivan's service from
the time of his appointment; such were the qualifications, and such the proofs of assiduity and diligence given by him in holding so many incompatible offices,
(as well as being engaged in other dealings, which
will appear in their place,) when, after three years'
desultory residence in India, he was thought worthy
to be nominated to the succession to the Supreme
Council. No proof whatsoever of distinguished capacity in any line preceded his original appointment
to the service: so that the whole of his fitness for the
Supreme Council rested upon his conduct and character since his appointment as Persian Translator. Your Committee find that his Majesty has not yet
given his approbation to the nomination, made by the
Court of Directors on the 30th of August, 1781, of
Messrs. Stuart and Sulivan to succeed to the Supreme
Council on the first vacancies, though the Court applied for the royal approbation so long ago as the 19th of September, 1781; and in these instances the king's
ministers performed their duty, in withholding their
countenance from a proceeding so exceptionable and
of so dangerous an example.
Your Committee, from a full view of the situation
and duties of the Court of Directors, are of opinion
that effectual means ought to be taken for regulating that court in such a manner as to prevent either rivalship with or subserviency to their servants. It
? ? ? ? 38 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT CO1MMITTEE
might, therefore, be proper for the House to consider
whether it is fit that those who are, or have been
within some given time, Directors of the Company,
should be capable of an appointment to any offices
in India. Directors can never properly'govern those
for whose employments they are or may be themselves candidates; they can neither protect nor coerce
them with due impartiality or due authority.
If such rules as are stated by your Committee under this head were observed in the regular service
at home and abroad, the necessity of superseding the
regular service by strangers would be more rare;
and whenever the servants were so superseded, those
who put forward other candidates would be obliged
to produce a strong plea of merit and ability, which,
in the judgment of mankind, ought to overpower pretensions so authentically established, and so rigorously guarded from abuse. Deficiency The second object, in this part of the
ofipowers to plan, of the act of 1773, namely, that of
ministers of
government. inspection by the ministers of the crown, appears not to have been provided for, so as to draw
the timely and productive attention of the state on
the grievances of the people of India, and on the
abuses of its government. By the Regulating Act, the
ministers were enabled to inspect one part of the correspondence, that which was received in England,
but not that which went outward. They might
know something, but that very imperfectly and unsystematically, of the state of affairs; but they were
neither authorized to advance nor to retard any
measure taken by the Directors in consequence of
that state: they were not provided even with sufficient means of knowing what any of these measures
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 39
were. And this imperfect information, together with
the want of a direct call to any specific duty, might
have, in some degree, occasioned that remissness
which rendered even the imperfect powers originally
given by the act of 1773 the less efficient. This defect was in a great measure remedied by a subsequent act; but that act was not passed until the year 1780.
Your Committee find that during the Disorders
whole period which elapsed from 1773 to since1773.
the commencement of 1782 disorders and abuses
of every kind multiplied. Wars contrary to policy
and contrary to public faith were carrying on in
various parts of India. The allies, dependants, and
subjects of the Company were everywhere oppressed; *
dissensions in the Supreme Council prevailed, and
continued for the greater part of that time; the contests between the civil and judicial powers threatened
that issue to which they came at last, an armed resistance to the authority of the king's court of justice;
the orders which by an act of Parliament the servants were bound to obey were avowedly and on
principle contemned; until at length the fatal effects
of accumulated misdemeanors abroad and neglects at
home broke out in the alarming manner which your
Committee have so fully reported to this House. t
In all this time the true state of the sev- Proceedings
eral Presidencies, and the real conduct of inIndanot
the British government towards the natives, Parliament
was not at all known to Parliament: it seems to
have been very imperfectly known even to ministers.
Indeed, it required an unbroken attention, and much
* Vide Secret Committee Reports.
t Vide Select Committee Reports, 1781.
? ? ? ? 40 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE comparison of facts and reasonings, to form a true judgment on that difficult and complicated system
of politics, revenue, and commerce, whilst affairs were only in their progress to that state which produced
the present inquiries. Therefore, whilst the causes
of their ruin were in the height of their operation,
both the Company and the natives were understood
by the public as in circumstances the most assured
and most flourishing; insomuch that, whenever the
affairs of India were brought before Parliament, as
they were two or three times during that period, the
only subject-matter of discussion anywise important
was concerning the sums which might be taken out
of the Company's surplus profits for the advantage of
the state. Little was thought of but the disengagement of the Company from their debts in England, and to prevent the servants abroad from drawing
upon them, so as that body might be enabled, without exciting clamors here, to afford the contribution that was demanded. All descriptions of persons, either here or in India, looking solely to appearances at home, the reputation of the Directors depended
on the keeping the Company's sales in a situation to
support the dividend, that of the ministers depended
on the most lucrative bargains for the Exchequer, and
that of the servants abroad on the largest investments; until at length there is great reason to apprehend, that, unless some very substantial reform takes place in the management of the Company's affairs,
nothing will be left for investment, for dividend, or
for bargain, and India, instead of a resource to the
public, may itself come, in no great length of time,
to be reckoned amongst the public burdens.
In this manner the inspection of the ministers of
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 41
the crown, the great cementing regulation Inspectionof
of the whole act of 1773, has, along with has failedin
effect.
all the others, entirely failed in its effect.
Your Committee, in observing on the fail- Failure in
ure of this act, do not consider the intrinsic the act.
defects or mistakes in the law itself as the sole cause
of its miscarriage. The general policy of the nation
with regard to this object has been, they conceive,
erroneous; and no remedy by laws, under the prevalence of that policy, can be effectual. Before any
remedial law can have its just operation, the affairs
of India must be restored to their natural order.
The prosperity of the natives must be previously
secured, before any profit from them whatsoever is
attempted. For as long as a system prevails which
regards the transmission of great wealth to this country, either for the Company or the state, as its principal end, so long will it be impossible that those who are the instruments of that scheme should not
be actuated by the same spirit for their own private
purposes. It will be worse: they will support the
injuries done to the natives for their selfish ends by
new injuries done in favor of those before whom they
are to account. It is not reasonably to be expected
that a public rapacious and improvident should be
served by any of its subordinates with disinterestedness or foresight.
II. -CONNECTION OF GREAT BRITAIN WITH INDIA.
IN order to open more fully the tendency of the
policy which has hitherto prevailed, and that the
House may be enabled, in any regulations which
may be made, to follow the tracks of the abuse, and
? ? ? ? 42 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
to apply an appropriated remedy to a particular distemper, your Committee think it expedient to consider in some detail the manner in which India is connected with this kingdom, --which is the second
head of their plan.
The two great links by which this connection is
maintained are, first, the East India Company's commerce, and, next, the government set over the natives by that company and by the crown. The first of these principles of connection, namely, the East
India Company's trade, is to be first considered, not
only as it operates by itself, but as having a powerful influence over the general policy and the particular measures of the Company's government. Your Committee apprehend that the present state, nature,
and tendency of this trade are not generally understood.
Trade to In- Until the acquisition of great territorial
dia formerly
carried on revenues by the East India Company, the
chiefly in
silver. trade with India was carried on upon the
common principles of commerce, - namely, by sending out such commodities as found a demand in the
India market, and, where that demand was not adequate to the reciprocal call of the European market
for Indian goods, by a large annual exportation of
treasure, chiefly in silver. In some years that export has been as high as six hundred and eighty
thousand pounds sterling. The other European companies trading to India traded thither on the same
footing. Their export of bullion was probably larger
in proportion to the total of their commerce, as their
commerce itself bore a much larger proportion to
the British than it does at this time or has done
for many years past. But stating it to be equal to
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 43
the British, the whole of the silver sent annually
from Europe into Hindostan could not'fall very short
of twelve or thirteen hundred thousand pounds a
year. This influx of money, poured into India by
an emulation of all the commercial nations of Europe, encouraged industry and promoted cultivation
in a high degree, notwithstanding the frequent wars
with which that country was harassed, and the vices
which existed in its internal government. On the
other hand, the export of so much silver was sometimes a subject of grudging and uneasiness in Europe, and a commerce carried on through such a medium to many appeared in speculation of doubtful
advantage. But the practical demands of commerce
bore down those speculative objections. The East
India commodities were so essential for animating
all other branches of trade, and for completing the
commercial circle, that all nations contended for it
with the greatest avidity. The English company
flourished under this exportation for a very long series of years. The nation was considerably benefited
both in trade and in revenue; and the dividends of
the proprietors were often high, and always sufficient
to keep up the credit of the Company's stock in heart
and vigor.
But at or very soon after the acquisition How trade
carried on
of the territorial revenues to the English since.
company, the period of which may be reckoned as
completed about the year 1765, a very great revolution took place in commerce as well as in dominion;
and it was a revolution which affected the trade of
Hindostan with all other European nations, as well
as with that in whose favor and by whose power it
was accomplished. From that time bullion was no
? ? ? ? 44 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
longer regularly exported by the English East India
Company to Bengal, or any part of Hindostan; and
it was soon exported in much smaller quantities by
any other nation. A new way of supplying the market of Europe, by means of the British power and
influence, was invented: a species of trade (if such
it may be called) by which it is absolutely impossible that India should not be radically and irretrievably ruined, although our possessions there were to be ordered and governed upon principles diametrically opposite to those which now prevail in the
system and practice of the British company's administration.
Ivestments. A certain portion of the revenues of Bengal has been for many years set apart to
be employed in the purchase of goods for exportation to England, and this is called the Investment.
The greatness of this investment has been the standard by which the merit of the Company's principal
servants has been too generally estimated; and this
main cause of the impoverishment of India has been
generally taken as a measure of its wealth and prosperity. Numerous fleets of large ships, loaded with
the most valuable commodities of the East, annually
arriving in England, in a constant and increasing
succession, imposed upon the public eye, and naturally gave rise to an opinion of the happy condition
and growing opulence of a country whose surplus
productions occupied so vast a space in the commercial world. This export from India seemed to im
ply also a reciprocal supply, by which the trading
capital employed in those productions was continually strengthened and enlarged. But the payment
of a tribute, and not a beneficial commerce to that
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 45
country, wore this specious and delusive appearance.
The fame of a great territorial revenue, Increaseof
exaggerated, as is usual in such cases, be- expenses.
yond even its value, and the abundant fortunes of the
Company's officers, military and civil, which flowed
into Europe with a full tide, raised in the proprietors
of East India stock a premature desire of partaking
with their servants in the fruits of that splendid adventure. Government also thought they could not be too early in their claims for a share of what they
considered themselves as entitled to in every foreign
acquisition made by the power of this kingdom,
through whatever hands or by whatever means it
was made. These two parties, after some struggle,
came to an agreement to divide between them the
profits which their speculation proposed to realize
in England from the territorial revenue in Bengal.
About two hundred thousand pounds was added to
the annual dividends of the proprietors. Four hundred thousand was given to the state, which, added to the old dividend, brought a constant charge upon
the mixed interest of Indian trade and revenue of
eight hundred thousand pounds a year. This was to
be provided for at all events.
By that vast demand on the territorial fund, the
correctives and qualifications which might have been
gradually applied to the abuses in Indian commerce
and government were rendered extremely difficult.
The practice of an investment from the Progress of
revenue began in the year 1766, before investments.
arrangements were made for securing and appropriating an assured fund for that purpose in the treasury, and for diffusing it from thence upon the
? ? ? ? 46 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
manufactures of the country in a just proportion and
in the proper season. There was, indeed, for a short
time, a surplus of cash in the treasury. It was in
some shape to be sent home to its owners. To send it
out in silver was subject to two manifest inconveniences. First, the country would be exhausted of its circulating medium. A scarcity of coin was already
felt in Bengal. Cossim Ali Khan, (the Nabob whom
the Company's servants had lately set up, and newly
expelled,) during the short period of his power, had
exhausted the country by every mode of extortion; in
his flight he carried off an immense treasure, which
has been variously computed, but by none at less than
three millions sterling. A country so exhausted of
its coin, and harassed by three revolutions rapidly
succeeding each other, was rather an object that stood
in need of every kind of refreshment and recruit than
one which could subsist under new evacuations. The
next, and equally obvious inconvenience, was to the
Company itself. To send silver into Europe would
be to send it from the best to the worst market.
When arrived, the most profitable use which could
be made of it would be to send it back to Bengal for
the purchase of Indian merchandise. It was necessary, therefore, to turn the Company's revenue into its commerce. The first investment was about five
hundred thousand pounds, and care was taken afterwards to enlarge it. In the years 1767 and 1768 it arose to seven hundred thousand.
Consequen- This new system of trade, carried on
cesofthem. through the medium of power and public
revenue, very soon produced its natural effects.
The loudest complaints arose among the natives,
and among all the foreigners who traded to Bengal.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 47
It must unquestionably have thrown the whole mercantile system of the country into the greatest confusion. With regard to the natives, no expedient
was proposed for their relief. The case was serious
with respect to European powers. The Presidency
plainly represented to the Directors, that some agreement should be made with foreign nations for providing their investment to a certain amount, or that
the deficiencies then subsisting must terminate in an
open rupture with France. The Directors, pressed
by the large payments in England, were not free to
abandon their system; and all possible means of diverting the manufactures into the Company's investment were still anxiously sought and pursued, until the difficulties of the foreign companies were at length removed by the natural flow of the fortunes
of the Company's servants into Europe, in the manner which will be stated hereafter.
But, with all these endeavors of the Presidency,
the investment sunk in 1769, and they were even
obliged to pay for a part of the goods to private merchants in the Company's bonds, bearing interest.
It was plain that this course of business could not
hold. The manufacturers of Bengal, far from being
generally in a condition to give credit, have always
required advances to be made to them; so have the
merchants very generally, - at least, since the prevalence of the English power in India. It was necessary, therefore, and so the Presidency of Calcutta
represented the matter, to provide beforehand a
year's advance. This required great efforts; and
they were made. Notwithstanding the famine in
1770, which wasted Bengal in a manner dreadful
beyond all example, the investment, by a variety
? ? ? ? 48 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
of successive expedients, many of them of the most
dangerous nature and tendency, was forcibly kept
tip; and even in that forced and unnatural state it
gathered strength almost every year. The debts contracted in the infancy of the system were gradually
reduced, and the advances to contractors and mnanufacturers were regularly made; so that the goods
from Bengal, purchased from the territorial revenues,
from the sale of European goods, and from the produce of the monopolies, for the four years which ended
with 1780, when the investment from the surplus revenues finally closed, were never less than a million sterling, and commonly nearer twelve hundred thousand pounds. - This million is the lowest value of the goods
sent to Europe for which no satisfaction is made. *
Remittances About an hundred thousand pounds a year
from Bengal
to China is also remitted from Bengal, on the Comand the Presidencies.
of the product of that money flows into the direct
trade from China to Europe. Besides this, Bengal
sends a regular supply in time of peace to those Presidencies which are unequal to their own establishment. To Bombay the remittance in money, bills, or
goods, for none of which there is a return, amounts
to one hundred and sixty thousand pounds a year at
a medium.
Exports The goods which are exported from Eufrom Eng- rope to India consist chiefly of military and
India. naval stores, of clothing for troops, and of
other objects for the consumption of the Europeans
residing there; and, excepting some lead, copper uten* The sale, to the amount of about one hundred thousand pounds
annually, of the export from Great Britain ought to be deducted from
this million.
pany's account, to China; and the whole
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 49
sils and sheet copper, woollen cloth, and other commodities of little comparative value, no sort of merchandise is sent from England that is in demand for the wants or desires of the native inhabitants.
When an account is taken of the inter- Badeffects
of investcourse (for it is not commerce) which is ment.
carried on between Bengal and England, the pernicious effects of the system of investment from revenue
will appear in the strongest point of view. In that
view, the whole exported produce of the country, so
far as the Company is concerned, is not exchanged in
the course of barter, but is taken away without any
return or payment whatsoever. In a commercial
light, therefore, England becomes annually bankrupt.
to Bengal to the amount nearly of its whole dealing;
or rather, the country has suffered what is tantamount to an annual plunder of its manufactures and
its produce to the value of twelve hundred thousand
pounds.
In time of peace, three foreign companies Foreign
appear at first sight to bring their contri- companies.
bution of trade to the supply of this continual drain.
These are the companies of France, Holland, and
Denmark. But when the object is consid- Consequences of
ered more nearly, instead of relief, these their trade.
companies, who from their want of authority in the
country might seem to trade upon a principle merely
commercial, will be found to add their full proportion
to the calamity brought upon Bengal by the destructive system of the ruling power; because the greater
part of the capital of all these companies, and perhaps
the whole capital of some of them, is furnished exactly as the British is, out of the revenues of the country. The civil and military servants of the English VOL. VIII. 4
? ? ? ? 50 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
East India Company being restricted in drawing bills
upoll Europe, and none of' them ever making or proposing an establisllment in India, a very great part
of their fortunes, well or ill gotten, is in all probability thrown, as fast as required, into the cash of these
companies.
In all other countries, the revenue, following the
natural course and order of things, arises out of their
commerce. Here, by a mischievous inversion of that
order, the whole foreign maritime trade, whether
English, French, Dutch, or Danish, arises from the
revenues; and these are carried out of the country
without producing anything to compensate so heavy
a loss.
Foreign Your Committee have not been able to
companies'
investments. discover the entire value of the investment
made by foreign companies. But, as the investment
which the English East India Company derived from
its revenues, and even from its public credit, is for
the year 1783 to be wholly stopped, it has been proposed to private persons to make a subscription for
an investment oil their own account. This investment is to be equal to the sum of 800,0001. Another
loan has been also made for an investment on the
Company's account to China of 200,0001. This makes
a million; and there is no question that much more
could be readily had for bills upon Europe. Now, as
there is no doubt that the whole of the money remitted is the property of British subljects, (none else haviiig any interest in remitting to Eiurope,) it is not unfair to suppose that a very great part, if not the whole, of what may firnd its way into this new channel is not
newly created, but only diverted from those channels
in which it formerly rall, that is, the cash of the foreign trading companies.
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 51
Besides the investment made in goods by Ofthe silver
foreign companies from the funds of British china.
subjects, these subjects have been for some time in
the practice of sending very great sums in gold and
silver directly to China on their own account. In
a memorial presented to the Governor-General and
Council, in March, 1782, it appears that the principal money lent by British subjects to one company
of merchants in China then amounted to seven millions of dollars, about one million seven hundred
thousand pounds sterling; and not the smallest particle of silver sent to China ever returns to India.
It is not easy to determine in what proportions this
enormous sum of money has been sent from Madras
or from Bengal; but it equally exhausts a country
belonging to this kingdom, whether it comes from
the one or from the other.
But that the greatness of all these drains, Revenue
above the
and their effects, may be rendered more investment,
visible, your Committee have turned their how applied.
consideration to the employment of those parts of
the Bengal revenue which are not employed in the
Company's own investments for China and for Europe. What is taken over and above the investment (when any investment can be made) from the gross revenue, either for the charge of collection or
for civil and military establishments, is in time of
peace two millions at the least. From the portion of
that sum which goes to the support of civil government the natives are almost wholly excluded, as they
are from the principal collections of revenue. With
very few exceptions, they are only employed as servants and agents to Europeans, or in the inferior
departments of collection, when it is absolutely im
? ? ? ? 52 NINTH REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE
possible to proceed a step without their assistance.
For some time after the acquisition of the territorial
Allowance revenue, the sum of 420,0001. a year was
to Nabob of
Bengal. paid, according to the stipulation of a treaty,
to the Nabob of Bengal, for the support of his government. This sum, however inconsiderable, compared to
the revenues of the province, yet, distributed through
the various departments of civil administration, served
in some degree to preserve the natives of the better
sort, particularly those of the Mahomedan profession,
from being utterly ruined. The people of that persuasion, not being so generally engaged in trade, and not
having on their conquest of Bengal divested the ancient Gentoo proprietors of their lands of inheritance,
had for their chief, if not their sole support, the share
of a moderate conqueror in all offices, civil and military. But your Committee find that this arrangement
was of a short duration. Without the least regard to
the subsistence of this innocent people, or to the faith
of the agreement on which they were brought under
the British government, this sum was reduced by a
How re- new treaty to 320,0001. , and soon after, (upduced. on a pretence of the present Nabob's minority, and a temporary sequestration for the discharge of his debts,) to 160,0001. : but when he arrived at his
majority, and when the debts were paid, ( if ever they
were paid,) the sequestration still continued; and so
far as the late advices may be understood, the allowance to the Nabob appears still to stand at the
reduced sum of 160,0001.
Native The other resource of the Mahomedans,
officers. and of the Gentoos of certain of the higher
castes, was the army. In this army, nine tenths of
which consists of natives, no native, of whatever de
? ? ? ? ON THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA. 53
scription, holds any rank higher than that of a Subahdar Commandant, that is, of an -officer below the rank
of an English subaltern, who is appointed to each
company of the native soldiery.
Your Committee here would be under- All lucrative
employstood to state the ordinary establishment: ments in the
hands of the
for the war may have made some alteration. English.
All the honorable, all the lucrative situations of the
army, all the supplies and contracts of whatever species that belong to it, are solely in the hands of the
English; so that whatever is beyond the mere subsistence of a common soldier and some officers of a
lower rank, together with the immediate expenses of
the English officers at their table, is sooner or later,
in one shape or another, sent out of the country.
Such was the state of Bengal even in time of profound peace, and before the whole weight of the public charge fell upon that unhappy country for the support of other parts of India, which have been desolated in such a manner as to contribute little or
nothing to their own protection.
Your Committee have given this short comparative
account of the effects of the maritime traffic of Bengal, when in its natural state, and as it has stood
since the prevalence of the system of an investment
from the revenues.
