The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1806-04-03 00:00:00

INDIA APPRIRS.

Cria: .a Letter from the RIM Honourable Henry Maria'
(note Lied Vii.couat Melville) to tti.t Chatritan, Deputy
Chairman, and Coure of Vreelore of the Eeit (ride Cone.
patty ; on the Indian Debt:— Wei flOth of lane, 1801
GENTLEMEN, Ciaerarstreet..lo.ta 30, Wit.
lit the etplanatinn of the affairs of the East In-
dia Comeany, which l lately stated to the House of
Commnns, I gave it as my opinion, that within a
• very few years after the return of peace, the Indira
Debt might be reduced within proper limits, by a
doe combination of the rev• nue. and commerce of
the Fist. India Company ; that before the expira-
tion of their chatter, the sum necessary fir the
guarantee of their capital will be accumulated ;
that the additional dividend may be allowed to the
Proprietors, as provided for by the Aa renewing
their Charter ; and that a due attention will at the
same time be paid to the claims of the Public for
participation, according to the terms of the agree-
ment at the time the charttr of the Company was
t.n^wed ; and the more clearly to elucidate my
ideas, I exhibited them iii the form of as account,
founded on the dere pointed out, and stating the
ceachtsions resulting from those data.
Although it was my intention, as usual, to pub-
lish the detailed explanations, I have heels accus-
tomed to state in the Committee of the House of
Commons, on the day generally appropriated for
what is called rt,e balsa Budget. I have been in-
duced to give this separate statement, because it has
hoes suggested to me, that a publication of this na-
ture, not complicated with minute. details, but em-
bracing a genera view of the prosper of your af-
fairs. during the continuance of the present Charter,
may te.td en a more speedy n•td accurate considera-
tion of this important siihj• 3.
It is scarcely necessary for me to explain, why
there is a peculiar propriety in my addressing the
tollgivie:e sheets to you. Independect of the re-
&Pea erof attention I owe to the Directors and Pin-
, prietors of the E.:l,t India Company. and of the
deep interest 1 must at all times take in their con-
, terns, it it obvious, that if my plans are fit to he
• adopted, or are likely so he attended with the wish-
ed-tor success, the eseetions for that purpose must
originate with the East India Company, and those
exertions must be continued with a steadrand un-
retritting attention.
The account to which I have* jest referred, is
No. 1 in the Appendix. The result of the Account
depends only on its arithmetical accuracy, if the
data on which it proceeds are not liable to some fun-
damental error. It is therefore my first wish to
direct roar attention tis an examination of the lead-
ing features of the plan.
They are, tn. An arrangement abroad, so that a
fun million from the surplus of the revenues shall,
at the comnwacentent, be applicable to the purchase
of Investments.
led. That the investments from India and China
•aholl as-Jaunt. at prime coot, to tutu millions annu-
ally, in equal propm
3.1. That daring the first four years from this
time, the Cennpaay shall avail themselves of the
power they already have, under the Ad, for
t..h.rir Capital Stuck to dna:tent of two
millions, at die rate of half a million annually,
which, it is supposed, will realise one million ster-
ling.
Ch. That the additional money ea raised, shall
be applied esclasively to the liquidation of the•pre-
sent Indian debt, at interest, either by increasing
remittances in bullion, or export to India to that
amount, or oy defraying additional bills drawn from
India for tne same purpose.
Stn:rhat tne extindion of this debt new calculated
to Airmen: to fourteen millions sterling, shall be CAT.
tie/ on at the rate of one million annually, till the
port of it, celled the Decennial Loan, shall become
payable, which is expeled to take place on or about
*se year 11:17-8, and that the sum then payable ne
account of lnJtan dent, which is stated at 3,500.0001.
shall be discharged in that year, on which suppo-
sitions, the debts at interest abroad will then be re-
duced to 4,500,0001
I shall be under the necessity of troubling you
with some exel.aention on each of these points.
The fiat requisite is, u an etrangement abroad,
an that a hail iniihon from the surplus of the reve-
nues, shall, at the commencement, be applicable to
OW purchase of Inveaments."
The necessity of this requisite being accom-
plished. will appear from the account I have already
Merted to. in wh ch, in the second year, credit is
taken ter the sepplOng 4.000.0001. prime cost of
investment, with a charge on that account, nn the
Treasury at Lome, of only 3,000,00:1. This, of
course, proceeds on the supposition of she remain-
ing 1,000.04001. being in toat year supplied facet
she revenues in India. tie tutece:paent years, the
charge at home, for investment. is si.pinesed gra-
tl'isarly to be decreased below 3,000,0001. in promo-
t•ca as the applicable surplus of revenue in India
is lacreased by savings of the interest of debt dig-
tattered. sod the progress of this latter operation is
pointed nut le t..e two Acemints, Nos. C and 9, in
the Appendix I am well await of the difficulty
which OCZUTS in the outset of this whole operation.
from the present burthened state of your finances in
India, and the vary hiree amount of the revenues
which are absorbed in :. discharge of interest at SO
hiigh a rate ; hat this ver, circumstance is so de-
cisive as to the success of the measure, when once
set in motion. that no difficulty is so great that is
tot to he auraeouted.
The Estimates of the revenue and charges. which
I stated to the House of Commons, were diawn up
item those transmitted by your Governments in
India ; but, in order that I might proceed with as
touch certa•nty as possible, on this important article
of the plan, in addition to the exertions of the ac-
countant sit the B aid of Commissioners for the
affairs of In.l•a„ I requested the assistance of your
very accurate and ehle officer, Mr. %%right, in order
that they might jointly imamate and coil eft t•:e
Estimates transmitted from alreorio, so a. to enable
Ill* to form the best opinion p issible to what amount
yore might rely en a sui plus in India, as available to
the purposes ol Meru mein.
Tar estimate. No. 4. in the Aopendia, will ex-
hibit the eel • " the hives:l:raven. It is propane
, n riaoy, abundant caution
but • • -(7,t" huh to ert., and it would
be ' • so wadi tusportaace,

~, n,si

to !mild on ary surplus, that does not appear to be
clearly warranted.
"I'lw amount is taken at $OO,OOOl. which is defi-
cient for the objet in view, to the amount of
'200,0001. ; but, in truth, this deficiency ought not to
be stated at sn small a sum as 200,0301 ; for, when
you consider that par: of the commercial charges
defrayed in India, amounting to ebout Itso,oool.
have not been usually included in the Estimates,
and likewise consider that o:her unforeseen eh-olio:-
stances may occur, I do not think that if you mean
to insure the actual receipt of the sum required,
you can safely desist horn your exertions, till you
loser secured ip India, far commercial purposes, a
suns of not less than 1,200,0001.
Throe are serenel circumstances, which lead me
to be confident in my hopes, that a sum to that
amount will, without any real difficulty, be ob-
tained in India, for the purpose of realising the
prospcds which are detailed is the account before'
you.
In the first place, I can have no doubt, that if
you send out positive instruetions to your Govern.
ments abroad, stating the improtarce of the ohjed
in view, considerable additions will be made to the
savings pointed out in the correeted Estimate of
Mr. Wright. This can only be eft-dually done
' on the spot ; but it will he done, if your servants
' abroad are impressed with a full convidion, that
the object you have in view is so far paramount to
every other, in the present moment, as to claim
their first attention. In C. is observation, I point
chic* at the Army Exertotdioories, which, from
the pressure of the war, and toe expensive contests
in which you have bees engaged, have necessarily
amounted to a very large sum, and cannot tail to
admit of great reductions, of the details of which,
at- home, we cannot be competent judges ; hut
which a vigilant, economical, and firm Government
on the spot, cannot fail to discover and to enforce.
In the second place, it is not impossible, that
some of those expences, which are with great pro-
priety intended to be of a permanent nature, may,
without ti,k, be postponed, till it is finally aster-
tained that they can be defrayed without interfering
with the sum requisite for i vestment, accordoig to
the plan detailed in the subjoined Accounts, Nos.
4, and 3. Li this observation, I particularly allude
to your military establishments, as last revised.
In the orders you sent out some months ago, con-
siderable reductions were made in your military ex-
penditure ; and I okserve in the correded Est:mate,
No. 4. that the saving, in consequsnce, is com-
puted at 270,00C1. insese reductions were ordered
upon a eery accurate examination, and to the best
of my judgment it would not be proper, in a future
permanent arrangement, to make them to a greater
extent ; but when so great an •'ojed is at stake, I
should be clearly of opinion., for considering how
far any part of the proposed establishments might
be postponed. In the Notan,funt subjoined to the
correded Estimate, No. 4, Mi. Wright observes,
that if the Addition t 3 the artillery cooed he post-
poned, it would save 54,00n1. ; but I consider the
altition ordered to your military establishment to ,
be of soch deep importance to the security of your
ettended Indian empire, I do not think toe saving
suggested ougio to be adopted. But I think dif-
ferently with regard to the other Ntiandum : and
when so great a loving can be mate a 133,0001.
by keeping the Naive reginwas at 14'YJ privates,
in place of 1600 or 1800, 1 cannot doaot in advis-
ing you to make that tedutlion. In truth, these is
no risk, fur in the case of emergency, the Native
troops could be recruited with the utmost expedi-
tion to the ultimate proposed establishments, or
in-
deed to any amount.
In these observations, you will observe, thit I have
confined myself solely to the consideration of mi-
litary retrenchments ; I have dune so because I am
'convinced, that any attempt to make any considein-
ble rediitlion in you: civil establishments, would he
produellve of all the ioconveniencies attending hi-
adequate allowances to your civil servants. Suck a
system would lead to all the foul coueequences te-
stating from the ex talon of private unwarranted al-
lowances, which it has been the great objed of the
present system of Indian Administration to
At/the same time, this is no reason why even
your civil expences may not merit your attention, to
the effect of instructing your Governments to refrain
from any expenditure of a contingent nature, which
would lead to any considerable expence I and re-
speffing which there is no immediate urgency why
it should be executed at the present rather than any
future moment. Although at this distance, I can-
not take it upon me to specify all the particular items
of expenditure on which retrenchments may be
made, I cannot permit myself to entertain any rea-
sonable diffidence on the subject. When I look to
the state of your expences of India at a farmer
period, I do not carry that reference to an early pe-
uod. because I am aware. that within these very
few years, a large permanent expence was most pro-
perly incurred, by the arrangement which took place
for rendering the condition of your Military Ser.
vents more comfortable in a vaziety of respeas ; I
refer, however, to the charges of all kinds as they
stood in the year 1797411, and the amount of them
was 7,650,6341. a suns far inferior to that canoein-
gid in the estimate now exhibited by your Auditor,
amounting to 0,50102601. It is true, that since
that period, great additions have been made to your
territorial possessions, and very considerable addi-
tions to your military expenditure are created in son-
sequence cf the very beneficial alliances y u have
formed with the Native Powers in India. These
considerations, however, do not epetate against the
probability of what I am endeavouring to establish;
(or, as to addition of territories, it cannot escape
observation, that the events which produced those
additions. have, at the seine time. tended to increase
she security of your own prosersions, by narrowing
:heir frontier, and annihilating your most powerful
and inveterate enemy; and whetever yon are °lair
ell to increase yoor Military Establishments in con-
sequence of Alliances, you have received a subsidy
fully adequate to the espence of tote subsidiary
ergagemeots.
It is proper here to remind you, that, in the ob-
, servetinos I have made to setaluish the probability of
the requisite aid to be deritred from a surplus reve-
nue in India, I have taken so credo for the expec-
tations I am entitled to entertain from tin increasing
prosperity, cultivation. and consequent population
. f our Indian teniteries. Oar revenues, for some
ye.oss have bees in a sumo of proircuive increase,

aril the same cause must continue to operate in pre
luciog the same effects. I shall not indulge myself
at present, in disquisitions of that nature, as it would
lead me far beyond the bounds I have prescribed to
myself in this address. I state the circumstance,
without MeAiling 10 draw uny crher conclusion than
w.iat must occur to every body, viz. that the happy
charge which recent events have produced on our
.itfairs in India, must strengthen and invigorate
eves y hope and expectation Wunder' tin their pre;
sent state. Every system of beneficial finance,
commerce, and economical ad misistratiun, can
now he adopted, and pursued with more steadiness •
and certainty of success, than it could be under
circumstances of psecarious security, and unremit-
ting Anxiety.
Having now stated to you a saving upon vont.
Estimates, to an amount producing near a oh.llion
surplus in India, and having likewise stated the
prospect of a larger surplus, both from the proba-
bility of further tetrenchnients, and from the almost
certainty of a progressive increasing revenue, I
might safely leave this gait of the propasitinn, upon
what I have already observed ; but to remove all
ambiguity on the subje.ll., I t!.ink it proper to re-
mind you, that in the end of the year 1803, or be-
ginning of the year .1804, the debt due to the
consolidated creditors of the late Nabob of
Arcot will be liqtri,iated, so as to set tree
a sum of not less than 6,21,000 pagodas,
amounting in pounds sterling to the sum of 248,4001.
This sum still of course be applicable to the dis-
charge of such further debts of the late and present
Nabob, as are not included in the former arrange-
ment. The East India Compay itself is a creditor
to a large amount, and, according to the arrange-
:trent suggested by Marquis %Vellesley, in his letter
:0 rate Nabob, of 24th of April, 1799, there can be
no doubt, that at least one-half of the sum so :a
tree, will be appropriated to the extinillion of the
debt due to the Company, and will of coin se to
that amount add to the surplus of the revenues ap-
plicable to investment. But this is not all ; for Ac-
cording to the letter I have write to you this day,
ow the sul,jed of the private unconsolidated debts
aids, late and present Nabob, there seems no doubt
that the whole of the six lees and twenty-one thou-
sand pagodas alreday referred to, will be at your
disposal for the purposes of investment. My let-
ter, with its enclosures, points out to you the obvious
mode in which this is to be accomplished; and the
effeet of the transaaion, if agreed to by you, will be
to give an immediate commercial resource to the
amount of the whole 6,21,000 pagodas; paying to the
creditors their debts at hone by such distant instal-
menu, as can never prove any inconvenience to your
Treasury at home, or tend to any degree to disturb
the substantial benefits to br derived from the mea-
sure which 1 .am now endeavouring, with great ear-
nestness, to impress upon your attention. It is
scarcely necessary to-observe, that the (Era of the
Plan wilt be to put into your pockeas the difference
between the amount of interest payable to you by
the Nabob, and the tour per cent. payable by you at
, Jennie to the creditors, according to the agreement
you may make with them in consequence of their
proposal ; and the only tsfeet it will have upon the
wholeiesult at the ae:ouot is. a dim:anion on tae
halances at home ftpm the period when the instal-
ments agreed upon with the creditors shall become
payable. and the aggregate of these payments mill,
ar• rase a, create a enninution of the balance stated
to accrue at the expiration of the charter.

(.I.;bc COII7IIIUNi )

NA VAL I.VTILLLIGENCE.

PaRTSMOL7TH. APRIL 1.
Sailed the Gi3ralter. of 80 guns, for Ply =Auk ;
hreuory and Fury gun•reisels. on a cruise.
PLYMOUTH, MARCH 31.
Sailed the Hark*, hired armed ship; Piper and
nisi. cutters, on a cruise.
ThiCarsys brig came in yesterday from the fleet.
when His Majesty's ship_ Piaidageset, 74, was or.
de:ed to be paid immol3;atoly, preparatot • to her
sailing this afternoon, to join the Channel fleet.
tinted. also, the Reridatiororaire, Captain Field-
ing ; the Cold! gun-brig, and Sarincm sloop of
war.

The Plmotogetri is now under Weigh. with a fine
breeze at East.

C!ne in the neoeusties bnmh, with a fleet under
convoy from the Downs; and the Kura, Sa) ward,
for Caen E N.E.

TOTAL. APRIL 1.

Remain in the Downs, the Eater, 17tre-bt, and
the latelope men of wan Harrsithay •iSuAllet ;
plartial ani Fun-brigs; Swallisto auk Staz
ilovabere cntteri.—Wind

• FROM u..01i in LIST.

eacyryw•, Aran ¶. Pasted by the Libeoa.,
front Itaree'ona ; and Stall Holque.urg..—...—, hum 11,1-
Itughu-i the Coro Piaster, Owls,. for New York ;
Enrwpr. Shoitow. for Newfuworltawl; Linea Eeztto.
my, Alan; meal thrtJohn, Comers, fur Peter.borrt. s Pene-
lope, Lamb. for Rya: EL-otter 0 h, 11.11; DA.
Om. Limb/erg; %GUM tuwlSasoh, Teasdale ; awl the twee.
Irwin,. for ILLsesbew t.