The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-20 00:00:00

TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 20, 1852.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMEN T.

HOUSE OF LtileDS, April 19.
The LPED CHANcr-LLOR, took his sea,;, ou tha Wco!-
seek et Five o'clock.
YETI `IONS.

Lord MON EAGLE presented a petition from Gal-
way and Limerick ,against the E3clestastical Titles Act.
The Berl of SHAFTESBURY presented petitions
from
D , and other places, against
the Me
OPNlYTpuretb
' presented a petition from Dun-
stable, praying for the retention of the Cryatil Palace.
His Lordship added, that he did not join in the prayer of
; ni
B Dumbarton,
: grant.ni m°
Lord
the petition
MASTERS IN CHANCERY.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said he rose to lay on
the table of the House a Bill for abolishing the office of
Nlastere in Chaacery, and substituting caber officers in
their place. After the speech which he had made on a
former occasion, he should net think it necessary to de-
provision% of the naetotee wae one which he had
having coesulted on the se.bjec,. the four
lain their Lordschoinpesida,n,r)4.,dleingatnhd
ofhetihrnaed liinadsttahteit. g treb.et
litdevrivyea. a l'atnutelgfi:ellu:tll.l 7—Lamely, the Master ef the R its reel
the three V ise-Cheecellers, In whom the provisions of
the sit were to be winked out, and on whom would
awinlY deP,nd its
sechwaans sure their thhtetiinrgLir
carrieddsh Lordships
wintearse aware
that a, ir
rtl.te
would be quite, itnpo,sible to find four person,
ftnl ope.
more learned, more able, or more willing to grapple with
fee difficulties they would have to encounter in the
matter than those distinguished judges; and he had no
doubt that with such assistance the measure would be
brought under the most favourable circumstances before
the public.—(Hear, hear.) There was at present one
vacancy among the Masters in Chancery, so that nine
was the actual number of those officers. He proposed
that the measure should begin to take eff,ct from
the first day of Michaelmas term in the present year,
and that the four senior masters should then be released
from the duties cf their office, while the remaining five
should be left to wind up the arrears of business which
the Lord Chancellor might think proper to reserve for
them until the new scheme should come into perfect
operation. Under the Bill they would have powers
which they had never before possessed. It had always
been alleged in, defence of the masters, who bad buen
visited with alt the sins of their offices, that they had not
had power to compel suitors to proceed with cases before
them. By the present Bill he proposed to remedy that
detect, and at once to invest the masters, subject to an
appeal to the Court, with the power of compelling par-
ties to proceed immediately with their cases. Ho should
also observe that he proposed to give to the Court itself
similar power for the future; so that the Court would
ppeerrisoodeatif,exPpeethriaePnsclemaontythe efficacy
be enabled to prevent the protraction of cases for a
years. He had already had
of such au ar-
rangement. When he bad the honour of presiding
v" the Cciirt of Chancery in Ireland he had
issued, in accordance with a power vested in
him, certain orders Lir compelling parties to proceed
with cases which had been pending, in some
iiastances, for twenty, thirty, or even forty years; and
before he bad left that country every single old case had
been finally disposed of.—(Hear, hear.) He had taken
great care in framieg thee present measure that under it
there should be no room for favouritism in the dismissal
of the mssters; for the four seniors among them should
be dismissed it the first instance. They would, of
course, be entitled to receive their fall salaries after their
dismissal, and the other five would remain until their
business shoulr be wound up. Under the new scheme
the Master of the Rolls and the three Vice Chancellors
should each hsve two chief clerks, and each chief clerk
should have it second clerk, and the ahole of the busi-
ness es hick had heretofore been in the handa of the
masters should hencetorward be carried on in chambers
by the judges, assisted by those clerks. There would
be no rethrenc,is to any other officers, and no unneces
sary s'atereeres of facts, with all the expense and
delay which these references and statements occasioned.
The judges themselves, with their chief clerks arid
under clerks, should transact in chambers as much
ef the business before them as was not to be heard in
court. The effect of that would be thee the judge would
ge into ehembers during any period of the day, or for
the whole day, as he might trituk proper, and he would
there c whh . his own officers. Ile might if be
should deem it advisable., get reports drawn up 'for his
use, so that there might be something on which be could
afterwards proceed. It had always sesmed to him (the
Lord Chancellor) that if any scheme of Chaecsry re
form were to have a fair chance of suCe,-ss, the jedg-
wil''ui.dworkit e,,
ant fur
re,the4nselves. Wilt respect to the
p t'r nage to be
uhseree that tte thi ught it rtighbet new scheme,
nave the aepeintment of his own chief clerks, St) that hlt e
might have p-rsons he could himself approve of for
h>con-
ducting the business of his office. Upon the same prin-
mprlrrlt' tie would give
s h
and their cplrkalmah e
old me
eto the chief cl. rks. Tnere should be some places
in which the judge
Shoal
uit
that subject he proposed that the Ma,ter,o the Rolls
teappointment
of the
hete. second
Upti
end his clerks should assemble in then Rills Office, and
that each of the three Vice. Chancellors should have
commodi,ius chambers furnished for him at Lincoln's
lon. He proposed to take a power of selling, with
the consent of the Crown, the offices in Southampton-
buildings, in which the masters at present sat;' and
he hoped that the sum to be derived from that sale
would be sufficient, or nearly sufficient, for the con-
strucion of the new chambers. He thought it very
desirable that the clerks should not meet in the building
hitherto toni by the masters, and that they should not
be led to think by the associations of the place that they
had succeeded to the situations of those officers. Under
the existing law, if the senior Vice-Chancellor should
cease to occupy his office, there was no power in the
Crown to appoint a new Vice-Chancellor; but ho pro-
posed that by the new Bill there should be a power given
to the Crown, if it should thick fit, to appoint succes-
sors from time to time to that judge. He fervently hoped
that the syaetn would he found to work without the ap-
pointment of any additional judges. The Master of
the Rolls and the three Vice-Chaucellors already con-
stituted a powerful judicial stall', and be should be very
sorry to see any necessity for its increase. There
would undoubtedly, however, be this inconvenience in
the proposed new arrangement, that chile a judge was
etigag,:d in chambers, no business could be transacted its
his court; fur there was not in Chancery, as in the
coremon law courts, an extra judge in each court, who
ceuld attend in chambers. But, he hoped that the in-
creased facility for obtaining cheap and speedy justice
would more than cempeisate that inconvenience.
He would fur a moment draw their attention to the
present state of the proceedings in reference to the
reform of the Court of Chancery. He was sorry that,
while he was alluding to that subject, he did not see in
the House his Noble and Learned Friend (Lord
Brougham, we believe), to whom their Lordships and
the country were so much indebted for his very impor-
tan' services in the cause of legal reform. Ilia Noble-
and Learned Friend had ititroduced iu that House a Bill
fur extending the juriaticiion of the county court., to
white he (the L ird Chancellor) had had no time to de-
vote any attention previeusly to the third reading; and
he had net, therefore, thou tit proper to interfere with
its progrea It had received their Lordships' assent,
and it was at present before the o tier House. He was
aware that the pa-sine of that Bull might interfere very
much with the regulaione or the measure he was then
Its) mug on the lab'e of the House, and he felt that it would
be neeessary to consider carefully how tar tee two tiled-
rnsuartels
icaoutliitlianecowutairtkryedavt)orgeetthaeiro.usßtuhta,aushitahesreobwiaesannod
le,arnd Friend that the present Bill should pass, he was
ttre that hi. N hie awl Learned 1-th iend would be the first
is agree that his measure should le allowed to stand over
until the present Bill should have become law. The
Rill related sol,ly tc the mast rs' offi3es, und the new
juri-diction to be vested in the judges assisted by their
here wee still a very important portion of the
report of Commissioners to be carried into eif,.et,
and that was all that releted to what was termed the
precedhre. as distinguished tom the practice, of the
Court of Chaucery, and the tO-ahs of rendering tt more
asy end cheaper to oetaiu jueoce in that court. Th.'
Hell for carrying out that portion of the recommendations
of the Commissioriers was at present under his (the
Lord Cnaneellor'e) consideration, and he hoped that, ha
the course of about three weeks, he would, with the as-
eistance of the other judges of the courts of equity, be
able to lay it on the table of that Honse, and by that
means to carry into effect all the sag gei.ns made by
the Commissioners for improving the jurisdicti m of the
Court of Caancery. He would not detain their Lordships
any further. He was sure that it woul.l be needless furhim to go into alt the details of the Bill. He believed
their Lordships would agree with him, that, as far as
that measure went, no time had been lost in its preaphrrao-3
tion.—(Hear, hear.) He would also undertake to
the
that, as far as legal improvements were concerned,
assurance given by the Noble Earl at the forwarding
GovernMent that no time should be lost in
Lori ORAN WORTH was glad to see that
to comply
and Learned Lord had shown such readiness
those improvements would be fully and fairly fulfilled.
Lori
with the recommendation of the Chancery Commission,
nsessieont,
for the abolition of the Masters' offices- The present
Bill had his full approval.
Lord CAMPBELL said that he
first step . f these
Master's office the root of all the evils ocrtshi
o
towards Chancery reform was the abolition considered
taken
Chancery, and he was glad to see that the dartthoef
offices.

TThehis Billßit
Bill parsed
sthen
throughrettd a first
coin trni mt
tete.
e.
On the motion of the Earl of DERBY,
titheß t
Their
hand
d IB,ptoalhrBSe:es
Marine
PR I C OF gy UEB E C BILL.
th
e Mutiny
FoTuhreo'clock. pastitnheenMau,tilinf,ranße were read a third
ROUSE OF COMMOIVS, April 19.
The STEAMER took the Chair a few minutes before
livered in a potation agreed to
Sheriffs of London ap
CHARITABLE TRUSTS BILL.
bijy, EV
cattotptiteaabtaironanodf dale;
City, Pr,,Yirg that the City charter may be txtropt from
the operation of the Charitable Trusts Bill.
NEW witurs.
On the motion of Mr. P. NIACICENZIE, new writs
were ordered for Eist Suti,lk Cold Tavistook, the
former in the room of Lord gendleshatn, deceased, and
tho hatter in the room of Mr. Trela,.Tny, who had ac-
cepted the uffize of S eward of the Chiltern Hundreds.
PRIVATE BILLS. bird time and
paTsshede:Lollowing
Bonstaple Markets and Fairs.
Bills were read a t
Great Munster Fair.
I.kley Waterworks.
Kelvin Bridge (Glasgow) ,incl other
la aidon and Works.
Southampton Road, through. Bishop's
Waltham.
M dins River Navigation.
Eql ImproTeruenti

Skipton and'Ciaeo Road.

Sunderland Waterwork4.
The following Bills were considered and agreed ta:—
Aberd Ire Market and Slaughterhouses.

Cheshire Cunstdbuhay.
Dudley WateTwolks.
Ea,torn Comities arid Newmarket and Chesterford

way Companies
Glamford Briggs Waterworks.
Great Southern and Western Railway (Ireland).

Lockwood and Meicham Road.

Newmarket Railway.
Norfolk Railway.
Retford and Littleborough Road.
Romeey, Broughton, Swckbridge, and Wallop Roads.
Stockton and Darlington Railway.
South Essex Estuary and Reclamaion.
The following Bills were read a second time, and
ordered to be committed:— Wedmiro Road—Hu Idersdeld
Burial ground.
RAMSGATE ROYAL HARBOUR BELL.

On the,rooti,in for the second readiTig of this Bill,
Sir JAMES DUKE wished to know whether the
Admir,►l-y intended to do anyt'ing to remedy the defrcts
which maid'estly existed in the management of Rams-
gate flfirhour.
Mr. STAFFORD said the subject was under aio con-
sideration of the Admtralty ; but he Weli afraid there
would b- no time to bring in a BM to remedy all the evils
this session. 'rho present 13111 mitigated some of them,
and he should therefore allow it to pass, but
only upon the unierstanding that a BM would be al-
lowed to be brought in next session which should em-
brace the whole subject.
The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to
committed.
PETITIONS.

Several petitions were presented, praying for the re-
zeal of the \leynooth grant.
Sir J. DUKE presented several petitions from the
City in favour of a uniform poor•law.
Mr. H. BERKELEY presented a petition from Bris-
tol against the M4ynooth grant.
Mr. HEYWARD presented a petition from Coke to
the same eff et.

Mr. C. BRUCE presented a petition from Ross-shire
against the repeal of the Test Acts.
Sir F. THESIGER presented a petition from the so-
licitors of Manchester, praying for the repeal of the
attorneys' certificate duty.
Mr. WILLIAMS presented petitions from Truro,
praying for the preservation of the Crystal Palace.
Lord HOTHAM presentd a similar petition from a
place in the East Riding.
Colonel THOMPSON presented several petititions
against the Extradition of Marine Deserters' Bill.
Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT presented a petition against
the Mayo, oth grant.
Mr. WALPOLE presented a petition from the attor-
neys of Midhurst against the certificate duty.
Mr. HUME presented several petitions from various
parts of the country praying an equalization of taxes.
Mr. GEACa presented a petilion from Coventry
:spinet the Militia Bill.
Mr. SO ['HERON presented a petition from Wiltshire
against the attorneys' certificate duty
CHARI TABLE TRUSTS BILL.
The A TTORNEY.GENER,AL intimated that he
would postpone this Bill until this day week.
THE REV. MR. BENNETT.
Mr. HORSMAN gave notice that he would move on
an early day for an address to her Majesty, praying
for an inquiry into the circumstances connected with
the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Bennet to the living of
Frome.
CRYSTAL PALACE.
Mr. HEYWOOD gave notice that he would postpone
hi, motion respecting the Crystal Palace until the 29th
of April.
CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS BILL.
Colonel SIB mom, gave notice that when this
Bill came on for a second reading he would move that it
be read a second time that day six months.
MILITIA BILL.

Colonel SIBTHORP also gave notice that when it
was moved to read this Bill a second time, he should
propos° an amendment that it be read a second time
(hAt day six months.—(A laugh.)
EXPULSION OFAUS BRITISH SUBJECTS FROM

Mr. A.NSTEY gave notice that to-morrow be would
ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the cor-
rospondence between the Government and the Cabinet
nf Vienna respecting the expulsion of the Rev. Mr.
Edwards from Austria was sufficiently complete to be
laid before the 11,,u40.

BLL,
JIRO
ortShIeNEExS.S6
EXCHEQUER gave
The C El ANCPEUL
notice he would move that on Thursday, the 29 n of
April, end on every subsequent
Thursday, the orders of
the day should have precedence of untiees of motion.
CITY GRAND JURIES.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL rose to move for leave
to bring in a Bill to render it necessary to summon
grand juries within the metropolitan district, and for the
;Amendment of the criminal law in other particulars.
The subject of this Bill had excited a good deal of public
attention ; it could not be said to be new, for in the
year 1841, when he had the honour of filling the
same office which he now held, he suggested,
amongst other things,' to the then Government
a Bill of precisely similar character. The Bill
was brought into Parliament in the year 1849,
but although a Committee was appointed, and several
witnesses were examined upon it, the Committee only
reported the evidence, and the Bill fell through. He
would not trespass upon the time of the House by glutt-
ing in detail the precise nature of the measure, but upon
the second reading he would go fully into the reasons
which induced him to propose this alteration in the law.
Leave vts then given to bring in the Bill.
EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CHARTER.
Mr. BERRIES rose to move for a Select Committee
to inquire into the operation of the 3 and 4 Will. 4, c.
85, for the better government of her Majesty's Indian
territories," and to report their observations thereon.
The House would be aware that the object of this Cow
mitten was to take into consideration the propriety of
renewing the charter to the East India Company.
He need scsrcely state to the House that hitherto the
East India Company had exclusively enjoyed our In.
dian territories, and it was equOly unnecessary for
hire to inform toe House of the extraordinary progress
which the ludian,empire bad made since the year 1784,_
when the present system of government began. since
that period there ha l been a gradual tendency to abo
lish as much as possible the exclusive rights aed privi-
leges which the East India Company enjoy. For instance,
in the year 1793 the charter underwent a considerable
modification and a great inroad was made upon the pri-
vilege of the Company. Amongst other things a new
system of private trade was introduced, which was car-
rted on not only in connexion with, but under the imme-
diate direction of, the East India Company, and
this private trade had developed itself to an almost
fabulous extent from that period down to 1813.
About this latter period a very great alteration
its the exclusive right of the East India Company as
traders was made, and private traders were admitted. The
only exclusive right. in fec,, reserved to the Company
was the trade to China, but, with that exception, all
their other trading privileges were removed. New re-
guletions were introduced at the time of a most valuable
nature, and these regulations continued for some time.
These new regulations wore the result of an inquiry
which the House had instituted, and they were con-
tinued down to 11133. At that time a new Act
for regulating the charter was introduced
and by this Act all the rights of the Company, including
those of trading with China, were modified, and from this
lime they lewd to be a trading company. All their
powers were made over to the Crown, and their commer-
cial assets were disposed of under that Act.
rho Act was to coating° for twenty years,
namely, from 1834 to 1854, and it was agreed to
by the Company on certain conditions. The first con-
dition fur the immense sacrifice which the Company
made WAS that their stock, amounting to, as
he was informed,. 6,000,000/, sle tuld not b
subject to redemption for torty years. That was, it was
not to be called in fur forty years after the passing of the
Act he had mentioned, and also, if, during that period the
Government should deprive them of any privilege in-
cluded in the Act, they should acquire a right of de-
manding a redemption of their stock of 2001, for every
1001. This certainly was no great boon to the Cern.
pally, for at this present moment the 1001. stock
of the Company he understood was worth 260/.
The affairs of India under this arrang meat had c m-
antled to be administered from 1834 up to the present
time, and they would eontinue to be administered till
tee year 1854, atter which it would be for this and the
other House, and the Crown, to determine whether
the same or another system should be adopted.
The Government hid thought it necessary to submit
the question with regard to the renewal of the charter
to Committees of both Houses of Parliament. They
considered that there were three courses open to them—
first, to let the Act expire; secondly, to propose the re-
newal of the Act without further inquiry; and thirdly,
to propose an inquiry before any further steps were
taken in the matter. The present and the late Govern-
ment thought the latter was the best and most becoming
course to adopt. Infinite benefit was found to result
from the inquiry which was instituted previous to the
granting of the last charter. He did not
apprehend any difference of opinion with
regard to the appointment of a Committee. Twenty
years had nearly elapsed since 1833, and it was neces-
sary to inquire what effect the system of government
in India had produced on the welfare and progress of
that country during this period. The revenue had in
some instances been satisfactory, in others unsatisfactory.
At the commencement of the 'period the total income
was 18,407,000/. and there had been a gradual increase
in that sum during every succeeding year, and in the
present year it amounted to 24 379,0001., the difference
being not less than 6,000,0001. He was sorry to say,
however, that the charges had increased f18,000,000L in 1834, to 25,000 0001 in the re froth
ptient year,
thus exhibiting a deficiency of 678,000/. Ii w
rally be inquired how this deficiency arose. natu-
four years there was a considerable ti the first
surplus,
atter that period there had been but
stunt di ficiency, with the exception alim'st.
a con-
when there was a surplus of one ar,
of 350 000/
increase of charges was occ • •The
disas-
trous wars in which India was occasioned by the
of the period. The miserable involved during the whole
war of' Atighanistan had d undertaking called the
than 10,000,0001. Then drawn certainly no less a sum
the war in S • d d the first
and second war CID e , •
an
In the Pun subcost also an
from the best accounts enormous sum. It appeared - he
,
had been collect, that all these able to -11 not
, than
have cost a less SUM altogether wars could
000,000/. There
had been added to the national debt to conisequenoe of
these wars, as much as 20 000 which involved a
u 0401..
large additional expenditure to the country in the shape.
of interest. There were, hoe-ever, some points for con
During-
gratulation.n
, the 20 years the exports and im-
cirtg A nearlY doubled, and there hed-boe.a N Froiite.P

sive increase in the tonnage of PPSMIS both inwards and
outwards,. Tbey had elso obtsieed u. great augmenta-
tion of territory end population. As many as
165.000 severe miles m f territory, and cer-
tainly not less than nine Milhous of popu-
latiou, had peen added to their dorninioes in
Ou the whole he thought the futnre tiros perity
of Lelia was incomparably more advantage ens now than
at any formsr period of its history. I, had
been said that the natives were precluded
from all share in the administretion of affairs
in India, but the fact was that the Government
encouraged the employment of natives, and also
promoted their education, in order to tit them
fur that employment. The total number of
natives employed in adafnistrative office?, having sala-
ries of and above 1201, per nurture, is not less than 1,560,
and there aro besides '2,840 u. hers at a low r seale of se la-
rice 'lone •,,,urta ,it Incite had on the whele worked exceed-
ingly well, arid it Wl6 satistectery to know 'hat of la. e
years they hal considerably impriee3.l Th. appals
lagd been few in eu.nner, and the administration of the
law bad on ihe whole teem raise anti salutary. Then,
eg tin, with regard to the important. subj,et of education,
he f and that the edueetteuel establishments of India
had of late years bet n greatly augmented. At one
tins(' t hate wore only two, one in Caleutea arid
the other in Benares, but in 1835 there were
no less than fourteen in existence while
last year it was reeled that there were no le,s than forty
existing in 8.-ngel and the north-west part of the ter-
ritory.. The systems observed in these educ Atonal
establishments wore based on sound religious prin-
ciple, and there could be no doubt that the
Government had all along displayed an anxious desire
to improve the condition of the people committed to
their charge, both in an educational as well as a moral
and religious point of view.—(Hear, hear.) The
state of affairs in India then was most gratifying;
while with regard to the financial condition of that
great territory tie thought the returns upon the table
would give equal setisfection to the House. The
interest payable on the Indian debt did not exceed two
millions a year, and even that was gradually
being reduced, as the works which the
Government had undertaken were getting into reproduc-
tive operation. Many of these works consisted of high-
roads, and not a few of them had been
undertaken within the last twenty years.
Therefore, in.. considering the management
and conduct of the Government of India,
these matters should not be lost sight of. And with
reference to the railways which bud been projected in
various parts of India, he thought the works generally
which had been uudertaken were called for by the exi-
gence of the State. The ecclesiastical establishmenet of
India stood upon a very satisfac'ory footing, and the in-
crease which had from time to time been made is the num-
ber of Indian clergy displayed a laudable desire on the
part of the East India Government to secure the rcli-
ginus instruction of the people. At present there were
130 clergymen employed in various parts of the empire,
besides three biehorice. The patronage of the East
India Company we impartially distributed, but with
regard to political affairs the East India Company was
only the agent of her Majesty's Government. The re-
sponsibility, therefore, fell upon the home Ad-
ministration; but it would, nevertheless, be a
great mistake to suppose tbat that Company
was simply an agent or tool, because it partook
of a mixed character, and, in some respects the respon-
sibility of government, beyond its ministerial capacity,
rested as well upon the shoulders of the Company as
upon the Government. Occasionally it came to pass
that a difference of opinion arose between her
Majesty's Government and the executive of the Com-
pauy; but still, upon the whele, he thought it was infi-
nitely to the advantage of the public service that this
system of mixed government should be continued. This,
however, was one of the subjects which the Committee
would have to take into its serious coneideration, and
he hoped having now gone through all the topics which
suggested themselves to his mind, the House would
have no hesitation in agreeing to his motien.—(fleer.)
Mr. ANSTEY said no one who bed heard he Right
Hon. Gentleman could tail to arrive et the conclusion
that it was impossible to overrate the importance of the
uhject, or to perceive the danger-of proceeding to any
decision without due and full inquiry; and he thought
that the appointment ot a commeeste (or commute. 6) to
investigate the .unject wes whet no one weule object to
He was nut disposed to question the propriety of at pre-
sent continuing to follow the old course, and thought,
indeed, that Parliament ought riot to he called ripen to
legislate at all until there bad been made a full inquiry
eider the control of Perliane ne But he asked the
House to consider wheth, r—(useful as such inquiry
weuld be)—it would be under the present circtimece
sufficient for the object which they sought.
believedbefore
it was impassible tin to conduct such an inquiry
any committee as co be sad.factory ; and be, tberetore,
bad risen to tarn° the amendment, of which he had given
melee, to add the following words:—" And that an
humble address be presented to her Majesty,
representing the lateness of
when the powers and
session, the near
approach of the period
authorities under which the government of her
Majesty's Indian dominions is now carried on
will naturally determine, and the urgent importance of
ht into the condition of those
obtaining a thorough insight
dominions, and into the feelings and wishes of the
Queen's subjects, native and Europeans, resident within
the same, before Parliament is called upon to pass any
measure for continuing the said powers and authorities;
end praying her Majesty for that purpose to take the ne-
cessary measures tor sending commissioners of inquiry
into British India, duly instructed and empowered to
cesuateence and preseeute ad requisite inquiries in the
premises, and to rep ,rt the evidence, together with their
observations thereupon, to her Majesty in Parliament."
No incpiry (he contended) could be successfully prose-
cuted uclees with the assistance of local commissioners
authorised to take evidence in India; the evidence of na-
tives, and of planter;, and other residente. Even if the
flattering picture drawn by the Right Hon. Gentlemen
were correctrit would surely not be wise to ze,iign
150,000,000 of our Indian subjects for another 20 years
to the absolute authority of the Company, without
taking the evidence of natives and residents.
Without a local commission this cculd not he
done. The Hindoos were prevented by their religit n
fronts coming to England, for they would lose caste by
crossing the a2a; and many of the 114ehoinedans could
not be expected, for tee result of the Ccuseany's rice
had been to reduce that population to unspeakable
wretchedness and poverty. In 1848 the Committee of
Mr. Bright upon cotton cultivation reported that the con-
dition of the cultivating °lama was one of extreme
poverty, and there were scarcely any other classes in
the country. There were precedents for a Commission
of Inquiry; that course had been taken with respect to
Africa. and to the North American' boundary, and also
to the lonian Lands. And with reference to India
itself, the same course had been pursued in respect to
railways, which it had been said was a subject which
could only be dealt with properly by a local inquiry.
He did net, however, admit the flittering picture drawn
by the Right Hon. Geutlemen of the condition of the
country to be correct. Toe Rght Hun. Gentleman
had said chat the debt thd not exceed two years' re-
venue, and this appeerei plausible, but was fallacious;
tor the revenue of Ineia was not medal up merely of
taxation, but partly out of a rent received by the Corn-
ploy from the land, in the capacity of proprietors. He
contended that the Company took 60 per cent, of the
produce of the land, celculated not on the vatue of the
land but on the probable value of the crop. And, added
to this, there was taxation on every article on which it
was possible to Impose ir. Yet the revenue did netex-
ceed 21,000,0001. from a tart-story as large as Eurote
and mere fertile, better pe pled, and more complete:), in
the hands of the Governmeut—blessed with several har-
vests in the year, and abounding in everythieg, from
the productio of the tropics to those of the pule. 'late n
was all the revenue derived, and that paltry revenue
the people were racked to produce, and often sold
up and ruined. And, on the other hand, tbo
ex-
penditure went on year a' ter year consuming rio
only the resources of the present, but also of the
future. The truth was, that, as local inquiry would
prove, the condition of India was one of hapel ss
mi-
sery, which was better or worse according as our rule
was more or less direct, and thus it wieebaetteer in the
of
the
L e
" non-reguletiou" provinces (where the 11ee
Governor mitigated the tyranny of etidenehall- street).
than in the " regulation" provinces, where the tyranny
prevailed to the greatest extent; and emigration was
continually going on from those latter provinces into the
dominions of the N.zina or of the King of Oude, in
order to avoid the tyranny of the Company. Such was
the population we had undertaken to liberate. but
which practically we had enslaved. In India, indeed,
we were at a dead lock, and it would be difficult to
squeeze an additional farthing from the people of thatne
country.
EveO by the testimony of M o
r. Campbell,
of the company's servants, who had written a
Panegyric
of the company within the last two months, it appeared
that the amount of rent was estimated according to the
crop, but that opium, sugar, and cutton paid in a double
proportion. Having reduced the value of the land by
our exactions, we proceeded to tax the necessarit a of
life ; and whilst we forbade the manufacture of
salt derived from the sea, we iniquitously mo-
nopolirocd the manufacture of the article produced
from the earth. It was a singular fact that the break-
ing out of the cholera in India was coincident wieh. the
creation of the salt monopoly by Warren Hastings, and
medical officers had reported that the disease, fright-
fully prevalent amongst the poor in India, who ware deprived of the article of salt, left the rich almost un-
touched. There had been some relaxation of this mono-
Poly poly during the last few years, but not to 0,1111%1,i:4
appreciable by the general body of the p•
'l'ettom tax-
criticised arid ridiculed the
a ion granted by the Compan;,exttete—a*l:asnitsig,,nad
tLhearnt.hede
Member proceeded to examine t P
Board of Control acted
Di-
rectors, and Vice versa." a check honend
eidh ethßa that trhde of
Boardp
of Directors were as tenctilleg
ents of the day, and
kitilEnyteof the Affghan and
other Indian wars as thedg
°territory and patronage in
that they had
ri"i ears. welt would it have been
consequence of teeso wars.
be paid by the
if the 36 000,0000/nnthrd fnbreetnhentothe
payment would
people of ibis ced.
out as the unrepresented and
have been ditsput le of the Punjaub and ethers
tyrannised-over p
were the suff,,rers there was no chance of redress.
It was remarkable, also, that whilst we had been going
on increasing our territory in India, there bad been a
growing deficiency in the revenue. The state of things
generally was such that if Mr. Macauley were now a
member of the House of Commons, he would no tenger
find it possible to repeat the praise eo the Bea.d of Di-
rectors he hied uttered in 1833. Mr. Campbell stated
that within the last ten years the net revenue had in-
creased by more than 5,000,0001., but that .43 co 1837 the
cost of the ordinary establi,hcoents had increased to
6,000,00 W.. se that the dedec iene, instead of being 66
per cne, were 76 per Cent. The position of the joint
Jurisdictions of the Board of Control and B card of Di
vxurd Wag
.9,ll,ogathu suomilloue. The 'Periii.o4 119 W
• •