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

tion in the principle, and that Minister was bound to
assign his reasons for making such alteration. He (Sir
J. Hogg) need not poiet out how complete a protection
these things were against any improvidence, any haste,
oe any impropriety on the part of the Board of Direc-
tors, of which this was the practice, apart from the pro-
ceedings of the secret committee—of whose acts he
should add the great body of the directors knew nothing.
The subject of patronage had been adverted to; and it
was, perhaps, a delicate subject for him to touch on; but
he had heard what had been stated on the subject, cod
certain returns had been made, of stated
he-should re
capitulate one or two items to the. 'House. There were
2,900 appointments, for instance, in the gift of the di--
recLors. Out of this number 1,100 were given among
the servants of the company; 1,700 were given to the
sons of the nobility, the gentry, and professional men;
and of the rest a large number were conferred on the
sons of naval and military officers in the service of the
Queen; but the largestrof - all, he was happy to say,
were given among_ the sons of the clergy. These
returns, - he should lay 'before the Committee,-
and it would be for them to say _ whether
or not the patronage of the East - India
Company was properly distribaied. The Hoe.
Member for Taunton had alluded to certain abuses
which existed in respect of promising patronage when
Directors canvassed fel. votes. Abusee would, no
doubt, exist, and such, if they existed, were a dis-
grace to him who asked the vote, as well as him
who gave it. But he (Sir J. Hogg) cauld most so-
lemnly declare that in the course of his own canvass
even a hope of the kind had never been suggested to
him, except in the case of one individual, and that was
only distantly done, whose support he coniegnently de-
clined. The Hon. Member for Montrose had s,,id that
the Court of Directors W 49 not attended regularly. By
law there was an attendance required once a week.
Many of the directors were not young men—some of
them had other most important avocations—all of them
were glad to get a little relaxation. But what was the
fact as regarded their attendance? The average at-
tendance of the 24 exceeded 20, and there was no day in
which there were not from four to ten directors in the
India House.a—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member for
Taunton had told the House that the judicial business of

IncliA was principally disposed of -by native agents.
From returns of the whole of India, taking the cases of

original jurisdiction, as contradistinguished from the ap-
peel cases, there were, in the year 1849, the number of
25,574 suits decided, of which 256.151, or 99 per cent.,
were disposed of by native judicial officers, the remain-
ing 2,423, or 1 per cent. of the whole, having been dis-
posed of by European ju officers. Then again, in
cases of appellate and original jurisdiction—the Sudder-
manee and others were appeal courts—in the
same year, out of 340,918 suits, original and appellate,
altogether disposed of, 319,554, or 93 per cent., were
disposed of by natives; while 21 364, or 6 and a frac-
tion per c:nt., were disposed of by European judges.
If any further proof were needed, it would be found in
the statement of his Right Hon. Ft iend (Slr. Herries),
that, while the appeals from the north-western provinces
amounted to 15 per cent., the reversals amounted only to
4 per cent. The Hon. Member for Taunton had sa'el it
was desirable to have in the direction of the India Com-
pany gentlemen of character, and station, and influence,
connected with India, and he (Sir James Hogg) agreed
witu him in principle. But his own experience of that
Court had convinced him that it was eminently for the
public good that among the directors there should be
some unconnected wit India. If they were all con-
nected with the several services of India—naval, mi-
litary, and civil—their individual feelings might in the
aggregate amount to a prejudice. In questions regarding
the Church in this country the sole investigation was nut
left to the clergy; re( r in the case. of the law was the in-
quiry left entirely to lawyers; but on all Committees that
wore appointed there were generally some men not con-
nected with the subject in a professional point of view, and
who only represented the strong- good eenee of the com-
munity. This was his opinion us regarded the Board
of Directors; and he-was bound to say that among the
most useful men that had ever belonged to that body—
the late Sir F. Baring, for instance, Sir Hula Liglish,
Mr. Bosanquet, Mr. Astell, and others whom he might
name—not one of them had ever seen India. In the
period of the last charter—prior to 1834—there were 26
vacancies in the Board of Directors, of which 10 were
filled by men who were not connected with India. Since
1834, however, there was only one vacancy so filled, and
that was by- a Member of that House, one of the most
usefnl men that could be fixed on. The Court of Di-
rectors, he would say 'in conclusion, had no object in
view, no wish whatever, except that Parliament should
arrive at that conclusion which should tend most to the
welFare of India, and conduce to the prosperity of the
people of India.—Gear.)
Sir R. H, INGLIS acknowledged his obligations to
his Hon. Friend, but at the same time begged to suggest
an error in one of his statements. Ile could assure his
lion. Friend that the services of his (Sir R. Inglis's)
late father, to whom he had referred, were facilitated
and enhanced by the fact of a residence in India. Since
the time of Burke, Indian- affairs bad been a dinner
bell, and they were so still. Yet though this was ail
question that involved the interests of 110,000,000 of
men, perhaps of 150,000,000, there had scarcely been
" a House" at various periods of the discussion. With
the view to the spiritual as well as the temporal in-
terest of that great empire, he (Sir R. H. Inglis)
hoped, therefore, that those to whom the inquiry was
to be delegated would enter into it with a feeling of
the deep responsibility that rested on thf..m; and that
the conduct of the inquiry itself would be guided
by a right spirit as regarded religion. There
had been, as his Right Honourable Friend truly
stated, a gradual increase in the means of spiritual in-
struction
hiDeri 1793, and he (sir R. H. Inglis) believed
that it had been found that in proportion to the increase
of instruction so was the increase of the fidelity of the
people of India to British rule, And when he saw how
imperfect that instruction still was, he trusted that the
committee would especially turn their attention to pro-
vide for it.. He considered that one bishop was not suffi-
cient to manage the spiritual affairs of so vast au em-
pire. With respect to the civil service, the efficiency of
the officials was beyond all praise. Mr. Canning made
three selections—Sir J. Munro, Mr. Elphinetone, and Sir
John Malcolm—and Mr. Canning declared that no one
could be found who was better qualified to conduct the
affairs of India than each of those three gentlemen. He
quite agreed with the Hon. Gentleman (Sir J. Hogg)
that it was not necessary to be connected with India
to manage Indian affairs well. It was advisable to
have English feeling, as well as Indian feeling,
in the direction; and therefore it was not
proper to have only those men selected who were con-
nected with India. He should, therefore, not be dis-
posed to make any material alteration in the existing
system. The garment of the lion. Gentleman (Sir J.
Hogg) was enough to show there was no corruption in
the mode of exercising the patronage. He trusted no
alteration would be made in the constitution of the Court
of Directors, or of the patronage; and when he recol-
lected the only. independent act—the recall of a Gover-
nor-General—bad been signed by one Governor of
Bengal, two other members of the council, and other men
who were experienced in the affairs of India—when he
saw that such an act was sustained by persons compe-
tent to form an opinion upon it—he should be very sorry
to see the power, as it at present existed, taken away.
He thought the proposed Commission of Inquiry would
be inconsistent with the decision which Parliament was
soon to give on the renewal of the charter, and he there-
fore hoped the Hon. Member would not put the House
to the trouble of dividing on his amendment.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said: Sir, there has been so
much argument already bestowed upon this subject, that
I certainly do not feel it necessary to offer more than a
very few remarks. I rise, indeed, principally to state
what in my own mind appears to me the view with
which the committee was appointed. I wish to take
this opportunity of stating my opinion upon the matter,
because from some expressions it might be supposed
that the committee about to be appointed was one to de-
cide the future government of India.—(llear, hear.)
That was not the meaning of the Honourable Gentle-
man. It must be the intention of her Majesty's Govern-
ment that they shad retain in their own hands the power
of making, when the fitting time arrives, such proposi-
tions as they may think wise and politic, and that
Parliament retains in their own hands the power of
deciding upon those propositions.—(Hear, hear.) I
wish therefore to say that I think the appointment of
the committee extremely useful and desirable, and that
if I were in the Government I should concur in its
appointment. The committee will be useful in the way
of collecting information and making suggestions; and
this is the view in which it was appointed, more than as
a Committee entitled in any way to decide upon the vast
question of the future government of India. I say this
the more readily, because in my own mind there is not
much doubt as to the general nature of the future go-
vernment of India. I am satisfied with the experience
which we have had, since 1833, of the operation of the
/tot which is now to be inquired into. I will not enter
into the question of the way in which we have obtained
the government of India. The Hon. Baronet says that
Divine Providence has named us to be the rulers of that
great empire. Be that as it may,- we find ourselves in
this generation with a vast responsibility imposed upon
us of giving a government to India. Itt so doing our
chiefest, our greatest care must be to provide for the
welfare of the millions committed to our away. That
being our first oare, it is obvious that there are some
advantages which we ten give them which they had
either not at all, or in a very modified proportion. In
the first place, our great power ought to enable us to
hstettomfhorreeand
as
Governor-General,
guard them against the ravages of civil broils and potty
wars, which is the secret of much of the misery under
which the people heretofore groaned. We ought to be
able, with our knowledge of the true principles of jus-
tevii.ael,t!eriip,onpto give them impartial justice. We ought to
efford them the ability which the great abundance in
twandlinCiosutrnattriyon of
9 justice,ability for political administration
earneacii tt.h e
improvement
p rtehyee
mneenxtt a
fp place, we
people
e b
f ought
India,to bothp
htilaolvneinnaotnthdfouot
fully
t is the most essential of all—for the edu-
dwlenardyioattibfrerosmwaythimsen
nd att oi practicalns.rules f measures of government an
govern v ee rgna r ther o"
and likewise for their educa-
Woafrsbetween
oacstical morality which ought to
II believe
completely, alt
still hwees e
hrespects,degree, under tlhnedt
present Act, Act, performed our duigtrryewtaoet
Under our sway there have not
rtrollbimesetpantestaihoiafenhtdhe, end in the
beenth the peoplethose
petty kings, but which,
aggrandizement of one of
at all events, end in the degradrsaeath.ot:is and affliction of the
impartial,
introduced an
adnt
country, ntthreye
whetherg believe,re greatest
rightste os tf
per pie. Under ouurtona
known to the people
rrea ttihoannoLjsu
moreof
itititliajapei choauvaet ry.
gone
abi
or Mr. El h'
occupyingter in more bumble capacities, such as those
filled by
o r
whe
P Instone Under
lately introduced those •
our sway there has been methods
sirth,erheuemprae
government which elevate the people, and from which
at the present time indin d d
has enye groat advantages,
smeDlue'rmrom .
of instruction and practical teaching