The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-08 00:00:00

KING'S THEATRE.

The Italian Opera opened on Saturday evening for the
sea,,on. The performances on the occasion were IlosslSl 5
Seraramide, acrd the old balLt La Carnival Ie Venter'
In the fiirmer MademoiFelie ISLASIS mule her appearance
as the Assyrian Queen, and went through her part with
much spirit and animation. The house was tolerably well
filled, considering the exce,sive cold of the season.

Mr. PHOTHEIWE (lid HOt Vote ill Sir E
KNATCIIBULCSDority, :IS steed in The Sun of Saturday;
The name of M. FEItGUSSON was inserted
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fished in The San of Saturday. Mr. FERGUSSON %S
not in the House when the division took pl,:ce.

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PUBLIC MEETING AT LEEDS, ON THE

_ On Saturday a most respectable and numerous
meeting of the Merchants, Manufacturers, and other
inhabitants of the town of Leeds, convened by the
Mayor, was held in the Court-house, at Leeds, " to
consider of the propriety of petitioning bosh Houses
of Parliament for a free trade between Great Britain,
the East Indies, and China, and for permission to
trade and settle in the interior of India on the ap-
proaching termination of the Ci,ai ter of the East
India Company." CHRISTOPHER. BECKETT, Esq.
the Mayor, in the Chair.
Mr. GOTT said, that it appeared to him so rea-
sonable that a country entirely under the controul
of our own ( ;overnment, should be open to the British
merchant fur all purposes of commerce, that there
were the strongest reasons for our asking to enjoy
those privileges which, had for a long series of years
been kept from us. The East Indies offered a most
extensive market for British manufactures, and there
was a large field for the investment of British ca-
pital in the interior of India. But it was not likely
they should easily obtain access to the interior of
I id'a without unanimity on the part of the mer-
cants end manufacturers of this country in demand-
ing it : for one of the Governors of India (Sir
John Malcolm) had de'lared that it was a funds-
mental principle of the East India Company to ex-
clude colonization. If that rule was followed up, we
should just be as ignorant of India a hundred years
hence as we were to-day. I believe the Directors are
men of great wisdom and experience, and that the
persons appointed to administer justice in India are
men of honour and integrity ; but in order to secure
all the advantages of intercourse with India, to pro-
mote the civilization of the country, and to give
them examples of the Christian religion, we must
be admitted to a system of colonization, and to a
• free interchange of their produce for our manufac-
tures, from which we are at present debarred. It
was the same with respect to China. It was a very
extraordinary circumstance that we were only al-
lowed to have access to that country through the
medium of a single body of merchants. I think it
very reasonable, at a time like this, that we should
strongly urge that the trade with China should be
open to the merchants and manufactnrers of Great
Britain generally. The trade has been highly ad-
vantageous to the Americans, and also to this coun-
try. I can certainly speak to the fact, that the
opening of that trade would tend to extend the ma-
nufactures of this part of the country. Woollens
have been sent there from Yorkshire in 1825 and
1826, and since then in large quantities: within
these few weeks many thousand pounds have been
distributed amongst the manufacturers of this neigh-
bourhood for goods preparing for the Chinese
market. I have been well informed that that trade
could be increased very extensively, if it were
thrown open to private traders. Therefore it
is that we apply to participate in the trade of
the East India Company;—we do not seek
to meddle with their territorial manage-
ment, but we ask to be allowed to parti-
pate in the commerce of India. The advantage
which had accrued from the partial opening of the
trade to India might lead us to expect an equal ad-
vantage from opening that to China. He should
•now quote to them the language of Lord King, as
reported in the papers that morning, in which he
entirely concurred :—" that by the exclusive privi-
lege of navigation and trade to China conferred on
the East India Company, the whole supply of tea
consumed in the united kingdom is placed at the
discretion of a single company of traders. Mo-
nopoly in this, as in every similar instance, has pro-
duced its usual consequences: the price of tea is
greatly increased, as compared with the price of the
same article in the free markets of Europe and
America; the quantity imported is limited by the
narrow views of obtaining a large profit on a small
supply entertained by the monopolist company.
The British manufactures suited to the Chinese
markets are consequently exported in much smaller
amount, and the public thus suffers in the increased
price of tea, in the diminished demand for home
manufactures, and in the exclusion from all navi-
, gatien and trade to one of the greatest markets in
the world." The resolutions which he should have
the honour to propose, and on which a petition
would be grounded, contained very much the gene-
ral subject. Eight of the resolutions bore on the
' same point, and he should think it well to put them
together, unless any gentleman wished that they
should be put separately. He then read the fol-
lowing resolutions :
"
1. That the trade of Great Britain with the East
Indies and China is of great importance to this country,
as affording most extensive markets for the products of
British industry, and supplying to our own population
many articles of general consumption or of essential use in
our manufactures ; that, extensive as the trade now is,
there is good reason to believe that it is capable of being
. much further extended, both from the vast population of
India and China, and frotn the very rapid increase of the
trade since it has been partially opened to private traders.
" 2. That until the year 1814, the trade between Great
Britain and all the countries east of the Cape of Good
Hope teasteasmonopolized by the East India Company ; that
since that time private merchants have been allowed to
trade to Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, and Pn
the free port of Singapore ; but that the East
patsy still retains an absolute monopoly
ofent ahlengt 1
ti
raaanC:r
tt :-
China, aid the power of preventing any Englishman from
residing in India, or trading or holding lands in the inte-
rior of that country.
" 3. That under the monopoly of the East India Com-
pany, the trade suffered a great decline between the years
1794 and 1814 ; the exports from Great Britain to India
and China having been of the official value of 2,924,8291.
at the former period, and only 1 699,125/. at the latter
period : that as soon as the trade to India was partially
thrown open on the last renewal of the East India Coin-
pr:r aant theys'sCharter, the trade began to increase rapidly, and
exports of the year 1828 exceeded those of 1814
to thel'll9l., those of 1814
having been, according
declared value, 1,691,234/, and those of 1828,
5,212,3531.
" 4. Such having been the unfavourable results of the
East India Company's monopoly, and such the signal ad-
vantages of a Partial opening of the trade with India, there
ere the strongest grounds for believing that the abolition
tall restrictions on the trade between Great Britain, the
xt t Indies, and China, would be followed by a very great
cation of the trade, and by a vastly increased demand
for British manufactures."
giro 5. That not only would a free trade to the East
a great stimulus to British industry, by affording an
lacreas d _,
article e end for its productions, but it would also
enable the people of this country to obtain the important
of tea at a much cheaper rate than they do at
Present ; the price of teas being now much higher at the
sales of the East India Company than in the markets of
Holland, Flanders, and the United States : that by the
Wholesome competition of private traders, a very great
t,eduction has taken place since the year 1814 to the
British consumer in the price of many articles of Indian
Produce, and that a similar reduction in the price of the
new monopolized articles of China produce may be ex-
Pected if the trade to that country should be thrown open.
" 6. That the employment of British skill and capital
In the interior of India would rapidly improve the agricul-
ture of that country, as appears certain from the extraor-
th:euecess that has attended the cultivation of indigo
that--- by Europeans ; that there is every reason to believe
the cotton wool and raw silk of India, which are now
infeilior to the cotton of the United States and the silk of
thb:7l are only so from the want of proper cultivation: and
t. t these articles, as well as many others, by the applies-
t°ll °f English capital and skill, might be extensively cul-
,ated in India, to the incalculable advantage of the people
,
that country and to the proportionable benefit of the
manufactures of Great Britain, the sale of which in India
u
' - note only limited by the want of returns.
4
, 7. That the free residence of Englishmen in India
'eti
quid, in all probability, be productive of great moral and
glens advantages to the population of that country.
kvi.` 8. That the charter of the East India Company was
itr°l‘.edly granted and continued by the legislature on the
iki"!'1111 of its being conducive to the general interest of his
Otaty's subjects, as well as to that of the individuals
S . piTi, compose this company ; that the commercial mono-
-1 li granted to the Company is now no longer a benefit
f'", en injury to the nation, and that its abolition is there-
0t required
t,ered by the interests of his Majesty's subjects, both
1.1 "United Kingdom and in India."
41.11. ad neglected to say that it had been alleged
l "41w' demand for British woollen cloths for the

market of China had decreased in consequence of
their being raised in price. Since 1821, however,
they had decreased in price, and now they were
cheaper and bet ter than at any former period. An •
increased demand for !hem might, therefore, be ex-
pected. It had been said that the Chinese market
had been glutted, that things were going wrong, and
so on : he had the best reason to say that it was not
likely the market should be glutted, when orders
were regularly coming to be executed by regular
merchants. This proved that there was not an ex-
cess in quantity, and that the trade was not a losing
one to the parties interested.
Mr. MARSHALL—I think it can hardly be neces-
sary to say much in support of the resolutions which
have just been proposed to you, so much do I think
that they carry with them the sense of this Meeting,
and so well grounded do they appear to me to be.
I may, perhaps, however, be permitted to dram the
attention of this Meeting to the change that has
taken place in the character of the East India Com-
pany since they were first incorporated, and to the change
which has also taken place in all other circumstances.—
The East India Company, when first emborEed, were a
company of merchants, having the exclusive right of
trading to the Eastern World. They soon found it neces-
sary to have trading factories on the shores of India, and
presently lands were required too. It was not long ere
they changed their trading ports into the capitals of large
provinces, till, by degrees, all India acknowledged their
sway ; and, in addition to their character of traders, they
have become the Governors of 70,000,000 or 80,000,000
of people, with a territorial revenue greater than that of
most European nations.—( Hear, hear.)—l need not point
out to you that such a body of men is not likely to carry
on trade advantageously and profitably,—to look with that
anxious and examining eye into all the details of business
on which its success at all times depends, and still more
than ever at the present time.—(Applause.)—The Legis-
lature thought so too, and at the last renewal of the Char-
ter, the private merchants were allowed to trade between
England and India under certain restrictions. We all
know the consequence; the trade between the two coun-
tries has been immensely extended, and I believe hasbeen
conducted by the private trader in a manner every way
free from all objection. We now claim that, as a matter
of policy, as a matter of general advantage to the country,
these restrictions may be altogether removed. We ask it
also as a matter of right. Monopoly and exclusive rights
or advantages are the exception, not the rule. The rule
surely is, that in this country a man shall do
what he will with his property, in trade as well
as otherwise, so that he do not commit an in-
jury upon his neighbour or upon his country.—
(Loud cheers.)—The Legislature thought proper to
suspend this right for a time, and to grant a monopoly to
a company of merchants to trade to India end China; but
the right of the individual merchant still continues—it is
unalienable. He may with justice say, that it is incum-
bent upon the Company, when next petitioning for a re-
newal of their monopoly, to show to the legislature that it
would he disadvantageous to the country to allow a free
intercourse between this country and the countries of the
East. They should be required to bring, not bare sur-
mises and suppositions, but facts, such as will carry con-
viction to every mind.—(Cheers.)-- In another most im-
portant point, we urge a material alteration in the next
charter to he granted to the East India Company. We
ask that Englishmen shall be allowed to settle in India,
and to hold land ; in fact, that India may, in this respect,
be viewed as our other colonies.—(Cheers.)—lt is stated,
in opposition to this, that the Hindoos are a peculiar
people, and that the unrestricted residence and settlement
of all descriptions of our countrymen might disgust them,
and might weaken their attachtm nt, or at any rate their
submission, to the government of the Company. These
fears seem much overstrained ; but supposing there
were some truth in them, are we not to link at all the
benefits which India would derive from the settlement of
Englishmen ? Would the enterprise and skill of our coun-
trymen be lost upon the Hindoo? Would all the habits of
civilized life he forgotten by the settler when he took up
his abode in India? Would he forget to value the se-
curity of property, or be less alive to the. necessity of
giving obedience to the laws; and would he not exert
all his influence, even for his own sake, to enlist the Hin-
doo into similar habits? In point of fact, has the ex-
ample of our habits, and laws, and education, been lost
upon the inhabitants of those small districts where they
have been at all pat in practice ? Far from it ; they are
highly valued.—(Applause.)—Whom is it that the natives
have chiefly seen in the interior of India?-Our army, our
justices of the peace, and our tax-gatherers,—some of them
personages who have net always the meet winning ways
with them, especially in a country which feels and knows
itself to be a conquered country. It is hard to believe that
the peaceful trader or settler would act more harshly than
these have done. The settlers in India would chiefly be of
the better class, and these would feel it their interest,
more strongly than the Company's servants can do, to
perform all the duties of society to the natives as well as
to the Government.—(Cheers.)—But we are well con-
vinced that free settlers, besides the great benefits they
would in other ways render to India,would also:much improve
the quality and increase the quantify of those products
which India has to offerus in return for our manufactures.
The facts respecting the cultivation of indigo have proved
it. British skill has placed the indigo of India the first
in. quality on the scale, and the amount exported has
been large beyond all that could have been hoped. What
might not be done with cotton, sugar, and tobacco ? We
might even ask, what might not British skill do in foster-
ing the production of tea in India?—(Clear, hear.)—
There is sonic province in that vast territory, surely that
possesses a climate and a soil for the cultivation of tea;
and it is not, perhaps, too much to entertain the hope that
we may some time see the enterprise of our countrymen
surpass the Chinese even in the cultivation of tea.—(Ap-
plause.)—But if danger be really apprehended by the free
settlement of Englishmen, let the law be made strong,
and let the hand of the Executive that administers it be
strong, and prompt to its aim; but arm it with no arbi-
trary power.—(Applause.)—Let us remember how that
most despotic power, Russia, treats her conquered pro-
vinces. She throws open—wide open—all the channels
of communication between her old territory and her new
acquisition. But this does not satisfy her; she courts the
settlement of all foreigners, from every civilized country,
within her dominions ; and wisely too, for she finds in
this system the welfare and the advantage of her subjects.
Peter the Great did not live in vain fur his country. Our
resolutions urge also for the free-trader a fair share, in open
competition with the East India Company, in the trade to
China. As in the trade to India, the free-trader claims
it as a right, unless the East India Company can make it
appear to the Legislature that he would not be able to
enter into the trade without doing an injury to our con-
nexion with China. But we find the Americans and
others can carry on trade at Canton in the capacity
of private merchants, without finding it at all necessary
to have a China trade company with exclusive privileges
of trade. And we may well doubt whether the American
trader be not looked on with a less jealous eye by.the in-
habitants of the celestial empire than our own East Leslie
Company.—(Hear.)—They know the East India Com-
pany as trailers in tea certainly, but it is in armed vessels
that they enter the port of Canton. They know them,
too, as a supreme Government, and yet they see them
enter their port as traders in merchandize : they know
them u the conquerors of Hindoostan,—they have seen
them originally a company of humble merchants, driving
their trade between England and the shores of India,—
they see them now exercise controul over 70,000,000 or
80,000,000 of people. Even lately they have seen this
merchant company subtitle and overrun their neighbonriug
State—(Hear)—the Birman empire, which had defied and
defeated their own arms. The Chinese have seen us add
territory to territory, and they may well entertain a jea-
lousy of the mighty merchant company, which would
probably not be felt towards a private trader. They might
even in time open to as one or two more ports in their
extensive empire. We have seen how much the private
trailer has surpassed the cotnpany in the trade to India,
and we may fairly expect the same result under similar
circumstances in the China trade. The India Company
charges an advance of about 100 per cent. for bringing the
tea to this country, independent of the heavy duty in England.
Dees any one imagine that the free trader could for one
single month make such a charge? :No, we should have
cheaper tea : with the same exports to China, we should
have more returns. We should have a fair share in the sup-
ply of the market of Europe with tea.—(Cheers.)—But
no one can doubt that our trade generally with China would
be increased : in the article of woollen cloth alone we might
expect much. The northern provinces of China, border-
ing on Siberia, must require warm clothing ; Russia sup-
plies furs in part ; she also sends into China the woollen
cloth of Prussia, and perhaps even some of our own, by
land carriage, or river carriage, from the western extremity
to nearly the most easterly part of her vast territory. Shall
we fail in sending out cloth by sea at Canton at less ex-
pense? It will be said this is urging too great concessions
on the part of the East India Company ; but if the rights
which we claim for the private trader he just, I think it is
our part to state them distinctly and clearly. Should the
Company apply for the renewal of their monopoly, it is fur
them to show on what grounds they can prove it just in

the Legislature to deprive the priv,!::-itierchant of 11;4 fair
share in the trade to India and —(Cheers. )-1:1
truth the East India Conipmy sh,iild no longer consider
themselves as traders,—a calling in wliich, from the nature
of things, it is impossible for them to mtic,ved, except by
doing injustice to their fellow-countrymen. There i. an
ample field for all their energies, were they ten times what
they are. Let them study to give gocd laws to their vast
empire, and how to administer them with promptitude
and justice,—let them promote in every way the advance
of civilization, and they will find in the increase of their
territorial revenue, what will much more than overbalance
any supposed profits of their trade, and which, if any, are
confessedly drawn from the pockets of their fellow-subjects
in England. Mr. Marshall sat down amidst loud applause.
Mr. FOSTER, in rising to offer his opinion upon the
subject, disclaimed any intention of offering the slightest
opposition to the main objects contemplated by the resolu-
tions, and the honourable mover and seconder of them
had, he had no doubt, drawn a very just view of the evils
of monopoly. He fully agreed with them, that every sort
of monopoly was an evil, and he took leave to record him..
self as a very humble but decided opponent of every species
of monopoly, whether it was a monopoly sanctioned and
enforced by the law, or one of a more inferior kind. If
the resolutions had been put separately, he should have
confined his remarks to what he thought objectionable.
But before he entered at all into die subject, he could not
but object to the time chosen fur bringing forward this
measure at the moment when other questions, of infinitely
greater importance, demanded the undivided attention of
the country; and he could net but view it as brought for-
ward for the very purpose of diverting the attention of the
country from those higher objects which so imperiously de-
mand their attention. The Hon. Mover of the resolutions
read an extract from a newspaper, containing the opinion of
Lord King, and he trusted that he should be excused in fol-
lowing his example by reading an extract from a newspaper,
containing the opinion, not of Lord King, but of as great a
man,—that of the editor of the Leeds Mercury.--(A
laugh.)—lu the editorial remarks of this day's paper, there
occurs the following passage :—" We find that some of
our contemporaries, following in the wake of Mr. Cob-
bett, affect to ridicule the opposition to the. East India
Company's monopoly as a juggle' intended to amuse and
delude the country. We hope that those who hold this
opinion will have the manliness to maintain it at the meet-
ing this day, and to state the reasons on which it is
founded." He would not affect to believe that this was
not meant to apply to himself, and he had come forward,
as he always did, manfully to defend and support his own
opinions. Mr. Foster was here proceeding to state that a
knot of individuals had combined together to prevent the
Member from Newark from being heard.—(Cries of
" order, order, question," Sm.) Mr. Foster said he
would not be put down by clamour, but if the Chairman
decided that he was not in order he would desist.

The CHAIRMAN intimated that he thought Mr. Foster
was out of order.

Mr. Foam:. resumed, and proceeded t.) argue that there
already existed all the freedom of trade to India which
could be reasonably desired, and that theie had already
been a greater trade to India than had been beneficial to
the parties engaged in it ;—that goods had been sold much
below the invoice price, and that woollens might be pur-
chased cheaper at Calcutta than in Yorkshire ;—and that
this pretence of a free trade to India was a mere delusion.
_(Hear, hear, from Mr. James Mann.)—For, continued
Mr. Foster, British merchants may freight ships, and send
goods direct to Calcutta, and dispose of them there. It
is true that a British merchant cannot settle there without
a licence from the East India Company, nor can he tra-
verse the interior of the country for the purposes of trade.
Nor is this necessary. When a merchant goes to New
York, he does not wish to follow his goods into the back
settlements, or navigate the waters of the Mississippi. It
is therefore not free trade, but colonization that is wanted.
But if every man was at liberty to go to India, settle there,
and travel from place to place, and be at liberty to inculcate
such principles as be pleased, in a country where there are
50,000,000 soldiers to 120,000,000 inhabitants, the conse-
quence would inevitably be:that India would be lost to this
country. Mr. Foster then adverted to the trade of China,
which, he said, suoh was the jealousy of the Government,
could not be carried on by private individuals, without en-
dangering the whole of our trade with that country ;
there was no chance of carrying on an extensive trade
with them, as the Chinese Government would only tolerate
a foreign trade so long as the balance of trade was in its fa-
vour, and they would never allow silver nor gold to be
paid in exchange for our manufactures. Tke whole ques-
tion resolved itself into this—whether we should have tea
at a high •r at a low price ? And it was net worth while,
surely, to agitate the country at the present moment far an
object so insignificant as this. For his own part, he had
much rather that his countrymen would return to the
ancient diet of their forefathers, beef and beer, than live on
such slip-slops,—(Hisses and applause.)—The trade to
India was free enough for every useful purpose, and ke
strongly objected to the time which had been selected for
the purpose of bringing forward this measure. There was
no necessity for agitating it now, as the East India Char-
ter did not expire until 1832 or 1833.
Mr. Gorr corrected Mr. Foster by saying, net until
1831.

Mr. FOSTER—Thank you, Sir, for the correction, that
is better for my argument. Why, then, I ark again, is it
brought forward at this precise time? No consignments
could be made to India, and a return obtained, in less than
a year and a half. If, therefore, this is a measure of relief,
it is at a long date, and 1 think none of the Leeds bankers,
however liberal they may be, would accept a bill at that
date, without subjecting the drawer of it to an operation in
the sweating room. The only object, then, is to divert, by
this juggle, the attention of the people from measures cal-
culated to give them efficient relief.—(Loud expressions of
disapprobation.)—Mr. Foster proceeded to state, that is
the years 1822 and 1823, the trade to South America was
recommended as a cure for the then-existing depression of
trade, and what was the consequence ? The warehouses
were glutted with British manufactures, a great part of
which rotted, or was burnt to save warehouse-rent. And
an now free trade to India and China is the charm that is to
extricate us from our distresses. This, gentlemen, is done
for the purpose of delusion, and to draw off the attention
of the
e people of
an
this country realofnrolymrtehmeedies that causes of
f the
public C
effec-
tually relieve them. Mr. Foster concluded with ram*
the following amendment :
" That this Meeting reserves to itself the opportunity
of petitioning against the renewal of the East India Com-
pany's Charter when the proper time to do so arrives, but
that the agitation of the question at present only serves to
draw the public attention from the real and dangerous
situation of the country."
This amendment was seconded by Mr. JAMES AIANN,
and negatived by an immense majority.
The original resolutions were then put, and carried
unanimously.
Mr. GOTT wished to set Mr. Foster right in two par-
ticulars. First, British merchants did not possess the
same freedom in India as they enjoyed in other colonies of
the Crown, or in the United States of America, which
they were at liberty to traverse in all directions. --(Cheers. )
Secondly, this application to Parliament was not prema-
ture : in fact it had been delayed to the last day, as Mr.
Planta had given notice is the House of Commons, on
behalf of Mr. Peel, that that gentleman would on Tues-
day next move for a Select Committee of Inquiry into the
state of trade between this country and the East Indies.
—(" Hear, hear," and cheers.)—So far, therefore, were
they from being premature in their application to Par-
liament, that this was the last moment that it could be
done with any effect.
Mr. FOSTER, in explanation, said, that if Government
had themselves taken the subject up, there was no use in
the interference of that Meeting, and that it would he use-
less and unnecessary to petition.—(Disapprobation.)
Mr. E. Baaxxs, jun. said, as one of the Editors of the
Leeds Mercury, to which Mr. Fester ham! alluded, and on
the challenge contained in which he had made several re-
marks, I may perhaps be allowed to make a few observa-
tions. It seems Mr. Foster has answered the challenge
there given to auy gentleman to come forward and prove
that the attempt to obtain a free trade to the East is a
" juggle," by boldly asserting the respectable gentlemen
who have signed the requisition to:the Mayor have attempted
to put a " juggle" upon the town.—(Mr. Foster, " No
no.")—I feel, Sir, I need say very little indeed with re-
gard to the observations made by Mr. Foster on the
Leeds Mercury, because his imputations have been so
much more extensive and sweeping on the gentlemen who
who have signed the requisition.—(Cries of " Question."
" Chair," in which Mr. Foster took a prominent part.)
I assure you, Mr. Chairman, it is not my intention to de-
tain you by any observations of a personal or party nature.
I was about to say that in the general and sweeping impu-
to.tioni made by the preceding speaker, his charges on the
Leeds Mercury appeared so insignificant,that I should pso-
: ceed immediately to the snore general objects of the meeting;
for his imputation on the gentlemen who have called this
meeting is, that in so doing, they have " intended to dis-
tract the attention of the country from greater and more
important subjects," and to " throw out a tub to the
whale." That, gentlemeu is the imputation Mr. Fos-
ter makes upon you—that you are acting not from a
real and honest wish to extend the trade of this country,
but from a wish to " distract," to delude, and to
juggle the nation. 7hat is the motive Mr. Foster ascribes

to the 80 el. !;0 iespectahle firms who have signed the re-
quisition. —( elieers. )-Ilow, then, can I stop for one mo-
ment to reply to any personal remarks, when an asper-
sion so sweeping is east upon all the leading individuals in
this Meeting ? To answer such an imputation would be
almost as abciird as to make it. The character of the
gentlemen by whom I am surrounded is an answer more
than sufficient. The first objection made by Mr. Foster
to the Meeting is, that the time is ill chosen,—that it is
unnecessary to more yet, fir that eve are yet five years
and a half from the time when the subject should be
brought forward. But observe how cleverly Mr. Foster
turns tail; when Mr. Gott quotes the notice given in
the House of Commons for a motion on this very sub-
ject, by Mr. Peel, on Tuesday next, Mr. Foster' turns
round, and says, " Oh, then, Parliament have already
taken the subject up, there is no occasion for you to do any
thing; you may all hold your peace and go home."—(A
laugh and cheers.)—So much, gentlemen, for the time.
Now as to the object of this Meeting. The sum and sub-
stance of Mr. Foster's speech was, that instead of seeking
to extend and increase the trade of this country in the East
Indies and in China, your object ought rather to be to
abandon that trade altogether.—(Applause.)--You ought
not, it seems, to extend the trade beyond its present
limits, nor to lower the price of tea, nor to send a greater
quantity of British manfactures to the vast and populous
comitries of the East; your object ought rather to be to
give up the trade altogether, and to dispense with
the 30,000,00016. of tea which you consume yearly, be-
cause it is a mischievous beverage.—(Cheers; Mr. Foster
exclaimed, No, no.)—That, gentlemen, is the sum and
substance of Mr. Foster's speech. He began, indeed, by
saying, that he caine only to oppose one part of the object
of the meeting—namely, the claim to a free settlement for
Englishmen in India, but the remainder of his speech was
spent in showing that the trade was wholly injurious, and
that we ought to withdraw from it. Now, gentlemen, I
come to facts. It has been said that the trade to Calcutta
and Canton is altogether unprofitable. I hold in my hand
price currents of Calcutta and Bombay, from which I will
read to you statements of the actual prices of goods in
those places. It is said by Mr. Foster, that the price of
woollens and cottons is at present lower in Calcutta than
in Yorkshire. Why, if it were necessary to answer such
an absurd objection as this, I should say, at times it may
he so, and that without proving any thing against the
trade. It will happen from the fluctuations of trade, from
a glut of goods in the market, and other causes, that the
prices of goods may often be lower at the place to which
they are sent than they are at the place from which they
come. Many of you know that cloths are sometimes
lower in London than in Yorkshire, that whol has been
lower in England than in Saxony ; and cotton lower fat
Liverpool than at New York. But to contend from these
facts, as Mr. Foster would do, that all these vast manufac-
tures—the staple manufactures and chief trades of the
country—must generally be unprofitable, is the most absurd
and ignorant argument ever used in the world.—(Cheers.)
But, Sir, what is the fact ? The fact is not what Mr.
Foster tells you. He has told you what is untrue. I do
not mean to impute to him that he has done so inten-
tionally, but it is on a par with the utter ignorance he
displays in every other part of his speech. According to
the Calcutta Price Current, the most recent received in
this country, the price of fine broad cloth was there 5 per
cent. higher than the invoice price.—(Hear, hear.)—The
price of coarse cloths also is 5 per cent. higher than the
invoice price. There are a few kinds of goods which are
lower,—flannel, for instance, is lower; but hats are 25
per cent. higher. With regard to woollens, instead of
being lower at Calcutta than in London, they are 5 per
cent. higher than the invoice price; and is it the practice
of you, Gentle Men, to make out your invoices at lower
prices than the cost of the goods to yourselves ?—(Cheers,
and crie- of " No, no.")—Let us go to another Presi-
dency, that of Bombay. I find the price there from 30
to 40 per cent, higher than the invoice price upon fine
broad cloth, and upon coarse broad cloth from 25 to 30
per cent —[Mr, James Mann inquired the date of the
Prices Current.]—The date of the Calcutta Price Cur-
rent is the 13th of August, and that of the Bombay the
Bth of August. They are the most recent received
in this country. So much, then, for Mr. Foster's
facts. Gentlemen, I consider it quite unnecessary to
say any more in answer to the speech of Mr. Foster.
But as I concur most heartily in the resolutions that
have been moved by Mr. Gott, and seconded by Mr.
Marshall, and as I shall have occasion to move a
resolution myself, it may save some time if, while
I am upon my legs, I briefly state what are the grounds
upon which I support petitions to Parliament in favour of
a free trade to India and China. I do it on the broad
principle of the prejudicial effect of all monopolies, and
especially of the monopoly of the East India Company, on
the commercial interests of this country. And I do it
upon the further ground of the clear and acknowledged
right which every merchant has to the free exercise of his
talents, industry, and capital, in any way lie may think
best, unless when that individual freedom may be incom-
patible with the general welfare. This point has been
so fully argued by Mr. Marshall, that it is unnecessary for
me to insist further upon it. But it will be a little curious
to you to know that the first charter of the East India
Company itself, granted in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
distinctly recognizes this principle of consulting the public
benefit in all commercial legislation. The charter was
granted for 15 years, but under the express condition that
" if not found to he advantageous to the country, it might
be annulled at any time under a notice of two years."
Here, then, is the principle that the advantage of the
country, and not merely that of the, East India Company,
was consulted at that time : that was the principle on
which the East India Company was originally founded.
Then let us look at the charter in the reign of James I.
In this charter it was provided that " on experience
of injury to the nation, their exclusive privileges should,
after three years' notice, cease and expire." Phis is an-
other recognition of the principle that the public interest is
to be considered, and not the interest of the East India
Company. The onus, therefore, rests upon the East India
Company to show that it is snore beneficial for the trade of
this country, that it should pass through the channel of
their monopoly than through the free trade of every British
merchant. But, as we know the contrary to be the fact, it
is desirable that we should make that statement to Par-
liament in the array of facts that is drawn up in the reso-
lutions, and urge, on the ground of those facts, our right to
a full and free participation in the trade. Let it i.e re-
membered that we seek to deprive the East India Com-
pany of nothing except their power of depriving and in-
juring us.—(Hear, hear.)—We leave them their ships,
their warehouses, their stock, their officers, and every
particle of the apparatus of their superior management ,
we would let them sail in their magnificent ships
of 1,000 or 1,530 tons burden, like frigates of war, into
the port of Canton ; all we ask is, permission to paddle in
our little cockhoats by their side.--(Cheers.)—Gentlemen,
it is in the very nature of monopolies to be injurious to the
country ; for as soon as a great joint stock company are
relieved from their stimulus of competition, they tall into
sluggish, slovenly, wasteful, and unaccommodating ways
of doing business : they get princely habits, which are the
worst possible for merchants. I will now, gentlemen,'
quote one or two answers given by servants of the East
India Company, when examined before a Committee of
the House of Lords in 1820, to show the nature of the
China market, and the bad use the Company make of it.
The first is, James Goddard, Esq., who was six years in
the service of the Company at Canton. Being asked by
the Committee—" Can you give the Committee any in-
formation generally as to the peculiar manner of the Ame-
rican trade (at Canton) as compared with the trade of the
East India Company ?" his answer was, " The informa-
tion 1 have been able to gain has had the effect of inform-
ing me that the American trade for the last year or two
(at Canton) has exceeded the trade of the East India
Company in value." Can there be a more striking fact
than that the Americans, who are a commercial state of
yesterday, should have actually surpassed the princely
establishment of the East India Company, which has
been trading for upwards of two centuries ? Can there be
a more striking proof of the superiority of private and free
trade over monopoly? The question, then, arises can we
carry on the trade as favourably as the Americans? Mr.
Goddard answers on this subject—" I consider it would
be rather in favour of British ships, in consequence of their
being able to be sailed at a more moderate rate than the
American ones." Then another question is, whether
there is a demand for British manufactures in the vast and
populous countries of the East ; for we know well that
our manufacturers would be glad to have new markets
opened to them, the manufacturers of Leeds, Huddersfield,
Manchester, Preston, Bolton, and Blackburn, would be
very glad to find new markets for their goods. What
says Mr. Goddard? He is asked, "Do you know whe-
ther, in the eastern islands (the great and populous islands
of the Indian seas), there is any market for English manu-
factures?" He says, " There is a very extensive market
for English manufactures in all the eastern islands, and
vast quantities are exported to Batavia." As to China he
is asked, " Can you state any opinion to the Committee
respecting the future state, or possible increase of de-
mand for English manufactures in the Chinese em-
pire?" " I consider the Chinese nation to approximate
nearer to Ee'ropean wants than any nation in the east :
their clothing, their habits, and their wants altogether,
are very different from the Indians. The demand for
woellen goods is very extensive, as may be seen by a re-

Terence to the Company's imports ; and it is probable,
from the avidity with which they have bought European
cotton goods, a demand at least equal to woollen goods
may be produced ; and I should consider, that, in the
course of a few years, the demand would be much greater."
Mr. Crawford is the other gentleman upon whose autho-
rity I mean to rely ; he has been for many years in the
service of the East India Company; awl he says, " I
conceive, if the capital of this country had free scope, our
merchants would have great advantages over the Ameri-
cans in the Chinese trade awl that of the islands." Then
he is asked—" What are the commodities that we manu-
facture, that you think there would be chiefly a demand
for in these countries ?—Almost every article of the staple
manufacture cf Great Britain. I will enumerate a few—
light woollens, cotton goods of various descriptions, iron,
raw and wrought, (as there is no iron or hardly any in
the Indian islands,) glass ware, crystal, and carriages. A
great number of other articles may be added to this list."
In Mr. Crawfurd's opinion the means of securing this
trade is, " perfect freedom of trade with these countries ;"
" the benefits they would experience from such an inter-
course," he says, " would be the best means of gaining
their confidence." He is asked, " Do you know any
cause why this trade (that of the Americans in English
manufactures at Canton), which is carried on by other na-
tions,
could not be equally carried on by our East India
Company?" " I know no reason but the general one, that
a joint stock company wants all the intelligence, activity,
and economy which belongs to a private merchant." He
adds, " The Company keep the private merchant out of a
great deal of the field, which they themselves cannot oc-
cupy; their own trade, like all monopoly trades, is of .
course a heavy tax upon the consumer." I conceive these,
gentlemen, to be important and unanswerable testimonies
to the advantages of free trade to the countries of the East.
Let me repeat, wet do not seek to interfere with the East
India Compeny further than to deprive them of the power
of depriving and injuring us. But we ask for a free and
unrestricted trade to the vast markets of India and China ;
we ask at least to be placed upon a level with the Ame-
ricans, the Dutch, and other nations; and that we may
be permitted to receive the various rich anti useful products
of the East, not through the contracted channel of mono-
poly, but borne to us on the broad, full, and flowing
stream of free trade.--(Loud cheers.)
Mr. NUSSEY, one of the trustees of the coloured cloth-
hall, in moving a resolution of thanks to Ministers for
having taken up the subject of the East India monopoly,
said, as the East India Company required three years'
notice, it was quite necessary that the question should be
taken into consideration immediately. When the Charter
was first granted, the difficulty of approaching distant
countries, and of carrying en trade with them, was very
considerable ; but now, from the improvements in science,
navigation, and various other things, the private merchant
was enabled to visit the most distant quarters of the globe,
and that therefore this monopoly was ne longer useful.
With respect to the East India Company, the British mer-
chant, as Mr. Gott justly observed, had no wish to inter-
fere with the territorial government of the India Company :
he merely wished to participate in their trade. Since the
year 1814 the British merchant had, under certain restric-
tions, been permitted to carry on trade in India, and no evil
bad been found to result from it ; and all that he requested
was, that his claims should be fully investigated and
decided upon, not in reference to any partial interest, but
from a regard to the public good only. The attention
I which the House of Commons paid to all subjects con-
nected with the trade and commerce of the country was
deserving of much praise, and the British merchants and
manufacturers had nothing to fear from the most rigid
inquiry, which indeed, they anxiously courted. Mr.
Nussey then made some observations on the advantages
which the natives of India were likely to derive from the
colonization of that country by British settlers. Its
capabilities of improvement were very great, and the
science of the European settlers would tend to increase
and improve the products of that country, aided as they
would be by British capital, which would enable them
to make beneficial returns for the goods sent there. For,
observed Mr. Nussey, we do not live by what we send to,
but what we receive from a country. Mr. Nussey then
proceeded to make observations on the monopoly of the
tea-trade. The East India Company sell their tea in
England, exclusive of duty, for 4,500,000/. ; the same tea
might be purchased on the Continent for about 1,500,0001.;
but supposing the difference to be 2,000,000/.,that would be
a great sum saved to the country, which would have to be
expended in the purchase of other articles. It will he
more intelligible if we suppose this 2,000,0001. to be laid
out in blankets, which, at this season of the year, would
be very acceptable; and the manufacture of these blankets
would furnish employment to a great number of individuals;
but then these blanket-makers would not keep the two mil-
lions; they would expend it, we will suppose, in shoes;
and the shoemakers in their turn, we will imagine, to lay
it out in coals, and the colliers, in their turn, would pur-
chase coats, which, of course, would be of great addition
to the comfort of numerous individuals. One might fol-
low the transfer of this two millions still further, but
enough has been said to show the almost incalculable
benefits that would arise from throwing this additional
sum of money into circulation. Mr. Nussey also endea-
voured to show that great advantages would arise to the
Company themselves by introducing, as well as other im-
provements, a better administration of justice in that ex-
tensive country. Mr. Nussey concluded by moving the
ninth resolution.

" 9. That the period for renewing the East India Com-
pany's Charter, or giving notice for its termination, is now
at hand, and that this Meeting feels grateful for the pledge
given by his Majesty's Ministers that a Parliamentary
Committee should be appointed early in the present Session
to inquire into the state of the trade with India and
China."

Mr. Homoroaxx, in seconding Mr. Nussey's resolu-
tion, said, in consequence of the late period of the Meet-
ing, he would merely observe, that the role object of the
petition was to cut down the East India monopoly, and to
pave the way for British industry, and talent, and capital.
The resolution was carried unanimously.
Mr. EDWARD Burris, jun.,moved the tenth resolution.
" 10. That petitions be presented from this Meeting to
both Houses of Parliament, urging our right and claim, as
subjects of his Majesty, to a full and free participation in
the trade to all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope,
and praying that Parliament will not prolong the exclu-
sive commercial privileges of the Eaat India Company be-
yond the term of the present Charter; also praying for
permission for all British subjects to settle, trade, and hold
lands in all the British dependencies east of the Cape of
Good Hope."
This resolution was seconded by Mr. SLUNK.
Mr. Joinf GoTT moved, and Mr. TITLET seconded,
the eleventh resolution—

" 11. That a deputation, consisting of Mr. John Mar-
shall, Mr. Rawson, and Mr..lohn Nussey, be appointed by
this meeting to co-operate with the deputations from Li-
verpool, Manchester, and other towns, in London, in op-
posing the renewal of the East India Company's mono-
poly, and that a subscription be now opened to defray the
expences of the deputation, and the other expences con-
nected with this subject."
Mr. Sash's'. CLAPitAX, in moving the 12th resolu-
tion, read a document from the Parliamentary papers of
June, 1829, from which it appeared that British wool-
lens sold at Canton at a considerable profit upon the in-
voice price ; for instance, woollens which were invoiced
Si. 17s. sold for 11/. I'7s. ; invoiced at 11/. 25., sold for
151. 16s. ; invoiced at 11/., sold for 17/.
In answer to a question by Mr. FOSTER, be said, that
the invoice price covered the whole expenses, freight, &e.
" 12. That Lord Wharncliffe be requested to present
the petition to the House of Lords, and the Members for
the county to present the petition to the House of Com-
tnons, and that they all be requested to support the same."
The resolution was seconded by Mr. T. Luccocx.
Sir. T. CHARLESWORTH moved, and Mr. P. WILLaNs
seconded, the thirteenth resolution—
" 13. That the above resolutions be advertised once in
each of the Leeds newspapers."
Sir. GOTT having taken the chair, a vote of thanks was
moved to the Chairman; and carried unanimously.
All the resolutions were carted unanimously, after Mr.
Foster's amendment was disposed of.