The Sun.
London, England, 1814-02-26 00:00:00

EAST INDIA HOUSE.

Yesterday a General Court was held, to consi-
der of the Resolutions come to by thelSelect Com-
mittee appointed to consider of the expediency of
augmenting the Salaries 011ie Chairman, Deputy..
.Chairman, and Directors.--The Minutes of the
loraier having been read,
Mr. WEYLING read a letter from Mr. Howorth,
the Chairman of the Committee, in which, as he

leiired ill-health would keep him from the Court,
he requested him (Mr. W.) to present the docu-
ments and evidence on which the Resolutions of
the -ommittee had becn founded. There were,
besides, letters received tram Mr. Hume and Mr.
Plummer, after the Committee had closed its
sittings ; ois the propriety of receiving these it
would be for the Court to decide. Mr. Howorth

had thought that it was not necessary that the
Committee shOuld make a Report ; he wished the
evidence given before the Committee to be snb-
mitted to the Court, to enable them to make up
their minds on the subject. The Committee had
;resolved that an immediate and unconditional in-
crease of the salaries of the Directors was not
expedient; were for augmenting them condi-
tionally on a graduated scale, accompanied by a
proper regulation of the bye-la,ws of the Com-
pany. It was not meant to cast any reflections on
the conduct Of the Directors under the existing
bye-laws, but the Committee were Of opinion
thesei.having been framed under different circum-
stances, were not suited to the present situation of
the Company. He concluded by moving " That •
the Minutes of the Select Committee, with the'
Documents, &c. on which their Resolutions were
grounded, should forthwith be printed, and sub-
mitted to the Proprietors."
Mr. P. MooRE seconded _the motion.
In answer to a question from the Chairman,
Mr. Weyling said, he did not wish the papers
now to be read ; an abstract of them would be
sufficient.

DIXON- wished the. heads of them to be,
read and desired to know if, when the subject
was referred to the Committee, they hat' been di-
, reeted to report
~ On referring to the Resolution by which the
Committee had been appointed, it appeared they
had been instructed-to report.
Mr. PLUMMER had wished the Committee to
make -a detailed Report. He had put the sub-
stanCe of the evidence into the shape of a letter to
the Chairman-, which-he hoped would' assist the
Court in their labours, if it was their pleasure to
receive it.•

At the suggestion of Mr. Fiur.tE, the several
papers on which the Resolutions of the Coui-
4iittee were founded were read short.

The Hei. hlr. THIRLWALL objected to the print 7
ng Of such a mass of information as these IA-

pers would furnish, and wished the Court to ad

journ.
The Resolutons of the Committee were then
. read,—
" That it is not the opinidn of this Committee that an in-
discriminate and unconditional increase of salary to the Di-
rectors be recommended to the 'Coml. of Proprietors. '
"That it is the opinion of this Committee,' that it is expe-
dient to recommend a graduated increase.of salary, provided
such increase he accompanied by certain conditions for the
more efficient discharge of the Directorial duties.
Mr. S. DIXON was
.sorry the inquiry had ever
been born. He would Wish it to (lie now, if security
were given that it would not be revived.
• Mr. LowrinEs thought if the child were ugly
now, it ought not to be forthwith strangled, as it
might grow handsome. He wished it to have fair
play, though Ire was sorry the Resolutions of the
Committee had not been of a more decisive nature.
Mr. HumE said, the Committee would not have
recommended the publication of the papers, it
they had not thought it perfectly safe.. The father
of these proceedings (Mr. P. Moore) intended
that day to give notice of another motion for au
augmentation of the salaries of the. Directors,
notwithstanding the decision cotne to by the Com-
mittee in their first Resolution. Aware of this,
the Court would, feel.how.,cautious they ought to
be in refusing to publish the evidence on which
they went. He thought, the Resolutions of the
Committee inconsistent with 'each other. In his
opinion they ought to have stopped at _the first.
He 'wished-his negative on the 2d Resolution to
be received, with the minute he Wad made of the
evidence, and his letter to the Chairman. The
Cominittee had closed -its sittings abruptly and
precipitately, and thus prevented him from record-
ing, as he wiAed to do, the principles on which
he thought salaries ought to be granted
Atter some observations • from several other
Gentlemen, the motion was carried.
Mr. R. JACKSON moved, that the letter Of Mr.
Plummer, the paper containing the dissent of Mr.
Barnard and Mr. Flume, with the minute of Mr.
Hume, and his letter to the Chairman, shOuld be
printed.—Mr. RIGBY opposed the motion.
A long and desultory conversation followed, in
which Mr. Wevling, Mr. LOwndes, Mr. Plummer,
Mr. Elphinstone, Mr. S. Dixon, Mr. Hume, Mr.
P. Moo-re, Mr. 'Tower, Mr. W. Keene, and Mr.
R. Jackson participated.—On a division, the num-
bers were—
For the 'Motion
• Against it- .

63

Majority in favour of printing the papers —l7
Mr. P. MooliE gave notice f a motion for that
day three weeks, the object of which would be
to increase the salaries of the Dir'ectors on a gra-
duated scale, in conformity with the second Re-
' solution of the Committee. '
Mr. R. JACKSON moved, " That there be laid
'etoie thin Court an account of all pensions above
2QOI. per annum; now payable by the East India
Company, with the terms and conditions upon
which they were respectively granted', in order
that this Court may judge how far the same will
be affected by the expiration of the present Char-
ter."—Ordered. -
Mr, HOME wished to ask, if the business
brought forward with the proposition/ for aug-
menting the Directors' salaries had been followed
up? Tie wished to know what steps had been taken
to get the Company's dividends relieved from the
property tax ?
The Chairman (Mr. R. THORNTON) saki, the
subject had never been lost sight ot, but a defi-
nitive answer had not vet been received from Go-

vermrtent.
Mr. Hume had another question to ask. The
Company, sensible of tte importance of-having
their servants properly educated, back, at an enor7
mons expence, -fortned an establishment for se-
curing this object. By the new charter, no writer
could go nut who had not kept his terms. But,
in defiance of this, he had heard it said the Direc-
tors were about to send out a another of young
men who were not so qualified. He bad heard
several names mentioned, and among them the
son of Mr. Phillips was 'spoken of as about to
proceed to India. He wished to know if they
had thus deviated from the established practice
Mr. R. TIIOENTONT said, Lord Minto had writ-
ten over fur 60 Writers to he sent out immediate-
ly. The Directors had not thought it necessary
to send more than half that number. They had
taken from the College those who, though they
had not served their terms, were qualified- to go;
'but not finding there a Suffi.7ient number:a few
others (seven or eight) had been appointed.—
These could not now go without the approbation
of Governthent, and all would be strictlY exa-
mined.