The Sun.
London, England, 1833-03-26 00:00:00

Such difficulties would present obstacles to the private trader
which it would be sometimes impossible to overcome. The
trade with China had not been as profitable in the last term of

the Company's Charter as it had been in the preceding.
The amount of exports had increased, but a great portion of

them consisted of cotton goods, which, by the great improve.
ment in our machinery, we were enabled to send out; but
if this article, which was not sent out to any amount

in the former term, were excepted, there would be a con-
siderable diminution in the exports of the last term.
The China trade was one chiefly of remittance, and the Com.
pany would have made it more profitable if they had made it
wholly so; but in their zeal to promote the introduction of
British manufactures, they had made one-third of their trade
consist of British manufactures. The great value of the pri-
vate trade to China was in opium, which, being prohibited by
the Chinese regulations, was introduced by smuggling, and
there was reason to fear that, in the course of time, the whole
trade would be one of smuggling, which might lead to its total
abolition. The Right Hon. Gentleman had assumed that
there would be a greater consumption of tea and a larger in-
troduction of British goods into China by throwing open the
trade. In this the Court could not concur. They did not
think that there would be an increase, but they believed that
the quality of the tea imported would be greatly deteriorated.
• • "

The tea trade being confined to the Hong, there would, in
the absence of the agents of the Company, be no means of

checking the sending out of tea of an inferior quality. It
was only by the most vigilant inspection on the part of the
Company's agents at Canton that it was at present prevented.

Let it not also be forgotten that the country derived no in

considerable advantage from the revenue on tea, amounting to
3,000,0001. or 4,000,0001. a year, in the collection of which all
expense was saved to the country by the Company. If the
trade were thrown open, it would he necessary to have an officer
of this Government resident at Canton ; but that officer could

not possess the same influence in regulating any squabbles or
differences between the private traders and the natives which

the agents of the Company had at present. The officers of the
Company could often pass over many matters which a resident
"

British officer, the representative of his Sovereign, would feel

bound to resent, and thus we might be involved in serious hos-
tilities for matters which the known influence of the Company
wth.ld succeed in bringing to an amicable termination. In case
of any sudden interruption of the trade at present, no incon-
venience could occur to the public, as the Company was bound
by law to have two years' stock on hand ; but when that
stock was out, and the trade thrown open, this advantage
would be lost to the community, and a sudden suspension of the
trade would be attended with serious inconvenience. After re-

marking on the large amount of territorial revenue necessary to
secure the proposed annuity and the willingness of the Com-
pany to permit a full investigation of all th cir accounts, the
latter went on to observe that by the proposed plan the

dends were to be paid by the sale of the stock in hand till
1836 ; but if, in the mean time, there should be a deficiency
in the territorial revenue, and that aid were found necessary for
carrying on the government of India, the most serious incon-
_

venience would result. In alluding to the doubt expressed in
Mr. Grant's letter, as to whether, legally, the whole of the
commercial capital and stock in trade of the Company were not
liable for the ter' itorial debts, the Directors thought that the
territory and the territorial debt should go together.—(Hear.)
If they were not, what was to become of the servants appointed
in India ?—what was to become of the army, which had
been recognised by many Acts of Parliament ? The Court
of Directors had no objection to a fair compromise, :and in
looking at the annuity of 630,0001. charged on the territo-
rial revenue of India, the Court had a right to expect that
some collateral security should be given for the payment
of that annuity ; that something like a sinking fund should
be established, which, affording such collateral security, should
afterwards go to the redemption of the territorial debt. It
was said that the right of the Company to trade was to be
placed in abeyance ; but as the Company was to surrender up
thew hole of their trading capital, there ought to be full time
allowed them for winding up the whole of their concerns.
They, therefore, had a fair right to claim that the trade to
China should not be thrown open till the stock of tea which
the Company was bound to keep on hand should be disposed
of; there should also some provision be made for those ser-
vants in the Company's employment who might be thrown out
of employment by the proposed plan. In conclusion, they ex-
pressed a hope that the Government would not force the sub-
ject on to discussion, as stated in the Right Hon. Gentleman's
letter, in which he fixed a day for the final answer of the
Court of Proprietors.
The next document read was a letter from Mr. C. Grant,
dated March 14, in answer to the above, in which he stated,
that without intending any disrespect to the Court, and wish.
ing to have it understood that his silence on any particular
Point in the letter of the Directors was to be taken as implying
his assent to it, he would confine himself to the main points
of the last letter addressed to him. The letter then proceeded
to state, that by the proposed arrangement the power of the
Court of Directors 'would not be weakened; the Couit and
the India Board would have compai atively the same power as
at present; that the Government had no wish to prevent the
Court from rewarding efficients by pensions and grants, but
that it should be borne in mind that all these were on the ter-
ritorial revenue of India. The Government thought that there
could be no difficulty about the payment of the annuity, but
it had no objection to provide a collateral security, and
therefore it would agree to invest the sum of 1,200,0001., a
part of the commercial assets of the Company, In Government
securities, to be applicable to the redemption of the annuity
of 630,0001.—that this sum was to go on accumulating, until
it reached the sum of 12,000,0001., after which any surplus in-
terest on it was to be applied in reduction of the territorial
debt; that the Government was ready to pay the sum of
1,200,0001. and odd, due to the Company, or to retain it as a
loan, paying interest for it, or to invest it in government se.
curities as a nucleus of the guarantee fund; the Government
was not prepared to make any further concession. It would
consider tile subject of making a due provision for those ser-
vants of the Company who might be thrown out of employ-
ment by the new plan ; it would also admit that all the obliga.
tions of the Company were to go to the Government with the
assets,—the arrangements for eaucating the young men who
were to be sent out to India in the Company's service would
be subject of future regulation. In conclusion, he expressed a
hope that the subject wound be submitted by the Directors
to the Court of Proprietors with as little delay as possible.
He had no wish to adhere to the dates he had mentione.i
in a former letter, but he hoped that no time would be lost
in bringing it forward, as he was anxious to submit the
matter to Parliament on as early a day as possible. The
next document read contained the minutes of the Court of
Directors in Secret Committee on the 16th and 18th of March,
on which a draught of a letter from the Chairman and Deputy
Chairman was presented and adopted, with an amendment to
the effect that the guarantee fund should be 3,000,0001. The
letter thus amended was approved. It stated that the Direc-
tors had hoped to be able to communicate the correspondence
of the Right Hon. Gentleman to the Court of Proprietors which
was to meet on the 20th ; but they found that there were still
some points on which it wished to communicate further with
the Government. The Company was asked to surrender all
it possessed as a corporation,—its capital stock, amounting to
upwards of 21,000,0001.,—its right to trade with India, by
which it had an immense advantage in connection with its ter.
ritorial possessions, and by the continuance of which right it
might greatly injure the private traders,—all its forts and
property to which it had a right; that the Court of
Directors was disposed to consent to a compromise for an
annuity of 630,0001. ; that it did not think the prospective
view of the financial condition of India was so promising
as the Right Hon. Gentleman had stated it, but that it
would do all in its power to render it it as productive as it could
be made. The Court were glad to hear the proposition of
making the debt due to the Company a part of a guarantee
fund, but they thought that that fund ought to be increased
so as to have it large enough to meet any deficiencies that
might arise as to territorial revenue. The Court also hoped
that the Government would make the term of the annuity one
of considerable length. It likewise wished that means should
be adopted for securing the independence of the Court of Di-
rectors, or otherwise the charm of its influence in India would
vanish. There was no necessity for taking away the power
which the Company now possessed of granting pensions and re-
munerations; they hoped that the transfer was only a technical
mode of effecting the arrangement, and the Court would still
have the power of appropriating the funds as before. They also
expressed a wish that the Company might be considered as
agents to the private trade, as, by that means, the Government
would be saved the expense of making a provision for a large
body of men who must otherwise be thrown out of employment.
The next letter was from Mr. C. Grant, dated March 22, in
which he declined to re-open the discussion respecting the gua.
rantee. It was the intention of the Government that the an-
nuity should not be redeemed in less than 40 years. As to the
political authority of the Company in India, the Government
could not make the same arrangement as to length of time.
They would leave that question open for future discussion.
The next letter was from Mr. C. Grant to the chairman,
dated Great George-street, March 16, in which he said that he
would fix the redemption of the annuity at the time when the
guarantee fund would amount to 6,000,000/., which would be in
about 40 years, to be redeemed by the payment of 100/. fur
every 51 ss. of annuity. The period of the political power of
the Directors in India would be about fifteen years : but
he thought it better to leave that indefinite, and not to
name a particular time in the Act of Parliament. The letter
also hinted at the probable diminution of the number of the
Directors, as they would not have as many subjects to oc-
cupy their attention as heretofore, Another letter was read
from the same Right Hon. Gentleman, dated India Board,
March 21, in which he acknowledged the letter of the Direc-
tors in which, amongst other things, they stated that sufficient
security was not given for the payment of the annuity, and com-
plained that the duration of the political power of the Court was
not to be of the same length as that of the annuity. He thought
it better to leave that matter open for future discussion, and to
have the time left indefinite. He assured the Court that he
would co-operate with them in making provision for those
officers and servants of the Company who might be thrown out
of employment by the proposed arrangement, but the Right
Hon. Gentleman declined to make'any alteration as to the du-
ration of the political power of the Court in India, as he consi-
dered that the arrangement already proposed for limiting that
duration to the period he had mentioned to be one of the vital
parts of the measure.

The next letter was from the Chairman and Deputy Chair.
man to Mr. C. Grant, and dated March 22, informing him of
their having called a general Court, for the purpose of commu-
nicating to the proprietors the correspondence which had taken
place. The Court of Directors did not think that the time was
yet arrived when they could propose any particular course to
the Court, but they could not recommend to them any measure
at present, as they found that the Government did not intend to