The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-27 00:00:00

THE SALT MONOPOLY IN INDIA

MANCHESTER, THURSDAY AFTERNOON.—In conse-
quence of a requisition presented to Elkanah Armitage,
the mayor of this borough, by the presidents of the
Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Association,
a meeting of the bankers, merchants, manufacturers, and
other inhabitants of this borough was held this forenoon,
at eleven o'clock, in the Town-hall, for the purpose of
taking into consideration the oppressive and injurious ;
tendency of the salt-tax and monopoly in India.
Shortly after the appointed hour the mayor took the
chair, and amongst the gentlemen present we noticed
Alderman W. B. Watkins, late mayor; Robert Gardner,
Esq., Thomas Bazley, Esq., J. A. Turner, Esq., Robert
Stewart, Esq., Lewis Williams, Esq., William Peel, Esq.,
James Atherton, Esq., and other gentlemen.
ROBT. GARDNER, Esq., rose to propose the first resolu-
tion, which was as follows:—" That, in the opinion of this
meeting, the present administration of the salt revenue in
India is indefensible in principle, oppressive to the people
of that country, and ought to be abolished." In pro-
posing the resolution, Mr. Gardner said that it must be
quite apparent to any person who had tak,,,n the slightest
interest in this subject, that the administration of the
salt revenue Was oppressive, inasmuch as it absorbed one-
fourth of the earnings of the labouring classes of India,
than whom a more oppressed race could not possibly be
conceived. If the importation of salt to India were
freely permitted, it would employ a great amount of ,
British shipping, a circumstance which would be advan-
tageous not only in a commercial point of view, but also
to the ships themselves, for nothing did a ship so much
goad as being employed in carrying salt. It was an un-
doubted fact that ships, when employed solely in carry-
ing salt, would last twice or thrice as long as when they
were employed in any other traffic. He called upon the
meeting to support the resolution on the grounds of mo-
rality and Christianity.—(Applause.)
Alderman WATKINs, late mayor of the borough, se-
conded the motion. He could not have believed, until
he had read the pamphlet of Mr. Aylwin, that such
gross inhumanity had been perpetrated upon so many
millions of the most abject people on the face of the
earth. He was surprised that the subject had not come
under the notice of the Honourable the Court of Direc•
tors of the East India Company, and at least under the
notice of the humane British public.
The resolution then passed.
Mr. SAM. FLETCHER briefly moved the second resolu-
tion, which was as follows :—" That this meeting hoick
it to be the first duty of a Government to provide that
no obstruction exist against a sufficient and cheap supply
of the first necessary of life to its subjects. That the
insipid nature of the principal food of the people of India
gives to salt the character of the first necessary, and ren-
ders an abundant use of it indispensable to health." In
moving the resolution, he said that salt was a first ne-
cessary in India, for the purpose of preventing disease
among the natives, and ought therefore to be plentifully
I supplied to the natives.
Mr. ROBERT STEWART (of the firm of Gladstone and
Co.), seconded the resolution ; and, in doing so, drew
attention to the fact, that the salt which was now sup-
plied to the natives of India was not pure in quality, for
in the course of its transit from the sk,s, coast it acquired
such a variety of impurities, that Europeans could not
possibly eat it. This was a state of things which the
Honourable the East India Company must have been
aware of, and which they ought long since to have
abolished.