The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-07 00:00:00

EAST INDIA TRADE.

REPORT relative to the TRADE with the EAST INDT2S
and CHINA, from the SELECT COMMITTEE of the
HOUSI!: 'of LORDS, appointed to incinire into the Means
of extending and securing the' FOREIGN TRADE of the
COUNTRY, and to report to the -Howe ; together with the
MTNUTES of EVIDENCE taken in Sessions 11;20 and

BM, before the said Committee.—Ordered to be printed
ilth April, 18.21.
By the LORDS COMMITTEES appointed a SELEcT Com-
- MITTITE to inquire into the means of extending and secur-
ing the FOREIGN TRADE Of the COUNTRY, and to report
to the House ; and, to whom were referred the Minutes of
the Evidence taken before the Select Committee appointed in
the last Session of Parliament for the like purpose ; and also
the several Petitions, Papers, and Accounts which had been
referred to that Committee ; and also the several Petitions
presented in the present Session of Parliament en the subject
of Foreign Trade
ORDERED TO RE.T.'ORT,

That the Committee have met, and have proceeded in the
Inquiry, which had been entered upon by the said Committee
appointed in.the last Session of ParhamMt, into the state of
British Commerce with Asia, including as well that which is
carried on with the Territorial Possessions of the Honourable
East India Company, as that with the Independent States in
the same part of the Globe.
In the conduCt of this Inquiry, the Committee have not
thought it necessary to direct their attention to the commercial
concerns of the East India Company, as administered by the
Court of Directors with a view to the interests both political
and financial of that Corporate Body, further than was neces-
sary to elucidate the present state and future prospects of free
trade, as affected by existing regulations. • .
This subject therefore naturally divides itself *according to
the various Testriciions to which different descriptions of com-
merce in these regions are now subjected by law : that to the j
territorial possessions of the Company being carried en by li-
cense only from the Company ; that to other parts, of Southern
Asia (China exeepted,) and to the Islands.of the Indian Ocean,
by licence from the .Board of Controul ; that to China being
entirely prohibited to nil British vessels but those in the actual
employment of the East India Company, and the whole trade
confined to ships of a certain fixed amount of tonnage.
The trade which is carried on by license with the territories
of the East India Company is confined to the Presideticies of
BOmbay, Madras, and Calcutta, and the Port of Penang.—
Some incenveniencies and injury to individuals are stated to
have arisen where circumstances have made it desirable to
change the destination of vessels from one of these ports to an-
other, after their arrival in the East, in consequence of the de--
lay attendant upon obtaining a permiSsion to do so from the lo-
cal Government. This, indeed, may be obviated by obtaining
liceec as including the above-named Ports generally, which have.
been sometimes applied for, and do not appear to have been
refused. But the system of requiring licences does not appear
to be attended with any public benefit ; and a fee is charged
for each of them.

A more material advantage might probably accrue to the
free trader from being permitted to trade with other smaller
ports on the coasts of Coromandel and Malabar, where the
Company have already Collectors of the Customs established,
who might effectually counteract an illicit trade • whereby a
wider field of adVenture may be opened, and. an additional sti-
mulus to commercial intercourse afforded to the native inhabi-
tants. It would, however, be necessary in this case to provide
by regulations, which it could not be difficult to establish,
against any abuse of this extension of privilege by British ves-
sels carrying on the coasting trade, in which there is every rea-
son to believe they might successfully compete with the native
ships, which have hitherto been considered as enjoying a mo-
nopoly of that trade, of which the East India Company could
not reasonably be expected to deprive their subjects as long
as they are precluded from carrying on the. direct trade to
Europe in India-built vessels. It must be observed, however,
that the coasting trade is now open to vessels of other Nations,
those of the United States not being excluded from it, and in-
stances having been stated to the Committee in which the Por-
tuguese flag has' been allowed to pass from one port to another
carrying on trade, from which British European ships are ex-
chided.-

The Committee cannot dismiss this branch of the subject
without observing, that although it is difficult, from the great
fluctuation which the free trade to the Peninsula of India has
experienced since it has been admitted upon - the terms of the
renewed Charter granted to the East India Company in 1813,
to estimate fairly the precise amount of its increase,. it must be
admitted that its progress has been such as to indicate that nei-
ther a power to purchase -nor a disposition to use commodities
of European manufari.ll7: are wanting in the natives of British
India 2
the minute knowledge of the wants and wishes of
Ihnab:traos, acquired by a direct intercourse with this coun-
try, would naturally lead to a still further augmentation of our
exports. The great increased consumption cannot be suffi-
ciently accounted for by the demand of European residents,
the number of whom does.not materially vary and it an-
pears to have been much the greatest in any articles calculated
far the general use -of the natives. That of the cotton-manu-
factures. of this country alone is stated, since the first opening
of the trade, to have been augmented from four to-five-fold.
And the taste of the natives for such articles- may not impro-
bably have been created in some instances,. and extended
others, by that very glut in the market, which has doubtless, by
its excess and consequent lowering of prices., frequently de-
feated the speculations of private merchants. The value of the
anerchanclize exported from Great Britain to India, . which
amounted' in the year 1815 to 870,1771., had in the year 1819
increased to 3,052.7411. ; and although the market appease
then to have been so far overstocked as to occasion a diminution
of nearly one half in the exports of the following year (1820),'
that diminution appears to have taken place more in the articles
intended for the consumption of Europeans than of natives ;
and the trade is now stated to the Committee by the best in-
formed persons to be reviving. When the amount of popula-
tion and the extent of country, over which the consumption of
these articles is spread, are considered, it is obvious that every
fectilii which can, consistent with the political interest and se-
curity of the Company's dominiOns, be giVen to the private
. trader for the distribution of his exports, by increasing the rumsber of points at which he may have the option of touching in
pursuit of a market, cannot fail to promote a more ready and
extensive demand.
If the restriction of trade to vessels of the burthen of 350 tons
and upwards, in all seas and countries within the limits of the
East India Company's charter, has any tendency to check the
operaticnt of the private trader. in a direct commerce with the
dominions - of the East India*CoMpany, it can hardly fail-to ope-
rate still more as an impediment to his exertions in seeking
new channels of commerce, or extending thote which already
exist with other countries and islands'in the 5...77.c. part of the
globe. . Here a field, in a great measure new, would be opened,
by the free admission to trade of vessels of a smaller burthen.
It is stated to the Committee, by persons who have been most
interested in forming a correct opinion upon the subject, that in
a trade with the native powers in the Gulph of Persia, along
the Red Sea, and 'On_ the eastern coast of Africa, as well as with
the islet-ads and countries to the eastward nf the Ccmpany's do-
minions in Asia, small vessels would be employed in preference-
to large, from the nature of the navigation, the great value and.
siedall bulk. of some-of the articles, as well as-the description of
merk:ts where such trade would be carried on. Some apprea
hension indeetthas been stated to exist, that vessels of that des
scription might be exposed to frequent depredations from pirates
who infest those seas ; but it does not appear that there is any
difference in the rate of insurance -required from large and small
ships : if here is a risk; 'however; the merchant might*
saKly be left to consider, how far it applies to his particUlar.
case ; whle the American trade in those seas, which is carried
on as well in vessels below as above.the burthen of 35-0 tons, la
not stated -at any times to hive suffered materially from such
dangers. It may be remarked, that although the native go-
vernments of 'lndia have been generally. supposed to be unfa-
vourable upon system to foreign commerce, no recent instance
of such disposition. has been adduced ; the French, on the con-
trary, are stated to. have been remarkably successful in some
recent attempts to open a commercial intercourse with Cochin
China ; and the recent knowledge which has peen acquired of
the manners and habits of the inhabitants in some of the islands
of the Malay race, leads to a much more faVourable opinion of
their eharaeter. and aptitude for civil and commerceal inter-
course than was previously.entertained.'
The maintenance of a free port, eligibly situated amongst
the Indian islands under British protection, Which the magni-
tude of- our establishments in that quarter of the globe may
enable us to support at much less expence than any other na-
tion, may be attended with the greatest benefit to commerce
and civilization. The importance of such a station, and the
quick perception of its advattageta formed by the native traders
in that part of the globe, may be estimated by the rapid rise of
the port of Sincapore during the year that it has been in the
possession of the British Governmeat, and opened for the pur-
pas:a of general trade. The population, which had berore
scarcely amounted to 200 souls, in three months increased to
notices than Vaooo, and now exceeds 10,000 in the whole ;
while 173 sail of vessels of different _desetiptions arrived and
sailed in the course of the first two months.
.The commerce with China is carried on by the East India,
Company, in whom the sole and exclusive right of trading with
The ports of that Empire, as well as the sole and exclusive right
of trading' and ttaffietung in tea to and from all the islands and
ports between the Cape of Good. Hope and Straits of Magellan,
is now vested-by law. The value end extent-of this trade has
naturally attracted the attention of the private merchant ; ne.
alt7‘.-outil it-could not be &inteeinnlated that the East India Com-
pany would willingly relingnisli so ienpartaiit- a privilege, • an
ea-racat desire has taxa es:pre:and, that the El C 3 t:i',ll:3l'

might be pr,rmitted, previour, to the expiration of the Cher-,
tor, v., e-cabarls in those branches of the trade which the Com-
pany ncititer carries on itself, nor appears to be immediately in-
terested in,. and in which the only competition to be encoun-
tered 1):, use British merchant would be that of the foreign
trader.

Of this description may Le considered the trade in tea and
other articles i,,anton t7...d.foreign Europe ; the tea
trade within the limits of the Company's Charter, exclusive of
the ports of the Chinese Empire ; and the trade betwzen Can-
ton and the western shores of anf S'uth

The hopes entertained by merchants and others, who have
the best means of information, of benefit to commerce from
such an extension of its freedom, as well as the apprehensions,
felt by persons of great experience in the direction of the af-
fairs, and in the service of the East India. Company, of the
risk with which such an extension may be attended to their poli-
tical and commercial interests, will .be found fully stated in the
evidence?and documents contained in the Appendix,
On the one hand it is confidently stated, that the low rate of
:British freight, and other advantages possessed by the British
rnerchartmen, would enable the. British free trader to enter into
an immediate and successful competition with .those of other
countries, and more particularly of the United States,- by whom
these branches of commerce have been carried on for some
years past with every appearance of progressive increase and
prosperity ; that thus a portion of Europe might be supplied
with tea .by the British trader ; that the export of furs from
America, which now takes place even from the British territo-
ries in erican vessels, would be:carried on by British shirr-
ping; and that, at all events, that portion of the Eastern trade,
which is 'carried on by the export of British manufactures in
American vessels, would fall into the hands of the British mar-
chant, with greater opportunities of extending it, afforded-by a
more direct intercourse • and, on the other hand, it is stated to
afford reasonable ground for alarm, that the seamen, who would
be admitted under such circumstances to the Port of Canton,
might. probably be a character so different from that of the
seamen employed on hoard the vessels of the United States, and
be subject to. a discipline so inferior to that which prevails on
board of the larger description of vessels employed in the service
o-f the East India Company, that disputes might take place and
excesses be occasioned, which might produce fatal consequences,
by awaking the jealousy or exciting the anger of the Chinese
Government.

It is also apprehended that the admission of new competitors
into the marxet might lead, to some deterioration in quality, or
enhancement in the prices of teas, which are now regulated by
arrangements made previously to their coming into the market
bet Ween the servants Of the Company and the Hong merchants, •
who.enjoy a monopoly of the sale of that article.
To what extent such hopes or such apprehensions might be
realized in the progress of a trade which has never yet been
permitted to exist, it is difficult perhaps to form an accurate
judgment. The most natural, and indeed the -only means of
forming one, must be derived from the circumstances and pro-
gress of‘ the Foreign Independent Trade, and more eiVeceally
that of the vessels of the United States with the Port of Canton.
That trade, although carried on in vessels of nearly the same,
description that would probably be employed by the British
merchants, has continued to flourish without being productive
of injurious consequences, either to trade in general, or that of
the East India Company in particular. It is stated that it
would not have done so, had it not been for the protection and
ether advantages derived from the establishment of the Coin-
pang's factory at Canton ' • but no satisfactory reason has been
assigned, why the British free trader should not derive the same
benefit from its countenance and .protection, to.which he cer-
tainly would not be less entitled. ,It must also be obseryed that
the circumstance which has principally been relied upon as con-
stituting the difference between tne character of the American
and British seaman, namely the former having a share in the
profits of the voyage, applies only to that portion (not a large
one) of their trade wsth Canton, which is employed in the export
of furs from North America, and might be expected to apply in
the same degree, as far as respects that portion of trade, to Bii-
tish vessels, if permitted to engage in it. It is admitted also,
that, all danger arising from disputes is greatly diminished, if
net entirely removed, by the abolition of the custom which per-
mitted seamen to go, at particular', eriods, in large bodies, and
under no controul, to enjoy liberty days on shore at Canton. .
In the course of thelast few years, the imports of the United
States into China (comparing an average of the years 1804-5;
'lBO5-8, 18034, with an average of 1816-17, 1817-18; 1818-19,
being the last years of which the Committee have received an
account) appear nearly to have doubled. It is alleged that the
principal part of these imports consists of metals and other ar-
ticles which the Merchants in-the United States have a greater
facility in procuring than those of other countries ; there can be
no doubt, however, that articles of British manufacture arc di-
rectly exported to China from this country by Americans ; and
it appears from an account procured at the Custom House, that
the declared value of those articles exported to countries within
th 4 limits of'the East-India Company's Charter, in foreign ves-
sels, and presumed to be chiefly to Canton, was in the last year
to the amount of £178,358.; and it affords some indication of
an increasing taste for British Manufactures in China, that an
opinion prevails that they are now introduced into the Northern
Parts of that Empire, subject to all the delay and inconvenience
of transport by land through Russia and the Caravan trade, of
which.Kaiacta and its immediate neighbourhood is the great
depot, and which appears recently to have experienced a consi,
tierable increase.

What portion of the teas and other articles exported from China
In vessels of the United States is destined for America, and what
for European consumption, it is difficult precisely to determine.
Although doubts have been expressed, whether the demand
arising from the latter eonstitutes a permanent or a considerable.
portion of their trade, it may fairly be assumed that a contra-y
ceeinion prevails in America, as it is stated in the Report upon
American currency, laid before the House of Representatives
in 1319, " that the annual Exports in American Vessels from
the United States and all other ports, to China and the East
Indies, can hardly be eetimated at more than 12,000,000 of dol-
lars, and it cannot be doubted that the sales of Last India arti-
cles in Europe exceed that amount. The value of merchan-
dize from China and India consumed annually in the United
States is probably eoual to 5,090,000 dollars ; and if this be so,
the consumption of .L'a.st India articles by the United States is
paid for by the mere profit of the trade."
On the whole, the Committee are inclined to the opinion,
that regulations might be established at Canton, either by
placing the free trade of Canon under the superintendence of a
Consul, or investing the principal servants of the Company
with some authority over the seamen engaged in the free trade,
by which any' appreheesion or inconvenience might be removed;
and without interfering with the monopoly of the British mar-
ket enjoyed by the East India Company, the-British merchant
might be safely admitted to a participation in a trade which has
proved safe, lucrative, and capable of great improvement in
the hands of the foreign trader.
In the event of these obstacles, however, being considered
insurmountable, the maintenance of the establishment at Sin-
capore, to which vessels frequently come down from China in
five days, or of any other fine port as advantageously situated,
might., considering the readiness of the Chinese to engage ac-
tively by every means,. direct and indirect, in trade, prove
highly advantageona to the interests of British commerce, if
permitted- to engage in the tea trade within the limits of the
East India Charter, exclusive of the ports of the Chinese Em-

pire.
Tte Committee Cannot conceal from themselves, that in the
present state of the law, no material henegt or facility to free
trade ineniS quarter'of the globe can be obtained, without in,
fringing in a greater, or less d agree upon the privileges vested
in the. East India Company,- nntil the year 1834, when their
present Charter expires, and that their consent may be required
to any meatures which• may be submitted for that.purpose to
the consideration of. Parliament. At 'the same time, consider,
ing that no primositions here snageSted are intended directly cr
indifectly to affect the monopoly enjoyed by the CoMpany of
the home market, to which the greatest importance is justly at-
tached, but that their object i 3 confined to procuring for the
British free trader an access to markets entirely new, or the
moans of fair competition with the foreign merchant in .those
which already exist, the Committee feel themselves justified in
relying upon the liberality' of the Court of Directors, upon the
concern the have frequently evinced in the national prosperity,
and the preference' they may be expected to give to British over
foreign commerce,. for a disposition tc meet, as far as may be
consistent with their own essential interests, the v.ishe3 of their
fellow-subjects, 'if sanctioned 'by the wisdom and authority of
Parliament.
At all coents, there are scene views of this subject to which
the attention of Parliament trany be immediately directed ; and
the ;thole cannot fail to deserve its consideration, previous to
the renewal of the East India Company's Chanter.
The Committee have been informed, by the members of his
Majesty's Government, • wIM are members of the Commits-e,
that a )3ill was prznared to be submitted to Parliament in the
course of lest Session', for extending the
.private trade between
India and foreign Europe ; and that the introduction of such a
Bill has only been postponed in consequence of the inquiies
depending Parliament, connected with Asiatic Commerce.
Vie ce.rreoptnid'nee wnich has taken place upon this subject
between the Board of Trade and Board.of Controub is con-
tatted in the Appendix.