The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-27 00:00:00

Tbixt Xbition

SUN-OFFICE, ,'.:scent o' Clock.

LAST INDIA ROUSE.

(TIIIS

COURT OF PROPRIETORS.
ADJOURNED DEBATE ON THE AFFGHAN WAR.
(Continued from our Afternoon Edition.)
Mr. LEWIS—Then the Board of Directors did not re-
commend it. He had no hesitation in saying that this
was contrary to law.—(llear, hear.) It was contrary to
the law of the country. He found by the 33d of George f
the lIId., chap. 46, section 52, this provision,
" That, inasmuch as extending the possessions in India
was repugnant to the wishes, honour, and policy of the d
nation, be it enacted that it shall not be lawful for the
Governor-General without the express recommendation
of the Court of Directors or the Secret Committee,. upon
the authority of the said Board, to commence war in India,
in any case, except where hostilities have actually been
commenced, r preparation made for such commence-
ment, except in that ease, no war shall be declared or
hostilities commenced in India." Now it was perfectly
clear from that that the present operations were bad,
unless any one would say that the Act of Geo. 111. was
abolished by the recent Charter. By that Act the Go-
vernor-General could not commence war without the ex-
press command of the Board of Directors, or the ex-
press command of the Secret Committee, under the
sanction of the Board of Control. Now, if that Com-
mittee had nothing to do with it, he (Mr. Lewis) asked
if this war was not a gross violation of that Act ?
(Hear, hear.) That Act of Parliament had been vio-
lated, as the war was carried on without the sanction of
the Court of Directors or the Secret Committee. It
was violated, in the second place, inasmuch as war had
been declared when no hostilities had commenced.—
(Hear, hear.) In the 3d and 4th of Will. IV., he found
a clause in which it was provided that if war was
bund necessary that the deliberation of the Board of
Control ought to be secret—that the despatches shbuld
be sent to the Secret Committee, to be signed and trans-
mitted to the Governer-General abroad without inspec-
tion. Now he thought no one would say that that clause
repealed the. Act of Geo. 111.
The CHAIRMAN said perhaps it would be better that
the Clerk should read the clause to the meeting, re-
ferred
to by the Hon. Proprietor—the clause in the 46th
Geo. 111.
The Clerk elm read the clause, which provided that
if the deliberations of the Board of Control were const;
dered necessary to be kept secret, that the despatches
should be sent to the Secret Committee for signature, to
be sent abroad without inspection.
Mr. LEWIS considered that his observations applied
with equal force as before.— (Hear, hear.) This was a
war conducted without those parties who were inte-
rested in the welfare of India knowing one word about
it. It was clear, then, that the Directors had no power
to levy taxes for the support of the war in India.
That was the position which he contended for, and
which he thought he had proved to demonstration.
The war was not only illegal, but contrary to the law of
nations. What could be more unjust than to make war
upon a nation, not for any real or supposed injury in-
flicted on us by them, but because there was a bare pos-
sibility that that nation, at present in a state of friendly
relations towards us, might at some future period—God
only knew when—enlist itself on the side of an-
other nation hostile, to us. Such a proceeding was, as
he had observed, contrary to the spirit and letter Of
the law of nations.
The Hon, Proprietor quoted Grotius, among others of
the most erhinent jurists, in support of his opinion. And
went on to-contend against what he considered the in-
justice of imposing the burden of the expense of the war
on the people of India.
With respect to the future policy of the war, he
trusted that mercy would mark their conquests, and
that nothing like revenge should be evinced in our in-
tercourse with the natives. He concluded by stating
the ;pleasure he had in supporting the motion.
Toe CHAIRMAN said that before proceeding further
with the debate, he would read a communication
which he had to make to the Court, which he would
have done previously had not an Hon. Proprietor
whom be now saw present, been the ab-
sent.—(Hear.) On the occasion of the last de-
bate on the question of the, Hill Coolies. an Hon. Pro-
prietor (Mr. 0. Thompson) had stated that Sir R. Far-
quahar, the late Governor of the Mauritius had destroyed -
himself. He (the Chairman) met the assertion at the
time with a direct denial. He would now make no
further observation on the matter, but read a letter
on • the subject from the son of that lamented
gentlssrnan. (The Chairman here read the letter
denying :that there was any truth in the assertion rela-
tive to ins late father which had been made by the Hon.
Troprietor. The letter enclosed three certificates frorri
the physicians and relatives attendant on Sir T. Far-
quhar during his last illness and death. Those certifi-
cates which were corroborative of the statements in the
letter, were also read to the Court by the Chairman.)
Mr. THOMPSON expressed his regret at having
inflicted any pain, as his assertion must have
Alone, on the relatives of the deceased gentleman,
respecting. whom lie made that erroneous statement.
The impression on his mind relative to this matter had
res-ulted from a conversation which he had had many years
nee with Sir T. F. Buxton on the subject. He now apo-
no'eise.i for having suffered himself to make an assertion
however true he then believed it to be, was cal-
culated ta give such pain to most deserving perso-
nages, trusted the Court would accept his apology.
The Cuai:sataN said that after what had fallen from
the Hon. Proprietor, he trusted that the subject would
be suffered to drop, and would be revived no more.
'The business before the Court was then resumed,
when Mr. Fielder said that having looked over the
fourteci Charter papers his conviction was that
the war was illegal. • The Hon. Proprietor their pro-
ceeded to read some extracts from a letter of Sir Charles
Grant, addreesed to the Court of Directors at the time
-when the renew:al of the Company's Charter was under
discussion, and when the Right Honourable Gentle-
man was President of the Board of Control. In that
letter Sir' Charles Grant assured the Company, on the
part of the Government of that day, that the rights
oe the proprietors should be respected ; he stated that
their s-evenue then was in a most flourishing condition,
and the, be believed that, under proper management, it
would alsvaa-s be equal to the expenditure. Now he
(Mr. Fieldeiro contended that those promises could not
be realised, if ti's British Government were to saddleln-
dia with an expenseof 8,000,000/. for carrying on an un-
happy and a ruinous war. In his opinion there was but
one course to be pursuA namoY,:that the whole ex-
penses of the Affghan expedition hould be borne, not
by the natives of India, but by Ihe people of this country.
Mr. GEORGE THOMPSON rose and said that he felt
fully the- vast importance of the question then be-
fore them, in a material and moral point of
view. He was aware that by the terms of
the motion the dLcussion was necessarily con-
fined to . a question of pounds, shillings, and • pence—
to the question who were the .parties to bear the ex-
penses of a war of aggression waged against ,the Aff-
ghans and their country in Central Asia ? But he
-thought that they were first bound to make themselves
familiar with the history of that war, and all the
toaterial facts connected with it, ere,. they voted
Iron the question then under their consideration.
j-ioa- ;stood the facts ? The war had been waged against
a eLuntry containing about 14,000,000 of inhabitants.
What ha: been the result of that war ? These people
had been sentenced, as a nation, to dnath ; and the Bri-
tish authorities had executed that sentence. They had
driven a ruler from his throne ; they had occupied
e country ; they had made the inhabitants tri-
Lutar:es they had razed cities, towns, and for-
tri saes ; they had inveigled mountain cheftains
and thrown them into prison. The representatives of
British power
,had acted most unprovokedly, unjustly,
lowards the most friend ly tr in the
and perfidiously'.
(Led inflamed among the natives a more
country. They
than common ha. Ved—a religious hatred, the most
•
fierce and implacAle of all hatred. They had
inflamed the hatred :if the inhabitants of a country
900 miles•in length, by,:ts many in breadth. The great
stieestion-was, whether ti.,e• war had been legally under-
takein, whether right and justice were upon our side.
The question was whether the war was one of which
the metions of the earth could approve or was it one
which bore the appearance of a piratical war, where
every death occasioned was murder in the sight of God.
The mseting had not concluded when our report left.]

ELECTION COMMITTEES.
(T HIS DAY.)
SOUTHAMPTON.
The Committee appointed to inquire into the proceed-
ings of the late election for Southampton, met this day
at twelve o'clock, The Hon. J. S. WORTLEY in the Chair.
After the Committee assembled the room was cleared,
and
The CHAIRMAN suggested that the proper course to
pursve would be to continue the examination of Mr.
.u, and to confine his examination to the allegations
contained in his petition.
Mr. B.,sEit said the course be intended to pursue was
to proceed with the case he had on hand, and then go on
with thee.gt neral facts relating to the last and preceding
elections' fir the borough of Southampton.
Mr. AIACKAY informed the Committee that Mr. Hearn
was appointed by Mr. Abraham and the other petitioner
as their 2.g-J,lt. With regard to himself,.
nthehCommnittee
excluding. i , o the
ground tr,iat he was a witness, he thought mthat Mr.
Baker in:ght he called on to say whether he would be
produced f.s a le itness.
Mr: BitliEß•said that Mr.- Mackay presented himself as
a witues;, awl that he 'offered himself as such in his
own case:
The Co wICITTEE were of opinion that Mr. Mackay
could not b, present.
Mr. Wret t was then called, and his examination was
pro-2eeded n ith. lie stated on the last day, that Mr.
.John Hunt And Mr. Coulson .called upon him, at
the request of Mr. Abrahams, -relative to Whit-
marsh. He called upon Whitmarsh, and after-
wards upon .kbraliams. He told Abrahams that
Wititnuirsb, wonkd not vote for less than 20L, and that
he would hot, on his ow-u responsibility, guarantee it to
him. Mr. Abraham answored—" We must have Whit-_
marsh, and any arrangement you make will be fulfilled."
We then went to Whitt,larsh and secured him
for 201. Whitmarsh fixed that sum, and said,
he would not vote for less. .Mr. Whitmarsh and
the ,Piliells went to poll together, and Mr. Whitmarsh
said .We will all poll for the same. After Whitmarsh
polled they went ihto a tavern, and remained there for a
fe WRatutes, after Which they returned to the Castle,
amd in a . private room there he gave tile 20/. to Mr.
bibitirsh, in the presence of Mr. John Bennett Luce,
the, landlord of the Castle Hotel.
To Mr. not aware that the Whig Harty