The Sun.
London, England, 1829-04-18 00:00:00

EAST INDIA COMPANY.

We refer our readers to a striking representation
(which follows) of the conduct of the East India
Company
with regard to our settlements in the
Straits of Malacca, viz.—Penang, Malacca, and Sin-
gapore. The Company, it is obvious, were in-
trusted with these keys to the Indian Archipelago,
under an engagement, not only to maintain them in
security, but to avoid any measures by which their
value as commercial dependencies of the British
empire should be impaired. If the prodigality of
ale Company, or the rapacity of their servants, be
tach in other parts of the East as to compel them
Pinch and ruin the administrative or judicial
otablishments of the above colonies, and render
t_aeto an unsafe dwelling for British subjects carry-
thg on an active commerce, it is clear that the Com-
taaY have forfeited their title to a trust which has
.}lea so grossly abused, and that the settlements
etnselves ought to be restored to the nation. It
Is impossible to overvalue the importance of these
colonies, now on the eve of opening an uncontrolled
trade for the British merchant, not merely with the
Archipelago but with China itself; and lest there
should be any sinister policy brewing in Leadenhall-
treet for getting up a colourable disparagement of
Chthe benefi ts and safeguards of these colonies to the
ina trade, when proposed to be carried on by in-
merfhants of Great Britain, we think that
to
Majesty s Government had better be prepared
to frustrate all such machinations.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
(IFrom the attention which has been bestowed
In your journal on the affairs of India, and the in-
terests of British trade, I trust yon will not allow
to pan. unnoticed an important revolution now
silently going on in the settlements of Penang,
Malacca, and Singapore, which form the medium
M only connecting link remaining in British hands,
of the vast and daily increasing trade between the
eastern Archipelago and the coast of China and
British India, Europe, and America.
You are aware that these settlements were
asde free ports in 1826 ; they are the first posses-
s of the East India Company put upon that foot-
"agiand it was reasonably calculated that such con-
venient stations in the Straits of Malacca would
form an important staple of eastern trade, and in a
great degree compensate the British merchant for
exclusion from China ; while they afforded, at
the same time, a security against the influence and
eacroachtnent of the Dutch, who, since the surrender
Of Sumatra to them, have complete command of
thte southern passage, or Straits of Sunda, and
by the treaties of 1814 and 1824., have secured
all tan most valuable islands of commercial stations
14 the eastern seas, with the solitary exception of
the three united settlements above named, in the
Straits of Malacca.
" The intrinsic value of these has also been proved
the 'immense increase of their commerce and
rnptuation since they were put on the present foot-
g• In the youngest of them (Singapore), the
Population in 1819 was (according to the late Sir
Stamford Rallies, its founder) only about 150 per-
Sons, when the British flag was hoisted and it was
afterwards
a free port. In the course of three months
terwards, the population increased to 3,000; in
the first year to above 5,000 ; in two years after-
okrds to 10,000 ; in 1824 to 13,000, and in 1825
ti 15,000. The value of exports and imports during
same period rose as follows, omitting fractions :
Dollars.
411822, value of exports and imports 8,000,000
1823 13,000,000
1824, • 15,000,600
The 1825 20,000,000
ism 40,000
in the three settlements has increased
'rain 40,000 to 100,000 souls, from the best infor-

" It must be unnecessary to say more to prove
the" great value of these settlements ; and that every
Qotive of good policy demanded that their impor-
tTeg should be most jealously guarded and main-
' .4lned by a well organized local government, corn-
13"erl of men of high character, talent, and intelli-
igierlees to give them respectability and inspire con&
hernee on the part of the public, with a judicial esta-
"llshnient competent to afford complete security to
rMlerty and adjust satisfactorily the numerous con-
cting claims that will arise in a commercial corn-
, ulunity : aided by an efficient magistracy and system
°f police to preserve order among so heterogeneous
k population, suddenly collected from various
Countries, partly savage, partly civilized.
" But it appears by a letter in the last number of
hthe Asiatic Journal, that the East India Directors
ave discovered—and no great discovery—that all
this could not be done without considerable ex-
ence, and, as they are not suspected of being very
Invourable to freedom of trade, they have come to
this conclusion—that they should not incur such an
expense for such a purpose. They have therefore
resolved to reduce their establishment of public offi-
' ers in these three settlements, from about 20 to 12
to number ; •and in future to employ only a class of
tsdividuals whose services and talents may be pur-
thased at a lower rate than those they have hitherto
~t4Ployed. In short, that in proportion to the grow-
-1111; importance of the work to be done, the machi-
nery employed is to be of an inferior description.

" The East India Directors have also, it seems,
discovered, that the superintending of the affairs of
these free trade settlements in the Straits involves
some trouble ; and of this they propose to relieve
themselves by devolving it upon the Governor-Ge-
11er'd of India. Now, really, when it is con-
41dered that the individual who fills that high
Bt4tioß has already to preside over an empire
t"tai'dog from 100,000,000 to 150,000,000 of
people, that he is at the same time frequently
2111mandersiii-chief of an army of above 100,000
'eor—that, besides the voluminous correspondence
"(1 negotiations with the various residences and
ttiati:e, courts throughout India, he is subject to be
on to
!vettue ant Judicial
the very details of commercial
judicial business which, according to
!he system of Indian government, are liable to be
this,
upon the council table—in addition to all
tia_l,B) which is already a greater charge than almost
,;!Y human talent can support, to throw upon him
toefe,..t_tdditional burthen of superintending the affairs
renog, Malacca, and Singapore, and the various
,&iplicated interests of their Malay, Portuguese,
t‘;tll. i-nese, European and American residents and
I,tfers ,
is a proceeding not a little preposterous.
_1
It is in fact much the same as saying, that these
1_
ttlements shall in future be left by the East India
4:l4any to superintend themselves. For of the
1411 .0
'supervision which a Governor-General of
stengalcan afford to give them, the fallowing in-
ace, which happened in Bencoolen just before it
given up, will serve as an example. A Mr.
tireholson, a settler there, felt himself compelled to
th°eeed to Bengal to complain of some measures of
hie Lieutenant-Governor, who had deprived him of
44144Piee plantation. After a voyage of one month,
in" a delay of one or two more, he got the proceed-
-11,,g8 examined by the Governor-General (Lord Am-
-41;17). who doubtless gave the best decision he was
tg
on the case. The chief points in-dispute were
eerreeer—the right to a certain road, the right to a
4.1 taln adjacent outfield, and the right of confiscat-
jugd:ha factory altogether. His Lordship's written
firsetieHt, which I have seen, determined the two
t. pie • but the last, which was the main ques,
, _
the 'Passed over entirely. Of what use would
liload and the outfield have been, without the
d cation ? It realized Swift's bitter satire on the
Byers in his time, who, he said, were a case to
th„l about the property of a cow, would bestow all
oi,l learning in determining the colour of her hair,
the length of her horns, but say nothing what-
about the person to whom the cow belonged.
1," Such will be the sort of justice
Mcalacca, and Singa-
.6r; when made to depend on the Governor-
b4eneral of Bengal. Nor is he to be blamed for not
'll able, with hands already too full, to exercise
ormore effectual control. Seeing the impossibility
will
sufficient attention to their affairs, he
id naturally distrust his own judgment, and as

much as possible avoid interfering; with tnem.
Hence the answer to all appeals from that quarter
will in general be to the following effect, a formula
of expression too well kno‘%n in the East :—‘ I see
no sufficient grounds for disturbing the decision of
the local authority !'
" This authority will consequently be virtually
left without any effective control whatever, unless it
be that which the former lawlessness of the place
has rendered proverbial in India—viz., a Penang
lawyer, otherwise club law. When any dispute
arises as to British ships touching there, they must
either follow their appeal to Bengal, to the ruin of
the owners, and to the objects of the voyage, or, if
they come on direct to England, as the papers in the
case, instead of going along with them, will have
gone off to Bengal,
_hence nothing can be settled
until they are procured from that place after great
loss of time.

" For these and other similar reasons, Penang,
or, as it is called, Prince of Wales's Island, was in
1805, erected into a separate Government, imme-
diately dependent, like other settlements, on the
Company at home. The reason which the Direc-
tors assigned for this was as follows:
" By this measure, we expect that the benefits
of fixed government and laws will be established ;
and industry, commerce, and general resort will be
thereby encouraged.'
" This was done at a time when Penang was the
only one of the three settlements now under consi-
deration. Since that period Singapore has been
created by the genius of free trade, and Malacca
ceded by the Dutch. hence, both our territory and
the population have been more than doubled, and
the trade has increased beyond all proportion. But
now, on the plea of economy, it is proposed to di-
minish the means employed for securing person and
property,—to abolish what was established to give
the benefit of fixed laws and government r —to do
away the encouragements to commerce, industry,
and general resort.' Is this keeping pace with the
improvement of trade ?—or is it fulfilling the pledge
given to the British merchant in the erection of these
free ports ?
" If economy be the real motive, let it be consi-
dered that by giving up Bencoolen, and consolidat-
ing its establishment with these settlements, a saving
was effected of about 80,0001. per annum. The
cost of Penang singly was before nearly as much,
being 70,0004, making together 1.50,000/. per an-
num ; whereas the joint expence of the three settle-
means is now little more than 772,0001., making an
actual saving of nearly 80,000/. by the settlement
of 11824. From the rapid augmentation of the ex-
ports and imports above exhibited, it is probable that
a very moderate duty on the trade will soon be suf-
ficient to cover the whole remaining exper►ce. But
even if this were not the case, is a saving of a few
. .

,
thousand pounds to be put into competition with
objects of such public importance as the support of
British character, and the maintenance of our trade
in the Eastern seas ? For if these settlements be
neglected, and reduced to insignificance by mis-
management, our old commercial rivals in that
quarter of the globe, the Dutch, will then have
uncontrolled sway throughout the whole Indian
Archipelago.
" If every possession of Great Britain were to
stand or fall merely according to the surplus revenue,
or surplus charge, which may appear on its accounts,
without reference to its importance as a part of the
empire, we should then very soon lose some of our
most valuable possessions. What would become of
Gibraltar, Malta, St. Helena, or even the Cape of
Good Hope, which last are maintained at a vast
charge as an additional security to India ? And the
rulers of that territory, therefore, ought to look at
something beyond the debtor and creditor side of
their account, before they sacrifice those important
stations, established in the East to protect and en-
courage British commerce.
" With regard to the other motive attributed to

the Directors,—that of relieving themselves of the
trouble and responsibility of superintending them,
by devolving these on the Governor-General of
India,—it would naturally be imagined, that twenty-
four gentlemen deeply versed in Indian affairs from
long practice, are more competent to watch over
these dependencies than one, however exalted in
rank, who is frequently new to the office, and an
entire stranger to every thing connected with them
(excepting that general and very limited degree of
knowledge, regarding India, possessed by British
noblemen and gentlemen); and it is a mistake to
suppose that he can see with his own eyes from
Bengal to Penang, any more than they can from
Leadenhall-street. But if by persevering in this
measure they mean to say that they feel themselves
to be less competent ; then how do they expect to

. -
be longer intrusted with the much more arduous task
of governing the vast continent of India, with its
many millions of inhabitants ? When the charter
comes soon to be discussed, the Duke of Wellington
will have a very short argument for them furnished
by themselves. How can you govern India,' his
Grace may justly say,' when you confess your inabi-
lity to govern the small settlements of Penang, Ma-
lacca, and Singapore ? I shall now relieve you,
gentlemen, altogether of these duties which you have
seemed so anxious to relinquish, and to devolve upon
others who were unprepared for them.'

_ .
" The Ministers and the country have, indeed,
great right to complain of the Directors in this
matter. For it resolves itself into this,—that after
___

the East India Company had solemnly pledged it-
self to the Government and to the British nation to
maintain these free ports for the sake of our com-
merce in the East, the Directors are now, by a sort
of side-wind, contriving to get rid of their engage-
ment. For they know very well, that when the se-
curities for person and property formerly established
are, as above shown, taken away, and the whole
subjected to the arbitrary discretion of the Governor-
General of India, (of whom the public only know
that he is the absolute ruler of some hundred millions
of people, who banishes his countrymen according to
his will and pleasure, without any trial or inquiry !)
merchants will become very wary how they trust
themselves and their goods into such hands. The
ports may then be shunned like the Scylla and
Charybdis of the Indian seas, and probably decline
as rapidly as they have risen. The current of trade
will be diverted into another channel, to the benefit
of the Dutch ; and our new marts of free trade in
the East, lately so full of promise, will become but
a shadow and an empty name."—Times.

On Friday morning, as Mrs. HAwoRTH,
wife of Mr. JOHN llAwoam, landlord of the Seven Stars,
Bolton, was standing on the edge of the mash-tub (Mr. H.
being brewing), and as hor husband was handing her a
tub, she lost her balance, and fell backwards into the mash-
tub, which contained boiling liquor and malt. Owing to
a cask being in the way, her husband could not render im-
mediate assistance, in consequence of which she was dread-
fully scalded, and is now in a most dangerous state.

The following ancient form of marriage is
copied from the Parish Register at Whalley, Lancashire :
The'agreement of marriage between THOMAS BRAD-
DYLL, of Portfield, Esquire, and Mrs. JANE RUSHTON, of
Dunnyshop, both of this parish, was duly published three
markett dayes, at Clitherowe ; that is to say, upon the
second of February, being Saturday, upon Saturdays the
ninth and sixteenth dayes of the same moneth, in the year
of our Lord 1655. The marriage of the same parties was
solemnized at Dunnyshop, the fifteenth of March, in the
said year 1655, by LAWRENCE RAWSTHORNE, Esquire,
one of the Justices of Peace of this county, in the presence
of ---- RUSHTON, of Autley, WILLIAM SHUTTLEWORTH,
RouT. WARREING."

An unusual number of Members of both
House have left town previous to the Easter Recess—
some without any intention of returning-.—Morning

Papers.

In the neighbourhood of Sherborne, on }riday
last, a heavy hail-storm fell, accompanied by thunder and
lightning. At Yetminster, a tree in the churchyard was
riven by the electric fluid ; a woman who was passing at
the moment escaped unhurt, although an umbrella wlsich
she held was broken to pieces by the force of the shock
which it encountered. The night of Tuesday was ex-
tremely boisterous, and we had yesterday several heavy
storms.—Sherborne Journal.

THE ARMY.

(From the Dublin Freeman's Journal.)

There is a report in the military circles that the follow-
ing reductions will take place in the course of the year :
The three regiments of Horse Guards—the lst Dra-
goon Guards, and the four regiments of Light Cavalry in
India, to be redured to six troops, each of 60 men.
The whole of tl.e It and Cavalry to retain but one
Lieutenant-Colonel and one nijor.
Each regiment of Infantry to be reduced to eight com-
panies of 80 men, of which the two companies forming
the depot will remain at home under the senior Capta'n.

The seven regiments of Dragoon Guards will be formed
into four regiments of Cuirassiers, and a portion of the
remainder allowed up to form the vacaut regiment, the
sth Dragoons.
It is expected the 3d battalion of the Grenadier Guards,
and the 2(1 battalion of Ist Foot, will be reduced.

Recruiting will be stopped for the whole army, and
that of the East India Company, and the vacancies filled
tip by such as choose to enter from any of-the disbanded
regiments.
The whole will form a reduction of thirty-three troops
of cavalry, and 222 companies of infantry—in amount,
2,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry.
Captain Stanway, Royal Engineers, arrived at Dun-
cannon Fort on the 9th instant, to take the command of
that district in the room of Lieutenant-Colonel Romilly,
promoted.
The Doctor of the 33d, who killed Lieut. Everitt, of
the same regiment, in a duel, was tried at Jamaica Ist Feb.
and acquitted.
The CornmandingOfficers of Regiments are acting on
the recent General Order, by sending away such women as
have been married without permission.
No women will lie allowed to embark with their hus-
bands in the different military detachments ordered from
Cork on foreign service.
The Armagh and Ballymena recruiting stations are
given up.

Two divisions of the 6th Dragoons arrived in Worcester
on Monday and Tuesday, on their way from Manchester to
Dorchester. The 4th Dragoons are expected to pass
through on their way from Dorchester to Manchester, next
week.— Worcester Journal.

FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE.