Star.
London, England, 1806-04-15 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMON%

The Scarborough Harbour Bill was rcsd a ferond time, and or-
dered to be con:mitted to a Committee stove flair..
Sir R. MILBANKE brought up a Petition from certain inha-
bitants of Moo* Wearmouth, and Sunderland, agalnft the Paid
Bill, which was ordered to be referred to.the Committee on the
Bill.
He then brought up a Petition from the Prifoners confined for
Debt in the gaol of Durham, praying relief —Ordered to lie on
tie Table.
Sir M. W. RIDLEY brought up a Petition from the Prifoners
confined for D. bt in the gaol of the :own of Neweaftle-upoo-
. _

Tyne, praying ether.-Ordered to lie on the 'rabic •
A Menage from the Lords informed the Heide, that their Lord-
tips had agreed to fermi private hills.
Mr. CALM AFT omit:flied an Account of the rums of money
remaining in the Exchequer on the eft Jan. any, from grants of
the filufe made In 1804.
On the Motion of Mr. CALCRAF r, a new Writ was ordered
for the Ftedlion of a Memierfor halftone. in the room of Mr.
Davies °eddy, who had accepted the Chiltern Hundreds.
WATS OF 1116 PSAlto3 OF •RCOT.
Mr. HOBHOUSE rofe, purfusnt to notice, to
move for leave to bring in a Bill, " to enable the
Commiflioners, appointed by A& of Parliament, to
carry into execution the agreement entered into by
the Call Inch:. Company, the Nab ,b of Arcot, and
certain private Creditors." He was aware that In-
dian Inhjees were generally confidered of a dry and
complicated nature, and he felt much o'diged to the
cordlant exertions of so Honourable Gentleman
(Mr. Francis). who, by a recent domeßic misfor-
tune, was prevented from attending upon the prefent
occafion. Hr (tit l•imfelf upon that account obliged
to trefpafs tin the. attention of the Houfe at confider-
able length, as he conceived the rubies, to be of con-
nectable importance and extent. It Mitt in'the year
1784 that Parliament Ara took cognizance of thdfe
debts ; and in the Statute of the 54th of hie prefent
majefly, which was paled for tie better manage-
ment of the ;alit, of the FAA Wirt Company, and
eflablitising a Court of Judicature in India, it was
exprefsly ticelartd, in the 37th Seetion,." that where-
as large fums of money were due 'ay the Nabob of
Arcot to British &Wahl, it was therefore enatted,
that the Court of Direanre Mould take into their con-
fideration the origin and nature of there debt., and
fhottld concert mealltres for the liquidation of them
in fuels a manner as would combine the fecurity of
the creditor, and the regard which was doe to the
honour and dignity of the Nabob of Arent and his
family." This Statute, which was paired in the year
784, was formally promulgated at Madras in the
month of February 1785 ; and &mai sherwarelss
Mr. Dareidfort. then Governor of tile !tendency of
Madras, concluded a Treaty with the Prince, who,
was then on the Throne of Arcot, by which that
Prince engaged t . pay annually four lacks of pagodas .
for a military Itgoldy to the Company, and is lacks
its a'forn to be applied to the liquidation of the debts
he owed to Btitith fubjeas. The three defcriptions
of debts, to the payment of which this lam Was to

be applied, wet,: au, the Confolidated Debt of ;767.
*mounting to 7.96,446 pagodas : next there was the
Confolidated Debt of 1777. which amounted to
54,98,500 pago.:as, which, with " Tbc old Cavalry
Debt," which he Mould explain prefently, and which
amounted to 6 .;0,634 pagodas, made a total amount
bf 69,8500 ragout:4 or, if reduced to Britith
money, to the font of 2,794,2281. There debt. were
cshcd " Regillered IVAN" as all the claimants under
eaclt of tlit fe hEads were called upon to infcribe in a
iegiller their in .mcs, together with the amount of
kith claim. I. the month of February 1787. a new
tieaty cenc•lsJ:(l between the NibOb of Arcot
and theGovernrsent of Madras, by which the Nabob
tiered to continue the payment of the twelve lacks
tap,. the liquida:ion if the debts, and, in confequence
;41 alliance will the Company. to mite the mai.
fubfiJy tare laces, and in time of war to four.
.
:11:3 of Inv whole revenue. After this treaty, the
i 41.0 was very irregular in the payment of the rums
2`.:4-..,.drit • 1. pol i• Exit:Arable arrear accrued{ and

when, tome years afterwards, the honility of TIN"'
Saib againtl our ally, the Travancore Rajah, obligiAl
Lord Cornwallis to take the field, and the Nabob was
called upon as an ally to furnifh his military fublidy,
and the fupplies of grain that were Ripulated, there
was fu peat a deficiency, that Lord Cornwallis judg-
ed it meal-my, doling the whale of the war, to pot%
lefs himfclf completely, of the whole revenues and
civil adminiitrati 111 l of the Nabob's country. When
the war was over in the year 1792, his Lordfhip
made a new treaty with the Nabob, in which, on
account of the deficiency of revenue, the fund for
the payment of the plicate creditors was' reduced to
6.:1,105 pagodas. As to the debt doe to the Coro•
pail, it was poliponeil, in the confidence that, by a
better management of the revenues, these would he
A fullicient fun plus to pay it; and by the fupetiotity
of Britifh man.tgemsnt, that debt WAS ennflantly de•
creafirg, and in the month of May, Okra. the Re-
giftered Debt had been completely difcharged.-s-
There were, however, a confiderable number i.f deb• s
outfianditsg, which had not been regillered, and
which the Company, as furceeding to the manage-
ment of the revenues of the Nabobs felt thernfeives
bound in honour, in certity, and in jultiee, to dill
charge. Of there debts, lime had been contra/fed
for public fervices, fuch ai "I be new Cavalry debt,"
which was to pay a p:.rt of his army, who, on ae•
count of• the arrears due to them, were in a Rate of
abfulute infubordination and mutiny. Borne of thous
debts the Nabob had conoaSed perfonally. alters
had been contrafted in his name by his eldeß fon. or
his (wad fon, who was his Minder. The EMI In-
dia Company conceived themfelves bound in honour'
and lake to pay this enconfolidated debt alfo, and
for that porpore wiled to appropriate thiee lacks
and a hallo( pagodas an-ually, for the terl,t,,,eorm of
filch claims a. upon due exatninati. n &odd appear
to them val:d. He was lute the Houle would hear
with fatisfaftiiin, that the furplus of the Carnaticre-
venues, over and above the nine lacks, as a military
fithfitiy, amounted in the sear t 501.4 to the (tun of
140,0001. Briiith, and mig'it be calculated in future
years at no left than 450,0031 Such bad been the
I practical fruits of the change that had taken place in
the Government of the Cat Ila;IC. He afraid not
enquire. then, into the piiisciple of the aftumidion
of the Adminititation of the Government of the Car-
natie, but the effeits of that arrangement were very
advantageous. Hi: then proceeded to read an ex
rraa Irian a Letter written by Lord Cornwallis to
the Court of Dire:tors nn the Loth of Auguß, 1798,
at which time he had taken the management and
direction of all the revenues of the Nab .6. In this
extract it was Rated, .. that although his Lordihip
knew that the rank of the Nabob, his great age, and
his long conflation and friendlhip with the Com.
piny, might lumina topics for pcpidar declamation
againa the Rep he had taken, yet he was fn fully con-1
vinced that the happinefs of mankind, and the goad I
of hi, country, would be ptomoted by the meafure,l
that he thould perfonally difregard the cenfnre of
any individuals, and take into ate hands of the EaR
I India Company the management of the revenues of
Arcot." Such an authority as that of Lord Corn-
wallis had confiderable weight with him. Although it
was clear that the boo{ fide creditors of the Nabob bad,
at lead, an equitable claim upon Coe Company. yet it
was neceffary that there should be a previous exami-
nation of the claim. As Mr. Burke had (aid, "En
quiry fbould precede pa) aunt. and the paw probandi
Should always lie on the claimant." Commiffioners
were therefore appointed to invettigate thofe claims,
but they were reftrifird from allowing for prefents,
or gratuities, or any thing but arid /ma Jule debts.
There was alfo ant ther commidion appointed in In.
dia for the purpore of examination, and traamitting
the refults to the Commillioners in Englind. The
Comraitlioners immediately proceeded to examine
every documen• and paper that were prefented in
them, and to iff to no: ces to determine the nnitiber
and amount of claims, bot did not poffel. the ',owe! '
ot coming to an adjudication of thole claims. The
caufe which prevented them was, that although they
were direaed to call for the voluntary oaths of all 1
perfons who were to be examined before them, yet,
from high legal authority, they cohfidered that they
bad no right to require filch oaths I they therefore
wrote a leiter to Mr. Ramfay, to be by him laid be.
fare the Court of Defeo", t, Slating, " that although
they Scald continue to lee every diligence to per-
form the talk which was aligned to thein.let that
they apprehended, that by law they were no more
authorized than the Magiftrotes in requiring and ad
miniftering voluntary oaths." This letter was figned
by hirofelf and Mr. Ryder. Upon the receipt of this
letter, a cafe was made out. and laid before the Law
Officers of the Crown, and of the Eel! India Com-
pany, and the opinion of Mr. Percival, Sir V. Gibbs,
and Mr. Adam, war, " that it was very doubtful
whether they had ai tight to adminifier voluntary
oaths, and it was recommended to them not to re-
quire thew." It would, therefore, be seventy to
extend their powers in this rePeoft by an ea of Par.
liament. It would be alto necslfary to infest a cleric: ,
I with rapea to the taansfer of property of foceetsflll
1 . •
Cialmallts. At pram', filch property was what the
lawyers called a " ebeji is °Sion," and could not
legally be transferred I but by a clads he intended to ,
I introduce in the bill, the legal as well as the equitable
right of loch property might be transferred. He
writhed much, that whatever dee•fion the Houk Should
think proper to make with refpea to thofe debtors,
fhould be done fpeethly. It would be defirable, that
the claim fhnuld be brought to adjudication as foon
as poffible, in order that thole whofe claims were va-
lid, fitould have the fatisfaftion of knowing that their
demands were in a train of liquidation. and that
thofe whole claims could not be tcc-Ithized, Mould
not flatter tbemlelves with vain hopes. As he cue•
ceived the objea of his motion to be of great impor-
tance, he did not helitate to bring it forward, oh
though be was fully fenfible of the awkward fituation
in which a Commiffinner flood. who was obliged to
move for larger powers than were originally intended
to be given to the Commilion cr which he was a
Member. Upon this account he Mould have rather
walled that tome other Gentleman would have come'
forward upon the prefent oceafion. He contivid,ai
by moving for leave too bring in a bill, fur the Ina-
pores before Bated.
Mr. WHITSHED KEENE Paid, that he did r,t
at prattle fee any lirong oblation to the rnealnre
propofed i but he ebpld not help renter kitty. that, iti ,
lookingover the lid of claimants, he law a noutber o.f.
names of futons Witting high Gtuations in India,

' and who. perhaps, had nn 14,4 claims nn the he-
manity AnJ cquily of the Company in this inliance.
Ile mud all ohlerve, that, although in 1784 this
country claimed no right of participation in the fur.
plus of the revenues oldie Company. yet. from the
year 1793, the public had a claim of half a million
annually, which it had never received s and, on the
contrary, it was now (fated, that a million was due
from the public to the Company. This might be a
conlideration in the didcuflion of the nitafure propof-
ed. Lie had not been aware, thaithe bufinefluibuld
have come on that right, but Ihotild he prepared on
the day aorwinted for the second readiog. to offer
filch ohfeivatiuns as the coi.fideration of the fubjeft
Ihould lugged.