Star.
London, England, 1813-06-01 00:00:00

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America: By the imposition of proper Antitorilt
wouhluottbe•difficult ID guard against the rivalship
of fore'gners. ',Much 'greater. facilities existed for
disposing of smuggled articles in the port of London,
which was the great mart, than could be found in
the oittports, whence they mu L! be afterwards trans-
ported across the-country....lt was in evidence from
one's:W. the Combissioners of the Customs, that al-
though small ships may easily evade the search of
cruisers at.seski yet that hr the river they were more
easily watched and guarded:than the large ships of
the Company: ,* He saw an opportunity now afforded
of supplying ourselves with seven-eighths of all the
cotton wanted for our manufacturers,- of reaping
great advantages from the increased culture of indigo,
of hemp, not to mention coffee, 'rice, and other ith-
portant articles. The Hon. Gentleman -who had
spoken last with so much eloquence, had imputed to
the advocates of the outportt, a participation in the
Slave Trade before its abolition. He could safely
say, that not a single ship from the port of Bristol
was engaged in that trade for a considerable period
before its abolition. With.equal justice he might im-
pute, which he was far front doing. a wish on the
part of the Directors to retain their tpatronage at all
events. He hoped, however, that the Act of Par-
liament would clothe his Majesty's Ministers with
power sufficient for the protection of the private Bri-
tish merchant, should he be oppressed by the Com-
pany either in their capacity as sovereigns, or in that
of corporate traders.
Mr. PHILLIPS said, that the great danger which
appeared to be apprehended, arose from the inter-
course of Europeans with the natives; but Lor d
Teignmouth had stated, that the Police was equal to'
the prevention of any such danger—a danger which
he considered as merely chimerical. It, however, it
was real, it was not sufficient to prevent the opening
of the trade. The Hon. Gentleman then went into a
detail of the cotton trade, to shew that the export of
the raw material from India might be greatly in-
creased, to the great benefit of the manufacturers ins
England. Cotton yarn, upon a calculation made by
Mr. Lee, of Manchester, could be spun at one-fourth
of the charge that it would cost in India, even rating
the labour of the Indian at two pence per day, and the
yarn would cost only half as much as that of India,
supposing cotton to be purchased there at five-pence
per pound, and in England at 2s. 6d. per pound.—
The Georgia cotton was said to be superior to that of
India ; such, however, was not the case; but if it
were, the circumstances under which it was grown in
India, would account for the inferiority. The Com-
pany took five-eighths for the rent of the land, and
bought the other three eighths at what price their
agents chose to fix—and this was the system, the
subversion of which the natives were said to dread so
much. An open trade, which would raise the price of
their produce, would, of course, ruin them, at least
such was the argument of the India Company. The
difference between Georgia and India was, therefore,
obvious; the one had flourished under a free trade,
while the other had been borne down by a monopoly.
(Hear, hear.)—But it might be asked, if machinery
was so advantageous for spinning cotton, would it
not be exported to India in case of a free trade ? The
cotton-spinners, however, were not only willing, but
desirous, of incurring the risk. The number of skil-
ful engineers, and the permanent establishments that
would be required, would prevent the introduction of
machinery into India.—The Hon. Gentleman then
entered into the policy of the India government and
China trade, and paid some compliments to the ser-
vants of the Company. He stated the territorial reve-
nues of the Company at £17,000,000, which, how-
ever, was found insufficient for the purposes of go-
vernment : he thought it would be better to levy a.
direct tax on the natives of India to pay the divi-
dends of the Proprietors, than any longer to oppress
them with a monopoly. The Hon. Gentleman then
advertei to the speech delivered by Lord Grenville
in the House of Lords, of which he spoke in terms of
high commendation, as containing the most just views
of that system of policy which ought to be adopted
towards the East India Company, and the territories
tinder their controul. He saw no ground for fear on
the part of the Company, if a fair competition in trade
was allowed ; on the contrary, he thought the great-
est advantages were to be anticipated from such an
arrangement. He imagined the House would not be
inclined td think that the British Merchants were so
besotted as to carry on the Trade longer than they
perteived their own interests were likely to be pro-
moted. With respect to the question of smuggling,
as thire ware many Gentlemen in the House who
knew more of this subject than himself—(Laughter)
—he would not enter into it at any length, but should
simply content himself with observing, that such an
arguMent afforded no just ground for depriving Bri-
tish merchants of privileges which were enjoyed by
foreigners. .
Mr. C. GRANT (the Director) said, that a great.
de.ll of the prejudice which had subsisted against the
Company had arisen from the public being unac-
quainted with their affairs. Till within this shut
time, it was pretty generally conceived that a great
extension could be effected of the consumption of our
manufactures in. India. This error was now generally
perceiied to be such t and it was much to have gained
even point. He, believed a sufficient inquiry
would ifflct on all other points a change in the public
'opinion; 'equal*, favourable to the Company.. The
Holt. hgembeir thin idrerting to Lord Grenvllle's
speech; 'objected to his Lordship't heeling refused in
it to recogbise the terrorial rights of the Com panY,
which,. whenever their Charter had been 'renewed; had
teen redognilid by Parliament, expressed himielf as-
sured thin if their claimi were to be decided by jus-
tice, not iikre pOWer, the decision roust be, favour-
able; add imaeavoueed to thew, that the trade of the
Corit,pa.rtt Was sufficient to support itself ; ilmt they
had new* looked to the surplus revenue of Ihdia as
the iffeatil of supporting it, and that so 'far froth the
Company being indebted to the territory of India,
that territory was indebted to theta. They had never
borrowed in India for the purpose of enabling them
to carry on their trade. The authority of a Mr. Cole-
broke had been quoted respecting Bengal, but that
gentleman himielt had disowned the publication ;
and if it were not so, the authority of that gen-
tleman could not be of much value, as he re-
sided in Bengal twenty years ago, since which
time things had veil' materially changed.—(Hear.)
He was aping opening the trade of India to the
general merchant, because he would not feel so much
interest in preserving the peace and good will of the