Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-05-23
Correspondence of the Boston Post.
THE EAST INDIA COMPANY


ITS HUMBLE ORIGIN, SPl ENDID
CAREER AND OBSCURE END.
The SUbjeciiOn OF fIndia-EaeuIous
Wealth and DespOtic POWer-Ciive
and Hastings Government Com
troll and ConfiScation-Fina In
tincsiOn.
LONDON, April 25.-The last scene
in the most splendid commercial
about to take place at Westminster
Palace. A bill has been introduced in
the House of Commons finally winding e
up the affairs of the great East India
Company, and transferring its proper
ties, as we'll as its uneXampied powers,
to the British Crown. All those who
go down to the sea in Ships, the mcr-
chants of every cline and engaged in
every department of the worlds trade,
must witness the extinction of this
corporation with an interest not I'M
connected with feeling of regret For
the East India Company, III It's some
thing more than Il century Of existence
! showed above all to what heights Of
wealth and absolute authority it was
! possible for commercial spirit and en-
| terprise to attain. No such n history
! conld ever have been imagined by the
! most enthusiastic merchants of an
! clcnt or modern times, until it
was displayed la tn. oazr of an
! astonishct world The company
became Ill time Il sovereign more ;ao-
tent aud magnificent than C;rs;.r or
Alexander; il rnie.l an empire .nbrac-
ing not only millions: Of subjects. but
treasures which "fc vet 50 far from
being exhausted that In,li.l is stil! the
most precious and valued dependency
of :te British, crown Commercial
energy, and not conquest. lay at the
foundation Of thIs silpHIstr;icture 1t
was the sturdy British spirit Of barter
and trade wi,ici, acquired he first foot
holds on the banks uf tie, Gances and
the Hooglly: conquest was 70 come
after tn supplement and complete the
priceless acquisition. \ few gentle
men met the other day ia one of the
narrow streets of London City, who
represent the last remains Of the di-
rectors of the East India Company. to
settle the final accounts and make the
last preparations for turning over the
effects to the government. They are
to receive Il hundred per cent bonus
on their stock, and their meeting was
so quiet and unnoticed one that, but
for paragraph in the papers, nobody
would have known how really momen-
tous an event was occurring i'll the
shade of Pancras Lane. One cannot
help thinking what hubbub would
have been created twenty years ago if
it had been announced that the East
India Company-the very pride and
glory of British commerce-was about
to dissolve into thin air. But the dis
solution, as it is, has been gradual, and
now the end comes much as foregone
conclusion.
Let me recall some OF the chief Incl
dents of this Company's rise and pro-
gress: In the year 1906, or thereabouts.
a few merchants of the city. mainly
clothiers and ironmongers. attracted by
the profits arising from the trade which
the English had for some time carried
on with the East Indies, resolved to
form Il company on a modest scale.
principally with view to importing
tea. They managed, by hook or crook,
to get together about $500 600 as
starting capital. Meanwhile simple
event had occurred, which WIS des-
tined to flood this unpreten,ling com
pany with wealth. An enterprisine
English surgeon. finding himself in
the Great Mogul's capital, was sent for
to prescribe for the Great Mogul's sick
The Great Mogul's gratitude know 10
dc nd a y,,in
nected with the new company, pro-
cured for them permission TO establish
factories on the Hooghly. Tt is inter
esting to read that one of the first or
ders which they gave to their agent i'll
India was as follows to send leo
pounds weight of the best tea that he
could get to send home for sample
From this they went on until they got
to purchasing sites and tracts, and
building brick houses at Calcutta
They began negotiations, and received
concessions from the native princes.
built Fort William, on the Ho0Ghly,
and by another lucky prescription. ;ll
ministered to later Great NIogul by
one DIR. Hamilton, secured no less
than thirty-eight towns, with a com
plete right of free trade throughout
the great and rich province of Bengal.
In 176O, as stated Ly a London paper.
the salary of the president of the COM
pany was yet only matter Of 43Ga.
of the members of the council fiG
each and of the writer's 20; hnt .licx
had also commons, Madeira wine.
and privilege of private trade. Iir
latter privilege, however, mad" every
body who had amy place in the com
pany speedily rich, In fact th" com
pauy found itself revelline in r.rfe";
incxhaustIhi" mine "f wealth.
Province after province wI-
annexed. cuncesSion after conr"$-
sion acquired. ships added to the
fleet until i'll 1850 the company bad
thirty-tive merchantmen, aA,t exported
G70, ono worth Of goods from England
each year. They found hsinsciyes
loaning millions to the home cXcii"uuer
and getting complete possession Of
Calcutta and tlirty-sev"n towns round
about it. The great political .ea well
as commercial caGc;r 81 the company
may be said 10 have hcgIn i'll lI17 or
thereabo1tts. when they deposeI the
Nabob of Bengal. Give had arrived
at Madras twelve or thirteen years be
fore, as a servant of the company. and
now began the series of magnificent
cOn({t.9StS, OtpOSlth)ilS aliu Sto1ittiOho
of native princes, which gradually alb
sorbed the richest Indian provinces
under English control. One by one
they fell-the Nahob OF the Carnatic,
the Nizam of the Deccan; and the SUI
preme Great Mogul himself. 1 scarcely
need even recall Gives career cfslory,
cruelty and aggrandizement, az the
despotio and thievish, though effective,
rule of Warren Hastings; both are de
scribcd, as no one else couldpretend to
describe them. in the pages of Mac
aIllay. Suffice it &c say, that when
Hastings left the egovepcr-CenerRiship
to Cornwallis-our Curnwaliis, who
surrendered at iorktovn-subiugated
Tippoo Sanib in 1892, and not only
forced Linn to give up half his king
dom, but e3, ,5OO,OOO in gold hesi;le
and seven years laterr I'il.poo was slain
and Seringupatam taken. Twelve
years before, Mr.. Pitt had instituted