An immense mass of papers...
The Times, 1824-09-23T00:00:00

An ihmense mass of papers are published by the East Indlia C'ompany, relative to certain pecuniary transactions which took place between a house of British bankers at Calcutta, and the native Court of the NTizam, during the Government of the Marquis of HASTINGS ; and which seem to have been looked upon by the Court of Directors, as affKcting very seriously, if not his Lordshuip's personal cha- racter, at least tlle correctness and general merits of his ad- ministration). 'To dctail withi minutencss, or, indeed, to commulnicate ever so slight an outline of the several topics embraced by a correspondence of above 800 pages, would be a task which our readers can hardly require fromn us. WVe must content ourselves with stating briefly, that the housc of PALIMEa ai1d Co., bankers, at Calcutta, were countena-nced by the Government of Lord HSSTINGS, in advancing large sums by way of loan to the Court of Hlyderaba(l; that the Company at lhome were not satisfied, either with the imperfect explanations re- ecived fromn the GOVErxoR-GENERAJ. in Council relative to these transactions, or with so much of the na- ture of them as could be understoodl from his despatches; that Sir WVILLIA)i Ruiiiioi.i), a ward, or some other intimate connexion of Lord HASTINGS, who had accompa- nied his Lordship to India, was a partner in the banking lhouse of PALM1ER and Co.; that by an act of Parliament no 13ritish subject can embark in pecuniary transactions with any native Pover, without incurring severe penaities ; that in the opiniotn of the Court of Directors, a licence from the Bengal Govcrnment to the Banking-house, exonerating them from the risk of such penalties, was grantedv without an adz quate niecessity, and was abused by the bankers, in the terms of their conitracts with the Niz AM, and in the c-xorbitant intereEt for whichl they stipulated-." to pur- poses injurious to the interests ot' our ally, and d(iscre- "ditable te the British character." WVe may add, that the groundl oin *vhich the contilnuance (though not, perhaps, the original ermployment) of those mrans- of raising supplies for a native Power, are vehemnently con(lemned on anothler coin- deration-viz. their being destined to provi(e for the pay adl establishment of auxiliary native corps, disciplined qf?er tne Furopean mannzer, and commanded by officers from Europe-an object which, it appears from the corres- pondence, the Court of Directors couil(d not meditate with- out profoun(d alarm. 'The c&rrespondenlce is maintainied on the lpart oF the Company in a tone of severity almost un- measured. In their letter of November 2S, I821, they tell the GOVERNOiR-GENERAL, that he has exhibite(d " not an " assumptio-n of a discretionary power, on the pait of tlte " local Government, to suspend the execution of instruc- " tions f'rom home; but an asstnnptioli to (1o what you 11 please, and to communicate to us juLst so muchl " of what you have done as you may see fit. " Aud oii what groundl dloes tlhis assumnption rest? "'That we are not qualified to draw right conclu- " sions from tlhe ibformation wiich is laidl beftore us; but thiat, from ignorance of all that we ought to know, it is 'not only unnecessary, but unsafe, to put us in possession of the materials of knowledge. WVe should( be unworthy of the station we hold, if we (lid not strongly codlemni such proceedings defsn(Iclded by such allegations." This is pretty stiff languag, and is accompanied by the charge wlhichll lhal before escape(d us-that Lord IHASTJNGS had, in sulstance, thoughl not in werds, lent the cre(lit of the Company to tlte pecuniary transactions with the NinZAIM. It is further stated, that Messrs. AimM anid SruarUtr ha(d opposed, unlbormly but vainly, the wholc eourse pursued by hie GOVERNoa.G RFCNERAL relative to tlhese proceedinigs. The reply of Lord HASTINGS in 1823 is designed, apparlently, as a justification of' his own official condttct, and a repre- hernsion of the Court of Directors. Trhe defence of the acts wllich were impugned by themu is rested on the exigelncy of' the clisis-on the peril of the war whiclh raged over central India-on the intriguies at Hyderaba(l against the British interest-on the equity of the transactions in which the house of PALMERIT hatl engaged-on the imoderation of the terms which they exacted-and onl the necessities of the public service. Between these conflicting authorities, we shall nbt attempt to offer a decisioni, wlichl it would exceed the limits of a newspaper to support, by argument, or, indeed, to expr(ss in its details; but having pointed out the official dlocuments to public w'tice, wve rei'er to them a, the best guides of opinion on this delicate and( im- portant question.