XI. CONTRACTS FOR POOLBUNDY do

REPAIRS. eternid of tow yon, alam not Pull requ insanəvoi)

THAT the Governour-General and Council att Fort William did, on the motion and recommendation of Warren Hastings, Esquire, enter into a Contract with Archibald Frazer, Esquire, on the 16th of April 1778, for the repairs of the pools and banks in the province of Burdwan, for two years, at the rate of 120,000 Sicea rupees for the first year, and 80,000 rupees for the second year, stop

That on the 19th of December 1778, the said Warren Hastings did further persuade the Supreme Council to prolong the term of the above Contract with Archibald Frazer for the space of three years more on the same conditions; namely, the payment} of 80,000 Sicca rupees for each year. To which was added a permission to Mr. Frazer to make Dobunds, or special repairs, whenever he should judge them necessary, at the charge of Govern

ment.

That the said Contracts, both in the manner of their acceptance by the Supreme Council, without having previously advertised for proposals, and in the extent of their duration, were made in direct violation of the Special Orders of the Court of Directors

That

That so far from any advantage having been obtained for the Company in the terms of these Contracts, in consideration of the length of time, for which they were to continue, the expense of Government upon this article was increased by these engagements to a very great amount. / ¡¡a

That it appears that this Contract had been held for some years before by the Rajah of Burdwan, at the rate of 25,000 rupees per annum. 16, dna theat That the superintendent of Poolbundy repairs, after an accurate and diligent survey of the Bunds and Pools, and the provincial Council of Burdwan upon the best information they could procure, bad delivered it as their opinion to the Governour-General and Council, before the said agreement was entered into, that after the heavy expense (stated in Mr. Kinlock's estimate, viz. 119,405 Sicca ru pees) if disbursed as they recommended, the charge in future seasons would be greatly reduced, and after one thorough and effectual repair, they con ceived a small annual expense would be sufficient to keep the Bunds up and prevent their going to, decay.

n

That whatever extraordinary and unusual damages the Pools and Bunds might have sustained, either from the neglect of the Rajah's officers, or from the violence of the then late rains, and the torrents thereby occasioned, to justify the expense/ of the first year, yet as they were all considered and

included

included in the estimate for that year, there could be no pretence for allowing and continuing so large and burthensome a payment as 80,000 rupees per annum for the four succeeding years.

That the said Warren Hastings did, in his Minutes of the 13th of February 1778, himself support that opinion, in the comparison to be made between Mr. Thomson's proposals of undertaking the same service for 60,000 rupees a year, for nine years, and the terms of Mr. Frazer's Contract; preferring the latter, because these were "to effect " a complete repair, which could hardly be con"cluded in one season, and the subsequent expense would be but trifling."

Notwithstanding which, the said Warren Hastings urged and prevailed upon the Council to allow in the first year the full amount proposed by Mr. Kinlock in his estimate of the necessary repairs, and did burthen the Company with what he must have deemed to be, for the greater part, an unne-' cessary expense of 80,000 rupees per annum for ' four years.

That the permission granted to Mr. Frazer to make Dobunds, or new and additional embankments in aid of the old ones, whenever he should judge them necessary, at the charge of Government (the said charge to be verified by the oath of the, said Frazer, without any voucher) was a power very much to be suspected, and very improper to be

intrusted

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intrusted to a Contractor, who had already covenanted to keep the old pools in perfect repair, and to construct new ones wherever the old pools had been broken down and washed away, or where the course of the rivers might have rendered new ones necessary, in consideration of the great sums stipulated to be paid to him by the Government.

That the grant of the foregoing Contracts, and the permission afterwards annexed to the second of the said grants, become much more reprehensible from a consideration of the circumstances of the person, to whom such a grant was made.

:

That the due performance of the service required local knowledge and experience, which the said Archibald Frazer, being an officer in the Supreme Court of Justice, could not have possessed.

XII. CONTRACTS FOR OPIUM.

THAT it appears that the Opium produced in Bengal and Bahar is a considerable and lucrative article in the export trade of those provinces; that the whole produce has been for many years monopolized either by individuals or by the Government; that the Court of Directors of the East-India Compány, in consideration of the hardship imposed on O

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the native owners and cultivators of the lands, who were deprived of their natural right of dealing with many competitors, and compelled to sell the produce of their labour to a single monopolist, did authorize the Governour-General and Council to give up that commodity as an article of commerce

That while the said commodity continued to be a monopoly for the benefit of Government, and managed by a Contractor, the Contracts for providing it were subject to the Company's fundamental regulation, namely, to be put up to auction, and disposed of to the best bidder; and that the Company particularly ordered, that the commodity when provided should be consigned to the Board of Trade, who were directed to dispose thereof by publick auction.

That in May 1777 the said Warren Hastings granted to John Mackenzie a Contract for the provision of Opium, to continue three years, and without advertising for proposals; that this transaction was condemned by the Court of Directors, notwithstanding a clause had been inserted in that Contract, by which it was left open to the Court of Directors to annul the same at the expiration of the first or second year.

That about the end of the year 1780 the said Warren Hastings, in contradiction to the order above mentioned, did take away the sale of the Opium from the Board of Trade, though he disclaimed,