Referred to from p. 320. NABOB OF ARCOT'S DEBTS. AND be it further enacted, that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said commissioners, or any two of them, and they are hereby impowered, authorized, and required, to examine upon oath (which oath they, or any two of them, are MR. GEORGE SMITH being asked, Whether the hereby authorized to administer) the several per- debts of the nabob of Arcot have encreased since sons, of all descriptions, belonging to any of the he knew Madras? he said, Yes, they have. He offices or departments before mentioned, and all distinguishes his debts into two sorts; those conother persons whom the said commissioners, or tracted before the year 1766, and those contracted any two of them, shall think fit to examine, from that year to the year in which he left touching the business of each office or department, Madras.-Being asked, What he thinks is the oriand the fees, gratuities, perquisites, and emolu-ginal amount of the old debts? he said, Between ments taken therein, and touching all other mat-twenty-three and twenty-four lacks of pagodas, as ters and things necessary for the execution of the well as he can recollect.-Being asked, What was powers vested in the said commissioners by this the amount of that debt when he left Madras? he act; all which persons are hereby required and said, Between four and five lacks of pagodas, as directed punctually to attend the said commission- he understood. Being asked, What was the ers, at such time and place as they, or any two amount of the new debt when he left Madras? of them, shall appoint, and also to observe and he said, In November, 1777, that debt amounted, execute such orders and directions as the said according to the nabob's own account, and pubcommissioners, or any two of them, shall make or lished at Chipauk, his place of residence, to sixty give for the purposes before mentioned. lacks of pagodas, independent of the old debt, And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, on which debt of sixty lacks of pagodas, the nathat the said commissioners, or any two of them, bob did agree to pay an interest of 12 per cent. shall be, and are, hereby impowered to examine per annum.-Being asked, Whether this debt was into any corrupt and fraudulent practices, or other approved of by the court of directors? he said, misconduct, committed by any person or persons He does not know it was.--Being asked, Whether concerned in the management of any of the offices the old debt was recognized by the court of direcor departments herein before mentioned; and, for tors? he said, Yes, it has been and the court of the better execution of this present act, the said directors have sent out repeated orders to the precommissioners, or any two of them, are hereby au-sident and council of Madras, to enforce its recothorized to meet and sit, from time to time, in such place or places as they shall find most convenient, with or without adjournment, and to send their precept or precepts, under their hands and seals, for any person or persons whatsoever, and for such books, papers, writings, or records, very and payment.-Being asked, If the interest upon the new debt is punctually paid? he said, It was not during his residence at Madras, from 1777 to 1779, in which period he thinks no more than 5 per cent. interest was paid, in different dividends of 2 and 1 per cent.-Being asked, What is the usual course taken by the nabob concerning the arrears of interest? he said, Not having ever lent him monies himself, he cannot fully answer as to the mode of settling the interest with him. Being asked, Whether he has reason to believe the sixty lacks of pagodas was all principal money really and truly advanced to the nabob of Arcot, or a fictitious capital, made up of obligations given by him, where no money or goods were received, or which was encreased by the uniting into it a greater interest than the 12 per cent. expressed to be due on the capital? he said, He has no reason to believe that the sum of sixty lacks of pagodas was lent in money or goods to the nabob, because that sum he thinks is of more value than all the money, goods, and chattels in the settlement; but he does not know in what mode or manner this debt of the nabob's was incurred or accumulated. -Being asked, Whether it was not a general and well-grounded opinion at Madras, that a great part of this sum was accumulated by obligations, and was for services performed or to be performed for the nabob? he said, He has heard that a part of this debt was given for the purposes mentioned in the above question, but he does not know that it was so.-Being asked, Whether it was the general opinion of the settlement? he said, He cannot say that it was the general opinion, but it was the opinion of a considerable part of the settlement.-Being asked, Whether it was the declared opinion of those that were concerned in the debt, or those that were not? he said, It was the opinion of both parties, at least such of them as he conversed with.-Being asked, Whether he has reason to believe that the interest really paid by the nabob, upon obligations given, or money lent, did not frequently exceed 12 per cent? he said, Prior to the first of August, 1774, he had had reason to believe, that a higher interest than 12 per cent. was paid by the nabob on monies lent to him; but from and after that period, when the last act of parliament took place in India, he does not know that more than 12 per cent. had been paid by the nabob, or received from him.-Being | asked, Whether it is not his opinion, that the nabob has paid more than 12 per cent. for money due since the 1st of August 1774 ? he said, He has heard that he has, but he does not know it.Being asked, Whether he has been told so by any considerable and weighty authority, that was likely to know; he said, He has been so informed by persons who he believes had a very good opportunity of knowing it.-Being asked, Whether he was ever told so by the nabob of Arcot himself? he said, He does not recollect that the nabob of Arcot directly told him so, but, from what he said, he did infer that he paid a higher interest than 12 per cent. Mr. Smith being asked, Whether, in the course of trade, he ever sold any thing to the nabob of Arcot ? he said, In the year 1775 he did sell to the nabob of Arcot pearls to the amount of 32,500 pagodas, for which the nabob gave him an order or tankah on the country of Tanjore, payable in six months, without interest.-Being asked, Whether, at the time he asked the nabob his price for the pearls, the nabob beat down that price, as dealers commonly do? he said, No; so far from it, he offered him more than he asked by 1,000 pagodas, and which he rejected. Being asked, Whether in settling a transaction of discount with the nabob's agent, he was not offered a greater discount than 127. per cent.? he said, In discounting a soucar's bill for 180,000 pagodas, the nabob's agent did offer him a discount of 24 per cent. per annum, saying, that it was the usual rate of discount paid by the nabob; but which he would not accept of, thinking himself confined by the act of parliament limiting the interest of monies to 12 per cent. and accordingly he discounted the bill at 12 per cent. per annum only.-Being asked, Whether he does not think those offers were made him, because the nabob thought he was a person of some consequence in the settlement? he said, Being only a private merchant, he apprehends that the offer was made to him more from its being a general practice, than from any opinion of his importance. No. III. Referred to from p. 325. A BILL for the better government of the territorial possessions and dependencies in India. [One of Mr. Fox's India Bills.] AND be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the nabob of Arcot, the rajah of Tanjore, or any other native protected prince in India, shall not assign, mortgage, or pledge any territory or land whatsoever, or the produce or revenue thereof, to any British subject whatsoever; neither shall it be lawful to and for any British subject whatsoever to take or receive any such assignment, mortgage, or pledge; and the same are hereby declared to be null and void; and all payments or deliveries of produce or revenue, under any such assignment, shall and may be recovered back by such native prince paying or delivering the same, from the person or persons receiving the same, or his or their representatives. No. IV. Referred to from p. 332 and p. 333. 27th May, 1782. LETTER from the Committee of assigned Revenue, to the President and Select Committee, dated 27th May, 1782; with comparative statement, countries. Their prospect of relief from the heavy and minute thereon. To the Right Honourable Lord MACARTNEY, K. B. President, and Governour, &c. Select Committee of Fort St. George. My Lord, and Gentlemen, ALTHOUGH We have, in obedience to your commands of the 5th January, regularly laid before you our proceedings at large, and have occasionally addressed you upon such points as required your resolutions or orders for our guidance, we still think it necessary to collect and digest, in a summary report, those transactions in the management of the assigned revenue, which have principally engaged our attention, and which, upon the proceeding, are too much intermixed with ordinary occurrences to be readily traced and understood. Such a report may be formed with the greater propriety at this time, when your lordship, &c. have been pleased to conclude your arrangements for the rent of several of the nabob's districts. Our aim in it is briefly to explain the state of the Carnatick at the period of the nabob's assignment; the particular causes which existed, to the prejudice of that assignment, after it was made; and the measures which your lordship, &c. have, upon our recommendation, adopted for removing those causes, and introducing a more regular and beneficial system of management in the country. Hyder Ally having entered the Carnatick with his whole force, about the middle of July, 1780, and employed fire and sword in its destruction for nearly eighteen months before the nabob's assignment took place, it will not be difficult to conceive the state of the country at that period. In those provinces which were fully exposed to the ravages of horse, scarcely a vestige remained either of population or agriculture: such of the miserable inhabitants as escaped the fury of the sword were either carried into the Mysore country, or left to struggle under the horrours of famine. The Arcot and Trichinopoly districts began early to feel the effects of this desolating war. Tinnevelly, Madura, and Ramnadaporum, though little infested with Hyder's troops, became a prey to the incursions of the Polygars, who stript them of the greatest part of the revenues; Ongole, Nellore, and Palnaud, the only remaining districts, had suffered but in a small degree. The misfortunes of war, however, were not the only evils which the Carnatick experienced. The nabob's aumildars, and other servants, appear to have taken advantage of the general confusion to enrich themselves. A very small part of the revenue was accounted for; and so high were the ordinary expences of every district, that double the apparent produce of the whole country would not have satisfied them. burthens of the war was indeed but little advanced by the nabob's concession; and the revenues of the Carnatick seemed in danger of being irrecoverably lost, unless a speedy and entire change of system could be adopted. On our minutes of the 21st January, we treated the subject of the assignment at some length, and pointed out the mischiefs which, in addition to the effects of the war, had arisen from what we conceived to be wrong and oppressive management. We used the freedom to suggest an entire alteration in the mode of realizing the revenues. We proposed a considerable and immediate reduction of expences, and a total change of the principal aumildars who had been employed under the nabob. Our ideas had the good fortune to receive your approbation; but the removal of the nabob's servants being thought improper at that particular period of the collections, we employed our attention chiefly in preserving what revenue was left the country, and acquiring such materials as might lead to a more perfect knowledge of its former and present state. These pursuits, as we apprehended, met with great obstructions from the conduct of the nabob's servants. The orders they received were evaded under various pretexts; no attention was paid to the strong and repeated applications made to them for the accounts of their management; and their attachment to the company's interest appeared, in every instance, so feeble, that we saw no prospect whatever of success, but in the appointment of renters under the company's sole authority. Upon this principle we judged it expedient to recommend, that such of the nabob's districts as were in a state to be farmed out might be immediately let by a publick advertisement, issued in the company's name, and circulated through every province of the Carnatick; and, with the view of encouraging bidders, we proposed, that the countries might be advertised for the whole period of the nabob's assignment, and the security of the company's protection promised, in the fullest manner, to such persons as might become renters. This plan had the desired effect; and the attempts which were secretly made to counteract it, afforded an unequivocal proof of its necessity: but the advantages resulting from it were more pleasingly evinced, by the number of proposals that were delivered, and by the terms which were in general offered for the districts intended to be farmed out. Having so far attained the purposes of the assignment, our attention was next turned to the heavy expences entailed upon the different provinces; and here, we confess, our astonishment was raised to the highest pitch. In the Trichinopoly country, the standing disbursements apIn this state, which we believe is no way exag-peared, by the nabob's own accounts, to be one gerated, the company took charge of the assigned lack of rupees more than the receipts. In other titude for every species of fraud and oppression. Such a system has, in the few latter years of the nabob's necessities, brought all his countries into that situation, from which nothing but the most districts, the charges were not in so high a pro- | portion, but still rated on a most extravagant scale; and we saw, by every account that was brought before us, the absolute necessity of retrenching considerably in all the articles of ex-rigid economy, strict observance of the conduct pence. Our own reason, aided by such enquiries as we were able to make, suggested the alterations we have recommended to your lordship, &c. under this head. You will observe, that we have not acted sparingly; but we chose rather, in cases of doubt, to incur the hazard of retrenching too much, than too little; because it would be easier, after any stated allowance for expences, to add what might be necessary, than to diminish. We hope, however, there will be no material encrease in the articles as they now stand. of managers, and the most conciliating attention to the rights of the inhabitants, can possibly recover them. It now only remains for us to lay before your lordship, &c. the inclosed statement of the sums at which the districts lately advertised have been let, compared with the accounts of their produce delivered by the nabob, and entered on our proceedings of the 21st January. Likewise a comparative view of the former and present expences. The nabob's accounts of the produce of these districts state, as we have some reason to think, the sums which former renters engaged to pay to him, (and which were seldom, if ever, made good,) and not the sums actually produced by the districts; yet we have the satisfaction to observe, that the present aggregate rents, upon an average, are equal to those accounts. Your lordship, &c. cannot indeed expect, that, in the midst of the danger, invasion, and distress, which assail the Carnatick on every side, the renters now ap One considerable charge upon the nabob's country was for extraordinary sibbendies, sepoys, and horsemen, who appeared to us to be a very unnecessary incumbrance on the revenue. Your lordship, &c. have determined to receive such of these people as will inlist into the company's service, and discharge the rest. This measure will not only relieve the country of a heavy burthen, but tend greatly to fix in the company that kind of authority, which is requisite for the due collec-pointed will be able at present to fulfil the terms tion of the revenues. In consequence of your determination respecting the nabob's sepoys, &c. every charge under that head has been struck out of our account of expences. If the whole number of these people be enlisted by the company, there will probably be no more than sufficient to complete their ordinary military establishment. But should the present reduction of the nabob's artillery render it expedient, after the war, to make any addition to the company's establishment, for the purposes of the assigned countries, the expence of such addition, whatever it be, must be deducted from the present account of savings. In considering the charges of the several districts, in order to establish better regulations, we were careful to discriminate those incurred for troops kept, or supposed to be kept, up for the defence of the country, from those of the sibbendy, servants, &c. for the cultivation of the lands, and the collection of the revenues, as well as to pay attention to such of the established customs of the country, ancient privileges of the inhabitants, and publick charities, as were necessarily allowed, and appeared proper to be continued; but which, under the nabob's government, were not only rated much higher, but had been blended under one confused and almost unintelligible title of expences of the districts; so joined, perhaps, to afford pleas and means of secreting and appropriating great part of the revenues to other purposes than fairly appeared; and certainly betrayed the utmost neglect and mismanagement, as giving la of their leases; but we trust, from the measures we have taken, that very little, if any, of the actual collections will be lost, even during the war; and that on the return of peace and tranquillity, the renters will have it in their power fully to perform their respective agreements. We much regret that the situation of the Arcot province will not admit of the same settlement which has been made for the other districts: but the enemy being in possession of the capital, together with several other strong holds, and having entirely desolated the country, there is little room to hope for more from it than a bare subsistence to the few garrisons we have left there. We shall not fail to give our attention towards obtaining every information respecting this province that the present times will permit, and to take the first opportunity to propose such arrangements for the management as we may think eligible. We have the honour to be, COMPARATIVE STATEMENT of the Revenues and Expences of Nellore, Ongole, Patnaud, Trichinopoly, Madura, and Tennevelly Countries, while in the Hands of the Nabob, with those of the same Countries on the Terms of the Leases lately granted for Four Years to commence with the beginning of the Phazeley 1192, or the 12th July, 1782. Abstracted from the Accounts received from the Nabob, and from the Rents stipulated for, and Expences allowed by the present Leases. Nellore and Sevapully Ongole. Patnaud Trichinopoly Madura Tennevelly N. B. In this statement, Madras Pagodas are calculated at 10 per cent. Batta, Chuckrums at 2-3ds. of a Porto Novo Pagoda, which are reckoned at 115 per 100 Star Pagodas, and Rupees at 350 per 100 Star Pagodas. To avoid fractions, the nearest internal numbers have been taken. (a) In this statement, the Ongole country, though it is included under the head of gross revenue, has been let for a certain sum, exclusive of charges. If the expences specified in the nabob's vassool accounts for this district are added, the present gross revenue even would appear to exceed the nabob's-and as the country is only let for one year, there may hereafter be an encrease of (b) The Trichinopoly countries let for the above sum, exclusive of the expences of Sibbendy and Saderwared, amounting by the nabob's accounts to rupees 1,30,00 per annum, which are to be defrayed by the renter.-And the jaghires of Amur ul Omrah, and the Begum, are not included in the present lease. its revenue. Fort St. George, 27th May, 1782. Signed, Charles Oakley, David Haliburton, |