§ A Petition of the manufacturers merchant traders and other inhabitants of the town of Paisley, was presented and read; setting forth,
§ "That, as the Charter of the East India Company will expire in the course of two years, the Petitioners most respectfully presume to express their sentiments on a subject peculiarly interesting to that populous and manufacturing district of the country, and to the nation in general; 236 and that, in the present depressed slate of the manufactures and commerce of that part of the United Kingdom, every measure of assistance that the House can afford ought, in the Petitioners' humble apprehension, to be manifested and exerted; and they rely, with confidence, that no considerations of a partial nature will be permitted to sacrifice and set aside their most serious and important interests; and that, in order to render such assistance effectual, it is the Petitioners' firm opinion that it is necessary and expedient to discontinue the commercial monopoly of the East India Company, on the expiration of their existing Charter, as thereby new and extensive markets will be opened for reception of British manufactures, which will render this country more independent of all commercial relations with the continent of Europe, and contribute to the increase of the financial resources of the empire; and that the present monopoly of the East India Company affords renewed evidence of the injurious consequences attendant upon exclusive traffic; the capital of the country, which might be beneficially embarked in trade to the East, is locked up, and thousands, who find no employment under the present narrowed system, might be actively engaged in a free and unfettered commerce: the existing monopoly too is attended with this singular and unaccountable peculiarity, that privileges are conceded to, and lucratively enjoyed by, neutral nations, which are absolutely denied to, and rigorously withheld from, the merchants of the British empire; and that the example afforded by the citizens of the United States of America must remove any doubt which can be entertained regarding the competency of British individuals to carry on an extensive commerce to the East Indies, China, and the other countries comprehended in the Charter of the East India Company; and that every port of the United Kingdom ought to be allowed the advantages of foreign trade; and that it would be unjust to confine in future the commerce of the East to the port of London; and praying the House to adopt measures for the abolition of the commercial monopoly of the East India Company, at the expiration of their present Charter."
§ A Petition of the merchants, manufacturers, and other inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Swansea, was also presented and read; setting forth,
237§ "That the Petitioners are sensibly impressed with the conviction that extensive and perpetual monopolies, such as have been for a long time enjoyed by the East India Company, are unjust in their principles, and mischievous in their effects; and that the Petitioners feel, at this time, when they are nearly precluded from any trade with the continent of Europe, that it becomes essentially necessary that the merchants and manufacturers of this kingdom should look to new sources for a vent for their respective commodities; and it appears to the Petitioners that no country holds out such an extensive market as India and the various other regions now shut to the nation at large by the East India Charter, although foreign nations, in amity with Great Britain, are permitted to trade with them; and that, by throwing open the trade of those countries, now monopolized by the East India Company, the Petitioners hope and expect they may be able essentially to increase the manufacture of copper, which, for a long time past, has been the great source of the prosperity of the town of Swansea and its neighbourhood; and that the Petitioners look up, with confidence, to the House, as their representatives and natural protectors; and they indulge a most sanguine hope that the House will not suffer their serious and weighty interests to be sacrificed to any partial considerations, but will adopt the necessary measures for the total abolition of the commercial monopoly of the East India Company at the expiration of their present Charter."
§ An Address and Petition of the merchants, manufacturers, and other inhabitants of the town of Birmingham, was also presented and read; setting forth,
§ "That the Petitioners contemplate, with deep concern, the present state of the manufactures and commerce of the United Kingdom, which, whilst it grievously afflicts the merchants and manufacturers, threatens to spread general discontent throughout the country; and that, whilst the Petitioners are determined to bear every burthen, and to make ever sacrifice, rather than compromise the security or honour of their country, yet they feel it is their duty to inform the House of the distressed situation of the great body of the labouring, mechanics, particularly in that important manufacturing district of which the, town of Birmingham may be considered the centre, and to claim for 238 them and for themselves every measure of assistance that the House can give; and that, as an efficient measure of this nature, the Petitioners are of opinion, that it is expedient to discontinue the commercial monopoly of the East India Company at the expiration of their present charter; and the Petitioners firmly believe that, by the abolition of the East India monopoly, new and extensive markets will necessarily be opened for British manufactures, which will render this country more independent of all commercial relations with the continent of Europe than it bas hitherto been, and cannot fail materially to increase the naval strength and financial resources of the empire; and that the Petitioners are of opinion that this abolition is not more called for by the distresses of the merchants and manufacturers of the United Kingdom than it is by justice and reason, and the general interest of the whole body of the British people; and that the Petitioners forbear to enlarge upon the decrease of the trade of the East India Company, notwithstanding the great increase of their territorial possessions; they forbear also to enlarge upon the increase which has taken place in the trade carried on by foreign individuals, who have engrossed into their hands so great a proportion of the whole commerce of the East, knowing, as the Petitioners do, that all these facts are before the House, and not doubting that they will give to them that deliberate consideration, which their great importance demands; and that the Petitioners look up, with confidence, to the House, as their representatives and: natural protectors; and they do indulge a most confident hope, that the House will not suffer their serious and weighty interests.; to be sacrificed to any partial considerations; and praying, that the House will adopt the necessary measures for the total abolition of the commercial monopoly of the East India Company at the expiration of their present Charter; but in the event of the House seeing reasons to continue, in some degree, a commercial monopoly to the East India Company, the Petitioners do then most earnestly implore that they will not suffer it to deprive British subjects of any privileges which are allowed to neutral nations, and that the Charter may be made subject to such modifications and conditions as may best promote the commerce and manufactures of the United Kingdom, leaving open to the capital the enterprise and the industry of British mer- 239 chants, all the islands of the Indian ocean, together with such parts of the continents of Asia and Africa, as to the wisdom of the House may seem expedient."
§ Ordered to lie upon the table.