HC Deb 13 April 1812 vol 22 cc295-301

"A Petition of the merchants, ship-owners, manufacturers, and others interested in the trade and manufactures of the town of Newcastle upon Tyne, and its port and neighbourhood, was presented and read; setting forth,

"That the various insurmountable impediments which the present deranged state of Europe opposes to British commerce, have impressed the minds of the petitioners with the deepest concern and alarm: a decreased and still decreasing trade cannot but be, in its ultimate consequences, ruinous to a very large and valuable portion of his Majesty's subjects, whose exertions, however prompt and assiduous they may be, must necessarily fail of producing the usual effects of well directed industry, for want of having a secure and sufficienly extensive field open to their commercial pursuits; and, that, under these circumstances, the petitioners look forward with great anxiety to the approaching expiration of those exclusive privileges which have been conceded for a limited period to the East India Company, and they cannot refrain from humbly expressing to the House their decided opinion that the renewal of such a commercial monopoly, in the present situation of the empire, would be a measure of the most fatal policy, which, by subjecting the efforts of individual enter-prize to unreasonable restraint, must diminish alike the sources of private wealth and of national revenue; and that the petitioners beg leave to represent to the House, that, however necessary exclusive privileges of this nature may have been in the infant state of India commerce, the continuation of them is now no longer justified by necessity; and that the monopoly in question is attended with this peculiar circumstance of hardship, that, while it excludes the British merchants from all participation in trade with the countries between the Cape of Good Hope and the Streights of Magellan, the advantages to be derived from that commerce are open to all foreigners in amity with Great Britain, by whom a considerable portion of this very trade is now actually carried on, with the permission and under the encouragement of the British government, a fact which in itself alone affords a decisive answer to the argument which has often been urged with apparent confidence in favour of this monopoly, that the capitals of private adventurers are inadequate to the prosecution of so extensive and distant a trade; and that the petitioners cannot doubt but that, in whatever point of view this monopoly may be considered, either with regard to the unreasonableness of the privilege itself, or its injurious effect upon the general trading interests of the community, the abolition of it must appear to be essentially necessary, as the most powerful, if not the only means, now left to this country, of securing her manufactures, her commerce, and her navigation, from an overwhelming distress in consequence of the very limited intercourse now left to British subjects with the European continent; and praying the House to adopt such measures as to them may seem most expedient to secure to the subjects of the British empire at large, from the expiration of the present Charter of the East India Company, a free trade with those extensive countries from which, by virtue of that charter, they have hitherto been entirely excluded."

A Petition of the merchant company of Leith, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That, although the petitioners do not call in question the wisdom of granting originally to the East India Company a monopoly of the trade of those vast regions, yet they do not hesitate to declare that, in the present fettered state of the commerce of this country to most of the kingdoms in Europe, that monopoly should, in their humble opinion, be no longer continued; and that the petitioners consider the expiration of the East India Company's Charter a very fortunate circumstance, as it puts it in the power of the legislature to grant to the country that relief of which it stands so much in need, by giving a fair opening to the enterprize and spirit of all his Majesty's subjects; and that the exclusion of his Majesty's subjects from the trade to India, even while it is open to foreigners in amity with the king, is a grievance which the petitioners humbly yet confidently hope will be no longer continued; and that granting to the port of London an exclusive privilege for the importation of India goods is contrary to the natural right of every other port in the kingdom, and ought therefore to be discontinued; and that, should it appear to the wisdom of parliament necessary to grant at present only a portion of the relief so much wanted, the petitioners entertain a hope that no exclusive trade will be given to the East India Company further than from year to year, lest a grant for a longer period should stand in the way of that gradual, open, and unfettered commerce to India, which the petitioners humbly yet confidently hope will ere long be given to all his Majesty's subjects; and that, deeply impressed with these considerations, the petitioners join with all their fellow subjects in dutifully and respectfully submitting to the wisdom of the House the subject of this Petition; and praying the House to adopt such measures, and grant such relief, as may appear best calculated for the general welfare and advantage of the British empire."

A Petition of the company of merchants of the city of Edinburgh, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the petitioners, being informed that some arrangements will soon come under the consideration of parliament with regard to the trade to India, they humbly hope that it will in its wisdom discover good grounds for extending the indulgence that was granted to private traders by the Act 1793; indeed they would hope that parliament will judge it expedient to place all his Majesty's subjects in the same situation with regard to the trade to the East Indies as they placed the subjects of all foreign powers who are in amity with Great Britain by the Act of the 37th of his Majesty; and, whatever extension of the trade may appear to parliament to be proper to be granted, the petitioners humbly hope that that extension will not be limited to the port of London, but embrace such other of the ports of the kingdom as to parliament in its wisdom shall seem just, and among others Leith, the port of the metropolis of Scotland; and the petitioners confidently trust that, if such an extension of the trade as has been stated shall be granted, this reasonable indulgence will have the most beneficial effects on the commerce and prosperity of the United Kingdom, without injuring the great and important concerns of the East India Company."

A Petition of the chamber of commerce and manufactures of the city of Edinburgh, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That it hath been represented to the petitioners in their corporate capacity, 1st, that in the present limited state of the commerce and manufactures of this country, owing to the continental restrictions laid thereon of late, the trading and manufacturing interests of Great Britain and Ireland have suffered greatly; and that many thousands of the workmen employed in our manufactures are reduced to a state of poverty and idleness without there being any immediate prospect of their being soon restored to their former situation: 2d, that, by the Act of the 33d of his present Majesty, c. 52, the East India Company are vested in the exclusive right of trade and navigation to all those countries comprehended between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan, containing a population of many millions of inhabitants: 3d, that, although all the rest of his Majesty's subjects are thus excluded from trading to any part of those extensive territories, yet, by the act of the 37th of his Majesty, c. 57, the same is allowed to the subjects of all foreign nations in amity with his Majesty: 4th, that the East-India Company are not known to have hitherto traded to any of those extensive countries, their own settlements and China excepted: 5th, that the private trade to the settlements of the East-India Company, under the regulations of 1793, is laid under so many restraints as tend to deter many people, especially those who are at present unacquainted with India, and who reside at home, from engaging in it, while foreigners, who pay no part of the heavy taxes imposed on the subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, are entirely relieved from the restraint of these regulations, by which means they are enabled not only successfully to combat the exertions of the private traders from this country to India under the regulations of 1793, but also to compete with the East-India Company itself both in the East and on the continent of Europe: 6th, that, were the trade to the countries laying between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straights of Magellan laid open to the industry, exertion, and enterprise of the subjects of Great Britain and Ireland at large, it would afford employment to many thousands of workmen employed in the manufactures of these kingdoms, who are at present reduced to a state of idleness and consequent poverty; it would create an additional nursery for seamen, a set of men who have, especially of late years, eminently contributed to sustain the consequence, perhaps even the political existence, of these kingdoms, and would, at the same time, prove the means of adding to the riches, the revenue, and the national prosperity of the British empire; and praying the House to take the premises into their most serious consideration, and to grant such relief therein as to them may seem necessary in a matter of such great national concern, also to allow the petitioners to be heard, by themselves or their counsel, at the bar of the House, in support of the objects of this Petition."

A Petition of several manufacturers of China and Earthenware in the Staffordshire Potteries, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the Petitioners, feeling with deep concern the distresses with which they are affected in common with the other manufacturers in the United Kingdom, deem it to be their duty to make the same known to the House; and that the Petitioners firmly rely on the anxious desire of the House to employ the best means for alleviating the miseries occasioned by the stagnation of trade; and they humbly conceive that the most obvious and effectual remedy is the opening of new markets for our commerce and manufactures; and that the monopoly of the East-India Company has been peculiarly unfavourable to the introduction and consumption of articles of British manufacture in the immense and populous regions over which they have the controul; and the Petitioners confidently hope that if the East be rendered accessible to British capital and British industry, new markets of great extent will be opened to our manufactures and commerce; and praying, that the House will take such measures as shall prevent the renewal of the Charter of the East-India Company; but, if the House shall think fit to continue, in any degree, a commercial monopoly to the East-India Company, the Petitioners, trusting with confidence in their justice, wisdom, and humanity, for a due and impartial consideration of the important interests at stake, earnestly beseech the House, that it may be granted in such terms, and with such provisions, as may secure to the subjects of this realm the utmost freedom of trade that may be consistent with a restricted monopoly, and the enjoyment at least of such privileges as are allowed to neutral nations."

A Petition of several inhabitants of the town of Wolverhampton, in the county of Stafford, who are interested in the manufactures and commerce of the United Kingdom, was also presented and read; setting forth,

"That the Petitioners humbly conceive they have, in common with all others his Majesty's subjects, an undoubted right to a free trade with every part of the British empire; and that the Petitioners consider the monopoly of the East-India Company to be highly impolitic, and excessively injurious to the interests of the United Kingdom; and the Petitioners humbly represent to the House, that the trade of the town of Wolverhampton has been gradually declining for some time past, and is now so greatly diminished, that numbers of manufacturers are thrown out of employment, and their families reduced to the utmost distress; and praying the House to promote the opening of new channels for the exportation of British manufactures, and especially to resist any attempt that may be made by the East-India Company for a renewal of their commercial monopoly."

And the said Petitions were ordered to lie upon the table.