Commons Sitting of 5 February 1813

PETITIONS AGAINST THE CLAIMS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS—FROM THE DEAN AND CHAPTER OF EXETER—THE FREEHOLDERS OF OXFORD—FROM SUDBURY—GREAT TORRINOTON—WENLOCK—AND BATH.
A Petition of the dean and chapter of the cathedral church of Exeter, and of the archdeacons and clergy of the diocese of Exeter, was presented and read; setting forth,
"That whilst the petitioners place the firmest reliance on the wisdom of parliament, the lawful guardian of the constitution of their country, they feel it their duty, as ministers of the Protestant Established Church, humbly to offer their sentiments upon the recent claims of the Roman Catholics to a full ad mission to the highest offices of trust in the state, and to the power of legislation for these Protestant kingdoms; and that the petitioners are the zealous friends of every toleration in religion, which is not inconsistent with the maintenance of one national Church, in full vigour and security; that in the provisions adopted by parliament, at the period of the accession of king William in 1688, the maintenance of the Protestant Church is secured by law, as an essential part of the constitution; and it appears to the petitioners to be attended with the greatest danger to remove those safeguards which our ancestors thus wisely provided, and which the experience of more than a century has confirmed; and that the petitioners have seen with satisfaction the concessions granted by the legislature to the Roman Catholics during

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his present Majesty's reign, accompanied as they are with necessary restrictions and securities for the safety of the established Church, but they look with the deepest anxiety to the claims now made for the abrogation of all restrictions by persons who acknowledge the spiritual superiority of the Pope in these realms, and who hold tenets in many respects as inimical to the principles of the English constitution in matters of state as they are subversive of all religious toleration, and utterly inconsistent with the doctrines of the established Church; and praying the House to adopt such measures as will best maintain the Protestant ascendancy in Church and State, and give stability and permanence to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the country."
A Petition of the freeholders of the county of Oxford was also presented and read; setting forth,
"That the petitioners have observed, with the deepest concern, the repeated attempts that have been made to break down, repeal, and destroy, alt those securities of our civil and religious establishments which we owe to the wisdom and firmness of some of the best of our ancestors, securities not demanded by any occasional or temporary causes only, but founded in principles as immutable as they are wise; and that the petitioners cannot conceive a situation of things more repugnant to the principles of sound policy, than that Roman Catholics should possess the power of framing the laws and of administering the highest offices in the government of a Protestant establishment in Church and State, to the very character and principles of which their tenets are decidedly hostile, nor can they conceive it to be any hardship that Roman Catholics, who exclude all persons except those of their own communion, from any authority or interference whatever in the government of their Church, should be excluded from any share in the government of a Church to which they are not only strangers but adversaries; and that, by the constitution of England, the government of the Church and the State are inseparable, and whoever is admitted into the share of the government of the one, must consequently be intrusted with a share of the government of the other; and that the petitioners have heard, with astonishment, persons contending that no one ought to be excluded from a civil right on
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account of his religion, when it is a notorious fact that the right even to the crown, the highest civil right in these dominions, was conferred on, and is now enjoyed by, the present royal family, to the exclusion of others more nearly related to it, upon the mere ground of an objection to their religion, and, should it once be established by the legislature that religious opinions are not a sufficient ground of civil incapacity, the petitioners apprehend there can be no pretence whatever afterwards for saying that the crown of these dominions shall not be worn by a Papist; and that the petitioners cannot but observe, that the most strenuous supporters of the claims of the Roman Catholics admit that every attention ought to be paid to the security of our civil and religious establishments, and that effectual measures ought to be adopted for the security of both, but the petitioners also observe, that none of those persons who make these admissions have ever pointed out or suggested the measures they should think effectual for that purpose, from which they cannot but infer the extreme doubtfulness and difficulty, even in the judgment of those persons themselves, or rather, as the petitioners firmly believe, the absolute impracticability of devising such measures; and that the petitioners apprehend, that, if the claims of the Roman Catholics should be acceded to, every other restriction and test must of course be abolished, and that the government of our establishments in Church and State must be thrown open to sects of every denomination, and of the most discordant opinions and principles; and that the petitioners most solemnly declare, that they are not influenced by any wish to restrain the free exercise of religious opinions, and, if possible, still less by any kind or degree of animosity towards their Roman Catholic fellow-subjects, but they are actuated by an honest and firm persuasion that the restrictions now attempted to be abolished have essentially contributed to the preservation of those establishments which have been the source of our prosperity and happiness, and that the abolition of them would inevitably tend to weaken and undermine those establishments, and ultimately lead to the overthrow of the constitution; and praying, that the restrictions by which Roman Catholics are excluded from the power of framing the laws and administering the highest offices in the government of our civil and reli-

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gious establishments may not be abolished."
A Petition of the mayor, aldermen, capital burgesses, clergy, and principal inhabitants of the borough and town of Sudbury, Suffolk, was also presented and read; setting forth,
"That the petitioners, ever grateful for those privileges, civil and religious, as I also for that internal peace and prosperity which they, in common with the subjects of this country, have enjoyed since the glorious sera of the Revolution, and deeply convinced of the magnitude and importance of those blessings, must ever deprecate, in the strongest manner, the least departure from those principles, the adherence to which alone has raised this country so eminently above all other nations in religious and political freedom; and that the petitioners are, therefore, greatly alarmed by the repeated and incessant attempts that have been made by the Roman Catholics of this united kingdom to obtain the full enjoyment of political power, by procuring the repeal of those statutes which the wisdom of our ancestors enacted for the safety and protection of the Protestant government of this country in Church and State; and praying that those statutes may not be repealed, but that the same may be preserved inviolate, as in their I opinion these salutary provisions appear to be still essentially necessary to give permanency and security to our most excellent constitution."
A Petition of the mayor, corporation, and principal inhabitants of the borough and town of Great Torrington, Devon, was also presented; and read, setting forth,
"That whilst the petitioners place the firmest reliance on the wisdom of parliament, the lawful guardian of the constitution of their country, they feel it their duty humbly to offer their sentiments upon the recent claims of the Roman Catholics to a full admission to the highest offices of trust in the slate, and to the power of legislation for these Protestant kingdoms; and that the petitioners are the zealous friends of every toleration in religion which is not inconsistent with the maintenance of one national Church in full vigour and security, and that in the provisions adopted by parliament at, the period of the accession of king Wil-
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liam in 1688, the maintenance of the Protestant Church is secured by law as an essential part of the constitution; and it appears to the petitioners to be attended with the greatest danger to remove these safeguards, which our ancestors thus wisely provided, and which the experience of more than a century has confirmed; and that the petitioners have seen with Satisfaction the concessions granted by the legislature to the Roman Catholics during his present Majesty's reign, accompanied as they are with necessary restrictions and securities for the safety of the established Church, but they look with the deepest anxiety to the claims now made for the abrogation of all restrictions by persons who acknowledge the spiritual superiority of the Pope in these realms, and who hold tenets in many respects as inimical to the principles of the English constitution in matters of state as they are subversive of all religious toleration, and utterly inconsistent with the doctrines of the established Church; and praying the House to adopt such measures as will best maintain the Protestant ascendancy in Church and State, and give stability and permanence to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the country."
A Petition of the bailiff, justices, bailiffs, peers and burgesses of the very ancient borough and liberties of Wenlock, Salop, in common-hall assembled, was also presented and read; setting forth,
"That the petitioners view the present claims of the Roman Catholics of Ireland as unconstitutional, presumptuous, and, if granted to them, dangerous in the extreme to the Protestant establishment; and that their claims are unconstitutional, inasmuch as they insist upon unqualified emancipation, with free admittance to all places of trust, power and authority in the executive government of these kingdoms, without suffering any of those guards and conditions to be applied which might tend to secure from future dangers or encroachments the Protestant establishment; and that they are presumptuous, inasmuch as this would place the Catholics in a far more independent and uncontrouled state than are even the Protestant subjects themselves, who are required, previous to their being admitted to or exercising any office, post or place of honour power trust or authority within these realms, to take the Oaths of Allegiance, and of the King's Supremacy, as also the Oath of Abjuration,

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and receive the blessed holy Sacrament, according to the rites of the Church of England as now by law established; and that they may be dangerous, inasmuch as recent events and past experience have taught the petitioners, and the whole tenor of history furnisheth them with many proofs, that no indulgence granted can satisfy Catholic ambition, but that it only tends rather to provoke and strengthen their demands for fresh and future claims and encroachments upon, and thereby manifestly endangers, our invaluable Protestant constitution and government, under which the petitioners enjoy so many and great blessings; and that they do therefore humbly, though earnestly and heartily, pray the House not to grant the Roman Catholics any further indulgences, but to maintain, keep and preserve inviolate, from all further and future encroachments, those truly pure Protestant principles and interests, which placed the august House of Brunswick in the throne of these kingdoms, and for the preservation of which our present most gracious sovereign hath always shewn himself particularly anxious, and upon a very recent occasion proved himself to be most tenderly and paternally solicitous; and that, as far as merely regards the free worship of God, the petitioners would that every obstacle be removed, and that the Roman Catholics should enjoy the most extensive toleration; but they again and again do most humbly beseech the House to guard and watch, with a jealous eye, their inroads and ambitious incroachments made from time to time upon the Protestant establishment, but above all on no account to permit them, either directly or indirectly, to interfere with the legislation of these realms, nor suffer them to fill any judicial situation, nor to have, hold, or exercise any office or place of power, trust, or authority in the empire, nor at any time to have, hold, or exercise any command, either naval or military, in any of his Majesty's fleets or armies."
A Petition of the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Bath, was also presented and read; setting forth,
"That the petitioners beg leave to premise, that they are sincere friends to religious toleration, and would have every sect and society of Christians possess the unrestrained use of divine worship, in such manner as their opinions may dictate, and their consciences approve; and that
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it is peculiarly incumbent on the petitioners to make this unreserved avowal, as the city over whose civil polity they preside is the general resort of strangers of every description, and in which almost all denominations of Christians have established places of devotion, where they may address themselves to their Creator agreeably to their own form and creed; and that the protection of all in the enjoyment of those valuable privileges which our admirable constitution has allowed them, the petitioners will ever esteem as one of the most sacred duties of their corporate functions, but while they make this just and candid acknowledgment of their tolerant spirit, they must as Protestants, anxious for the preservation of our invaluable constitution, object to the grant of unrestricted powers to persons whose religious tenets would, in their apprehension, endanger those civil and ecclesiastical establishments, the maintenance of which our ancestors so wisely and providently endeavoured to secure; and that, under the mild and equable reign of the present sovereign, many of the restrictions and disabilities which controuled our fellow subjects of the Romish communion have been either totally removed or liberally ameliorated; and the petitioners would humbly submit to the consideration of the House, that the admission of those claims, so long and now so strenuously urged, might be an unsafe, injudicious, and imprudent measure; and praying the House, weighing the danger of concession, maturely to deliberate before they admit persons who maintain principles inimical to the established religion of the realm, and who acknowledge the supremacy of a foreign power, to the unlimited right of enjoying offices of authority and high responsibility."
Ordered to lie on the table.

PETITIONS RESPECTING THE RENEWAL OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CHARTER—FROM THE MERCHANTS OF EDINBURGH—SHIPBUILDERS OF YARMOUTH—GLASGOW CHAMBER OF COMMERCE—MERCHANTS HOUSE OF GLASGOW—MERCHANTS OF PORT GLASGOW AND NEWARK—BAILIES OF PORT GLASGOW AND NEWARK—MANUFACTURERS OF TAVISTOCK—EAST INDIA COMPANY'S PACKERS—AND EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CLOTH DRAWERS.
A Petition of the company of merchants of Edinburgh, was presented; setting forth,
"That the petitioners being informed

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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 of 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 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 several ship-builders of Great Yarmouth, was also presented; setting forth,
"That the petitioners have for some time past observed, with very great regret, that ships and vessels, built within the territories of the East India Company in Asia, have been admitted to registry in Great Britain, and, in consequence thereof, allowed to participate in the carrying trade of this country and its colonies; and that, if Indian-built ships continue to be admitted to British registry, and to participate in the carrying trade of the empire, the most injurious consequences will result to the maritime interests of the nation, and move especially so, when the trade to the East Indies is opened to all his Majesty's subjects; and that the petitioners forbear to press on the attention of the House, by entering into any detail of observations on the impolicy of admitting Indian-built ships to the privileges of British-built ships, not only as affecting the interests of the petitioners, but also the landed commercial and manufacturing interests of the country as well as those of the various classes of persons who are dependent on the building, repairing and equipment of Bri-
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tish built ships; they, however, presume it will be admitted, on an impartial consideration of the subject, that, to encourage he building and equipment of ships in Asia, for the purpose of being employed n the carrying trade of this empire, will be both impolitic and unjust; and that it will be impolitic, as the removal of a manufacture of such importance as the building and equipment of ships from this country to India (a manufacture of more importance than any other) will render precarious the means of maintaining his Majesty's navy, and especially of fitting out with dispatch his Majesty's fleets on pressing emergencies, and will thereby undermine that great bulwark of our independence and greatness as a nation; and secondly, it will be unjust, as many of the stores and materials necessary to the building and equipment of ships in this country are charged with considerable duties, and as the mechanics and other persons employed therein, as well as the petitioners, contribute their proportions of the burthens imposed on the public from the exigencies of the state, to neither of which persons engaged as owners; or builders of ships in Asia are subject or liable; and that the petitioners respectfully submit to the House, that, from the heavy taxation of the country, there never was a period when it was so necessary to confine the carrying trade of the country to British-built ships, from the utter inability of the owners of them to enter into a competition with the owners of East India or other foreign ships upon terms at all like equality; and, for these and other reasons, which the petitioners flatter themselves must be obvious to the House, praying, that in future ships built in Asia, and the islands thereto adjacent, may be prohibited by statute from being admitted to registry, and to the privileges of British-built ships."
A Petition of the chamber of commerce and manufactures of Glasgow, was also presented; setting forth,
"That the petitioners, in common with the other commercial bodies of the empire, feel deeply interested in the question now before the House respecting the renewal of the E. I. Company's monopoly, and that in a Petition to the late parliament they stated their ideas upon this subject, showing that confining by a monopoly the trade with the extensive countries to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, had

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been no less an infringement of general rights than it had been impolitic as a measure of commerce in having appropriated to the benefit of a few advantages which were the property of all, and impolitic as a measure of commerce, because trade conducted under a monopoly never can prove beneficial to a country in the degree that the same trade would, if left open to the exertion of individual enterprise; and that this principle, considered a fundamental one in political economy, had been strikingly exemplified in the circumstances of the case in question, the trade from the United States of America to the East Indies and China, carried on by individual citizens of those states, had been commenced and prosecuted with a success unexampled in its rapidity of progress during the period in which the trade of the British empire with those countries had been progressively on the decline; and that with regard to the trade to China, a trade carried on with an independent foreign nation, there existed, the petitioners humbly conceived, no plea for giving a monopoly of it to a particular company, or confining it to particular ports, more than might be offered for bringing, under similar restrictions, any other branch of foreign trade at present free, and that no danger, they believed, was to be apprehended to the revenue from opening to the out ports the trade with those countries, it being an unquestioned fact that the duties leviable upon other foreign articles, now importable into the out ports, have been collected with a fidelity not less successful in productive amount than will be found in the case of those leviable upon similar articles destined for the port of London; and that these principles and facts, with regard to this trade, being as the petitioners believe truly what they have stated them to be, they confidentially trust that the House will not again consent to confine this commerce, either in whole or in part, to a single company, but will open it intire to the nation at large, permitting it to be carried on from all the ports of the United Kingdom, subject to such regulations only as may be considered necessary for the protection of the revenue."
A Petition of the merchants house of Glasgow was also presented; setting forth,
"That the petitioners have, in common with other classes of his Majesty's subjects, been prevented from trading to the
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countries to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, in consequence of charters of monopoly granted to the E. I. Company; and they humbly beg leave to represent that they are by such charters not only individually excluded from a most beneficial commerce, but they are deprived of privileges which they are proud to prize as their birth-right, and which, as no temptation could induce them willingly to relinquish, no payment is sufficient to purchase; and that, besides the manifest injury which such charters have produced on the efforts of individuals, they have necessarily had a similar effect on the national resources, which under a free trade must have become greatly more considerable than while the commerce is restricted and confined; and that the petitioners being convinced that such important truths cannot fail to produce conviction of the impolicy of any monopoly of the trade to India and China, look to the expiration of the present East India charter with the confident hope of seeing a period put to any exclusive trade to these countries, and a wide field thus laid open to the capital, skill, and industry, of British merchants and manufacturers; and that, in this confident hope and expectation, the petitioners humbly pray that no monopoly be granted of the commerce and navigation to the countries eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, but that the trade may be free and open, in the same manner as other branches of commerce, not only to the port of London, but to other ports of Great Britain and Ireland."
A Petition of several merchants, traders, and manufacturers of Port Glasgow and Newark, was also presented; setting forth,
"That the petitioners with regret have observed, in the hon. E. I. Company, a continuance of the spirit of monopolizing the commerce of India, China, and the other countries to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, which it has too long-held, as the petitioners conceive, to their prejudice, and that of the other ports and towns of the United Kingdom; and that the petitioners respectfully advance, along with their fellow subjects of the empire, their claim to a participation of a free trade with those countries, and right to oppose any farther exclusive monopoly, either to that Company, or any other company or body whatever; and that this

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claim of the petitioners they do humbly conceive to be their right in equity, as a portion of subjects supporting the empire at large; and that they are entitled to an equality of privileges in trade and the commercial pursuits of its subjects, whence that support does in a great measure arise, and on which it depends; and that at any time, but particularly when the burdens and pressure of war, under the existing situation of the continent of Europe, and another unavoidable war with the American states, the petitioners do now humbly set forth their opposition to a monopoly, as an unjust clog to the freedom of the subject, and that spirit in the trader and manufacturer which is so necessary to the general welfare, and ought to be cherished as a most material principle of the British constitution, not merely in point of the subject's freedom, but as essential to its vital strength and support; and that the petitioners conceive their claim to be equally founded in policy as in justice, but they humbly contend for the right to be unrestricted; and that the port of London, more than the Company itself, has no title to an exclusive possession, which, if acceded to by the House, would render fruitless any grant or permission of the free trade contended for; and that the petitioners consider it only farther necessary to observe to the House, that the duties are as faithfully levied and paid, and smuggling at least as much restrained at the port of Port Glasgow as that of the metropolis itself; and praying, that no farther exclusion be given, either to the E. I. Company or the port of London, but that the House will, in wisdom and sound policy, take such effectual measures as may open and allow a free trade to the petitioners, and the other subjects of the empire, with the countries in question, under such equal constraints for securing his Majesty's duties, as to the House shall appear just."
A Petition of the bailies and trustees of Port Glasgow and Newark, was also presented; setting forth,
"That the House being about to take into consideration what measures ought to be adopted for regulating the future commerce of this kingdom with the countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of Cape Horn, and the petitioners, understanding that it is pretended that the House is precluded, by the supposed chartered privileges of the E. I. Company,
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from laying down such an arrangement as upon the whole may appear the most just and expedient, the petitioners beg leave again to address themselves to parliament, and to state to the House, that they humbly conceive all others of his Majesty's subjects in this kingdom to be in justice equally entitled with the E. I. Company to a free commercial intercourse with all parts of the world, and that in sound policy, they ought not to be debarred a freedom in that respect which in all other cases is obviously to the advantage of the revenue, and to the increase of the common strength of the empire; beside, the petitioners do humbly contend for that freedom as their birth-right, unalienable by any charier to a particular or excluding company beyond at least its current terra, but which expediency also does now require to be suffered to expire for ever, and the trade to India, China, and all quarters, to be thrown open to the British subject without other restraint than what may be deemed necessary by the legislature upon the principle of equality; and that, in the present state of the world, and the distress felt by the manufacturers and merchants labouring under many hardships, the petitioners consider the privilege contended for to be the more necessary; and that the House will not hearken to the idle and most obviously ridiculous and affected fears expressed by that Company of danger to the revenue of the empire, and of unfavourable excitements being raised in the minds of the natives of those foreign countries against either that Company's territorial government or the British interest in general; what has raised this great empire to the ability of contending with the tyrant of Europe, and those states which basely submit to the dictates of his ambition? what has made her mistress of the seas, and the protector of the liberty of the world? what, but the mercantile, trading, and manufacturing spirit and adventure of those who have for ages engaged in them and brought their respective branches to an unexampled degree of perfection, when by wise laws, unfettered with excluding and impolitic privileges, holding intercourse with every other nation successfully, making British faith and honour proverbial; and that as to an extension of the trade to the out-ports, the petitioners do humbly insist, that, with respect to their own port, the interest of the revenue is at well guarded and secured as

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at that of the metropolis; and therefore, without departing from the general claim of other ports, they do, with submission, lay before the House a specific claim in favour of the port of Port Glasgow to the privilege in question, a port of no small consideration in the state either as to trade or revenue; and praying the House to suffer the present commercial charter of the E. I. Company to expire, to refuse all farther exclusive privileges in trade to the countries in question to any company or individual whatever, and to equalize the whole subjects of the United kingdom in their commercial pursuits to those territories, China included, and to grant, should there be in its wisdom any exception made, to the port of Port Glasgow, the privilege of such free and unfettered intercourse and trade; and the petitioners pray to be heard, by counsel, in support of their Petition."
A Petition of the manufacturers of long ells, in the borough of Tavistock, Devon, was also presented and read; setting forth,
"That it is with regret the petitioners see the opposition made in various parts of the United Kingdom to the renewal of the E. I. Company's charter, as they are satisfied that the woollen trade in general, and the exportation of long ells to China in particular, in which they are most deeply concerned, cannot be carried on with so much regularity by any channel as through the medium of the E. I. Company; and that, although the petitioners deprecate monopoly in general, yet they are convinced that the trade to China, being confined to the E. I. Company, will ultimately tend to the benefit of the petitioners, and to all persons concerned in the woollen trade; and that although it is possible, if the trade to China is laid open, it may enable speculators for a short time to increase their exports, not ultimately, as in the case of South America, the markets being glutted, their purchases will be suspended, by which means many manufacturers will be ruined, and the labourers thrown suddenly out of employ, all which is now happily avoided by the regularity of the orders from the E. I. Company, and the punctuality of their payments; and the petitioners therefore submit, that the E. I. Company, enjoying an exclusive trade to India, is essential to the security of their trade to China, and that such trade, being continued exclu-
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sively by them, and the imports of all goods from India being confined to the port of London, will be highly advantageous to the prosperity of the kingdom at large, as well as to the petitioners and other manufacturers of long ells."
A Petition of several packers employed by the E. I. Company in their woollen department, was also presented; setting forth,
"That the Prince Regent, having, in his Speech from the throne, recommended immediate attention to be paid to the approaching expiration of the charter of the E. I. Company, which rendered it necessary that he should call the early attention of the House to the propriety of effectually providing for the future government of the provinces in India, the petitioners do again humbly present themselves before the House, to state that they, together with all others engaged in the woollen trade, feel most sensibly the distressed situation of the commercial interest of the country, not only as a subject of sympathy, but by its pressure upon that branch in which they are immediately concerned; and that, as tradesmen employed by the E. I. Company, they are obliged to serve a regular apprenticeship, and to possess other qualifications, in order to make them competent to be elected into their service; and that one of the requisite qualifications is possession of warehouses and premises sufficiently convenient and extensive to carry on the packing business of the Company; and that such premises and establishments are now very valuable, but, in the event of the removal of the Company's business to the out-ports, this property would be very greatly deteriorated in common with other freehold and leasehold property in London; and that the removal of the India trade from the metropolis, after the great length of time it has been established, would be attended with many serious evils, one of which is the depriving thousands of persons of a comfortable subsistence; and that, if this deprecated event were to take place, its effect would be only to transfer the India trade from one set of men to another, without the smallest advantage to the interests of the nation at large; and that the confidence reposed in the petitioners by the Company is great, as will appear when it is considered that the value of the woollen manufactures coming under their final care till ready for shipping amounts to one

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million sterling per annum; and that great economy is practised by the Company in the preparation and packing of the woollens; they are in the habit of delivering out the goods in the raw state, week by week, from the month of February till the month of October; this system gives constant and regular employment to the various branches of trade concerned, and, together with the certain punctual payment at stipulated periods, renders the employment valuable to the petitioners; and that such has been the conduct and care of the Company's servants in this branch, and such the excellent regulations laid down by the Company, that a serious complaint from abroad is unknown, and the Company's mark and seal still continue to be received with perfect confidence throughout the whole extent of their great acquisitions in India as well as the more extensive empire of China; and that every market has been tried, and every invention exerted, to increase the consumption of woollens, particularly in India proper, but the few wants of the natives, their pecuniary incapacity to purchase, together with their different castes, religion, and climate, form a barrier hitherto insurmountable; and that the China market has at all times been fully supplied to the extent of the indent required; but such is the spirit of speculation, such the rage for adventure, that, notwithstanding the very dreadful events and failures which have recently taken place in consequence of the immense export of goods to South America, it cannot be doubted that new speculators would arise, perhaps so totally ignorant of the trade as to overwhelm the market with goods, thereby producing ruin not only to themselves but also to the steady, moderate, and (to the country) advantageous trade of the E. I. Company, and, in consequence, to the petitioners in common with the almost incalculable number of persons employed by the said Company; and praying, that the various petitions presented to the House against the renewal of the E. I. Company's charter, and for the opening of the trade to India and China, may not be granted."
A Petition of the cloth drawers in the employ of the E. I. Company was also presented; setting forth,
"That the petitioners observe, with the most serious concern, the great efforts making in various parts of the kingdom to lay open the trade to India and China, a
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measure that would certainly be attended with the most ruinous consequences to the petitioners, and the numerous classes of tradesmen having establishments under the said Company; and that the petitioners, with humble submission, beg leave to draw the attention of the House to the present state of the fine cloth trade to Turkey, which, when confined to the management and wise regulations of the Turkey company, was nearly equal to the present exports of fine cloth to China; but experience shews the fatal consequences of that trade being laid open: it is lost to the country; as a bale of cloth is rarely exported from any part of the kingdom to Turkey; and that the petitioners are confident that the same ruinous speculations which have lost the Turkey cloth trade to this country would be the consequence of an open trade to India; and praying the House to adopt such regulations as will secure the continuance of the exports of woollens to India and China to the E. I. Co., under whose wise management and experience it has been brought to its present state of prosperity, so greatly beneficial to the country at large."
Ordered to lie upon the table.