INDIAN TERRITORIES—THE SELECT COMMITTEE. (Hansard, 15 November 1852)

§ MR. HERRIES,
in moving for the reappointment of the Select Committee on Indian Territories, said, he would remind the House that a Select Committee was appointed early in the last Session of Parliament upon this important subject. The Government had lost no time in nominating that Committee, in consideration of the near approach of the time when it would be indispensably necessary that some conclusion should be arrived at with regard to the future government of India. He did not anticipate that any objection would be raised to the reappointment of the Committee on the present occasion—for though, in point of form, a new Parliament being now returned, the Motion must be for the appointment of a Committee, yet the Motion would be practically for the reappointment of the Committee which sat in the late Parliament. That Committee had prosecuted its inquiries with continuous application, and with great success. If hon. Gentlemen would take the trouble of looking into the very voluminous report of the evidence taken by that Committee, they would find that it contained a mass of the most useful and valuable information, both oral and written. The inquiry was arranged under six principal heads; and the first of these, and by far the most important—namely, that which concerned 156 the authorities and the agency by which the government of India was conducted at present under the Act now in force—that first and principal portion of the inquiry had been completely exhausted by the Committee which sat in the last Session, and which had reported the whole of the results of their inquiries in that voluminous blue book to which he had already referred. It would be observed, that, in making a very short report prefixed to the evidence, the Committee had adverted to that which he (Mr. Herries) could not refrain from noticing also—he meant the favourable tendency of all the evidence they had collected respecting the governmental agency under the Act which was now in force, that was to say, the government of India by the agency of the East India Company, under the control and subject to the authority of the Crown. He might also state to the House that the remaining topics of the inquiry, which were likewise of great importance, though not of such primary consequence as that to which he had alluded, were, first, the military establishments of India; in the next place, the financial management of that great empire; and, after these, other subjects of great interest relating to the judicial administration, to the educational System, and to the progress of works of internal improvement in India. All these were questions which would require close and serious attention on the part of any Committee that might be appointed with reference to our East Indian territories. And when they should have completed their examination into the judicial, civil, and military administration, and the financial management of the affairs of India, he could not but hope that after receiving the report of the Committee's inquiries, the House would feel itself in a condition to legislate upon the great question, whether the government of that country should continue to be conducted upon the principles of the Act which was now in force—that of the year 1833—or whether any other system should be adopted. He had adverted to this point, because it Was necessary to remind the House that the period within which legislation must take place was now comparatively narrowed. In the year 1854 the Act for the better government of Her Majesty's Indian Territories would cease and determine, unless in the meanwhile it should be the pleasure of Parliament to renew it. It was obvious, therefore, that in the Course of the present Session—and 157 he called the present Session the sitting which would he extended through part of next year—it would he indispensable that some Act should be passed providing for the government of India; and it was for this reason that he moved thus early for the appointment of a Committee. He could not avoid pointing out to the House the fact, that in the course of the late general election they had unfortunately lost some important Members of the Committee, as it stood in the last Session of Parliament; it would be necessary, therefore, that he should do something more on the present occasion than merely nominate the Committee as it existed last Session; and that he should propose some additional names to the Members of that Committee. The total number of the Members of the Committee last year had been fixed at thirty-one; and it was so well attended that he was sure the House would agree with him in thinking that that number was quite sufficient to be assembled for the purpose; for they were aware that there were some subjects which did not attract so full an attendance as others. He thought, then, that a greater number than thirty-one was not desirable on the Committee, and that was the number which he intended to propose. Of these, only twenty-six who had served on the last Committee would be available for the present; and he should, therefore, besides moving the appointment of the Committee, also move that the following five Gentlemen be Members, in the room of the five Gentlemen who were not available—namely, Mr. Macaulay, Mr. E. Ellice, Lord Stanley, Mr. Robert Clive, and Lord Palmerston.

MR. HUME
seconded the Motion. He regretted that the East India Company had not shown any intention to bring before the Committee the testimony of educated and intelligent native chiefs and gentlemen as to the feelings and sympathies, the wants and desires, of the natives with re-speot to the government of the Company. However, he trusted advantage Would be taken of the exertions of native societies which had been formed at Bombay and Bengal to collect information on this subject, and that the persons who would be sent over to this country by these societies would be examined before the Committee.

§ MR. J. MACGREGOR
thought that a little more time should have been allowed before appointing a Committee of this importance. Of course there could be no objection to the names proposed by the 158 right hon. Gentleman; but there were interests in connexion with India which required very considerable attention at the present time, for since 1833, when the last Act on the subject had been passed, the aspect of Indian affairs had completely changed. He trusted that one or two Scotch Members might he added to the Committee.