§ MR. OTWAYsaid, he would beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Control whether the sum of £500, which had been subscribed by the Chairman of the East India Company for the relief of the sufferers by the inundations in France, was to be charged on the revenues of India; and whether the subscription of the East India Company, or the sums expended by them in public entertainments, were limited by any fixed regulation, and were subject to the control of Parliament?
MR.VERNON SMITHsaid, the charge must be made on the revenues of the Company, for there was no other source whence to take it; but it was not true to say the Chairman subscribed the amount—it should be the Chairman on behalf of the Company. The Company had been in the habit of granting various charitable donations to different objects ever since their foundation, but by the Act 55 Geo. III., they could not go beyond £600 without its being first submitted to Parliament. In this instance the grant was within that sum, and, consequently, there was no necessity for submitting it to Parliament; but it was submitted to the Board of Control, and it had the sanction of that Board. With regard to the other question, the hon. Member was probably aware that the Company gave entertainments to the Governors General and other public officers, and though the sums expended were not subject to any fixed regulation, yet they were submitted to the Board of Control, and the yearly expenditure for that purpose was pretty nearly the same. No Estimates were submitted to Parliament, and, consequently, no Votes were taken.