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the revised edition of his narrative; in the second volume of which, at page 423, he expressly admits, that Government has not the option of providing for its wants by fresh taxation.'

-The other line of argument taken up by the Bengal Government, appears no less untenable :-that Calcutta has hitherto enjoyed an inequitable exemption, having contributed little or nothing to the support of Government; and that a stamp-duty on money transactions, falling chiefly on the opulent classes, seems among the least exceptionable of the taxes to which a Government can have recourse.

The first of these arguments, that Calcutta has contributed nothing towards the maintenance of that order under which it thrives, is peculiarly unhappy; for, not only is it untrue in point of fact, but it is unjust in point of principle. So far, indeed, from Calcutta enjoying an exemption from public burthens, there is perhaps no spot in the whole world which suffers more from the heavy taxation prevailing in those quarters from which its supplies are necessarily drawn. With regard to the home supplies, it is well known that every article, partaking of the rise of price caused by high taxation in England, becomes progressively more expensive; and that the import duties paid on its being landed in Calcutta, increase in proportion to the invoice rate; whilst, on the other hand, all supplies derived from the interior are not only subject to the same effect, but their prices are frequently enhanced by the fluctuating demands of Government for their investments; by which all wholesome competition amongst the manufacturing population is destroyed, and the quantity and quality of their commodities alternately lessened or deteriorated. In addition to these circumstances, the advances made by Calcutta capitalists for the cultivation of indigo, cotton, and many other productions, occasion an immense gain to Government in the way of customs, and furnish, of themselves, no inconsiderable portion of the public revenue. To say, therefore, that Calcutta contributes little or nothing to the support of Government, is not consistent with fact. In point of principle, again, it is unjust to tax Calcutta, because its share of the public burthens is by an indirect rather than a direct contribution; for the apparent advantages of exemption from direct taxation, are precisely those which have attracted commercial men of all colours and persuasions to the spot; and, admitting for a moment the right of Government to levy taxes, other than customs and municipal duties, their having so long forborne to exercise it, has tended to confirm all parties in the idea that no such right existed; their suddenly, therefore, claiming a power at once so odious and so unlimited, has all the appearance of a deliberate breach of faith.

Sir Edward East, in the letter already referred to, speaking of the protection of the King's laws being afforded to all the Native inhabitants of Calcutta, says, since that period, the rapid rise of Calcutta, and the growth of its population from all parts of India, are, I believe, without example in the world, and still proceeding

condition which would necessarily be fatal to it, since any taxation other than by Parliament, grounded upon the fact of our being represented in that assembly, is allowed, on all hands, to be unconstitutional and illegal. Thirdly, the declaration in paragraph 7 of the Bengal Government's letter, that because stamp duties on deeds, &c., had long been levied in the interior of the country, it was equitable to levy them on Calcutta also, as in the eyes of the Legislature of England the inhabitants of the interior had equal claims to consideration with those of Calcutta, is either incorrect in fact,-upon the supposition of the management of the interior having been entirely given up to the Company, or incorrect in principle, since it justifies the wrong inflicted upon the interior, by asserting that the same wrong may be in the same manner inflicted upon Calcutta, for a wrong it must be in either case to impose a tax without a representation in Parliament, when it is asserted that in the eyes of the Legislature of England the inhabitants of the interior and of Calcutta have equal claims to consideration,—unless, indeed, by equal claims is meant no claim at all. That such a mockery, however, was ever intended by the Legislature, can hardly be imagined and we have the testimony of Sir Edward East, in his letter to Lord Liverpool,* upon the judicial system of British India, for assuming that all the Native as well as the European inhabitants of the Company's territories are British subjects, and that this, which could never have been seriously questioned after the supremacy of the King of Delhi became purely nominal,' is now put beyond all doubt by the formal declaration of the Legislature, in the Act of the 53d Geo. III. c. 155, which asserts the undoubted sovereignty of the Crown over the Indian territories.'

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In a legal point of view, therefore, the case, it seems, stands thus : All the inhabitants of the Company's territories are British subjects; but, owing to the peculiar constitution of the Supreme Court, the protection of the King's laws is, in respect of the Natives, available only to those who inhabit Calcutta. On the other hand, however, the Company's Governments are, in the opinion of legal men, restricted in their right to raise revenue to the means which were in existence when the management of the country was given up to them by the Crown; and this principle is adopted in its fullest extent by Mr. Prinsep, a confidential functionary of Government, writing under the auspices of a late Governal-General, Lord Hastings, and having had, it is understood, the assistance of high official authority in completing his account of that nobleman's administration, with the addition of a new and fuller summary of the political and financial result of those operations,' as noticed in the preface to

* See this Letter, published in the November Number of The Oriental Herald,' vol. xv., p. 223. It is there considered to have been addressed to Lord Eldon; but subsequent discussions on the subject, contained in the Calcutta Papers, give reason to believe that it was addressed to Lord Liverpool, then Prime Minister of England.

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the revised edition of his narrative; in the second volume of which, at page 423, he expressly admits, that Government has not the option of providing for its wants by fresh taxation.'

The other line of argument taken up by the Bengal Government, appears no less untenable :-that Calcutta has hitherto enjoyed an inequitable exemption, having contributed little or nothing to the support of Government; and that a stamp-duty on money transactions, falling chiefly on the opulent classes, seems among the least exceptionable of the taxes to which a Government can have recourse.

The first of these arguments, that Calcutta has contributed nothing towards the maintenance of that order under which it thrives, is peculiarly unhappy; for, not only is it untrue in point of fact, but it is unjust in point of principle. So far, indeed, from Calcutta enjoying an exemption from public burthens, there is perhaps no spot in the whole world which suffers more from the heavy taxation prevailing in those quarters from which its supplies are necessarily drawn. With regard to the home supplies, it is well known that every article, partaking of the rise of price caused by high taxation in England, becomes progressively more expensive; and that the import duties paid on its being landed in Calcutta, increase in proportion to the invoice rate; whilst, on the other hand, all supplies derived from the interior are not only subject to the same effect, but their prices are frequently enhanced by the fluctuating demands of Government for their investments; by which all wholesome competition amongst the manufacturing population is destroyed, and the quantity and quality of their commodities alternately lessened or deteriorated. In addition to these circumstances, the advances made by Calcutta capitalists for the cultivation of indigo, cotton, and many other productions, occasion an immense gain to Government in the way of customs, and furnish, of themselves, no inconsiderable portion of the public revenue. To say, therefore, that Calcutta contributes little or nothing to the support of Government, is not consistent with fact. In point of principle, again, it is unjust to tax Calcutta, because its share of the public burthens is by an indirect rather than a direct contribution; for the apparent advantages of exemption from direct taxation, are precisely those which have attracted commercial men of all colours and persuasions to the spot; and, admitting for a moment the right of Government to levy taxes, other than customs and municipal duties, their having so long forborne to exercise it, has tended to confirm all parties in the idea that no such right existed; their suddenly, therefore, claiming a power at once so odious and so unlimited, has all the appearance of a deliberate breach of faith.

Sir Edward East, in the letter already referred to, speaking of the protection of the King's laws being afforded to all the Native inhabitants of Calcutta, says, since that period, the rapid rise of Calcutta, and the growth of its population from all parts of India, are, I believe, without example in the world, and still proceeding

with increased activity;' and is it to be doubted, for an instant, that Government have reaped the full benefit of this confidence? In no department of human speculation, is the advantage of just and impartial laws more unequivocally reciprocal, as they regard the governors and the governed, than in commerce; the encouragement which liberality and inflexible good faith hold out to enterprise and industry, are invariably repaid with ample interest; and to weaken that encouragement by evincing an inconsiderate desire of profit, is to interrupt the course of improvement, and to poison the stream of commercial prosperity at the very fountain-head.

The remaining argument, too, which represents the stamp tax as bearing exclusively on the opulent classes, is true only in the case of individuals whose incomes, though fixed, are very large. It is upon those whose incomes are fixed, and incapable of increase by industry or speculation, that the evil of taxation falls with unmitigated severity; and as the great majority of incomes of this nature are only calculated to supply the means of a bare subsistence, a tax that directly affects them cannot, even in this point of view, be considered as bearing upon the opulent classes alone. But as the principal call for stamps, both in point of number and of expense, will be in transferring money on credit, and as the lender has always the option of imposing his own terms, it follows that the chief burthen of the tax will fall upon the borrowers, and that in a ratio increasing with the urgency of their demands, or the actual distress or poverty by which they are compelled to ask for assistance; this argument, therefore, is as unsound as the foregoing.

These are some of the arguments that are suggested on perusing the letter of the Bengal Government in reply to the petition of the inhabitants of Calcutta. But if a power of unlimited taxation be really given to the local Governments of India, all the acts of the Legislature for throwing open the trade to India will be mere dead letters. The Governor-General in Council will only have to heap one imposition after another upon resident agents, and others employed in commerce, effectually to deter private traders from availing themselves of the apparent advantages offered to them by Parliament. Already, indeed, is this effect in some measure secured by the unjust, and, it is believed, unlawful, exemption from legal expense, which is enjoyed by the Company itself in India, whilst private suitors have to contend with law charges of every kind; and should the Indian Government, in addition to this advantage, be empowered to impose taxes at will, they would be able to retain their monopoly in spite of the voice of the people of England, and the most solemn declaration of the Legislature united.

Nothing can be more unreasonable than to tax Englishmen for the benefit of a Government in which they have no interest, and on account of debts, in the incurring of which they have had no voice. The British inhabitants of India can claim no rights whatever that may not instantly be destroyed by the tremendous power of trans

mission, (the gentle name in India for transportation without trial,) with which its Government is armed; and not only is the exercise of this power most cruel and oppressive, but the effects which it is capable of producing, as an object of terror, may be, and are, of a nature the most immoral and the most degrading to every Briton accustomed to venerate the constitution, and prize the liberties, of his country. There are some rights, such as that of acquiring a settlement, and that of choosing and changing their place of residence, of which Acts of Parliament, or local regulations, already deprive Englishmen in India; but the evil does not rest here, there are several others, the bare assertion of which would expose them to the resentment of the individuals composing the Indian Government, a resentment which the power of transmission gives them ample means of gratifying. Hence the selfish motives which induce the most disgraceful subservience to authority, and the malignant hatred with which a contrary conduct is denounced, even by private individuals, give to the society of India a character which can be compared to nothing, in modern days, excepting the Reign of Terror in France, under the tyranny of Robespierre. That persons so situated, subject to such avowed oppression, and with no means whatever of improving their condition, excepting by professional diligence, united to unreserved and uncomplaining submission, should, in addition, be held liable to be taxed at will, by men who are at once their rivals in trade, and the arbiters of their personal comfort, is a height of injustice which can neither be paralleled nor excused.

Upon the whole, we really think a stronger case for the interference of Parliament could not have offered itself; yet as nothing is done in these days merely because it is right that it should be done, we do not augur any immediate benefit from the presentation of the petition sent home for that purpose. It should be the duty, however, of the independent part of the Press of England (though this also, we believe, will not be performed) to make as much of the affair as possible, and to place it fully and fairly on record, to be referred to when the question of the renewal of the Charter is again agitated.

The Calcutta Papers, from which we have quoted largely in our last and present Number, give ample accounts of the late meetings in that city on this great question. Our private letters, however, make mention of many circumstances which dared not be stated in these, among which are the following: After the Bengal Government had intimidated the Sheriff of Calcutta, and forced him to withdraw his summons for a public meeting at the Town-Hall, they were not a little surprised to find that the petitioners resolved to meet without any such sanction,-and they talked of employing force to put down such audacity! His Majesty's 14th regiment were to have been called out, but the chief Magistrate of Calcutta having, it seems, certain qualms, if not of conscience, at least of responsibility, wanted the Advocate-General to inform him how

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