British Regulating Act

Document Text

A Bill [With the Amendments] for Establishing certain Regulations for the better Management of the Affairs of the East India Company, as well in India as in Europe.

Whereas the several Powers and Authorities granted by Charters to the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, have been found by Experience not to have sufficient Force and Efficacy to prevent [or restrain the practice of] various [frauds] Abuses, [and Oppressions] which [has too long] [have] prevailed in the Government and Administration of the Affairs of the said United Company, as well at Home as in India [to the great Scandal and Dishonour of this Nation, and] to the manifest Injury of the public Credit, and of the Commercial Interests of the said Company, and it is therefore become highly expedient that certain further Regulations, better adapted to their present Circumstances and Condition, should be provided and established:

And whereas the electing and choosing of Directors of the said United Company every Year, in such Manner as at present prescribed by Charter, has not answered the good Purposes intended thereby, but on the contrary, by limiting the Duration of their Office to so short a Time, evidently tends to weaken the Authority of the Court of Directors, and to produce Instability in the Councils and Measures of the said Company: …

And for the better Management of the said United Company’s Affairs in India, Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That [from and after] [for] the Government [or] [of the] Presidency of [Fort William, in] Bengal, [there] shall [consist of] [be appointed] a Governor General, and [Four] Councillors; and that the Whole Civil and Military Government of the said [United Company’s] Presidency [of Bengal] and also the Ordering, Management, and Government, of all the Territorial Acquisitions and Revenues in the Kingdoms of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, [shall] during such Time as the [same] [Territorial Acquisitions and Revenues] shall remain in the Possession of the said United Company [shall] be and are hereby vested in the said Governor General and Council of the said Presidency of [Fort William, in] Bengal [in like Manner, to all Intents and Purposes whatsosever, as the same now are, or at any Time heretofore might have been, exercised by the President and Council, or Select Committee, in the said Kingdoms].

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said Governor General and Council, or any [Three] of them, shall have, and they are hereby authorized to have, Power of superintending and controuling the Government and Management of the Presidencies of Madrass [and] Bombay, [and Bencoolen] respectively, so far and insomuch as that it shall not be lawful, [from and after the] for any [Governor] [President] and Council of Madrass, [or] Bombay, [or Bencoolen] for the Time being, to make any Orders for commencing Hostilities, or declaring or making War against any Indian Princes or Powers [except in the cases of imminent necessity, for the Defence of the Presidency under their respective Government or Command] or for negociating or concluding any Treaty of Peace, or other Treaty, with any such Indian Princes or Powers, without the Consent and Approbation of the said Governor General and Council [of Bengal, or any of them] first had and obtained [except in such Cases of imminent Necessity as would render it dangerous to postpone such Hostilities or Treaties until the Orders from the Governor General and Council might arrive and except in such Cases where the said Presidents and Councils respectively shall have received special Orders from the said United Company] and any [Governor] [President] and Council of Madrass [or] Bombay [or Bencoolen] who shall offend in any of the Cases aforesaid, shall [be liable to be suspended from his Office, by the Order of the said Governor General and Council] And every [Governor] [President] and Council of Madrass [and] Bombay [and Bencoolen] for the Time being, shall, and they are hereby respectively directed and required to pay due Obedience to such Orders as they shall receive touching the Premises from the said Governor General and Council [of Bengal,] for the Time being, and constantly and diligently to transmit to the said Governor [General] and Council [as often as the same shall be by them required] Advice and Intelligence of all Transactions and Matters whatsoever, that shall come to their Knowlege, relating to the Government, Revenues, or Interest, of the said United Company; and the said Governor General and Council [of Bengal] for the Time being, shall, and they are hereby directed and required to pay due Obedience to all such Orders as they shall receive from the Court of Directors of the said United Company, and to correspond from Time to Time, and constantly and diligently transmit to the said Court an exact Particular of all Advices or Intelligence, and of all Transactions and Matters whatsoever, that shall come to their Knowlege, relating to the Government, Commerce, Revenues, or Interest, of the said United Company; and the Court of Directors of the said Company, or their Successors, shall, and they are hereby directed and required, from Time to Time, before the Expiration of [Fourteen] Days after the receiving any such Letters or Advices, to give in and deliver unto the High Treasurer, or Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury for the Time being, a true and exact Copy of such Parts of the said Letters or Advices as shall any Way relate to the Management of the Revenues of the said Company; and in like Manner to give in and deliver to One of His Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, for the Time being, a true and exact Copy of all such Parts of the said Letters or Advices as shall any Way relate to the Civil or Military Affairs and Government of the said Company; all which Copies shall be fairly written, and shall be signed by [Two] or more of the Directors of the said Company [and Oath shall be made of the Truth of every such Copy, according to the true Intent and Meaning of this act, by the proper Officers or Servents of the said Company, before any One Justice of the Peace, which Oath such Justice is hereby authorised and required to administer].

And it is hereby further Enacted, That ____ shall be the First Governor General, and that ____ shall be the [Four] First Councillors; and they and each of them shall hold and continue in his and their respective Offices for and during the Term of [Five] Years [from the Time of their Arrival at Fort William in Bengal, and taking upon them the Government of the said Presidency] and shall not be removeable in the mean Time, except by His Majesty [in Council] [His Heirs and Successors] upon [Complaint] [Representation] made by the Court of Directors of the United Company for the Time being [and in Case of the Avoidance of the Office of such Governor General by Death, Resignation, or Removal, his Place shall, during the Remainder of the Term aforesaid, as often as the Case shall happen, be supplied by the Person of the Council who stands next in Rank to such Governor General] and in Case of the Death [or] Removal [or Promotion] of [the said Governor General, or of] any or the said Council [his majesty is] [the Directors of the said United Company are] hereby impowered, for and during the Remainder of the] said Term of [Five Years] to nominate and appoint [such] [by and with the Consent of His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, to be signified under his or their Sign Manual, a Person [or Persons as he shall judge most fit and proper] to succeed to [such] [the] Office [or Offices] so become vacant [in the said Council] and [in the mean Time] [until such Appointment shall be made] all the powers and Authorities vested in the Governor General and Council, shall rest and continue in, and be exercised and executed by, the Governor [General] and Council [or by the Council, as the Case shall happen] remaining and surviving. [and be it further Enacted, That in Case of the avoidance of the Office of such Governor General, by Death or Removal, his Place shall be supplied by the Person of the Council who stands next in Rank to such Governor General, until another Governor General shall be appointed by His Majesty as aforesaid] and moreover, if it shall happen that after the Death or Removal, or during the Absence, of any One of the Members of the said Council, a Difference of Opinion should arise upon any Question proposed in any Consultation, and such Council should happen to be equally divided, then and in every such Case the said Governor General [or the Person who shall supply his Place as aforesaid] shall have a Casting Voice, and his Opinion shall be decisive and conclusive [and from and after the Expiration of the said Term of Five Years, the Power of nominating and removing the succeeding Governor General and Council shall be vested in the Directors of the said United Company].…

And whereas his late Majesty King George the Second did, by his Letters Patent, bearing Date at Westminster the Eighth Day of January, in the Twenty-sixth Year of his Reign, grant unto the said United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, His Royal Charter, thereby, amongst other Things, constituting and establishing Courts of Civil, Criminal, and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction at the said United Company’s respective Settlements at Madrass, Patnam, Bombay, on the Island of Bombay, Fort William, in Bengal, which said Charter does not sufficiently provide for the due Administration of Justice, in such Manner as the present State and Condition of the Company’s Presidency of [Fort William, in] Bengal, do require; Be it. therefore Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty, by Charter, or Letters Patents under the Great Seal of Great Britain, to erect and establish a Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William aforesaid, to consist of a Chief Justice and [Three] other Judges [being Barristers of not less than Five Years standing] to be named from Time to Time, by His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors; which said Supreme Court of Judicature shall have, and the same Court is hereby declared to have, full Power and Authority to exercise and perform all Civil, Criminal, Admiralty, and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, and to appoint such Clerks and other Ministerial Officers of the said Court, with [such] reasonable Salaries [as shall be approved of by the said Governor General and Council] and to form and establish such Rules of Practice, and such Rules for the Process of the said Court; and to do all such other Things as shall be found necessary for the Administration of Justice, and the due Execution of all or any of the Powers which by the said Charter shall or may be granted and committed to the said Court, and also shall be at all Times a Court of Record, and shall be a Court of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery in and for the said Town of Calcutta, and Factory of Fort William, in Bengal aforesaid, and the Limits thereof, and the Factories subordinate thereto.

Provided nevertheless, and be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the said new Charter, which His Majesty is herein before impowered to grant, and the Jurisdiction, Powers, and Authorities, to be thereby established, shall and may extend to all British Subjects who shall reside in the Kingdoms or Provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, or any of them, under the Protection of the said United Company; and the same Charter shall be competent and effectual, and the Supreme Court of Judicature therein and thereby to be established shall have full Power and Authority to hear and determine all Complaints [of the natives of India] against any of His Majesty’s Subjects, for any Crimes, Misdemeanors, or Oppressions, committed or to be committed; and also to entertain, hear, and determine, any Suits or Actions whatsoever against any of His Majesty’s Subjects in [India] [Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa,] and any Suit, Action, or Complaint [of any native of India] against any [other native of India] [Person] who shall, at the Time when such Debt or Cause of Action or Complaint shall have arisen, have been employed by, or shall then have been, directly or indirectly, in the Service of the said United Company, or of any of His Majesty’s Subjects: Provided also, That the said Court shall not be competent to hear, try, or determine, any Indictment or Information against the said Governor General, of any of the said Council; for the Time being, for any [Crime or Misdemeanor] [Offence, not being Treason or Felony] which such Governor General, or any of the said Council, shall or may be charged with having committed in [India] [Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa.]…

And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after [the said First Day of August One thousand Seven hundred and Seventy-four] it shall not be lawful for any Person or Persons whatsoever, who shall have been dismissed from, or shall have voluntarily resigned, the Service of the said United Company, or for any free Merchant, free Mariner, or other Person, whose Covenants or Agreements with the said United Company, for residing or trading in India, shall be expired, from thenceforth to carry on, or be in any wise concerned in any Trade, Traffick, Merchandize, or Commerce whatsoever, in the East Indies, other than for the Disposal of his or their Stock in Hand, without the Licence of the said United Company, or [their] [the] Governor [General and Council of the Presidency of Fort William, in Bengal] or [the] President and Council at the Place or Settlement where such Person or Persons shall reside, for that Purpose first had and obtained.…

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for the Governor General and Council of the said United Company’s Settlement at Fort William, in Bengal, from Time to Time, to make and issue such Rules, Ordinances, and Regulations, for the good Order and Civil Government of the said United Company’s Settlement at Fort William aforesaid, and other Factories and Places subordinate or to be subordinate thereto, as shall be deemed just and reasonable (such Rules, Ordinances, and Regulations not being repugnant to the Laws of this Realm) [and also to impose and levy all necessary and reasonable Imposts and Duties on Commerce and Trade, for the Support of the said United Company’s Civil Government in Bengal] and to set, impose, inflict, and levy reasonable Fines and Forfeitures for the Breach or Non Observance of such Rules, Ordinances [and] Regulations [Rates and Duties] but, nevertheless, the same or any of them shall not be valid, or of any Force or Effect, until the same shall be duly registered and published in the said Supreme Court of Judicature, which shall be by the said new Charter established, with the Consent and Approbation of the said Court, which Registry shall not be made until the Expiration of [Twenty] Days after the same shall be openly published, and a Copy thereof affixed in some conspicuous Part of the Court House, or Place where the said Supreme Court shall be held; and from and immediately after such Registry as aforesaid, the same shall be good and valid in Law; but, nevertheless, it shall be lawful for any Person or Persons in India to appeal therefrom to His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, in Council, who are hereby impowered, if they think fit, to set aside and repeal any such Rules, Ordinances [and] Regulations [Rates and Duties] respectively, so as such Appeal, or Notice thereof, be lodged in the said new Court of Judicature within the Space of [Sixty] Days after the Time of the registering and publishing the same; and it shall be lawful for any Person or Persons in England to appeal therefrom, in like Manner, within [Sixty] Days after the publishing the same in England; and it is hereby directed and required, that a Copy of all such Rules, Ordinances [and] Regulations [Rates and Duties] shall be affixed in some conspicuous and public Place in the India House, there to remain and be resorted to as Occasion shall require; yet nevertheless such Appeal shall not obstruct, impede, or hinder the immediate Execution of any Rule, Ordinance [or] Regulation [Rate or Duty] so made and registered as aforesaid, until the same shall appear to have been set aside or repealed, upon the Hearing and Determination of such Appeal.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Governor General and Council for the Time being of the said United Company’s Settlement at Fort William aforesaid, and the Chief Justice and other Judges of the said Supreme Court of Judicature, shall and may, and they are hereby respectively declared to be and to have full Power and Authority to act as Justices of the Peace for the said Settlement, and for the several Settlements and Factories subordinate thereto, and to do and transact all Matters and Things which to the Office of a Justice or Justices of the Peace do belong and appertain; and for that Purpose the said Governor General and Council are hereby authorized and impowered to hold Quarter Sessions, within the said Settlement of Fort William aforesaid [Four Times] in every Year, and the same shall be at all Times a Court of Record.