COMMITTEE ON THE CHARTER OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, ETC.
On the 27th of January the president of the board of control moved the appointment of a committee upon the affairs of the East India Company, and to inquire into the state of trade between Great Britain, the East Indies, and China. This was, in fact, only the reappointment of a committee which had sat during previous sessions; but the president hinted that as the charter would expire in April, 1834, and the East India Company had declined to make itself a party to the discussion, it would be necessary that the government should take a more direct management of the question, though without intimating its intentions, so as not to disappoint expectations. It would be necessary to carry this proposal into effect, he said, to have a considerable number of sub-committees, at least six or seven, each taking a separate branch of the inquiry. In the East India House, and in the board of control, the business was divided into six departments, each division having its separate functionaries; and he proposed, therefore, that there should be at least six sub-committees, each taking one of these departments. As it was necessary, he continued, to provide for the absence of members, and as five or six members would be necessary in each subcommittee, he should propose that there should be at least forty-eight or forty-nine in the committee. The present committee, he added, would have this advantage, that, the subject was not entirely new. A large mass of testimony had been obtained; and though the evidence had not been systematically collected, yet the materials were in preparation, and the committee would be supplied with them. In addition to this the board of control had for some time been preparing for the discussion, officers having been employed in classifying the evidence laid before both houses, and in separating the different branches of the evidence. The committee was appointed without opposition. Subsequently, the chancellor of the exchequer proposed the appointment of “a committee of secrecy, to inquire into, and report upon the expediency of renewing the charter of the Bank of England; and also on the existing system of banking by banks of issue in England and Wales.” The circumstance which gave rise to this motion was the renewal of the charter with the Bank of England. As the occasion of a renewal of that charter had always been considered the proper time for an inquiry into the banking system, and had been looked forward to by the public as a proper season for taking the principles of the Bank of England into consideration, therefore the proposition was made. In making the proposal, the chancellor of the exchequer said that he trusted the house would agree in the propriety of making it a committee of secrecy, in order to prevent any discussions in that house upon the subject pending the inquiry; on such a question, involving the money transactions of the country, nothing could be more objectionable than these discussions. As to the questions which the committee would have to consider, they would have first to decide whether the charter should be renewed, and then, in case of renewal, whether any, and what exclusive privileges should be given to the Bank. Another question for their consideration would be the existing system of banking with reference to banks of issue; and they would likewise have to consider the Bank of England in its quality of banker to the state. It was not, however, intended that the committee should go into the question of the currency; it was to confine itself to banking, properly so called. But one exception to this would be found in the one-pound notes: it would be impossible to exclude that question from the consideration of the committee, if they should consider it was necessary to enter upon it. It was thought by some members that it would be better to restrict the committee from entering into that question, and by others that it would be better to delay the whole subject till a new parliament. In substance, in fact, it was so delayed, for, although a committee was appointed, it had made no report when parliament was prorogued and subsequently dissolved.