Fox's India Bill.
In November, 1783, Fox brought in a bill for rearranging the government of our Indian possessions, a measure which had become necessary in consequence of changes in that country which we shall have to narrate a few pages later on. The manifest failure of the East India Company to provide for the good administration of the growing empire which was falling into its hands, rendered the interference of the Home Government imperative. Fox produced a bill for taking the rule of our Indian possessions entirely out of the power of the Company, which was in the future to confine its activity to commerce alone. All the English officials in India, from the governors of presidencies down to ensigns in the army and clerks, were to be selected by a council of seven commissioners in London, nominated by Parliament. The names of the seven were given, and they were all violent partisans of Fox and North. The bill, good in many ways, was liable to censure in the one point that it gave the ministry a fund of patronage which was certain to be abused. The Fox-North cabinet was nothing if not unscrupulous, and when it got control of the £300,000 of annual patronage which the East India Company possessed, there is no doubt that it would have employed it to forward Whig family jobs and political corruption. An opponent of the bill complained that "it took the diadem off the king's head to place it on that of Mr. Fox." Much was also said as to the injustice of stripping the Company of its chartered rights.
The King and Fox's bill.
The India Bill, however, passed the Commons, and then came before the Lords. To throw it out, the king now took the unprecedented step of sending down to the House a paper written with his own hand, which Lord Temple was to show to such of the peers as he thought fit. It was to the effect that "whoever voted for the bill was not only not his Majesty's friend, but would be considered as his enemy." This notice was given to all who wavered, or who did not wish to incur the king's personal enmity. It led so many of the weaker Whig peers to abstain from voting, that the bill was thrown out by a majority of nineteen. George's conduct was quite unconstitutional; if it were possible for the king to engage in such an underhand intrigue against his own cabinet, the system of government by responsible ministers became impossible.
The Coalition resigns.
The Whigs revenged themselves by passing a vote through the Commons stigmatizing Lord Temple's conduct in showing the paper as a high crime and misdemeanour. Nevertheless they had to quit office, though they boasted that they would soon be back again, since George could not find any other ministry to put in their place (December, 1783).
Pitt takes office.
They were mistaken, however. The king, ready to dare any expedient that would keep the hated Coalition out of power, had offered the position of prime minister to William Pitt. The ambitious young statesman accepted the charge, and took office, though he could only rely on the support of the Shelburne Whigs, the reforming section of the party, aided by the "King's Friends," as those of the Tory party who had not followed North were once again styled.
The General Election.
The sight of a prime minister of twenty-four, backed by a weak minority, moved the derision of the partisans of Fox and North. They said that they would drive him to resign in three weeks, and at once threw out all the bills which he brought before the House. But, instead of resigning, Pitt was resolved to dissolve Parliament and to face a general election. He knew that his own name was great with the nation, and that the Coalition was universally detested and condemned. His policy was crowned with enormous success. Almost every borough and county where the election was free and the voters numerous, declared against the candidates whom Fox and North recommended. No less than 160 supporters of the Coalition lost their seats, and Pitt came back to Parliament with a clear working majority in his favour (March, 1784).