428 ANNUAL RE GI S TE R, 1809. 



ing all restrictions which stand in 

 the way of present interest. Little 

 fear of detection is entertained, 

 when transactions are in their na- 

 ture private and confidential ; and 

 the appellation of honour, most 

 improperly applied to negociations 

 of this clandestine kind, attaches 

 by a singular perverseness, a 

 stronger degree of obh'gation to 

 the performance of such engage- 

 ments, upon the very ground that 

 they are illegal. 



With a view to prevent all deal- 

 ings in patronage, the obvious and 

 natural mode will be to take away 

 all inducement to traffic in it; and 

 this can only be attained by making 

 the hazard of such speculations 

 greater than the temptation. 



The regulations of the company 

 are founded upon this true and ef- 

 ficacious principle. But examples 

 have hitherto been wanting to de- 

 monstrate the determination of the 

 court of directors to enforce their 

 orders ; no instance of purchasing 

 or procuring by undue means an 

 appointment in the civil or military 

 service of the East India company, 

 aftersuch appointment had actually 

 taken place, and since the court's 

 resolution of 28th of Feb. 1799, 

 having been so far established, as 

 to enable the court to dismiss the 

 party appointed. 



The immediate consequence of 

 the information contained in this 

 report, must be, that a certain 

 number of persons in the service of 

 the company will be instantly de- 

 prived of their employments, re- 

 called from India, and declared in- 

 capable of again receiving any ap- 

 pointment under the company. The 

 money improperly given for procur- 

 ing these situations, will be abso- 

 lutely lost, without any possibility 



of recovery ; and those who have 

 either imprudently or corruptly 

 been concerned in obtaining what 

 they conceived to be benefits for 

 their relatives or friends, will find 

 that they have done the greatest in- 

 jury to those whom they desired to 

 serve, by inducing them to dedicate 

 some of the best years of their lives 

 to an employment, which the ori- 

 ginal defects, and corrupt practices 

 through which it was obtained, 

 must disqualify them from prose- 

 cuting. 



Hard as some of these cases 

 must be, and innocent and ignorant 

 as many of the young men nomi- 

 nated under these circumstances 

 probably are, of the undue means 

 by which their appointments were 

 acquired, your committee are of 

 opinion, that nothing but a strict 

 adherence to the rule laid down by 

 the court of directors, can put a 

 stop to the continuance of these 

 abuses, and prevent the chance of 

 their recurring. 



In 1779, when, in the course of 

 the investigation already mentioned, 

 indemnity was offered to all those 

 who would make a fair and candid 

 disclosure of all the circumstances 

 through which their situations had 

 been procured, though information 

 was gained with regard to facts, no 

 example could be made, in conse- 

 quence of such disclosure, of those 

 who were found offending ; and it 

 may be doubted whether such prac- 

 tices have been less prevalent since 

 that inquiry, than before. The de- 

 ficiency of their power to compel 

 persons to answer, precluded the 

 court of directors from discovering 

 if they punished, or from punish- 

 ing if they discovered the traffic 

 which was the subject of com- 

 plaint. 



The 



J 



