IXDIGO. 



47 



mate success on the part of the manufacturer, will better to 



Bengal, 



be duly attended to. 28 Aug. isoo: 



7. Against the effects of war or of unpropitious 

 seasons, it seems out of our power in any other 

 way to provide; but in respect to such disadvan- 

 tages as arise from the conduct of the trade, some- 

 thing may be done by political regulation. We 

 are aware of the delicacy of attempts of this na- 

 ture, and desirous that all the subjects, both of 

 our own territories and of those under our influ- 

 ence, should experience the benefits of our pro- 

 tection : we are sensible, also, that the practical 

 errors of trade generally discover themselves soon, 

 and contribute to produce at length a proper 

 level. But in the progress to this point, ruinous 

 losses may sometimes be experienced, and the 

 success of infant manufactures be materially en- 

 dangered or retarded, to the disadvantage, not of 

 individuals only, but of the community : and here 

 it is that we conceive a vigilant and enlightened 

 administration regarding the good of the whole, 

 may sometimes beneficially interpose to counter- 

 act the tendencies of the blind eagerness of indi- 

 viduals. 



8. To secure the object of making our In- 

 dian possessions, which are pre-eminent in fer- 

 tility of soil and cheapness of labour, the great / 

 source of indigo for European consumption, two ^ 

 things were obviously requisite : that the quality 



of the article should be such as to obtain a prefer- 

 ence 



