And with this account
before them, they have dared to impose upon the necks of that unhappy
people a tribute of 400,000_l._, together with an income for the Rajah
of 60,000_l._ These sums the Naib, Durbege Sing, was bound to furnish,
and left to get them as he could. Your Lordships will observe that I
speak of the net proceeds of the collections. We have nothing to do with
the gross amount. We are speaking of what came to the public treasury,
which was no more than I have stated; and it was out of the public
treasury that these payments were to be made, because there could be no
other honest way of getting the money.
But let us now come to the main point, which is to ascertain what sums
the country could really bear. Mr. Hastings maintains (whether in the
speech of his counsel or otherwise I do not recollect) that the revenue
of the country was 400,000_l._, that it constantly paid that sum, and
flourished under the payment. In answer to this, I refer your Lordships,
first, to Mr. Markham's declaration, and the Wassil Baakee, which is in
page 1750 of the printed Minutes. I next refer your Lordships to Mr.
Duncan's Reports, in page 2493. According to Mr. Duncan's public
estimate of the revenue of Benares, the net collections of the very year
we are speaking of, when Durbege Sing had the management, and when Mr.
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