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chandise, by this act directed or authorised to be made, such goods and merchandise, the property of other persons, as they may now lawfully sell at their public sales.

VI. And be it enacted, that the board of commissioners for the affairs of India shall have full power to superintend, direct, and control the sale of the said merchandise, stores, and effects, and other property hereinbefore directed to be sold, and to determine from time to time, until the said property shall be converted into money, what parts of the said commercial establishments shall be continued and reduced respectively, and to control the allowance and payment of all claims upon the said company, connected with the commercial branch of their affairs, and generally to superintend and control all acts and operations whatsoever of the said company, whereby the value of the property of the said company may be effected; and the said Board shall and may appoint such officers as shall be necessary to attend upon the said board during the winding-up of the commercial business of the said company, and that the charge of such salaries or allowances as his Majesty shall by any warrant or warrants under his sign manual, countersigned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the time being, direct to be paid to such officers, shall be defrayed by the said company, as hereinafter mentioned, in addition to the ordinary charges of the said board. VII. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said company to take into consideration the claims of any persons now or heretofore employed, by or under the said company, or the widows and children of any such persons, whose interests may be affected by the discontinuance of the said company's trade, or who may from time to time be reduced, and, under the control of the said board, to grant such compensations, superannuations, or allowances (the charges thereof to be defrayed by the said company as hereinafter-mentioned), as shall appear reasonable; provided always, that no such compensations, superannuations, or allowances shall be granted until the expiration of two calendar months after particulars of the compensation, superannuation, or allowances proposed to be so granted, shall have been laid before both Houses of Parliament.

VIII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that within the first fourteen sitting days after the meeting of Parliament in every year, there be laid before both Houses of Parliament the particulars of all compensation, superannuations, and allowances so granted, and of the salaries and allowances directed to be paid to such officers as may be appointed by the said board, as aforesaid, during the preceding year.

IX. And be it enacted, that from and after the said twenty-second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, all the bond debt of the said company in Great Britain, and all the territorial debt of the said company in India, and all other debts which shall on that day be owing by the said company, and all sums of money, costs, charges, and expenses, which after the said twenty-second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, may become payable by the said company in respect or by reason of any covenants, contracts, or liabilities then existing, and all debts, expenses, and liabilities whatever, which, after the same day, shall be lawfully contracted and incurred on account of the Government of the said territories, and all payments by this act directed to be made, shall be charged upon the revenues of the said territories; and that neither any stock or effects which the said company may hereafter have to their own use, nor the dividend by this act secured to them, nor the directors or proprietors of the said company, shall be liable to or chargeable with any of the said debts, payments, or liabilities.

X. Provided always, and be it enacted, that so long as the possession and government of the said territories shall be continued to the said company, all persons and bodies politic, shall and may have and take the same suits, remedies,

and proceedings, legal and equitable, against the said company in respect of such debts and liabilities as aforesaid, and the property vested in the said company in trust as aforesaid, shall be subject and liable to the same judgments and executions, in the same manner and form respectively, as if the said property were hereby continued to the said company to their own use.

XI. And be it enacted, that out of the revenues of the said territories, there shall be paid to or retained by the said company, to their own use, a yearly dividend at the rate of ten pounds ten shillings per centum per annum, on the present amount of their capital stock; the said dividend to be payable in Great Britain, by equal half-yearly payments, on the sixth day of January and the sixth day of July in every year; the half-yearly payment to be made on the sixth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.

XII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that the said dividend shall be subject to redemption by parliament upon and at any time after the thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, on payment to the company of two hundred pounds sterling for every one hundred pounds of the said capital stock, together with a proportionate part of the same dividend, if the redemption shall take place on any other day than one of the said half-yearly days of payment; provided also, that twelve months' notice in writing, signified by the Speaker of the House of Commons, by the order of the house, shall be given to the said company, of the intention of parliament to redeem the said dividend. XIII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that if on or at any time after the said thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, the said company shall, by the expiration of the term hereby granted, cease to retain, or shall by the authority of parliament be deprived of the possession and government of the said territories, it shall be lawful for the said company, within one year thereafter, to demand the redemption of the said dividend, and provision shall be made for redeeming the said dividend, after the rate aforesaid, within three years after such demand.

XIV. And be it enacted, that there shall be paid by the said company into the Bank of England, to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, such sums of money as shall in the whole amount to the sum of two millions sterling, with compound interest, after the rate of three pounds ten shillings per centum per annum, computed half-yearly from the said twentysecond day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, on so much of the said sums as shall from time to time remain unpaid; and the cashiers of the said bank shall receive all such sums of money, and place the same to a separate account with the said commissioners, to be intituled "The account of the security fund of the India company ;" and that as well the moneys so paid into the said bank as the dividend or interest which shall arise therefrom, shall from time to time be laid out, under the direction of the said commissioners, in the purchase of capital stock in any of the redeemable public annuities transferable at the Bank of England, which capital stock so purchased shall be invested in the names of the said commissioners on account of the said security fund, and the dividends payable thereon shall be received by the said cashiers and placed to the said account, until the whole of the sums so received on such account shall have amounted to the sum of twelve millions sterling; and the said moneys, stock, and dividends, or interests, shall be a security fund for better securing to the said company the redemption of their said dividend, after the rate hereinbefore appointed for such redemption.

XV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said commissioners for the reduction of the national debt from time to time, and they are hereby required, upon requisition made for that purpose by the court of directors of the said company, to raise and pay to the said company such sums

of money as may be necessary for the payment of the said company's dividend, by reason of any failure or delay of the remittances of the proper funds for such payments; such sums of money to be raised by sale or transfer or deposit by way of mortgage of a competent part of the said security fund, according as the said directors, with the approbation of the said board, shall direct, to be repaid into the Bank of England to the account of the security fund, with interest after such rate as the court of directors, with the approbation of the said court, shall fix out of the remittances which shall be made for answering such dividend, as and when such remittances shall be received in England.

XVI. Provided always, and be it enacted, that all dividends on the capital stock forming the said security fund, accruing after the moneys received by the said bank to the account of such fund, shall have amounted to the sum of twelve millions sterling, until the said fund shall be applied to the redemption of the said company's dividend, and also all the said security fund, or so much thereof as shall remain after the said dividend shall be wholly redeemed after the rate aforesaid, shall be applied in aid of the revenues of the said territories.

XVII. And be it enacted, that the said dividend on the company's capital stock shall be paid or retained as aforesaid, out of such part of the revenues of the said territories, as shall be remitted to Great Britain, in preference to all other charges payable thereout, in Great Britain, and that the said sum of two millions sterling shall be paid in manner aforesaid, out of any sums which shall, on the said twenty-second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirtyfour, be due to the said company from the public, as and when the same shall be received, and out of any moneys which shall arise from the sale of any government stock on that day, belonging to the said company, in preference to all other payments thereout; and that subject to such provisions for priority of charge, the revenues of the said territories, and all moneys which shall belong to the said company, on the said twenty-second day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, and all moneys which shall be thereafter received by the said company, from and in respect of the property and rights vested in them in trust as aforesaid, shall be applied to the service of the government of the said territories, and in defraying all charges and payments by this act created, or confirmed, and directed to be made respectively, in such order as the said court of directors, under the control of the said board, shall from time to time direct, any thing, any other act or acts contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

XVIII. Provided also, and be it enacted, that nothing herein contained shall be construed or operate to the prejudice of any persons claiming or to claim under a deed of covenants, dated the tenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and five, and made between the said company on the one part, and the several persons whose hands should be thereto set and affixed, and who respectively were or claimed to be creditors of his highness the nabob Wallah Jah, formerly nabob of Arcot and of the Carnatic, in the East Indies, and now deceased, and of his highness the nabob Omduh-ul-Omrah, late nabob of Arcot and of the Carnatic, and now also deceased, and of his highness the Amee-ulOmrah, on the other part.

XIX. And be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for his majesty, by any letters patent, or by any commission or commissions to be issued under the great seal of Great Britain, from time to time, to nominate, constitute, and appoint, during pleasure, such persons as his majesty shall think fit to be, and who shall accordingly be and be styled, commissioners for the affairs of India ; and every enactment, provision, matter, and thing relating to the commissioners for the affairs of India, in any other act or acts contained, so far as the same are

in force and not repealed by or repugnant to this act, shall be deemed and taken to be applicable to the commissioners, to be nominated as aforesaid.

XX. And be it enacted, that the lord president of the council, the lord privy seal, the first lord of the treasury, the principal secretaries of state, and the chancellor of the exchequer for the time being, shall, by virtue of their respective offices, be, and they are hereby declared to be, commissioners for the affairs of India, in conjunction with the persons to be nominated in any such commission as aforesaid, and they shall have the same powers respectively as if they had been expressly nominated in such commission, in the order in which they are herein mentioned, next after the commissioners first named therein.

XXI. And be it enacted, that any two or more of the said commissioners shall and may form a board for executing the several powers which by this act, or by any other act, or acts, are or shall be given to or vested in the commissioners for the affairs of India; and the commissioner first named in any such letters patent or commission, for the time being, shall be the president of the said board; and that when any board shall be formed in the absence of the president, the commissioner next in order of nomination, in this act or in the said commission, of those who shall be present, shall for that turn preside at the said board.

XXII. And be it enacted, that if the commissioners present at any board shall be equally divided in opinion with respect to any matter by them discussed, then and on every such occasion the president, or in his absence the commissioner acting as such, shall have two voices or the casting vote.

XXIII. And be it enacted, that the said board shall and may nominate and appoint two secretaries, and such other officers as shall be necessary, to attend upon the said board, who shall be subject to dismissal at the pleasure of the said board; and each of the said secretaries shall have same powers, right, and privileges as by any act or acts now in force are vested in the chief secretary of the commissioners for the affairs of India; and that the president of the said board, but no other commissioner as such, and the said secretaries and other officers, shall be paid by the said company, such fixed salaries as his majesty shall by any warrant or warrants, under his sign manual, countersigned by the chancellor of the exchequer, for the time being, direct.

XXIV. And be it enacted, that if at any time the said board shall deem it expedient to require the secretaries and other officers of the said board, or any of them, to take an oath of secrecy, and for the execution of the duties of their respective stations, it shall be lawful for the said board to administer such oath as they shall frame for the purpose.

XXV. And be it enacted, that the said board shall have and be invested with full power and authority to superintend, direct, and control all acts, operations, and concerns of the said company, which in anywise relate to or concern the government or revenues of the said territories, or the property hereby vested in the said company in trust as aforesaid, and all grants of salaries, gratuities, and allowances, and all other payments and charges whatever, out of or upon the said revenues and property respectively, except as hereinafter is mentioned.

XXVI. And be it enacted, that the several persons who, on the said twentysecond day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, shall be commissioners for the affairs of India, and secretaries and officers of such board of commissioners, shall continue and be commissioners for the affairs of India, and secretaries and officers of the said board respectively, with the same powers and subject to the same restriction as to salaries, as if they had been appointed by virtue of this act, until by the issuing of new patent, commissions, or otherwise, their appointments shall be respectively revoked.

XXVII. And be it enacted, that if, upon the occasion of taking any ballot on the election of a director or directors of the said company, and proprietor who shall be resident within the United Kingdom, shall, by reason of absence, illness, or otherwise, be desirous of voting by letter of attorney, he shall be at liberty so to do, provided that such letter of attorney shall in every case express the name or names of the candidate or candidates for whom such proprietor shall be so desirous of voting, and shall be executed within ten days next before such election; and the attorney constituted for such purpose shall, in every case, deliver the vote he is so directed to give, openly to the person who shall be authorised by the said company to receive the same, and every such vote shall be accompanied by an affidavit or affirmation to be made before a justice of the peace by the proprietor, directing the same so to be given, to the same or the like effect as the oath or affirmation now taken by proprietors voting upon ballots at general courts of the said company, and in which such proprietors shall also state the day of the execution of such letter of attorney; and any person making a false oath or affirmation before a justice of the peace, for the purpose aforesaid, shall be held to have thereby committed wilful perjury; and if any person do unlawfully or corruptly procure or suborn any other person to take the said oath or affirmation before a justice of the peace as aforesaid, whereby he or she shall commit such wilful perjury, and shall thereof be convicted, he, she, or they, for every such offence, shall incur such pains and penalties as are provided by law against subornation of perjury.

XXVIII. And be it enacted, that so much of the act of the thirteenth year of the reign of King George the Third, intituled an act for establishing certain regulations for the better management of the affairs of the East India company, as well in India as in Europe, as enacts that no person employed in any civil or military station in the East Indies, or claiming or exercising any power, authority, or jurisdiction therein, shall be capable of being appointed or chosen into the office of director until such person shall have returned to and been resident in England for the space of two years, shall be and is hereby repealed; provided that if the said court of directors, with the consent of the said board, shall declare such person to an accountant with the said company, and that his accounts are unsettled, or that a charge against such person is under the consideration of the said court, such person shall not be capable of being chosen into the office of director for the term of two years after his return to England, unless such accounts shall be settled, or such charge be decided on, before the expiration of the said term.

XXIX. And be it further enacted, that the said court of directors shall, from time to time deliver to the said board, copies of all minutes, orders, resolutions, and proceedings of all courts of proprietors, general or special, and of all courts of directors, within eight days after the holding of such courts respectively, and also copies of all letters, advices, and despatches whatever, which shall at any time or times be received by the said court of directors or any committee of directors, and which shall be material to be communicated to the said board, or which the said board shall from time to time require.

XXX. And be it enacted, that no orders, instructions, despatches, official letters, or communications whatever, relating to the said territories, or the government thereof, or to the property or rights vested in the said company in trust, as aforesaid, or to any public matters whatever, shall be at any time sent or given by the said court of directors, or any committee of the said directors, until the same shall have been submitted for the consideration of and approved by the said board: and for that purpose that copies of all such orders, instructions, despatches, official letters, or communica tions, which the said court of directors, or any committee of the said direc

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