Itittro In lig Ran
UNFITNESS OF PARLIAMENT FOR DECIDING PRIVATE CLAIMS.
Belfast, 9th March 1858. Sin—Although the charge against Mr. Butt has not been substantiated, yet it is easy to see that by permitting Indian private claims to be discussed in Parliament, we incur the danger of making India insubordinate and Par- liament corrupt. Could not an act be framed making the Judicial Com- mittee of the Privy Council a court of appeal in all such eases ? The necessity of some such change was even more manifest in the case of the Nawab of Surat, which was discussed in the House of Commons two years ago. The East India Company had secured a pension by treaty to the Nawab of Surat and his heirs for ever : the question was, whether the pre- sent so-called Nawab was the heir within the meaning of the treaty, The House of Commons passed a bill declaring that he was, and securing to him the pension ; but the House of Lords threw out the bill. Had it passed, it would have gone far to make India ungovernable. And what could be worse in a constitutional point of view than a bill passed by Parliament for the purpose of making a charge on the revenues of India. Whether the Nawab's claim against the Company was a just one or not, it was clearly a case not for Parliament but for a court of justice.
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