280 niSTOKY OF INDIA. [Book II.
A.D 1C08. From this account, it ap{)ears that at its date the balance of tiie credit
of the united joint stock amounted to the large sum of £156,317, 7s. Sd. In 1G58, when the new joint stock was formed, this balance must have Vjeen v.ii nation of considerably reduced; but as much remained as to make it necessary U> settle the terms on which, if not the whole, at least that portion of it which lielonged to what is called dead stock was to be transfen-ed. The term.s, apparently very favourable, were: — That "on the new stock paying £20,000, ],y two instalments, to the imited stock, the forts, privileges, and immunities in India and Persia should be made over in full right, and the three ships and £14,000 in bullion, prepared for the voyage of this season, transferred at prime cost of the new stock ; that on the arrival of these ships at the Company's factfmfes, the goods, furniture, and stores were to be transferred to the new account, at the valuation of 6s. 6d. sterling per rial of eight; that the servants of the new stock should assist those of the united stock in recovering their debts; and that the united stock should be charged with the expenses of the settlements and trade till the arrival of the shipping of the new stock, when the agents of this stock should take charge, and be entitled to receive the customs of Gomberoon after the 1st October, 1658." Another arrangement of some importance was, that such persons as had served an apprenticeshij) to the members of the joint stock, should be admitted freemen and members of the Company on paying a fine of £5 ; and that the persons who had been possessed of shares in the former trade, and, on that account, had property in the Indies, were not to be deemed private traders, but were required, after a specified time, to carry' the amount of such ]iroperty to the account of the new stock. Newar- Haviug amicably settled these preliminaries, the Company proceeded to
Ibrolir" '^ make a new arrangement of their establishments abroad. In future, the other presidencies and factories, and more especially the factories and trade in Persia, were to be subordinate to the president and council of Surat ; at the same time, the presidency of Fort St. George was not only to be maintained, but to have a control over all the other factories on the Coromandel coast and in Bengal, where the Company now had a principal factory at Hooghl}', together with inferior agencies at Cossimbazar, Balasore, and Patna. The insular factories and agencies were to be subordinate, as before, to the president and council of Bantam. The abuse of private trafiic by the Company's seiwants, which had long been complained of, and had even, we have seen, been denounced in ro3-al proclamations, again attracted attention ; and tlie appropriate remedy was adopted by issuing an absolute prohibition of such trafiic, and compensating for the withdrawal of it by increasing the salaries of the presidents and mem- bers of council, and of the subordinate servants. As an additional protection against the continuance of the abuse, all officials were required to sign security bonds to specified amounts, to keep diaries of their proceedings, and annually transmit certified copies of them to the coiu-t in England. It is scarcely
