Speech on East India Bill - Part B

  • How does the Company abuse the external federal trust? 

Burke is heavily upset to see the moral decadence in the Company administration in India. The corruption, hypocrisy and repression of the Company people under the instruction of Warren Hastings went on rampant, and the miseries of the natives were beyond description. As a result, Burke assumes that federal trust of the English Parliament is questionable. Burke points out three major areas of abuses by the Company inflicted upon the Indians. They are:

First, The East India Company had not established trustworthy relationships with any Indian prince or state they encountered..

Secondly, Every treaty they have made, had been broken at some point.

Thirdly, No Indian prince or state trusted them due to its history of broken promises.

These claims are universal. Burke in his speech wanted that the British government in India should be reformed as the Company violated the terms and conditions of the charter. As a result, the image of the federal trust of the British government was tarnished.