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Torture In India
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03 April 1856
Volume 141
THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE moved, according to notice, that an humble Address be presented
to Her Majesty for—

“"A Copy of an Order, dated 5th July 1855, from C. I. Shubrick, Esq., Collector and
Magistrate of Chingleput, to Strcevansee Row, Tehsildar (Native Collector) of
Pariapollium, a District in that Collectorate, directing him under Penalty of a 'severe
Order' to collect the Government Loom Tax from certain Weavers in his District 'without
leaving any Part whatever unrealised:'”

“"A Copy of Petitions, dated 1st August 1855, to C. I. Shubrick, Esq., in his scal Capacity, of
several Weavers of Pariapollium, setting forth the cruel Tortures to which they were
subjected by the Native Collector Streevansee Row, on the 27th and 28th Days of July, for
the Non-payment of the Government Loom Tax, praying for a Respite from Payment on
account of their Poverty, and in consequence of many of their Inhabitants having
absconded from their Village:”

“"A Copy of the Depositions taken before the aforesaid C. I. Shubrick, Esq., in his Capacity
of Magistrate, on the 23rd of August 1855, of Fourteen Weavers, respecting the Tortures
inicted upon them by the aforesaid Streevansee Row, on the 27th and 28th Days of July
1855, in order to realise the whole of the Government Loom Tax; which Evidence led to the
Conviction of that Ofcer:”
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“"A Copy of the Opinion, if such should have been given, by the Governor and Council  Top

Madras, or the Court of Foujdaree Adawlut, or other superior Authorities, in respect to the
Decision of C. I. Shubrick, Esq., joint Collector and Magistrate of Chingleput, in the Case of
the aforesaid Fourteen Weavers of Pariapollium, by which the Tehsildar Streevansee Row
was sentenced to pay a Fine of only Five Rupees (or Ten Shillings) for having collected the
Government Tax on Looms by the Instrumentality of Torture from the Weavers in
question:”

“"And to call the Attention of the House to the Nature of the Tax called 'Moturpha,' of
which the Loom Tax is a Part."”

The noble Earl said that he had two Notices upon the paper, one for that evening and the
other for the 14th inst., both of which related to the same subject—namely, to torture in the
Madras Presidency. The Resolutions which he intended to move on the 14th would be founded
on a Report which had been laid upon their Lordships' table; but the papers for which he
intended to move this evening had reference to fourteen fresh cases of torture of a much more
recent date than any that were to be found mentioned in that Report, and had occurred so
lately as the 27th and 28th of July last. He was, in fact, moving for documents of which he had
copies in his own possession, the authenticity of which he had not the slightest doubt of; and
his experience of the little information that is obtainable from the home Government on
matters relating to India made him not at all sanguine that the papers for which he moved
would be produced. He, therefore, rather availed himself of the form of this present motion, in
order to bring forward such information as he possessed, and in order to strengthen the
proposition which he wished to impress upon the minds of their Lordships—namely, that the
disgraceful system of torture in India under the British Government could not be done away
with without legislative interference. The tax for the non-payment of which those last tortures
were inicted was called "moturpha," an Arabic word sufciently indicating the barbarous
origin of the impost, which had been introduced into India by the Mahommedans. Lord
Cornwallis, whose humanity was well known, on becoming Governor General of India,
immediately perceived what a cruel and iniquitous tax this was, and very properly abolished it
throughout the British possessions in Bengal. The date of its abolition in the Presidency of
Bengal was 1793, and that of its abolition in
Bombay 1844. It had never had any existence in the North Western Provinces or in the Punjaub
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—the warlike character of the inhabitants of those districts having had some inuence in
making the fears of the East India Company more powerful than their cupidity; and that
Company cautiously refrained from exciting those tribes by the levying of this impost. In
Madras alone the tax existed—Madras ever memorable for excessiveness and tenacity of
taxation. However, even in Madras there were districts not subject to moturpha; and in the
district of Chingleput—the collectorate in which those alleged tortures had so recently been
inicted, so odious and oppressive was the impost felt to be that in 1844 the inhabitants rose
against it, and this rising produced a tumult bordering on insurrection. He could assure the
House that it was not without good reason that the natives objected to the moturpha. At the
latter end of last Session he made a statement of considerable length with the object of
proving the absurdity, the mischievousness, and the cruelty of this tax, but his appeal to a
liberal and free trade Government had been unavailing. He would not now repeat what he had
on that former occasion said, but would avail himself of the contents of a petition laid on the
table of their Lordships' House in 1853, by a noble Earl who had lled the ofce of Governor
General of India (the Earl of Ellen-borough), and which contained a most masterly summary
of the wrongs the unhappy people subject to it suffered under it. The moturpha, then, was a
tax on trade and occupations, embracing weavers, carpenters, all workers in metals, all
salesmen whether possessing shops, which were taxed separately, or vending by the
roadside, &c.; some paying impost on their tools, others for permission to sell; extending to
the most triing articles of trade and the cheapest tools the mechanic can employ; the cost of
which is frequently exceeded six-times over by the moturpha, under which the use of them is
permitted. Among the implements deemed worthy of taxation was a barber's razor, probably
not worth more than 2 d. The petitioners complained not only of the absurdity of the tax, but
of being compelled to go to the collector for a permit to use their implements of trade. Thus,
the barber went to the collector to obtain a permit to use his razor, and might be kept waiting
three or four days, during

which time the razor had eaten its head off over and over again. However, the petitioners
treated all these as minor evils compared with the inquisitorial character of the tax, which
created a well-founded fear that, according to the pleasure or cupidity of an irresponsible
collector, extortion and oppression might be practised. A good description of this tax was to
be found in the evidence of Mr. Dyke, a very able Madras Civil servant, which evidence was to
be found in the Common's Report of 1853. That gentleman stated that the collector had not
the power of checking imposition, as he did not know whether the rate was just or unjust.  Top
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Now, if ever there was a case where indulgence should be shown by a collector, it should be in
reference to the collection of a tax of this sort. Such did not appear to be the conviction of Mr.
C. I. Shubrick, the collector of the, district of Chingleput. On the 5th of July, 1855, he thus
addressed one of his deputies, Streevansee Row, a native collector—

“"You have left the whole loom tax, amounting to rupees 212 8 (£21 15s. 4d.), due on the
Pariapollium village of your varlootz, uncollected;"”

and further on he says—

“"As soon as you receive this tuckeed (order) you must go in person to the said village and
collect the whole of the loom tax, without leaving any part whatever unrealised, and
report the same. If you do not collect it as directed above, a severe order will be issued
against you."”

He (the Earl of Albemarle) did not know what Mr. Shubrick meant by "a severe order;" but it is
quite clear that Streevansee Row did, and that he very wisely calculated on the immunity
which his proceedings to realise the taxes would receive, accordingly, on the 27th July, he
ordered the inhabitants of the Pariapollium village to appear before him. Fourteen of those
unhappy people were caught and brought to his ofce, where they arrived at about eight
o'clock in the morning, and they were immediately subjected to torture, or, to use the mild
words adopted by the collector in his magisterial capacity, when the case was brought before
him, "they were put under restraint." This "restraint" meant a punishment very common in
Madras, and was inicted in this way;—the victim stood in the sun, with his body bent forward
toward the knees—thus placing the muscles of the human frame in a position which required
of

them an action that nature never intended them for. This was a cruel torture of itself, but it
was frequently heightened by placing a weight on the back, near the neck, consisting of a
stone about 121bs. weight. He had asked one of the most distinguished surgeons in this
country what the effect of putting a weight on a body in that position was, and he said it was
like a severe blow on the spinal cord. Some of Mr. Shubrick's brother collectors did not view Top
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this punishment to be of quite solight a character as he seemed to imagine it to be; for Mr.
Minchin, acting collector of Nellore, in reference to this torture, said—

“"Considering the heat of our Indian sun, the manner in which the blood must ow to the
head in such a posture as that enforced, and the weight of the stone which is placed on
the sufferer's back, I have no hesitation in calling such practice torture, and that not of
the least painful description."”

And in the next sentence Mr. Minchin justies his opinion by relating the case of an old man
who died a few days after the iniction of this torture upon him, he being a defaulter to the
Government in the sum of 2 annas, 10 pice—or 5¼ d. Five-pence farthing was the sum for
which this victim had been sacriced to the Moloch of Lcadenhall Street. But not only were the
weavers, to whose case he had now more particularly alluded, subjected to this punishment
at a time of the year when they were exposed to the heat of the burning sun; but during the
whole period in which they were kept in that position men were constantly employed in
pricking their thighs—two to each victim. During this time they had to bear, not a stone's, but
a man's weight on their back; and, though the period of their torture was from eight o'clock in
the morning till nearly ten at night, they were during all that time, not only deprived of food,
but had not even a drink of water to slake their thirst—a thirst rendered more intense by the
unusual heat of the weather, and the acuteness of their sufferings. When, at last, the men
were allowed to go to their meals, the physical torture they had suffered was succeeded by
the moral torture of having the cloaca assigned as the place in which they were to eat them.
They were at last allowed to go away for the remainder of the night, under the surveillance of
peons, but on the following morning they were taken to their own village in order that the

money which could not be obtained from the penniless wretches themselves might be
extracted from others; for, as they said, in their petition to Mr. Shubrick, "they really had no
money, and it was impossible to draw blood out of a stone by any process short of a miracle."
Here their tortures were renewed with greater severity than the preceding day, till at last the
women of their families, moved with compassion, parted with their ornaments, and obtained
for them a temporary immunity. How long it was to last he knew not, because at the end of
their petition they still prayed for a short respite until they could nd the wherewithal to pay Top
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their dues. On the 23rd of August, 1855, all these cases came before Mr. Shubrick in his judicial
capacity, and he would read the decision of Mr. Shubrick, dated the 5th of October—

“"Considering that there was a large balance against these weavers which they had
endeavoured to put off pitying, the tahsilder, after sending his peons to them, was obliged
by order in the Revenue Department (this was his own order), to go and collect the
balance from them himself. There is sufcient reason for believing that he may have put
the petitioners under the restraint they complain of, and that the witnesses, though
otherwise exceptionable, are in this instance to be believed. It will be sufcient to meet
the requirements of the case if the tahsildar is sentenced to a ne of 5 rupees (10s.), and
the peons who were his agents dismissed with a caution; and the same can therefore be
ordered."”

Thus, all the parties to the transaction he had described had virtually escaped scot free. This
was the second appeal which he (the Earl of Albemarle) had made to a liberal and free-trade
government. He implored of them to consider whether it was creditable to this country that so
unjust, so absurd, and so inquisitorial a tax—one so repugnant to every feeling of humanity,
and so utterly opposed to economical and political science, and yielding so paltry a sum,
should continue to be levied; surely it was high time to put an end to so disgraceful a state of
things. The noble Earl then moved for the documents of which he had given notice.

THE DUKE OF ARGYLL,

in the absence of his noble Friend the President of the Council, could only say on behalf of the
Government that there was no objection whatever to the production of the papers moved for by
the noble Earl, except that they were not at present in the possession of the Government. Should
the noble Earl be of opinion that the production of those documents would serve to throw
additional light on the question of torture, a dispatch would be sent to the Indian Government
for their production. With respect to the question of the moturpha tax, the subject of its
abolition had been for a long time under the consideration of the Indian and home
Governments. And he could not say that he dissented from the views put forward by the noble
Earl as to the objectionable character of the impost, and he would be happy to see an end put
to its collection. He hoped that, in a short time it might be done away with; but there were
difculties in the way of accomplishing that object, and he was, therefore, unwilling to giveany
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pledge on the subject on the part of the Government, while he could bear testimony to their
anxiety to abolish the tax. He would not, on the present occasion, enter into the question of
torture in India, because the noble Earl had a notice on the paper which would bring that
subject under the notice of the House on the 14th instant. A despatch, having reference to this
matter, had been laid on the table of the House; and to make the papers bearing on the
question more complete, he would now move for the production of the answer of the Madras
Government to the despatch dated September 29, 1855.

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THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE

would not press his Motion if the Government admitted the authenticity of the papers from
which he had quoted. He was very glad to hear from the noble Duke that this tax was to be done
away with.

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THE DUKE OF ARGYLL

had not said that. What he had said was, that he hoped it would be.

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THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE

supposed that they should look to others, out of doors, for that consummation. He protested
against 1,000,000 of people being subjected to such oppression for a tax which in the
aggregate amounted to only £112,527.

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THE DUKE OF ARGYLL

thought that the question of taxation was quite different from that of torture. The imposition of a
tax did not imply that it was to be levied by torture.

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THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE
believed the collection of this tax and the iniction of torture to be inseparable under the
present system.

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Motion agreed to.

Also Motion of the Duke of ARGYLL,

“"That there be laid before this House, An Extract of a Letter from the Government of
Madras to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, dated the 29th of December,
1855, No. 43; together with a Copy of the Inclosures on the Subject of the Torture Report (in
continuation of the Paper, No. 51, ordered to be printed the 11th of March, 1856).”

House adjourned till To-morrow.

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