Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/316

 252 THE FIKST ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY The same men were frequently re-elected. They were assisted by a secretary and accountant, also subject to re-election, and a small staff of clerks. As long as the company's business consisted in sending out sepa- rate voyages, this permanent board of management (represented by the Court of Committees) was much stronger than any of the separate bodies of subscribers, and kept the conduct of the separate voyages in its hands. But before the middle of the century, as we shall see, the separate bodies of subscribers overpow- ered the central body of management. The board of twenty-four committee-men became rather shadowy. The governor, deputy governor, and treasurer only retained their authority by acting as leading members of the separate ventures, in addition to their functions as permanent officials of the company. They thus exer- cised a unifying influence in the midst of conflicting and overlapping interests. For example, in 1647, when the adventurers of the Second General Voyage elected the committees who were to manage it, they expressly provided that " at every meeting Mr. Governor, Mr. Deputy, or Mr. Treasurer should be one." The central board, including the governor, deputy, treasurer, and twenty-four committee-men, submitted all important arrangements for approval to meetings or " General Courts " of the freemen of the company, and were sometimes, although very seldom, overruled by the voice " of the generality." The capital which they managed consisted of the subscriptions for the separate voyages. Each new group of adventurers