A joking comparison introduces claims about earlier commercial connections. Armstrong antecedents and, more tentatively, the Vickers founding family's background are connected with the East India Company. Establishing large industrial operations required capital, while the company supplied demand for cannon. Its conflicts with Asian states and European competitors formed another part of that market. Distance from Britain is offered as one reason it could resist parliamentary restrictions.
Notable Point · 2:57:58-2:59:31
Arms manufacture, capital and the East India Company
Proposed East India Company connections link early arms manufacture with capital, cannon demand and imperial commerce.