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less generally used) is 4d. per ft., and the duty imposed upon it is 6d. per 

 ft., being an ad valorem rate of 150 per cent. This is twice as high as 

 the rate levied on cloves, more than twelve times as high as that levied 

 upon cinnamon, and twenty-four times as high as that levied upon 

 cassia — all of which are mere luxuries, and exclusively consumed by 

 the more wealthy. This is unjust, and, like all injustice, detrimental. 

 Before 1826 the duty on pepper was 2s. 6d. per ft.) and the annual 

 consumption 1,450,000 fts. In that year the duty was reduced to 6d. 

 per ft., and in 1837 the annual consumption had risen to 2,625,975 

 fts. During the 14 years which had since elapsed there has been a 

 further increase of about 20 per cent. ; but this increase must ob- 

 viously be accounted for by the advance of population. It is, there- 

 fore, apparent that the duty is still so high as to restrict consumption 

 and diminish revenue. Pimento, a West-Indian product, is in less 

 demand than black pepper. The quantity of it taken for home con- 

 sumption last year was only 440,720 fts. Its price in bond is A^d. 

 per ft., and, at 5^. per cwt., the duty per ft is about ^d. ; or but little 

 more than one-twelfth part of the duty on pepper. No reasonable 

 ground can be conceived for subjecting the two articles to such diffe- 

 rent rates of duty. Even a West Indian may see that it has not 

 induced the people of this country to substitute pimento for black 

 pepper. Cassia and cinnamon, though distinct species of the same 

 genus of plants, if considered as condiments, are of the same nature. 

 Cassia is'almost exclusively the produce of China, while cinnamon 

 consumed in Europe comes from our possessions in Ceylon. Last 

 year 82,467 fts. of cassia were consumed in this country, and 39,582 

 fts. of cinnamon ; the duty paid on the former was i£l,078, on the 

 latter £542, The average price of cassia is Is. per ft., of cinnamon 

 Is. 9d. ; the duty on cassia is Id. per ft., on cinnamon Sd. In other 

 words, the ad valorem duty on cinnamon is nearly double that on 

 cassia. This anomaly is inapplicable even on protectionist piinci- 

 ples ; it is, in fact, a protection for the foreigner against British sub- 

 jects. In 1851 the duty on 138,131 fts. of cloves amounted to £3,626. 

 The best cloves are imported from the Dutch settlements in the Mo- 

 lucca Islands and Bencoolen, and the British settlement of Penang ; 

 the worst from the French colonies of Bourbon and Cayenne. A.t 

 present Amboyna and Bencoolen cloves are quoted at 14rf. per ft., 

 those of Cayenne and Bourbon at Q^d. Taking 8rf. as the average, 

 the tax on the value of the whole cloves imported [Qd. per ft.) is 78 

 per cent. ; but on the worst cloves it is 92 per cent., while on the best 

 it is little more than 42 per cent. Of nutmegs the quantity taken for 



