114 PRICES OBTAINED BY THE CHINESE PLANTER. 



So the Chinese planter would not be paid proportiona- 

 ls ly to that value of labor. 



The expense of carrying tea from the tea district, is 5 

 to 6 cents per Ib. Then comes government duty, 10 per 

 cent., say 2 cents per Ib., and say five or six parties who 

 turned it over from one to the other, made in the aggre- 

 gate 8 cents per Ib., for if any one will observe the fragile 

 make of a tea chest, he will understand that in passing 

 over hills, and loading, and unloading, and exposure, that 

 there must be a great deal damaged, and that not less 

 than probably 10 cents would cover the risks, and give 

 so many parties a little profit. Therefore, there is duty 

 per Ib., 2 cents; transit expenses per Ib., 5 cents; to 

 parties trading, say 8 cents ; or 15 cents per Ib., leaving 

 the cultivator to get only 5 per cent. 



Mr. Fortune says of the tea planters " They may be 

 considered in the same light as our vintners, poor, hard- 

 working people, gaining just so much as is requisite for 

 their daily subsistence. The cottages amongst the hills 

 are simple in their construction, and remind one of what 

 we used to see in Scotland in former years, when the cow 

 and the pig lived and fed in the same house with the 

 peasant." 



Gutzlaff writes, " It is to be remarked that only the 

 poorest lands are allotted to this cultivation, the rich 

 being allotted to the growth of rice and sweet potatoes. 

 The answer of the people, when questioned on the sub- 

 ject, has always been, that the profits were more un- 

 certain, and generally less, and therefore it was much 

 better to make a sure livelihood." 



Therefore to two parties injustice is done ; to the 

 planter and the consumer. This leaf which can be pro- 



