BOOK III. C H A P. VI r. 689 



efpecIaHy in wet weather. The foil, moft proper for it, fiiould not 

 be Iliff", nor (hallow, as this plant has a tap-root. The ground is 



hoed 



perfefting its quality. The planters in our iflands not only could furnifh the whole amount of the 

 prt-fcnt confumption, but any further quantity that might be wuntid. A tew years lince, the ex- 

 cife on foreign coffee was raifeJ, for the encouragement of the Britith iflands : but the duty and 

 exci(e on our own wert left as before; which are fo confiderablc, as to rtllrain the middling and 

 conunon people, who alone make a large consumption, from the u(e ot it. The French, in this, 

 feeni to have underrtood their intereft better. T/.vir crrffee pays htit a fmnll Aiitj ; and ten isjlarcc heard 

 of a'/fti^ them. It might be fo in Great-Britain, did we not inake tliat article, as well as chocolate, 

 dearer than tea, by difproportionate and enormous duties ; which, others ile, would be fold as cheap^ 

 and probably be the means of preventing, in a great meafute, the exportation of our bullion to 

 China. We fee at prefent (1774), that a temporaiy fulpenfion ot the India company's j)urchafes 

 of tea has confiderably affefteJ the price ot fdver ; fo that we may toon exped a new ■: li age, 

 which would not hare happened, had they continued to drain this kingdom of bullion as tornieily. 

 This can only be avoided by fubllltuting another yofw/, reficjlj:ng liquor, inftead ot tea. Cotfte and 

 chocolate are its natural rivals ; and .voukl, in ail hkelihood, have the t'uperiurity, if government 

 would be faiisfied with their contributing to the necellities of the ftate in the fame pr.)portion : 

 more is at prefent exafted ; and that alone dilables them from a competition. It snay be inojght 

 ftrange, that articles, which our own colonies can raife, fliould pay a iiigher duty than a Ch'nefo 

 commodity, the place of which they might lupply. This aflcrtion, however, may be pioved in the 

 tnott convincing manner. 



One eighth part ot au ounce of tea, :'. t. one fpoonful and an half, is commonly uled for the 

 breakfatl of one perfon. At that rate, a quarter of a pound is confumed in thirty-two days ; which, 

 to avoid fractions, we will confider as a month, both with refped to the other articles and this ; fo 

 that, upon the whole, it will make no difference. A quarter ot a pound ^<;r month is three pounds 

 in the year. 



One quarter of an ounce of coffee is ufually allowed for a good di(h ; and it may very well be 

 fuppoled, that, were it cheap, three fuch difhes would be confumed for a breaktali: howver, to 

 avoid objec'lions, let us reckon but two ; which will require half an ounce of coffee, that is, four 

 times the weight of the tea, confcquently one pound in a month, ana twelve pounds in the 3 ear. 



It is common to give out one ot the fmall divifions in a cake ot chocolate (of which there are 

 eight in a quarter of a pound) to make one difli : two at leatl would be requifite for a breakfall ; and 

 they would weigh an ounce, which is eight times as much as the tea, and double the weight ot the 

 coitee. The contumption ot the month would be two pounds ; and, of the year, twenty-four. 



From hence it is plain, that, if tea is charged with duties and excife to the amount of 1 s. io\d. 

 fier pound, which is adfuatly the caie, roafted cotfee, of which/e/.r times the quantity is neceflary 

 for the fame purpofe, ought to j'ay hMl one fourth oi that fum, that is to fay, id. and |-ths /im- 

 pound ; and chocolate, one eighth part, or 4^. and -.'jths: and, if the duty and excife fliould con- 

 tinue to be paid on the cotfee before it is roafted, they ought to be near one quarter lefs, becaufe it 

 lofes ot its weight, in roafling, Z4lb. on ii2lb. The lots ot weight on the chocolate nut is lik?- 

 wife 1 8 lb. on an hundred. Allowing for which, the duty on roafted coflee will be reduced to 6|(/. 

 (and chocolate ftiould not pay quite 3^(/.) inftead of 331. 6(/.^fr hundred on plantation coffee at 

 the cuftom-houfe ; that is, 4 <^. /rr pound, and is. 6i/./<'r pound, at the excife; in aJl zz d. It 

 inuft be afterwards roafted, which reduces n 2 lb. to 88 lb. ; and izd. upon raw cotfee is full 21. ^ </. 

 on the roafted. 



On landing chocolate-nuts, i\ s. ■ii\d. per hundred is paid, which is 1 J </. per pound ; and the 

 «xcife on the chocolate, when made into cakes, is 2s. ^d. per ^oxinA more: therefore, the duty 

 »ipon a pound of this article is nearly the fame as on coftije, though diuhle the quantity is required 

 for a breakfaft^ The duties on tea are as follow : twenty-five ^r cent, ad valorem, paid by the Eaft- 

 India company, and as much by the buyer, making together fifty /ifr cent.; and that, on the average 

 value of tea, is ii\d. ^cr pound; for, according to the beft information from the tea-brokers, 

 5 1, ()d. is the mediu;/: price at the fales ; the high-priced forts, the hyfon and fouchon, not being a 

 tenth part of the Importation. Befides the above duties, there is i s. per pound excife ; in all 

 2 J. io| d. per pound on 3 5. 9 d. value, which is eighty per cent. : while plantation cotfee, which it 

 rated at i^d. though in reality it fells but for 6d. and chocolate-nuts, that are nearly of the fame 

 value, pay is. s^ d. per ^ownA, \v\{\c\\\i four hundred and eighty per cent. Nothing more is wanting 

 to prove the afTertion in regard to the duties, but the bringing into one point of view the fums that 

 Vol, III. 4 T ^oveinpient 



