82 



TEA. 



than 410 Ibs. According to Millmrn'a "Oriental Commerce," 

 the- consumption in 1711 was 141,995 Ibs.; 120,595 Ibs. in 1715, 

 and 237,904 Ibs. in 1720. In 1745 the amount was 730.729 Ibs. 

 For above a century and a half, the sole object of the East India 

 Company's trade with China was to provide tea for the consump- 

 tion of the United Kingdom. The company had the exclusive 

 trade, and were bound to send orders for tea, and to provide ships 

 to import the same, and always to have a year's consumption in 

 their warehouses. The teas were disposed of in London, where 

 only they could be imported, at quarterly sales. The act of 1834, 

 however, threw open the trade to China. 



From a Parliamentary return, showing the quantity of tea re- 

 tained for home consumption in the United Kingdom, in each 

 year, from 1740 to the termination of the East India Company's 

 sales, and thence to the present time, it appears that in 1740, 

 1,493,695 Ibs. of tea we're retained for home consumption. Two 

 years afterwards, the quantity fell to 473,868 Ibs., and in 1767 

 only 215,019 Ibs. were retained. Xext \ ear the amount increased 

 to ' 3,155,417 Ibs. ; in 1769 it was 9,114,854 Ibs.; in 1795, 

 21,342,845 Ibs. ; in 1836, 49,842,236 Ibs. 



The return in question also specifies the quantity of the various 

 kinds of tea, with the average sale prices. 



According to the annual tea reports of Messrs. A\ r . J. Thomp- 

 son arid Son, and Messrs. W. E. Franks and Son, the total im- 

 ports of tea during the last fifteen years were as follows, 

 reckoned in millions of Ibs. : 



Years. 

 1838 

 1839 

 1840 

 1841 

 1842 

 1843 

 1844 

 1845 

 1846 

 1847 

 1848 

 1849 

 1850 

 1851 

 1852 



Black. 



26,786 



30,644 



21,063 



24,915 



31,915 



39,513 



39,644 



39,518 



44,017 



46,887 



37,512 



43,234 



39,873 



62,369 



55,525 



Green. 



8,215 

 7,680 

 7,161 

 6,303 

 9,729 

 7,340 

 8,749 

 11,790 

 12,486 

 8,368 

 7,611 

 9,156 

 8,427 

 9,131 

 9,175 



The duty on tea was gradually raised from 9d. per Ib. in 1787 

 to 3s. a Ib.'in 1806. It was 2s. 2d. per Ib. until May, 1852, when 

 4d. per 11). was taken off, and further annual reductions are to be 

 made. Down to the year 1834 the duty was an ad valorem one 

 of 96 per cent, on all teas sold under 2s. a Ib., and of 100 per 

 cenl . on all that were sold at or above 2s., charged on the prices 

 which they brought at the East India Company's sales. The ad 

 valorem duties ceased on the 22nd of April, 1834, and under the 

 act 3 and 4 William IV. c. 100, all tea imported into the United 



