224 
THF TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1889. 
practices to which Mr. Whitewright has so candidly 
confessed can rank within that standard. More 
grossly fraudulent proceedings can scarcely be oon- 
oeived, and the fact that they appear to have 
called forth no reprimand from the Eegistrar and 
have imposed no punishment by him upon the 
perpetrators of them, seems to demand the strictest 
attention by all those interested in the production 
of tea and its ultimate distribution, to safeguard 
their interests in the future. It is our belief that 
a strong memorial or protest against the action 
of the Kegistrar in this case should be addressed 
to the quarter by which such officials are con- 
trolled ; and it surprises us to observe that the 
remarks made by our contemporary of the Grocer 
should not have included some suoh recom- 
mendation. Indeed, the editorial remarks of 
that paper go little beyond a mere recapitulation 
of the facts, and deal with these in so light a 
strain, that the suspicion is almost forced upon 
the readers of them that this highly respectable 
paper, as the representative of the interests of the 
trade which forms its constituency, fears to call 
things by their proper name lest it should give 
offence to many members of the trade by whioh 
it is supported. 
But we who grow the tea, and who are largely 
dependent for our financial sucoess on the honesty 
of those who undertake its distribution, can 
be under no such apprehension, and can have 
no hesitation in saying that, if the grocery trade 
generally is content to abstain from active pro- 
test against such practices, it is practically con- 
doning a fraud and by so doing associating itself 
with responsibility for it. No terms can be too 
strong to apply to the acts of this bankrupt. We 
can conceive no transactions which should more justly 
have included Messrs. Whitewright, Brown & Co. 
within the class of fraudulent bankrupts. Had the 
members of this firm, in perhaps a despairing effort to 
keep their heads above water till the advent of better 
times, gone on trading after having the knowledge 
of their insolvency, they would have been so classed 
and would have incurred all the penalties of fraudulent 
bankruptcy. But, forsooth, because they have only 
been guilty of practices which cheat specially the 
unfortunate producer by damaging the reputation 
of his teas, they are to get off scot-free 1 It may 
be said that in this case it is the extremes which 
have suffered by the action of the middleman. 
The retail grocer has failed to get what he asked for, 
the producer has had his position affected by 
the affixure of his marks to teas of inferior or 
blended descriptions. At all events the Grocer only 
bestows its editorial pity on the first of these ; it 
has no word of sympathy for the second, for it 
simply remarks : " Here is a new pit-fall for the 
unsuspecting retailer 1" We need only quote here 
one statement made by the bankrupt in proof of our 
assertion that his acts were fraudulent in the 
highest imaginable degree. He is reported as 
having admitted that his firm had sold fifty chests 
of tea representing it to be of a certain mark and 
arrived by a particular ship, whereas in reality 
the tea was composed of teas of three different 
marks and ex different ships, although sold as 
one kind and not as a blend. This was part 
No. 1 of the system of fraud pursued. But that 
this should be successful, a further fraud, the for- 
gery of the marks, had to be carried out, and for 
this purpose we find this firm to have possessed 
itself of a variety of stenoil plates to enable the 
forgery to be made. We search the editorial com- 
ments of tho Grocer in vain for any thoroughgoing 
denunciation of these practices such as we might 
naturally have expected. But we find no indigna- 
tion expressed, only the statement that *' the 
moral of the story must not be omitted. However 
ingenious (!) Mr. Whitewright may have been in 
his style of business, he has not apparently made 
a fortune, and it would seem that his style does 
not pay." We oannot but feel regret that our 
contemporary should have plaoed the " moral " 
of this case on so low a level as this. To us — 
as we are sure it will to most of our readers — 
the " moral " should be sought in a far wider and 
higher reach ; for if it is a question simy of 
failure to pay, we fear much that there will still 
remain inducement for unscrupulous men to try 
their luck in similar courses in hope of more suc- 
cessful results 1 
« 
CEYLON TEA IN NEW ZEALAND. 
Mr. J. F. Wingate writes : — 
" In conneotioD with all that has been written about 
good done by the Tea Fund I send you under separate 
cover a Christ-church paper. Tou will see marked the 
different advertisements in which Ceylon teas are now 
mentioned, 'Ceylon teas are the finest and purest in the 
world ' &c, &c. When I went down to New Zealand 
I looked over every paper and could find no mention 
of ' Ceylon ' amongst the teas — inquired at the shops : 
but none seemed to keep it, or would not acknowledge 
to keeping it. After the distribution of the Tea Fund 
samples I was constantly asked where it could be got 
pure, and as I could not tell them I said ' Bully your 
grocer.' In due time you see the result in these 
advertisements : but whether all offered for sale is the 
pure article I cannot say. It is for you and the Colombo 
merchants to look up the shipments ! My friends in 
New Zealand are to send me up a few packets just 
as bought out of the shops, and after testing them, 
I may have some suggestions to lay before the Tea 
Fund about the Merchandize Marks Acts." 
The above is very satisfactory ; and this mail 
brings us a letter from Mr. Wm. Watson who 
says he is writing fully to the Planters' Associa- 
tion about Ceylon tea for the Exhibition. Mr. 
Watson has evidently thrown himself heartily into 
the duty impo-ed on him. He had been getting large 
quantities of Ceylon tea previously on private 
aocount, so that in acting publicly for the Planters' 
Association, he is in a manner giving up his little 
monopoly. But he quite recognises the importance 
of making Ceylon tea known : the more widely the 
better. 
An Agricultural Experimental Station in Java. — 
The report of the Committee of the Second Chamber 
upon the proposal of the Minister for the Colonies to 
extend the Government horticultural garden at 
Buitenzorg by the establishment of an experimental 
station in connection with agriculture in Nether- 
lands India, has been issued. Several members 
were disappointed, as they preferred granting sub- 
sidies to private stations, and they considered it 
very doubtful whether all kinds of produce could 
be examined efficiently at the Government's garden 
at Buitenzorg. Moreover, they expressed fears that 
this proposal, if adopted, would lead to a consider- 
able inorease of the expenditure, and that the 
establishment of a technologio-institution would 
be the natural consequenoe. It was further pointed 
out that although this measure would tend to the 
benefit of private institutions, the managers of 
the estates connected with it had not been con- 
sulted. On the other hand, it was argued that a 
Government experimental station was to be pre- 
ferred to private ones, whioh might probably be 
limited in their sphere of aotion. Some other 
members who were prepared to approve the pro- 
posal advise the granting of subsidies to private 
institutions as well. — Amtterdam dor., L. and C. 
Expren, Aug. 2nd. 
