8z6 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1889. 
ME. GOSCHEN ON TROPICAL PEODUCTS 
AND DEINK. 
The following verbatim report gives the part of 
Mr. Goschen's Budget speech in which we are most 
interested : — 
Take the case of dried fruits. Raisins, figs, and 
plums are up to the Estimate, but currants are 33,000/. 
or ten per cei.t more than the estimate. This is one 
of those cases where it is true that is an ill wind 
that blows no one any good. France has been exclud- 
ing Greek currants, and, in consequence of this, Greek 
currants have come in constantly-increasing quantities 
upon the English market (Opposition cheers), increas- 
ing the consumption and adding to the Revenue. To- 
bacco shows an increase of 145,000/!., but it fell short 
of the Estimate by 41,000?. The increase is per 
cent. We anticipated 2 per cent owing to the fact 
that the water clauses did not come into effect until 
last year. But there is a rather strange point to 
mention, and it shows the precariousness of some of 
these taxes. I thought that, with increasing trade.it 
would be possible to estimate an increase upon the 
yield cn tobacco ; but I am told that there was 
a very large crop of a particular kind of tobacco, 
which smokes more slowly than the other kinds 
(laughter.) Consequently, for the same amount 
of bought tobacco the smoker is able to enjoy 
himself for a longer time, and to get as much satis* 
faction out of his pipe (laughter.) Thus, the revenue 
suffers, but I trust that there is no diminution 
in the enjoyment afforded to the consuming classes by 
the tobacco crops. I now come to an interesting head 
— the great item of drink — and I will give the place 
of honour to the sober beverages in the first instance. 
Coffee maintains its character of dull uniformity ; cocoa 
has yielded 6,000?. more than before, and that not on 
a very large revenue. But coffee is 2,000?. less. Coffee 
will not move (laughter) ; and here, again, some experts 
give an extraordinary and not uninteresting expla- 
nation. I give it for what it is worth. They say that 
cocoa has actually been puffed into its present more 
satisfactory condition by the energy of ambitious ad- 
vertisers (laughter.) "Grateful and comforting" have 
had their tffect (laughter). Tea also enjoys with cocoa 
a vast amount of advertising. Somehow or other 
coffee has been neglected in that respect : coffee is 
dull, and never will yield even a small increase, if in- 
crease is taken in the estimate, notwithstanding the 
increase of population. But cocoa, coffee, and chicory 
give only a very small revenue compared with the 
great item of tea. The total yield is only 328,0002. 
which is as nothing to the 4,628,000?. we get from 
tea. Yet, large as is this revenue from tea, it is 
again disappointing. There is an increase of only 
15,000?. over the year before, which is one-third per 
cent., while the population has increased at the rate 
of one per cent., so that there is practically a de- 
crease per head in the oonsumption of tea, Experts 
account for this by two circumstances. They suggest — 
though they do not rest at all strongly upon the 
point — that a certain amount of tea has been kept 
back owing to the expectation and possibility that the 
duty might be reduced ; and secondly, there is the 
analogous case in tea with that which I quoted as 
regards tobacco. I explained last year — and I think 
my predecessors have done — that Indian tea is to a 
great extent superseding China tea ; at all events, 
it is competing with it to a constantly greater ex- 
tent. Indian tea is so much stronger than China 
tea, that again a pound of it goes further, and a 
larger number of cups of tea may be drunk, notwith- 
standing the falling off in the revenue and in the 
consumption of pounds of tea per head. That is an 
explanation which those who advise me insist is 
absolutely correct ; and, while great benefit is derived 
by India from the export of tea, there is little 
doubt that it has an effect on our revenue. Thus, 
the sober beveiages yield together 6,000,000?., but 
they pay little as contributors to the revenue when 
compared with the 27,000,000?. which are given by 
spirituous drinks. But I have very good news for the 
iriendi of the temperance cause (cheers), though it has 
made, and continues to m ike, a gap in the receipts of 
the Exchequer. The drink revenue does not increase 
with the growth of population (tear, hear.) I propose 
to place before the Committee some very interesting 
diagrams, which will show how during the last five- 
and-twenty years the consumption of drink bag in- 
creased or decreased, as compared with the population, 
and as compared with the other great articles of con- 
sumption. W hile most of them keep near the line of 
population, there is a very material and striking fall 
in the consumption of spirituous drinks (hear, hear). 
But it might be thought that now that we are at a 
critical moment, and that a revival of trade would 
again lead to an increase in the revenue from drink. 
It has not been so (cheers ) There are, however, 
most interesting facts from a statistical point of view 
which hon. members will see from these diagrams. 
There is a most curious relation between the con- 
sumption of wine and that of other spirituous be- 
verages. The year which showed the higu- water mark 
of spirits was 1875-76, and, ouriously enough, that 
was the time when the wine revenue also reached 
its highest point. It rose up to that year, and it 
has continuously fallen since. The same year, when 
the mass of the population seemed to have rushed to 
bottled spirits, other classes seem to have rushed to the 
decanter of wine; and as the one became more sober 
the others followed their example-.. "Wine yielded last 
year 1,210,000?. as against 1,0850,00?. in the preceding 
year. The increase is entirely due to the extra 
tax on sparkling wines, which gave 163,000?. 
(cheers.) Otherwise there would have been a 
decrease of 38 000?., which is about the normal 
decrease. Since 1876 the total consumption has sunk 
from 17,000,000 gallons to 13,000,000 gallons ; and that 
includes a larger consumption of lighter wines, which 
have risen from 6,000,000 to 8,000 000 gallons. For- 
merly, the lighter wines were only one-third of the 
whole ; now they are one-half. Whatever be the 
cause — whether due to temperance, or, as some main- 
tain, to the use of the cigarette immediately after 
dinner (laughter), which arrests the circulation of the 
decanter — the fact remains that there is this extra- 
O-diaary decline in wine as an article of consumption. 
— Standard- 
« 
" THE FINEST DEEE IN THE WOELD." 
This is the title of an article which appears 
in the National Review. According to the writer, 
Mr. Seton-Karr, M.P., the finest deer in the world 
is the Wapiti stag of North America. Though 
not so large as the Canadian moose, he is in- 
finitely more elegant and graceful, and carries a 
magnificent head. The following are some selec- 
tions from Mr. Karr's article : — 
THE WEIGHT OF A WAPITI STAG. 
A fully-matured Wapiti stag will turn the scale 
at from 60 to 75 stone, and his antlers of from 
12 to 18 tines (though anything over a 12 or 14 
pointer is rare) will measure 60 inches and over 
along the curve. The following are the dimensions 
of a Wapiti, taken by myself. He was a 12-point 
stag of ordinary size, measured as he lay dead 
on the ground : — 
Height at shoulder ... ... 5 ft. 4 in. 
Girth behind shoulder ... ... 6 ft. 2 in. 
The following are the authenticated measure- 
ments of the two best pair of 'Wapiti antlers 
shown amongst the " Sporting Trophies" of the 
American Exhibition of 1887 : — 
No. 1 (16 points). Length along curve 62§ in. 
Beam or circumference between bay 
and tray ... ... 8 in. 
Span ... ... ... 4&| in. 
No. 2(12 points). Length along curve 60|in. 
Beam or circumference between bay 
and tray ... ... 7-$ in. 
Span ... ... ... 62 in. 
