8 4 8 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1882. 
use of chicory and other deleterious substances mixed with 
coffee. 
b November 3, 1852, a Treasury order prohibited the sale 
of loose chicory or mixed coffee and chicory. 
c February 28, 1853, another Treasury order issued 
allowing mixed coffee and chicory to be sold, if labelled 
" mixture of chicory and coffee." April, 1853, the duty £20 
per ton taken off Foreign chicory. 
d February 11, I860, duty of 6s per cwt. imposed on 
chicory. 
e February, 1861, duty increased to 12s. per cwt. upon 
chicory. 
/April 16, 1863, duty again increased to 26s. 6d. per 
cwt. on chicory. May 1, 1863, the Treasury order of 
February 23, 1853, rescinded, and permission given to sell 
coffee and chicory mixed without labelling. 
g 1st May, 1872, the duty on coffee reduced to 14s per 
cwt., and on chicory to 13s. 3d. per cwt. 
Those, who trade in this article, will not be 
surprized at the extraordinary figures published 
above, but to any one unaware of the obstacles 
thrown in the way of the consumers of coffee by 
British legislation, it will appear almost incredible 
to find that, whilst in 1S54, with a duty of 3d per 
lb. 37,472,000 lb. were consumed in this country, in 
1871, with the same duty and with a population 
which had increased by some 5 or 6 millions, the 
consumption fell to 31,000,000 lb. whilst in 1881, with 
a duty reduced by one-half, i.e-, to 14s per cwt. and 
a population greater than in 1871, by 3,400,000, the 
consumption was not more than 31,943,000 lb. 
This decrease in the use of one of the best and 
most wholesome of beverages, the consumption of 
which, in every other conntry of Europe and in 
the United States has increased enormously and goes 
on increasing year by year, is the direct result of a 
system of fraud and adulteration which has been 
carried on, and is growing steadily, as it were, under 
the tender care and solicitude of the British Go- 
vernment, who from time to time revise the regul- 
ations relating to the sale of coffee and the various 
cheap mixtures with which it is adulterated, so that 
the ingenious importer or manufacturer of ground and 
roasted acorns, or carrots or any other nasty com- 
pounds, may have full scope for the exercise of his 
industry. (I do not name chicory, which seems to 
have become an almost too respectable substitute, 
judging by the fact that even the consumption of 
chicory has been less in 1881 than in 1880). I do not 
think any one will call the above statement either 
exaggerated or highly colored, who will take the 
trouble to glance at the Treasury Orders, issued from 
time to time on the subject and which are enumerated 
as notes to the tabular statement. 
In this case it almost looks as if the Treasury and 
the Excise had taken pains to find means to check 
and prevent the s.de of coffee for consumption in 
this country without a thought to the loss of re- 
venue. The interests of the chicory growers of France, 
Belgium and the Channel Islands, and those of the 
class who live by the making or selling of spurious 
compounds, which are to bo palmed off as " good 
coffee with a mixture of chicory" appear to be deserv- 
ing of much more consideration, on the part of Go- 
vernment, than the interests of the millions in this 
country, who would like to drink either pure coffee 
or coffee mixed with a moderate proportion of chicory, 
but who cannot procure such an article in many of 
the small towns and villages of England ; or the in- 
terests of the thousands of British subjects, who have 
invested millions of money in the growth of coffee 
in the East Indies, in Ceylon, in Jamaica and other 
British Colonies ; or the still more numerous class of 
importers, dealers and grocers in this country, who 
M e an import int branch of their business gradually 
diminishing, owing to the increasing dislike of the 
public for the stuff which is sold now under the 
name of coffee. 
It is well known that Ceylon and British India pro- 
duce the finest coffee, and at one time the bulk of 
the consumption of this country was of those fine 
qualities ; but now an inferior article is found to do 
as well for mixing with the various compounds, and 
tho fine Plantation coffees from Ceylon find their way 
more and more to the Continent direct, where they 
are better appreciated. London is thus losing gradually 
a portion of its trade, and will probably go on losing 
it for there ie but little inducement for the importer 
to bring his goods to a market where there is less 
and less competition, owing to diminished requirements. 
Is there any good reason why the same regulations, 
which > re considered fair and necessary to protect the 
revenue from the tea duty, should not be applicable 
also to coffee? Why should tea be protected by legis- 
lation against adulteration and not coffee also ? Is it 
too late to bring the subject again under the consider- 
ation of Government ? Surely the coffee growing 
British Colonies or Possessions are as deeply interested 
in this quesion as the traders in this country; 
their representatives and the Planters' Associations, 
should not rest until they have succeeded in obtain- 
ing common justice and fair play for one of their 
most valuable and important productions, 
20th January, 1882. 
Since the above was in print, a treasury minute, 
dated 20th January, 1882, has been issued, directing 
H. M. Board of Customs to permit the importation, 
under a duty of 2d per lb. of coffee, chicory, or any 
other vegetable matter applicable to the uses of coffee or 
chicory, roasted and ground, mixed, without reference to 
the proportion of the mixture. 
Thus any roots, turnips, carrots, cabbage stalks, 
or any other rubbish which our clever and enterprising 
continental neighbours choose to roast and grind, and 
mix with an infinitesimal quantity of coffee or chicory 
will henceforth under government sanction, be pressed 
upon the British public, under the high sounding 
name of French or Belgian or Jersey coffee, or what- 
ever other attractive name the ingenuity of these 
manufacturers may invent. 
This stuff, which the public will find scarcely drink- 
able, will not cost more than 4d per lb. with the 
duty, and the clever adulterator and his agents who 
will sell it in the shops for 8d or lOd, or Is per lb., 
will realize a profit of 100 per cent, or more ; whilst 
the honest trader, who can make a fair profit by 
selling pure coffee at lOd per lb., will have but a 
poor chance against the unscrupulous trader who 
makes 100 per cent, on the sale of his mixture. 
To state these facts is sufficient to ensure the con- 
demnation of the system by any right-minded man, 
and I cannot but entertain the hope that, when proper 
representations are made on the subject, they will 
receive such consideration as will procure redress by 
Government. 
H. Pasteur, 38, Mincing Lane, London, 30th 
January, 1882. 
Mr. Geo. Wall — who arrived by the '"Vega' 1 on the 
26th Feb, and whom we are glad to welcome back in 
good health and with much of his old vigour — has 
busied himself as far as he possibly could with this 
matter while in England. He urged the great evil 
of the present system on merchants and brokers, and 
he has brought back with him a variety of samples 
of the "mixture" supplied as "coffee" to the work- 
ing classes in England. W T e trust there will be now 
no hesitation in forwarding a strong memorial on the 
subject from Ceylon at as early a date as possible. 
