66i 
COFFEE: BRAZIL NOTES. 
The coffee planters of Barra Mansa have made a 
formal protest against the iniquitous manner in which 
the taxes on coffee are being collected. 
The export tax on coffee in Rio de Janeiro and 
Minas Geraes is 11 per cent on the market price, 
in Bspirito Santo it is 12 per cent, and in Bahia 
it is 18 per cent. The taxes are for account of the 
state treasuries. — Rio News. 
COFFEE IN THE STRAITS. 
As bearing upon ihe launching of the Petaling 
Coffee Company, noticed elsewhere, it may be added, 
as evidence that Klang has an excellent planting 
future before it, that there are nearly four hundred 
native applications for land in that district still to 
be dealt with. This fact alone should show the 
Government that decent treatment of that industry 
will not be thrown away in the long run. — S. F. Press. 
MR. H. H. JOHNSTON, C. B. AND SIKHS 
FOR BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. 
Lahore, March 8. — Mr. H. H. Johnston, Com- 
missioner for British Central Africa, visited Lahore 
on Thursday and left for Peshawar. His object is 
the enlistment of Sikhs for service in Africa, and he 
had an interview on the subject with Bhai Gurmuk? 
Sing, Chief Secretary of the Khalsa Diwau. While 
at .Lahore Mr. Johnston also visited the Mayo 
School of Art, for it is his intention to iaiport Sikh 
carpenters with whose work he was very much struck 
as well as with the Sepoys, and he will probably 
succeed in establishing a permanent Sikh colony in 
Central Africa. From Peshawar he goes to Amritsar, 
Ludhiana and perhapb Patiala, the leading Sikh State ; 
thence to Agra and Bombay, leaving India by the 
end of the month.— .V. Mail. 
RHEA. 
Dr. Watt, Reporter on Economic Products to 
the Government of India, proceed* early next 
week to Rungpur, to institute an enquiry re- 
garding' the indigenous rhea fibre. From Rungpur 
lie goes to Assam, being under the orders of the 
Government of India to devote the next three 
or four months to the study of tea blights. — 
Mnglinhman, 
INDIAN TEA AND THE ANTWERP 
EXHIBITION. 
The following report on the sale of Indian tea at 
the Antwerp Exhibition has been forwarded by the 
Indian Planters' Co-operative Tea Supply Association, 
Limited, to Mr. E. Tye, secretary to the Indian Tea 
Association (London):— 
"'Dear Sir, — We lug to hand you herewith our 
accounts and vouchers for expenditure at the Antwerp 
International Exhibition, showing a loss to us beyond 
tho £50 contributed by your association of iaV.) 7s Id. 
"The profit realised on tho refreshment contract, 
for which £50 premium was paid, was only £(> lHs 
8d.| and tho refreshment contractors attribute tho 
comparatively small sale of tea by them partly to 
the great number of concessions granted to the 
Exhibition authorities in excess of the number anti- 
cipated when our agreement with them was under 
discussion, and partly to the very unfavourable weather 
experienced throughout the summer, which was re- 
markable for continuous wet and cold. 
" The Exhibition itself was very extensive, and 
contained a very huge collection of valuable exhibits, 
but it can hardly be regarded as having been 
successful from an exhibition point of view. The 
number of visitors was small compared to that 
which an International Exhibition m London or 
Purls would have attracted, and what visitors 
there wore did uot stay long, the weather being 
Bigst unfavourable and 'Antwerp offering none of. 
the attractions of a metropolitan city. We think, 
however, that the object of your association was 
attained, as Indian tea was used and advertised 
throughout the Exhibition by the English restaurant, 
and was very favourably spoken of by the visitors 
there. A large number of circulars in French and 
Flemish were distributed both by the restaurant 
which was in the ground and by a stall in the Ex- 
hibition. We were able on a small scale to make a 
good show of Indian tea in the Exhibition, for which 
we were much indebted to Messrs. J. Barry and Co., 
who lent us a number of exhibition samples of fine 
Indian teas. 
" The arrangements for their representation of 
Indian tea were made so late that we could not 
provide for serving tea in cup in the Exhibition, 
but this drawback was minimised by the fact that 
the English restaurant was supplying Indian tea, and 
that the Exhibition itself was closed at six p.m., the 
grounds only remaining open after that hour. 
" The arrangement of the Indian Section was most 
unsatisfactory, and the contributions of the Govern- 
ment were most meagre, and compared very favour- 
ably with the exhibits of the Dutch and other colo- 
nies. What was supposed to be the Indian Section 
was half filled with Indian exhibits — furniture, sweet- 
meats, imitation diamonds, &c, while one or two 
Indian art exhibits were placed right in the middle 
of the British Section. We hope that the next time 
India is represented at an International Exhibition 
the sectiou will be placed in the hands of some In- 
dian authority, such as Sir George Birdwood, who 
is well known to be keenly interested in Indian pro- 
duce and industries." 
[This report was read and adopted at a meeting 
of the directors held on Tuesday, February- 12 1895 1 — 
//. & C. mu. 
Coffee Prospects Improved ; Speculations 
in Havre. — The Statist winds up a long article 
on coffee speculations, as follows : — 
The principal reason for the change of feeling which 
has taken place with regard to the prospects of coffee 
is undoubtedly the receipt within the last four weeks 
of telegrams from Brazil which give very unfavourable 
accounts of the next crop, estimates of the total for 
Rio and Santos together being only about 5| million bags. 
Long before these arrived, however, a private gentle- 
man residing in Paris conceived the idea of squeezing 
the "Bears," and advancing the price of coffee It 
is to Don Guzman Blanco, ex-President of the Republic 
of Venezuela, that the honour belongs of initiating the 
"Bull" speculation in coffee. But for his interposition 
we should not now have coffee at quite so high a price 
which we see quoted today (February 2). He instructed 
his brokers and agents in Havre Co buy coffee for deli- 
very in December, the quantities which" he was orepared 
to buy being so large that some difficulty was experienced 
in getting his orders filled, owing to the fact that verv 
few merchants were inclined to act for him. So little 
sympathy was there with his manipulations in Havre, 
that the Clearing House authorities there increased the 
deposit to be paid for the "December" position, and 
about that time the prospects for the success of his 
operations looked very unpromising indeed. Just at the 
critical point, however, when December was drawing near 
news arrived of cholera having made its appearance in 
the interior of Brazil. As there was some substratum of 
truth in the report, the " Bears " became alarmed, and 
rushed m to cover their sales of ".March" and "Mav" 
deliveries, and naturally this imparted some strength t.> tin' 
" December " position. In this way a better tone was im- 
parted to the market, and enabled General Blanco t,> 
make arrangements for taking up the coffee tendered to 
ttim agfUlUjt his December contracts. The quantity so 
tendered amounted to no less than 180,000 bags of coffee 
uivolving a value of aboul ETSOjOOO sterling, and it is 
reported that part of this coffee is hypothecated in 
Havre and part in Paris, with a margin of 80 percent. 
It was a bold operation at the time it was undertaken 
quite worthy of a Kaltenbach, and might very easily 
have resulted in an enormous loss. Thanks to cholera 
reports, ni the Hist instance, and unfavourable weather 
for tlie growing crop in llrazil, j n the second instance 
the cx-Dietator of Venezuela is likely to make some 
profit instead of a loss from this hazardous speculation 
It is a pleasure to | H . able to [dace on record that on 
this occasion nearly all the leading merchants of Havre 
abstained from taking part in manipulations Which in 
he long run van but have the effect of iujurlnfl the in. 
teresU uf. this important coafceraa] centre, • 
