Nov.  I,  1892.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
STATISTICAL  FALSEHOODS : A DISINGEN- 
UOUS ATTEMPT  TO  BOLSTER 
UP  CHINA  TEA. 
It  is  an  old  saying  that  figures  can  he  so  dealt  with 
as  to  represent  anything,  that  by  a transposition 
in  fact,  or  the  quotation  on  one  side  only  of  the 
question  it  is  desired  to  represent,  the  truth  can 
be  made  to  appear  to  rest  in  precisely  the  opposite 
direction  to  that  in  which  fair  representation  would 
apportion  it.  There  has  never,  perhaps,  been  a 
fuller  and  more  decisive  exposition  of  this  state- 
ment than  was  exhibited  when  Sir  Arthur  Gordon 
desired  to  make  it  appear  that  the  financial  con- 
dition of  our  harbour  was  so  unfavourable  as  to 
prevent  any  further  expenditure  being  inourred 
upon  it.  According  to  Sir  Arthur  Gordon’s  figures 
the  revenue  derived  from  our  harbour  was  con- 
siderably below  the  annual  outlay  inourred  upon 
its  maintenance  and  working  ; but  when  his  figures 
came  to  be  analysed  it  was  proved  that  in  the 
expenditure  stated  by  them  had  been  included  the 
payments  made  for  the  Binking  fund,  or  in  other 
words  the  gradual  paying  off  of  the  oapital  outlay. 
When  this  was  eliminated  from  the  account,  it 
was  demonstrable  that,  so  far  from  our  harbour 
revenue  being  insufficient  to  meet  the  annual 
expenses  connected  with  it,  there  remained  a very 
material  excess  of  revenue  over  expenditure.  Of  a 
similar  character  of  misstatement  has  been  the 
assertion  made  during  the  course  of  correspondence 
in  the  Lon  ion  Standard  to  the  effect  that  the  tea 
of  Ohina  still  maintains  a high  position  in  the 
home  consumption  of  that  article.  This  assertion 
was  put  forward  by  a firm  of  brokers  of  high 
standing,  which  occupies  perhaps  a leading  position 
among  these  brokers  whose  business  had  for  very 
many  years  been  almost  exclusively  confined  to 
dealing  with  the  tea  imported  with  Great  Britain 
from  the  Celestial  Empire.  According  to  what  that 
firm  wrote,  and  by  its  quotation  of  figures,  it  would 
have  seemed  that  China  tea  still  occupies  a very 
important  position  in  the  item  of  home  consump- 
tion ; and,  had  it  remained  uncontradioted,  the 
conclusion  might  naturally  have  been  come  to  by 
the  general  public  at  home  that  all  that  it  had 
read  as  to  the  rapid  supersession  of  the  China 
variety  by  those  of  India  and  Ceylon  growth  was 
a palpable  falsity.  Fortunately  for  the  exposition 
of  the  truth  there  have  not  been  wanting  those 
capable  of  demonstrating  the  incorreotness  of  the 
interpretation  put  upon  the  figures  quoted.  These 
had  been  taken  from  official  sources  ; and  to  those 
not  fully  acquainted  with  the  specialities  of  the 
tea  trade  would  have  seemed  to  be  authoritative 
as  to  the  correctness  of  the  deductions  made  from 
them.  But  it  is  a significant  fact  that,  by  stopping 
short  of  full  analysis  of  the  returns  made  use  of, 
blaok  was  made  to  appear  white  and  white  to 
assume  the  tint  of  black.  We  do  not  pause  to 
dilate  upon  the  manifest  injustioe — nay,  down- 
right dishonesty — of  suoh  a course.  As  to  this 
our  readers  may  well  be  left  to  judge  for  them- 
selves. The  imports  of  China  tea  and  those  of 
India  and  Ceylon  were  no  doubt  correctly  giveD, 
but  the  fact  was  absolutely  ignored  that  a very 
large  proportion  of  the  imports  from  China  were 
distined  for  re-export  and  never  entered  at  all 
into  the  consumption  by  British  tea  drinkers. 
When  these  re-exports  were  allowed  for,  it  was 
proved,  that,  of  all  the  tea  drunk  throughout 
England,  Scotland,  Ireland  and  Wales,  only  about 
17  per  cent  was  of  Chinese  growth,  and  that  the 
balance  of  83  per  oent  was  exclusively  t that  of 
India  and  Ceylon.  Sir  Charles  Dilke  was  there 
lore  most  certainly  correct  in  the  statements  he 
made  upon  this  matter  of  the  home  consumption 
of  tea.  But  he  was,  perhaps,  not  sufficiently 
well  acquainted  with  the  technicalities  of  the  pub. 
lished  returns  to  be  able  to  stat6  his  case  with 
that  suocinotness  whioh  was  neoessary  to  carry 
full  conviction.  It  needed  the  after-dealing  with 
the  subject  by  another  firm  of  brokers  to  bring 
to  light  and  expose  the  fallacies  whereby  the  cham- 
pions of  the  China  tea  trade  had  endeavoured  to 
bolster  up  the  assertions  made  by  them.  All 
causes  must  suffer  by  such  a disingenuous  state- 
ment of  their  oaee,  and  Ceylon  has  especial  reason 
to  complain  that,  in  oonjunotion  with  its  great 
neighbour,  India,  it  has  been  exposed  to  a tup- 
pressio  veri  for  which  it  must  be  difficult,  nay 
quite  impossible,  to  find  any  palliation  or  exouse 
whatever.  The  bulk  of  the  China  tea  for  whioh 
home  use  was  claimed  never  penetrated  into  the 
country  further  than  the  bonding  warehouses  to 
which  its  was  temporally  consigned.  Foreign 
markets,  foreign  purchasers  and  foreign  users 
absorbed  this  bulk;  and  this  fact  was,  we  fear,  studi- 
ously kept  back  in  order  to  make  it  appear  that 
the  superiority  olaimed  for  the  consumption  of 
India  and  Ceylon  varieties  had  been  wrongfully 
asserted. 
4 
THE  PEESENT  PEICE  OP  TEA  AND 
LOCAL  PEODUCTION. 
We  constantly  hear  it  said  that  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence should  riiotate  oaution  as  to  the  opening  out 
of  fresh  areas  of  land  for  tea  planting  in  Ceylon. 
It  is  argued  that  until  new  markets  can  be  found 
for  some  of  that  we  already  produoe  further 
increase  in  production  is  likely  to  be  injurious  to 
the  stability  of  our  present  greatest  industry. 
Opposed  to  this  view  have  been  the  statement 
of  suoh  men  as  Mr.  Roberts  of  Messrs.  I.  Eucker  <fc 
Co.,  whose  view  has  all  along  been  that  the 
British  market  oan  absorb  all  that  Ceylon  can 
send  to  it  up  to  the  high  figure  of  100  millions  of 
pounds  annually.  That  Mr.  Roberts  and  those  who 
shared  his  opinion  were  not  altogether  wrong  has 
been  shown  by  the  extraordinary  manner  in  which 
China  tea  has  made  way  for  that  of  Ceylon  and 
Iudia  in  Mincing  Lane.  But  we  as  tea  planters 
have  to  take  a somewhat  different  standpoint  to 
that  upon  wh’ch  Mr.  Roberts  founded  his 
assertion.  Great  Britain  would  almost  cer- 
tainly absorb  all  we  can  send  her  up 
to  the  figure  mentioned  ; but  then  the  question 
arises  whether  her  people  are  ready  to 
pay  the  prioe  for  whioh  alone  it  would 
be  worth  the  while  of  our  planters  to  supply  her. 
Very  reoently  we  have  been  favoured  with  a marked 
increase  in  the  rates  obtained  for  our  teas  in 
London,  and  Ihe  consensus  of  home  expert  opinion 
seem  to  justify  the  hope  that  this  increase  may 
prove  lasting,  may  continue  at  all  events  for 
some  considerable  time.  But  when  that  opinion 
is  asked  to  aocount  for  this  improvement  it 
is  distinctly  stated  as  being  due  to  a restriction 
of  export  from  this  island  during  the  last  few 
months.  Were  our  export  again  to  inorease, 
or  to  promise  to  greatly  further  expand  in 
the  near  future,  the  question  might  well  be 
asked  if  the  improvement  in  price  now  notioe- 
able  would  be  likely  to  be  maintained.  Now, 
if  we  are  to  go  on  adding  field  to  field 
as  there  has  been  so  marked  a tendenoy  to  do 
during  the  last  few  years,  it  is  certain  our  figures 
of  export  must  again  rise,  at:d  then,  to  judge 
from  all  experience,  there  will  fo  low  a recession 
of  the  prices  to  old  standard  at  which  tea  cultivation 
cannot  be  made  remunnerative,  at  all  events 
