May  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  695 
KITUL  FIBRE  IN  NEW  YORK. 
A new  substance  has  been  imported  and  classified 
l y the  name  of  “kittool.”  The  appraisers  find  :— 
1— “ That  Messrs.  Lewisohn  & Co.  imported  into  New 
York,  November  24th,  1891,  certain  fibre  invoiced  as 
kittool,  upon  which  duty  was  assessed  at  20  per 
c^nt  ad  valorem,  under  section  4,  aot  of  Ootober  1st, 
1890,  ns  a non-enumerated  manufactured  article.  2 — 
“ That  said  merchandise  is  a vegetable  fibre  and  is 
n t crude  fibre,  but  has  been  dyed  and  prepared  fit 
for  use  in  brushes  and  other  like  articles.  The  same 
is  not  cocoa  fibre.  “ The  importers  claim  that  the 
same  is  entitled  to  free  entry  under  paragraph  597 
N.  T.  as  a fibrous  vegetable  substance  unmanufactured 
and  uudressed.  “ This  claim  we  cannot  sustain,  and 
the  protest  13  overruled.”  The  dictionary  will  have 
to  be  enlarged  to  that  extent- — Boston  Commercial 
Bulletin ■ 
COFFEE  AND  TEA  STEALING 
PREVENTION  ACT. 
Tha  foil  wing  Petition  of  the  Nilgiri  Planter’s 
AfS"cia'ion  has  bests  presented  to  H.  E,  the  Governor 
of  Madras  iu  Council: — 
The  attention  of  your  Petitioners  ba3  been  forcibly 
drawn  of  late  to  the  disadvantageous  working  of 
Seotion  9,  of  The  Coffee  Stea  ing  Prevention  Act  XIII 
of  1878  which  runs  as  follows  j — ‘‘Any  oooly  maistry 
or  other  labi  urer  employ  sd  cn  a Coffee  Estate  found 
with  green  garnered  Cutfee  in  possession  and  failing 
to  accjuut  satisfactorily  lor  such  possession  shall  be 
liable  on  conviction  by  a Magistrate  to  pay  a fine 
not  exceeding  five  hundred  rupees.  That  the  words 
“labourer  employed  on  a CoffeeEstate  ” absolutely 
restiict  the  application  of  the  Act  as  far  as  this  Section 
is  concerned,  to  cases  of  theft  by  persons  so  employed. 
All  others  cases  of  theft  of  Coffee,  e.  y.  by  Carriers, 
Vagrants,  or  even  byroad  or  railway-coolies  employed 
by  Government  or  Dy  a Company  and  living  in  or 
near  Coffee,  have  to  be  taken  uudsr  the  Indian 
Penal  Ci  de,  which  torows  the  onus  probandi  on  the 
proseoution,  and  thus  lenders  a conviction  impossi- 
ble except  in  those  very  rare  casas  where  the  offender 
is  actually  caught  iu  the  act  of  stealing  Your 
Petitioners  respectfully  submit  that  the  Act  was 
originally  intended  to  be  capable  of  dealing  with 
ail  oases  ot  eottee  pilfering,  and  that  the  altered  and 
developed  conditions  which  uow  obtain,  such  as  the 
construction  of  railways  find  roads,  and  increased 
traffic  generally,  call  for  the  alteration,  of  this  Section 
by  the  use  of  tho  word  “ person  “instead of  “ labourer,” 
aud  by  the  omission  ot  the  words  “ employed  on  a 
coffee  estate,”  thus  making  the  Section  commence — 
“Anycooly  maistry  or  other  person  found,  with,”  &o.  In 
a recent  case  where  a railway  cooly,  camped  on  the 
edge  of  a field  of  coffee,  was  detected  with  some 
freshly-gathered  coffee , in  his  possession,  the  Court 
ruled  that  the  case  could  not  be  dealt  with  under  this 
Aot,  as  the  accused  was  not  actually  employed  on 
a coffee  estgle.”  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that 
the  cjoly  was  .acquitted  in  consequence.  That,  in 
this  same  Section  9,  the  words  “ green-gathered  ” be 
omitted  before  “ coffee,”  leaving  “ooffee”  to  stand  as  it 
is  explained  in  the  Act.  Your  Petitioners  submit  that 
a strictly  technical  rendering  of  the  expression  “ green- 
gathered  coffee  ” would  prevent  the  other  and 
much  more  abundant  forms  of  the  produce,  such  as 
red  cherry  coffee,  dry  cherry,  parohment  ooffee,  &c., 
tram  inclusion  under  this  Section.  The  loss  from 
thieving  continually  sustained  by  planters,  and  the 
great  difficulty  that  is  experienced,  in  first  detecting 
the  offenders,  and  then  in  obtaining  a conviction,  are, 
in  the  opiuion  of  this  Association,  more  than  suffi. 
cient  grounds  for  requestiog  the  favourable  considera- 
tion of  Your  Excellency  iu  Counoil  to  remedy  the 
above  serious  drawbacks  in  this  Act.  Your  petitioners 
would  further  pray  that  tea,  whioh  has  now  come 
into  oommon  use  among  the  local  tribes  as  well  as 
among  natives  generally,  who  have  not  before  indulged 
iu  the  beverage,  may  be  protected  by  a Bpecial 
legislation  similarly  to  ooffee.  Oasea  of  theft  of  tea 
have  of  late  become  alarmingly  common,  and  as  the 
tea  of  any  one  estate  is  practically  the  same  ns  that 
from  other  properties  in  the  same  district,  the  identi- 
fication on  oath  of  stolen  produce  is  all  but  im- 
possible. Tea  therefore  now  labours  under  the  same 
disadvantage  in  this  respect  os  coffee  did  formerly. 
It  would  seem,  therefore  only  equitable  that  tea 
whioh  grows  along  side  of,  aud  often  even  among 
coffee,  should  enjoy  the  privilege  of  projection  which 
the  latter  to  a great  ex  ter  • does  under  the  Act. — 
M.  Mail,  March  25. 
COFFEE  PLANTING  IN  JAVA. 
Sir, — In  your  issue  of  the  27th  of  January  last 
appears  an  extract  from  a letter  from  Mr.  Donald 
Maekay,  Perak,  comparing  coffee  planting  in  Perak 
with  the  same  culture  in  Java.  Mr.  Maekay  writes: — ■ 
“Why  do  Ceylon  planters  go  to  Java  when  they 
can  get  as  good  a soil,  and  perhaps  a more  suitable 
climate,  here  ?” 
In  commenting  on  above  you  say: — “We  are 
quite  at  one  with  Mr.  Maekay  as  to  the  superior 
advantages  of  Perak  as  a field  for  British  enterprise. 
Java  labours  under  many  disadvantages: — a Dutch 
Government,  heavy  taxation,  and  a gold  coinage, 
whereas  Perak  is  very  much  favored  iu  every  way. 
Labor  is  the  only  difficulty,  and  that,  as  Mr.  Maekay 
shows,  is  gradually  being  overcome.” 
May  I request  you  kindly  to  allow  me  space  in 
your  paper  to  make  a few  criticisms  on  Mr.  Mackay’s 
letter  and  on  your  own  remarks  thereon  ? I may 
preface  my  remarks  by  saying  that  my  Java  ex- 
perience extends  over  a period  of  upwards  of  18 
years.  With  Perak  I am  not  acquainted.  I have, 
however,  resided  for  several  months  in  the  State  of 
Selangor,  which  adjoins  Perak,  aud  where,  so  far 
as  I know,  conditions  as  to  soil,  labour,  climate, 
&c.,  are  very  much  the  same  as  those  of  Perak.  I 
venture,  therefore,  to  assert  that,  neither  in  point  of 
soil  nor  in  that  of  climate,  can  the  Malay  Peninsula 
compare  with  Java.  From  Mr.  Mackay’s  remarks, 
therefore, 'I  can  only  conclude  that  that  gentleman  has 
never  visited  Java.  As  regards  labor,  Java  is  im- 
measurably ahead  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  in  every 
respect.  Java  possesses  a rich  and  productive 
volcanic  soil,  a fine  climate  for  coffee,  while  indi- 
genous native  labor  of  a good  class  is  everywhere 
obtainable.  Coolie  hire  is  about  tenpence  per  diem. 
The  disadvantages  which  you  refer  to  of  coffee-plant- 
ing in  .Java  are  three  in  number,  viz. : — (1)  A Dutch 
Government.  (2)  Heavy  taxation.  (3)  A gold 
coinage. 
I shall  proceed  to  deal  with  these  in  detail. 
(1)  A Dutch  Government.— Well,  I must  confess 
that  to  British  the  slow  and  lethargic  lines  adopted 
by  Dutch  officials  are  not  pleasant.  On  the  other 
hand  the  Government,  when  it  grants  lands  to  planters, 
does  so  on  very  fair  conditions. 
(2)  Heavy  Taxation  — The  taxes  which  a coffee 
planter  has  to  pay  are  the  following,  viz. : — 
(a)  Grounds  are  granted  on  a 75  years’  tenure 
on  payment  of  a tax  called  “ erfpacht.”  This  is  at 
the  rate  of  one  guilder  (Is.  3d.)  per  boun  (1  boun 
equals  If  acres)  per  annum.  The  lessee,  however, 
is  free  of  this  tax  during  the  first  five  years  of 
tenure,  (b)  “ Verpending.” — A tax  of  § per  cent, 
per  annum  on  assessed  value  of  the  estate.  This 
tax,  however,  is  not  levied  till  the  sixth  yqar  of 
the  estate’s  existence,  (c)  An)  income  tax  of  2 per- 
cent. per  annum  on  nett  income.  (<7)  A house  and 
furniture  tax,  amounting  to  about  7 per  cent,  on 
house  rent,  (e)  A horse  tax  of  about  ten  shillings 
per  annum  per  horse. 
I come  now  to  the  third  and  last  disadvantage 
alluded  to  by  yon,  “A  gold  coinage.”  Now,  I don’t 
profess  to  be  an  authority  on  “mono,”  “ bi,”  or  any 
other  kind  of  metallism.  I do,  however,  profess  to 
represent  Java  opinion  when  I say  that  we  here  are 
very  satisfied  with  our  gold  coinage,  and  have  not 
the  slightest  desire  to  exchange  it  for  the  experience 
of  Ceylon  and  other  places  in  the  East,  who  are 
now  struggling  with  "all  the  difficulties  and  fluctu- 
ations of  a silver  standard.  The  reasons  of  our 
