Feb. 1, 1901.] THE TEOPICAL 
AGEICULTURIST. 
565 
To the Editor. 
TAX ON TEA. 
[To the Editor, "Home and Colonial Mail.]" 
Sir, — Tea is essentially the beverage of the 
masses— it refreshes, invii,'orates, and stimulates, 
without if properly brewed, possessing any baneful 
properties ; and it has come into such univerai use 
amongst all classes that it can no longer be looked 
upon as a luxury, but must be treated as an actual 
necessity to ev^ry man, woman, ami child in 
Great Britain; and y«t the policy of our Govern- 
ment has always been to do its utmost to restrict 
the use of tea by taxing it to a greater degree 
than any other necessary article of food or drink 
imported into our isiancls. 
This tax at present amounts to fully cent, per 
cent upon seven-eighth^ of the tea we drink,- i e. 
tea that is sold at 6 1 per lb in Mincing Lane has 
to pay a tax of another 6d per lb before it can 
reaeii the grocers, and in gross it yields a yearly 
total of fully £6,1:00,000, to the Exchequer. 
Now your ordinary readers will say that this 
subject does not affect them, inasmuch as tlie price 
of tea retailed to the public has steadily declineil 
of late years, and this in spite of the addition of 
2d to tlie tax made in the spring of Ust year. 
This, indeed, is the case at the pieserit moment; 
but it cannot and will not last foi', as, of course, 
is not generally known, although none the less an 
absolui e tact, the entire ."^um produced by the ad- 
ditiosai tax lias come out of the pockets of the 
unfortunate tea-growers and producers (wlio tor 
some years past have been working with a very 
small margin of profit), Tlie result is that much 
more th.m half the tea now imported is selling in 
Mincing Lane consideraMy below the cost of pro- 
duction, and tea-growers are being ruined. The end 
is not far to seek — tea plantations or garden.s.as we 
call theui,cannot be cariiedon at a loss and many, if 
not most, of them will be closed altogether, tiius 
tiirowiiig nurn eiless poor natives and many of 
our own lountiympn <mt of eni[)loyment in India 
and Ceylon ; shareholders will be ruined, and the 
total production will be naturally reduceil, with 
the inevitable consequence that prices will rise 
again, and the English working man will have 
to pay probably half as much again for his cup 
of tea, or go without it altogether. The Govern- 
ment will find, when it is too late, that it has 
been killing the goose that has been laying the 
golden eggs, as it will have a very considerably 
reihiced total upon which to levy its unjust tax, 
and then the only way in which it can recoup itself 
will be by raising the tax to 9d or Is, which would 
in the couise of a short time stamp out the in- 
dustry altogether. 
The above is no exaggerated picture, but a plain, 
bare statement of facts, and of what must inevi- 
tably come about unless the masses of the tea- 
drinking Eng ish public bestir themselves, and 
insist UDon this most shameful and oppressive tax 
being at once very materially reduced, if not re- 
moved . altogethei . 
Time was when we heard the cry of a "free 
breakfast table" ; and we mi^jht yet have distant 
visions of this proof of the freedom and prosperity 
of our country, if every tea drinker in England, 
Scotland, and Ireland, would raise a protest against 
this crying injustice ; and even if necessary make 
it a party cry. For ujyself, staunch Conservative 
as I have been all my life, and had hoped to remain, 
I would be strongly tempted to vote Liberal at the 
next election if, failing our present Government, 
the Liberals would promise to redress this evil 
before it is too late. 
I have spent the best part of my life in growing 
and making tea, and, if you will believe me, really 
know something about the subject I have tried to 
treat of. Everything connected with the tea indus- 
try is very dear to me, and it was never in such dire 
distress before. This is chiefly due to the imposi- 
tion of that extra 2d on the tax last March. That, 
at least, was the last straw, and unless relief 
comes quickly the great Indian tea industry will 
before long have become in a great measure athing 
of the past. 
I enclose my card, and remain, yours faithfully, 
J. S. H. 
London, Dec. 30, 1900. 
TEA AND "MANURO-PHOBIA." 
Jan. 15. 
Dear Sir,— How prejudice can blind one 
to rep.son, is finely illustrated in Mr. N. U. 
Davidson's letter which you published in last 
night's paper. He has made up his mind 
against Mr. Rosling's proposal, and bases his 
opposition to it on the ground that those who 
have not helped over-production by forcing 
manures, should not be called upon to suffer 
for the benefit of those who have, he thinks, 
brought about all the trouble. I do not say 
that Mr. Rosling's is a scheme on which there 
cannot be two opinions ; but it does not call 
for any self sacrifice, as he clearly showed. 
On the contrary, if his expectations are ful- 
filled, it is the high estates which will 
benefit more than those in the low- country 
from enhanced prit^es. 
Over-production is a fact; but what is the 
warrant for the assumption, on which Mr. 
Davidson builds his opposition — that it 
is forcing manures which have caused 
over-production ? It is only within the 
last three or four years at most that forcing 
m^nui-es are alleged to have been used. 
Assuming the truth of the allegation, what 
have they forced the bushes to in four 
years ? The exports have increased from 116 
million lb. of tea in 1897 to U8 millions in 
J900. Is a progressive increase of 32 million 
lb. in four years anything out of the way, 
simply allowing for the development of young 
bushes over about 60,000 to 70,000 acres, to 
say nothing of extensions 2 Apply another 
test, do 148 million lb. represent an excessive 
yield for about 400,000 acres under tea? It 
works out an average of only 370 lb. an 
acre! The theory of forcing manures cannot 
be supported by statistics. It is a chimera 
of those who have forcing manures on the 
brain, and who do not understand manuring 
witli brains. There may be a few hundred, 
or even a few thousand, acres which have 
been forced. Others have had only just and 
liberal treatment to keep the bushes in heart, 
but for which the acreage abandoned and 
the drop in exports would have ruined 
hundreds of stout and willing men. 
LIVE AND LET LIVE. 
