S^PT. 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL 
that you wili see reflected in our re- 
port, namely, that whereas the general 
average price of Ceylon tea during the year 
in London fell from 7'85d, which Avas the 
average rate during 1897, to T'TOd, the 
price which was received for our tea, on the 
other hand, rose from something over 8d in the 
previous year to something over 8gd in the year 
under discussion. This was, of course, some- 
thing in our favour ; but it was not sufficient to 
coun'terbalance the disadvantages which 1 have 
previously spoken of. On the whole, therefore, 
there was a very much reduced profit from Ceylon ; 
but 1 am glad to say that these causes of loss have 
now, I believe, almost entirely passed away. So 
far as the reduction of our crop is concerned, 
they are due, of course, to climatic causes which 
were merely temporary, and we hear now that 
the tea is flushing very well, and with regard to 
the cocoa, the spring crop, which has already 
been harvested, is a most satisfactory one. The 
benefit of this, however, did not accrue to the year 
under consideration, but will be secured by the 
current year. Mr. Hogg n the ourse of his 
tour, visited most of our Ceylon estates, and he 
has often told me that he was exceedingly satis- 
fied with the work of Mr. Campbell, who ajppeared 
to him to be a most excellent manager, and one 
in whom we could have the fullest confidence, and 
whose services he considers we are fortunate to 
possess, 
THE POUND DRAFT DISPUTE. 
With regard to the sales of tea, you will have 
read, no doubt, in the papers— at d it is hardly pos- 
sible to avoid knowing — that a dispute has arisen 
between the growers and importers of Indian and 
Ceylon tea on the one hand, and the buyers on t!ie 
otlier, and the curious part of this c.ispute appears 
to be that, whereas the growers assert that they 
have to give to the buyers, in addition to the 1 lb. 
draft, at least i 'b. or more on account of the turn 
of the scales, the buyers consistently deny they 
receive much benefit from this. If that is so, where 
does it go to ? I think to those who are conversant 
with the subject it is pretty clear from its history 
that they roust receive something considerable. 
Orii'inally, in the old days — that is, in tlie days of 
China tea— there was a 1 lb. draft allowed by the 
importers to the buyers, and, in addition to 
that, there was a 1 lb. overdraft— that is, 
altogether, 2 lb. allowed on every chest of tea, and 
no doubt the importers got that gratis from the 
Chinese. Well, when the second pound — the over- 
draft—was discontinued as compensation to the 
buyers this turn of the scale was allowed to them, 
and therefore it is clear that it was allowed to them 
as some substantial benefit which they received. 
The growers have, of course, had opportunities 
frequently of going into this matter, and have 
repeatedly verified their assertions. 1 well re- 
member, not with reference to this dispute, but 
on a former occasion, trying to ascertain exactly 
how the tea was sent off from our factories in 
Ceylon. I remember very well a garden invoice 
which was sent here, and in which it at)peared 
that the superintendent had, with regard to one 
break, placed it in chests, the average weight of 
which was 16 1b, and 2 oz., and they, of course, 
were taken, according to the customs weighment, 
as weighing 171b. Now of course, there are 
only two things imported, the chest and the tea 
which it contains, and if you have by some fic- 
titious method of weighment increased the weight 
of the chest, inasmucli as the total weight of the 
chest and the tea together cannot alter, you take 
AGRICULTURIST. 1^0? 
from the, estimated weight of the tea. Well, 
now, how did these 41 chests work out? They 
worked out in this way — that the tea as sent 
from the estate weighed on an average in each 
chest 108:], lb., and although every chest con- 
tained lOSjlb., yet, by the method of Customs 
weighment, we got paid for only 107 lb. That 
is a loss of 11 lb. in every chest in addition to 
the 1 lb. draft, that is, a loss of 2J lb. Well, now 
I admit this is somewhat exceptional, but there 
must be plenty of cases in which that happens 
every year, and I believe that growers are not 
far wrong in saying that at least 5 lb., if not a 
good deal more than that, is given gratis to the 
buyers in this way, I will not detain you fur- 
ther on this subject, because it has been so amply 
discussed ; but I cannot help thinking that some 
equitable means may be found of settling this 
dispute, which must naturally, if prolonged, mean 
a loss on both sides, because when these trade 
disputes take place they are generally followed 
by a reduction in consumption. 
MAURITIUS 
I will now pass on to the subject of Mauritius, 
where the price for sugar durins' the beginning of 
the campaign was, as we state in our report, 
disastrously low, and owing to the disorganisa- 
tion of the market in Bombay — our principal 
market— from various causes, have sunk lower and 
lower, and the falling in the price really reminds 
me of the story of the man who tried how little lie 
could feed his horse on, till when he reduced him 
to a straw a day the poor animal died. We have 
known within the last few years RIO as the price 
per cental for sugar ; then it fell to K9 and then 
to K8, and now, in this year under discussion, 
it was only slightly over K7 per cental. Most 
fortunately for us, the crop was an abundant 
one and, as you will see from the figures, we 
harvested from our own estate and those in which 
we are interested no less than 13,000 tons of sugar, 
as against some 8,000 tons in the previous year. 
With regard to the sugar which came from our 
own estates, you will see that although it was very 
much more abundant, the expenses really increased 
very little— only by £3,000; that is, from £66,000 to 
£69,000. Mr. Hogg was alsoin Mauritius during the 
crop time and he made various arrangements. In 
the first place, I believe that he was the first to 
introduce there a first-run sugar of low grade, 
which is now called in Mauritius Grey Vesous, and 
which has the advantage of bein? prepared much 
more cheaply than the white sugar we make for 
Bombay. This somewhat reduced the expense, and 
as usual in a good year, all the different items of 
expense were less in proportion. The general re- 
sult was that we made a profit which was three 
times that of the previous year, and amounted to 
some £10,000. But these causes of profit and ad" 
vantage to our Mauritius estates are not to be com- 
pared to that amelioration which we have to soma 
extent secured, and to which we look with the 
greatestconfidence in the future from the legislation 
of the Indian Government. I think that every 
grower of cane in India and Mauritius owes a 
deep debt of gratitude to the Indian Government 
and to the ministers here who have supported their 
action in imposing countervailing duties on the 
bounty-fed sugar which is imported into India. 
(Applause). You know, and on the last occasion on 
which I presided over this meeting I explained to 
you, the extreme injuistice of the conditions 
under which that sugar is imported, and that thi^ 
bounty-fed sugar has created fluctuations in th 
rjiarketj which have been extremely prejudicial 
