Oct. 1, 1899.] THE TEOPICAL AGEICULTUEIST. 
December 1889. Prom the 1st January 1890 the duty 
w^s rednced to Id per lb., but on the 13th July 1892 
it was again raised to 3d per lb. and has remained ■ 
so ever since, H. V. P. Wollaston, 
Secretary for Trade and Customs. 
Department of Trade and Customs, Melbourne, June 
28th, 1899. 
THE BRITISH TEA DUTY. 
Dessforil, Nanuoya, 12th Sept. 1899. 
Sir, — The attitude of Ceylon tea producer.s to- 
wards the question of the abolition of the English 
import duty on tea, is, 1 think, that of sitting on 
the fence until they are convinced that they will 
benefit by such abolition. This is niy excuse for 
trespassing on so much of your space, in the hope 
of inducing a careful consideration of the question. 
It is a trade axiom that the reduction of the 
selling price of any commodity to the consumer 
stimulates the consumption of that commodity, 
the converse of course being equally true. As an 
example, have we not always seen a prolonged 
season of low prices in the tc^ market followed by 
a rise, and we are told in the Brokers' circulars 
that " the recent low prices have stimulated con- 
sumption " and so reacted on the selling price. 
Hitherto the reduction in price to the seller has 
been entirely at our expense, and the immutable 
law of supply and demand made such a lowering of 
price necessary in order to get the tea consumed. 
When it is suggested that we should cheapen the 
cost of our teas (which, other things being equal, 
must mean an eventual reduction of price to the 
consumer) by the abolition of the one pound draft 
or the reduction in Avarehouse charges, &c., we 
have the whole of the producers with us, but, when 
the reduction or the abolition of the duty is men- 
tioned, many producers seem to think that some 
occult force will be set in motion, by which the 
laws of supply and demand would be stopped if not 
eversed. 
What would naturally follow the abolition of the 
duty is as follows: For the first year, possibly longer 
the 4d saved would be divided in some proportion be- 
tween the producer, the middleman, and the consu- 
mer, but sooner or later the consumer would be the 
only one to benefit so far as price is concerned, 
the middleman would do a larger turnover from 
the increased consumption and the producer, sup- 
posing he is able to keep the ratio of supply to 
demand as it is at present, would then make the 
same profit per lb. as at present on a larger number 
of lbs. The price paid to the producer is and 
can only be governed by that ratio, always sup- 
posing there is free competition and no buyers' 
combiuEtion and the sudden rise in the lower 
qualities of tea during the early part of this year 
is to my mind sufficient proof that no such combi- 
nation exists. 
Again, the abolition of the duty reduces the 
amount of capital necessary to deal in tea and 
thus helps the small dealer against the large 
capitalist which in itself would tend to make a 
buyers' combination more difficult and increase 
competition, all in the favour of the producer. 
In an article communicated to tlie Observer 
of the 5th iiist., the writer bases his artninients 
largely on the number of gallons of liquid tea 
drunk, reasoning from his figures that there was 
no increase from the reduction in duty in 1890, 
but can he say or does he think that the lower 
classes do wo^i drink a very much stronger brew 
than they did formerly ? 
Our deliveries of Ceylon teas increased nearly 
11,000,000 1b. in the year 1890-1891, or the year 
following the reduction and nearly 19,000,0001b, in 
the following year which shows that we certainly 
did not suffer from the reduction. 
He also states that the producer gets a better 
living out of dutiable articles than out of free, 
and instances sugar, possibly forgetting that it 
is the bounty fed beet sugar that has caused 
thf tall and that English consumers are buying 
their sugar at a lower price than the consunieis 
in the sugar producing continental countries. 
In other words if the continent chose to sub- 
scribe together in order that the Englishman can 
have cheap sugar, it is hardly a sound argument to 
instance it as a free article. Again last year 
wheat was a most remunerative crop, and I sup- 
pose that most shareholders in cotfee concerns will 
agree that that product was as unremunerative as 
it well could be, the reason having nothing to do 
wiuh duties, but being merely an instance of supply 
and demand, and the existing ratio of the one to 
the other beinf upset. 
There are many other points such as the reduc- 
tion of warehouse charges, which I have not 
touched on, as, though important, they are really 
side issues. 
Apologising for the length of this.— I am, &c. 
, EDWARD ROSLING. 
-P- Average. 
Total deliveries Ceylon tea 1889... 30,166,2.'^G 10-99 
1890... 37.652,750 10-56* 
1891. ..53,486,510 1070 
Home consump. only „ 1892... 64,000,000 10-07 
* Duty reduced in April. 
We more than doubled our output in four years at 
the loss of less ban Id per lb.— E.R. 
"MUTATO NOMINE." 
The Ceylon Observer reads the Government of 
Ceylon a lecture on its apathy in regard to the 
scientific aspect of planting. Well might we turn 
upon the Government of Madras, say mutatp 
nomine de te fahula narratur, and then declaim 
in like manner, and with emphasis. In Ceylon 
they have tea-pests in full bloom, so to speak ; 
they are feeling the effect. The present blights 
are, the Observer is informed, steadily spreading 
through the planting districts, and as our con- 
temporary says, "if they get a firm hold, it will 
mean a great deal to the colony, and the Govern- 
ment as well as the planter will feel the sad effects." 
The ravages of leaf-disease in coffee in Ceylon 
have not been forgotten. The memory serves a« a 
standing lesson as to the need for prompt action 
whrn pests and blights threaten in seeming force. 
In Madras also, many planters have suffered, and, 
although the Government has certainly assisted 
them to a small extent, it still refuses to give the 
agricultural industry the assistance of a permanent 
scientific expert. A botanist has been appointed, 
certainly, and from the fact that his main work 
hitherto has been with respect to sugarcane-dis- 
eases, we judge that he may, at some future time, 
be allowed to besto-.v some attention upon tea and 
coffee. But the appointment of one scientist is not 
enough for a Presidency like that of Madras, nor 
is the botany of the Presidency by any means 
the section that most urgently calls for scientific 
study. Financial difficulties are decreasing now, 
and we trust that the Government of Madras wili 
shortly take into serious consideration the question 
of establishing a well-organized scientific depart- 
ment. There is an admirable model in the United 
States, and something of the same kind, on a 
reduced scale, would no doubt prove very valu- 
able here — Planting Opinion, Sept. 9th, 
