THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST, 
[August 1, 18&8. 
British Embassy can do no harm and may very 
liltely do good, eitlier in removing an existing 
injustice to our teas, oi- in atti acting attention 
to tlie new trade with Ceylon springing n[* and 
peihaps interesting certain Russian authorities 
in the same. We are now veiy pleased to have 
Russian merchants in Colombo, buying our teas 
and shipping them direct to Odessa, and it is of 
course to their interests as well as to ours, 
tiiat the Tariff Law of Russia should be im- 
pardally aduiinistered. 
But what struck us, personally, in considering the 
question liow to Promote tlie Consumption ot Tea 
in Russia was the great pity tliat the enlightened 
Russian iMinister now at the head of its Finances, 
should not copy the example ot Jiritain and of the 
greatest English Finance Minister who has just 
gone (Mr. Gladstone), in starting a Reform of the 
Taritr and Reduction of the i)uty. That would 
be a matter of much greater iiiiijortance to Ceylon 
planters than even the abolition of differential 
levies if such exist. Nowliere else in the world does 
80 high a tea duly now exist as in Russia, and 
nowhere else have we a people more eager 
to drink tea. Full of this thought \\e drafted a 
letter on the subject to the Russian Minister of 
Finance ; we showed a louyh copy of this letter 
to Mr. Christie before he left and it had his 
approval ; it was sent to be read before the Thirty 
Committee for any comment that might be 
afforded, but secured none, althouj^h the Chair- 
man of the Planters' Association gave it his 
cordial approval in a private letter ; and we had 
further the advantage of learning from the 
Private Secretary to His Excellency the Covernor 
thai the letter had better be sent on direct to 
the Minister to whom it was addressed. After 
this, it was delayed for a reference about 
statistics and some other reasons ; but went 
forward in French to M. de ^V'itte a few 
weeks back and must by this lime be in his hands. 
It runs as follows : — 
Ministre des Finances a Monsieur le Ministre Son 
Excellence le Sccr, d'Etat Cons. pr. S J. ie Witte, 
St. Petersburg, Russia, 
OfHce of the Ceylon Observer, 
Colombo, Ceylon, June 1898. 
Your Excellency, — 
I would very respectfully beg to draw Your 
Excellency's attention to the following account 
of the treatment ot tea under the British Customs 
Tariff : — 
In the year 1837— when Queen Victoria came to 
the throne — the Customs Duly on Tea imported 
into the United Kingdom ot Great Britain and Ire- 
land, was two-shillings-and-one-peuny j)er pound 
avoidupois ; the total consumption for that year 
was 30,625,206 lb. (or less than 1^ lb. per head of 
population per annum) and the total of revenue col- 
lected from the duty was £3,190,125. 
Not much change took place until Mr. Gladstone 
became Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of 
Finance) ; and then between 1852 and 1865 a series 
of financial reforms, due to his initiation, took 
place, and we hnd the Customs Duty at one shilling- 
and-ten pence per pound in 1854 ; at one-shilling- 
and-five-pence in 1858 ; at one sliilling in 1863 ; 
and then it was reduced to six-pence per pound, to 
take effect from 1st June 1865. 
The result of this policy was not only a largely in- 
creased consumption of tea ; but eventually, an iu- 
grease as well of the revenue derived from the duty, 
The progress in Consumption and Ilevenue may be 
indicated as follows :— 
Year. 
1837 
1867 
1 con* 
per lb 
a ^ 
1% 
Ch z 
a. 
'3 
Q 
ib. 
lb. 
8. d 
^,625,206 
n 
2 1 
111,001,160 
0 G 
160,432,000 
0 6 
183,635,885 
5 
U 6 
P3 
£. 
3,)i»0,I25 
2,776,52'J 
4,010,8IjO 
4,5'J0,897 
The next reduction was on 1st May 1890 * 
when the Tea Duty was reduced from six-pence 
to four-pence per lb., and the result is thus bhovvn 
for last year ; — 
Year. 
c c 
" 2 
o c 
lb 
05 
£. 
lb. lb; 8, d 
1897 .. 231,399,778 5Jto6 0 4 3.656,662 
or £666 5.^7 more of revenue than when the Cus- 
toms duty was two-shillings-aud one i^enny per 
pound in 1837 ; while the total consumption of tea 
IS now twice as great, and per head of population, is 
four times more. 
I would wihli respectfully to jioint out, to Your 
Excellency, that the Russian peoj.le, like the Eng- 
lish, are noted as tea drinkers, and that no more 
wholesome or refreshing beverage can he used by 
any people. It is a drink that mak(*for peace and 
contentment as well as health. This is evidenced 
in the case of the population of the Australian Colo- 
nies who are the greatest drinkers of tea in the 
world averaging over .seven-and-a-lialf pounds per 
iiead, in their tea coneumption, per annum ; while 
they (the Australians) are among the healthiest of 
people, noted tor their activity and athletic 
powers, capable of defeating the choicest English 
players in their own favourite field game of 
cricket. 
All this shows that the policy of gradually re- 
ducing the tariff on tea ought to benefit the Rus- 
sian peo|tle, while by no means causing any loss to 
the Iinperial Revenue; but rather, eventually, bene- 
fiting it. There are some countries indeed— like the 
United States of America— that consider it 
advisable to have no Customs levy on 
tea (except in time of war) ; and Belgium 
has just led the way among the Power's of 
Continental Europe in abolishing the duty on tea. 
But in the case of Ru.ssia, a reduction of duty 
to the equivalent of one shilling per pound could 
not fail to be beneficial, and still more a few years 
later if there were a further reduction to" the 
equivalent of .six-pence per lb.— so making this very 
wholesome and refreshing beverage (tea) accessible 
to many more millions of the Russian people than 
it can be at present. 
* CONSUMPTION OF TEA IN UNITED KIXGDOtI 
1887 185,620,800 lb. 
1890 19i,00S,492 „ 
1991 202,456,837 „ 
1S92 207,120,82.3 
1893 208,t)47,385 
1894 214,341,044 
1895 221,800,137 „ 
3 896 227,785,-500 
1897 231,399,778 „' 
[Total value of tea consumed last year about 
£10,400,000.1 ^ 
