534 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. 1, 1699. 
bl self interest used agaiuet planters and exporters by 
this " ex-Indian offitial" is deligbtfally ingenious. 
Turning this Tahles. — Wiiile some people think 
a gold standard ia the panacea for Indian financial 
trouble, Mr. James R MacArthur, wiiting from 134, 
Fenchuroh Street, suggests an a cure for the dis- 
tress in the West Indies the adoption of a silver 
Btondard. He says : " The West India islands, like 
many other poverty-strickeu countries, ure groaning 
under the burden of a gold standard. If a silver 
standard were substituted for a gold one, they would 
be able to produce sugar at a price which would 
drive bounty-fed beet fiom every market in ihe 
world, and these islands would become as prospe- 
rous as the Straits Settlements, where a two- 
Ehilling dollar has practically secured for Singapore 
and Penang merchants a monopoly of the tin trade." 
Seizing the OrpORTUNixr. — The Americans are 
making ihe most of the fact that Lady Curzon ia 
their country-woman. In an advertisement of tea 
there is a portrait of her ladyship, under which 
can bo read :—" Lady Curzon, Vice-Empress of the 
Tea Countries. — Tea 1 Tea 1 Thou soft, thou sober, 
Bage, and venerable liquor ; thou innocent pretext 
for bringing the wicked of both sexes together in the 
afternoon ; thou female tongue-running, smile- 
soothing, heart-opening, wink-tipping cordial, to whose 
glorious insipidity I owe the happiest moment of my 
life, let me fall prostrate and adore thee !' At the 
■— — , the teas of Ceylon and India are of 
the yery finest grown." — II. and C. Slail, Dec. 16. 
Thb Russian Market. — The Russian Empire takes 
Bome ninety million pounds of Chinese tea annually, a 
iiiige proportion of it being imported at very cheap 
irttes in returning vessels of the Volunteer Fleet that 
tike out troops, con victpj amonitions of war, and rail- 
way maierial to the Far East. Indian and Ceylon 
growers, in their desire to push their produce in Russia, 
have a great deal of prejudice to overcome, but with 
the two millions of pounds of British tea now sent 
thither they ha made a fair beginning. If it were 
not for the heav^ duty of Is 9d per lb., which, of 
course, is all in favour of Chica, Indian and Ceylon 
teas would make rapid headway. 
The Ceylon Association in London and the Ceyl«s 
Northern Railway Scheme. — The members of the 
Ceylon Association in London showed a unanimous 
opinion in o^'position to the Ceylon Northern Railway 
scheme at the meeting of the Association held to 
consider the matter on Monday last. As was very 
truly pointed out by Mr. Harcourt Skrine the plant- 
ing industry is, and must continue to be, Iho main- 
stay of Ceylon revenue, and although the Ceylon 
planters are ever ready to do all in their power for 
the benefit of the industry, they can hardly be ex- 
pected to submit to a taxation which is opposed to 
the true economies of the colony. The population 
and traffic lie at the extreme end of the proposed line, 
and for at least a hundred miles the line would pass 
through a tract of country where no single product 
could be successfully grown for export. This being 
80, it is difficult to see how a railway — which is to be 
broad gauge — could be worked without an annual 
deficit. The deputation to the Secretary of State will 
be ably represented by Lord Stanmore, who has the 
interests of the colony at heart and has an intimate 
knowledge of its requirements. We understand that 
an answer • has been received from the Ceylon 
Chamber of Commerce in reply to the telegram sent 
after the meeting, in which it is stated that support 
will be given to effort* to obtain reconsideration of 
the broad gauge. 
Tea Statistics. — It was necessary that tlie Indian 
Tea Association should move in the matter of the 
issue of accurate ofiicial figures about tea. W'e are 
glad, therefore, to see that a circular is to bo issued 
omhe subject. 
Too Generous. — The Admiralty cannot be said to 
encourage the consumption of tea and cocoa in the 
Navy. The total abstinence men, and others who do 
not care to take their allowance of grog, have hitherto 
ibeeu allowfi^ to draw ita equivalent in tea, coffee, 
coco», and eugar. And if they cared to economief, 
even on iheae articles, they were permitted to curry 
them ashore duty free, for the use of their faniilift 
Ihey may do eo still, but under a new Admiralty 
order, only on condition that Ihev pay the duly on 
the tea and cocoa. 
Competition in the Rubbib Team;.— As a reanlt 
of some previous lepreseutative intetinKs on the 
Bubject, a meeting of thi- leading indiiirubher manu- 
facturers of the Kingdom wa« held last week iu 
Manchester to discuss proposals for a combination 
of the whole trade. The main object of the new 
association of British lubber inauiifacturerg ia to 
control prices and output in view of competition 
After considerable dibcuM&ioii it was deteimined t3 
form the asfocialion. xules were adopied. and cfl&cera 
were elected. The feeling prevniled that ahhough 
pricea may be to some extent advanced in conae- 
quence of this decision, the rapidly Rrowing com- 
petition in all departments of the rubber industry 
by Fiance, Germany, and America inaat coutinu* 
to be a powerful check upon any such adv nee — 
II. and C. Mad, December 'lA. 
CEYLON TEA COHPORATION :-A DISAS- 
TROUS COMMENX'EMENT. 
SIR CHARLES LAWSON'S VIEWS ON THE 
POSITION. 
TO the EDITOB OF THE FINAKCUL TIMltS. 
Sir,— In its issue of last WeOuetday a financial con- 
temporary of yours cffered some srgKeKtive rtmaika 
about the impending "combine" ol three tea Com- 
panies, and urged that since much is made by Ibe 
promoters in their '• private and confidential proB- 
pectue of Companies which stiind at a considerable 
premium, mention should also be made of those that 
staud at a heavy discount. VYill you allow me to 
tell a tale that contains a moral f r those persons 
who may be nibbling at the proposed " anialcama- 
Once upon a time— and that time was only 1" 
mouths ago-the p.ospectus of the Tea Corporation, 
Limited (Ceylon), was issued from the office of Messrs 
Antony Gibbs and Sons, and wae largely advertised 
in and favourably noticed by several pBptrs It 
appeared fro.n this that Messrs. Antony Gibbs and 
J500S. had accepted the position of iti commercial 
agents; that the corporation would be scjommodated 
in that firm's office, and that the Board of Directors 
was formed of Air. Cyril Gurney, of Th. mson, Hankey 
& Co.; Messrs. Haniilion Hancock and Thomas Law- 
rence directors of the Ceylon aud Oriental Estates Co.; 
Mr. Vivian Smith, of Hay's Wharf; aud, last but not 
least, Mr. Henry Tugwell, of Prescott, Dimsdale, 
iugwell and Co., the bankers. The associali n of 
the Gibbs, Haokeys, and Piescottd— names to con- 
jure with in the City— with the concern seemed to 
many people to afford a guarantee that the bright 
hopes held out iu the prospectus would in all ur - 
bablihty be fulfiilled. 
'I'he corporation was stated to be foimed with the 
object of acquiring, working aud developing as 
going concerns" several "valuable" enates in 
Ceylon, equipped with the requisite plant. These 
estates were said to have yielded 1,000,463 lb. oi 
tea in the year ended 30Lh June, 1897, and the 
opinion was expressed that for the year 1897-98 
they " should yield" 1,250.000 lb. which '• bhoold 
sell at an aveiage of e^d per pound. The direc- 
tors set forth in prominent type that in their 
judgment • a considerable economy will be effected 
111 the cost of administration by the combiuation 
ot the above interests under one man;igement " An 
elaborate calculation was given which went to show 
mat If a miUioa and a quarter pounds of tea 
were produced at a cost of 25 cents, and if ex- 
change remained at Is 2id, and if the produce sold 
iL^^y ^\ P°"n<i "et, the profit would be 
±12,370. A further £600 was anticipated from cocoa, 
thus bringing the t..tal profit up to £12.970, or 
sufficient to pay 5 per cent on £65,000 dobentures. 
6 per cent on £65,000 cumulative preference shares 
I 
