THE TROPICAL AGRlCULTUKIST. 
[Dec. 2, 1901. 
It is true that we know one respected member of 
the lioine trade, who so far ajireed witli tliem, 
tliat he said that he would as soon join attacking 
tlie fonr Gospels as the organisation of the Ti^a 
trade, hallowed as it was l>y lonp; antiquity. We 
conieud, on \h^- oiher hand, that this ob-olete 
sysieni has niaierially ag^Tavated the depi'ession 
caused by the over production of Tea, and that ic 
will continue to be most injurious, whatever the 
price may tie. Tea at Is 9J could stand expenses, 
that 'L'eaa^7d, 8d, or 9d cannot do. 
While the grower.s and importers have had such 
terrible prices to contend witli, it might be tlr)Ughb 
that the home trade would have tound the suf- 
ferings of tlieir supplier.«i iiighly beiielicial, and it 
is likely enough tiiat many of the less informed 
planters think so. As a matter of fact, thehome 
trade, wlietlipr whole.Male or retail, have never 
''one so badly in Tea as they have done during 
the last few years. House after iiouse with 
names honoured and familiar in the trade for 
generations, have j^'iven up their wiioles ile busi- 
nesses. Otliers go <in with their profits reduced 
to something like the funds would yield tliem 
without any trouble. The facts are quite no- 
toiious and familiar to every one connected with 
the tiade. An immense sum of cajntal has been 
withdrawn, which incidentally u.sed to steady prices, 
ami to foster and create a demand for fine Teas. 
If things were to go on as they are doing now, 
far larger sums will yet be withdrawn, and busi- 
nesses will perforce be so altered as to bring all 
teas to an even deader level of price, than even 
the very unsatisfactory one now existing. Nor 
is the position of the retail trader any better. 
Taste and care in tea, in which the older genera- 
tion of grocers used to pride themselves, no longer 
pay, and cheapness is the aim of all distributors. 
The public, no doubt, are the greatest offenders 
in this respect, for, as Punch humorously re- 
marked, the male giver of a dinner party boasts 
how much his Foit costs, while his wife in the 
drawing-room tells her guests how little she gave 
for her tea at tlie stores. No doubt this feeling 
exists to a considerable extent, but there are yet 
left connoisseurs who appreciate fine tea and would 
gladly pay a reasonable price for it. If any effort 
were made to meet such a demand such buyers 
would rapidly increase, but it is worth no one's 
while to fosi-er it. More line tea, is grown than 
ever, but it is so blended and muddled up that it is 
practically lost to the consumer. If the planters 
still further lose the support of the wholesale 
houses, who practically linance the 100,001 retail 
grocers of the kingdom, and if the public is allowed 
to continue to believe that the finest Tea the 
world produces can be sold wholesale at something 
like Is per lb., when unpacked and unadvertised — 
things must go from bad to worse. Teas are al- 
ready not sold on their value, but according to 
their cost, and of course the lowest cost secures 
the order, so that depression simply leads to more 
depression. 
Things, indeed, have got into such a position 
that to find the remedy appears to be almost im- 
possible. Here we have the grower on the one 
hand and the distributor on the other complaining, 
while some, at any rate, of the depression can be 
alleviated by concerted action. Such action ia 
dilhcult, for between these two sections of the 
trade there is a great gulf fixed, imperfectly 
bridged by theljrokers, who, quite unintentionally, 
keep the two sufferers from knowing each other's 
names on entering into each other's griev. 
ances. Yet if they would only come together 
they would find that to a large degree they were 
.suffering from the same causes, and that they 
could d(j much to help each other and to bring 
about better conditions. We believe frankly that 
the interests of all parties are at the present 
time absolutely identical, and that by meeting 
tog.ither and openly talking things over they 
would hud this to be the c ise. Seperated, the 
branches <rf tha trade aie quite powerless, but 
.lointly they can effect much. In the question of 
Dock charges, weight notes, and so on, the aid of 
the trade is esseni;ial, and would be reaiiily given. 
There are many other matters in which the dis- 
tributors can help the growers, and any mutual 
attitude of suspicion can onlyaiise from absolute 
ignorance of the feelings and desires of the other 
side. Had there been free and constant com- 
munication Ijetween the various sections, for in- 
stance, the late diiliculty as to drafts could never 
have arisen. In almost every other Mincing Lane 
product, joint interests aie looked after by a 
body representing them all, and fairly and care- 
fully considering what each section has to say. Tea 
lias been poetically described as the cup thatcheeia 
but not inebriates, but those who trade in it, or 
grow it, have all found it very bitter and anything 
but exhilarating of late years. To sit at tea is 
the provet bial acme of domestic bliss. W^hy should 
not the importing and home tea t rade meet lound 
a table, restore internal peace and talk over 
how things can be bettered ? If no remedy can be 
found and nothing is done, at any rate they 
would get to know each other and would find that 
there were no Machiavellis on either side, but 
simply plain, honest people, who find the position 
intolerable and wish to alter it. — Produce Markets' 
Eevieto; Oct. 26, 
PEARL FISHING IN THE PACIFIC. 
At the begicning of 1899 a Mr Wickham held 
a lea^e of some islands in the South Pacific, and 
his object was to deve'op a trade in pearls and 
mother-of-pearl. In June of that year Mr Leo 
Ferdinand Sachs agreed to purchase of Mr Wick- 
ham his interest in the islands, and paid a de- 
posit. In August it was agreed that Dr Henry 
Lyster Jameson, who had made a special study of 
shell fish, should go out to the islands to look 
into the trade, that if a syndicate were formed to 
take over the islands the plaintiff should receive 
the appointment of scientific manager of fisheries, 
and that if he did not receive the appointment 
within six months he should be paid £150 by the 
defendant. The plaintiff went out to the islands, 
where he remained for eleven months. He was 
not appointed as scientific manager. 
Yesterday Dr Jameson, who is lecturer at the 
Technical College, Derby, sued Mr Sachs, before 
Mr Justice Darling and a common jury, to recover 
the £150, and obt.ained a verdict for that amount. 
— Daily Chronicle, Nov. 1st. 
"COOLY SANITATION." 
(Paper readhij Mr. MacLurc at the Maskcliya 
Planters' Association Meeting on Wednesday. ) 
Mr. MacLure, in introducing: the follow- 
ing paper, read at the Mnskeliya Club on 
Wednesday, said that his idea in meeting 
it was that it might be a help to some of 
the younger members amongst them 
