Sept.  2,  1895.J  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
169 
a ]ilantinp:  distriot,  lias  from  the  very  be<‘inniii<i- 
been  coiisulerotl  an  outlying  division  of  Ceylon. 
Its  tea  must  be  superior  to  .a  good  deal  of  our 
lowcountry  produce  ; for  Ceylon  it  is  well-known 
turns  out  some  of  the  poorest  as  well  as  some  of  the 
best  of  teas  and  one  or  two  jiareels  of  “Ceylon’s” 
(as  the  Chairm.an  knows)  have  even  been  rejected  by 
Customs  authorities,  a thing  that  we  suppo.se 
never  happened  to  Travancore  tea.  One  more  illus- 
tration  of  the  e.xtraordinary  anomaly  to  which 
Mr.  Mitchell  would  bind  ns  : Travancore  coffee 
and  cardamoms  can  come  without  hindrance  for  sale 
to  the  Colombo  market,  where  they  can  be  lilended 
or  shipped  as  “Ceylon  ; ” it  is  only  tea  that  is  to 
be  shut  out  ! Then  again  and  linally,  we  were 
tohl  not  so  long  ago,  th.at  our  tea  duty  was 
specially  recjuired  to  shut  out  Java  and 
China  teas,  and  that  there  would  be  no 
objection  to  Indian  teas  coming  freely 
into  Colombo  ; but  yesterday,  we  do  not  find 
a single  voice  indicating  such  an  ojiinion  ! What 
has  led  to  this  change  of  view  in  Colombo  ? 
We  pause  for  a reply. 
COLOMllO  TLA  TllADKHS’  ASSOCIATION. 
A Special  Ceneral  Meetinjf  of  the  Colombo  Tea 
Tr.aders’  Association  was  held  in  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  Rooms  yesterday  afternoon  at  three 
o’clock.  In  tiie  ab.sence  of  the  Chairman,  the 
Hon.  W.  W.  Mitchell,  C.M.G.,  was  called  to  the 
chair  ; and  there  were  present  : — Messrs.  F.  M. 
Mackwood,  (!.  H.  Alston,  C.  A.  Leechman,  E. 
Henh.am,  A.  H.  Thom|)son,  H.  Tarrant,  L. 
Davidson,  W.  Haslam,  W.  E.  Drury  and  C.  E. 
H.  Symons,  Secretary. 
SUOKT  WEIGHTS  OK  P.VCKAGE.S. 
The  Ch.\ikm.-vx  said  that  the  pi’esent  being  a 
s[iecial  meeting  there  were  no  minutes  to  be 
read.  He  proj>osed  that  the  meeting  should  there- 
fore proceed  to  dispose  of  the  business  on  the 
agenda.  The  first  re.solution  was  as  follows  : — 
“ To  consider  the  following  proposed  addition  to 
mle  8 of  the  present  Sale  Conditions : — In  order  to 
afford  to  buyers  of  tea  a partial  check  on  the  weights 
of  packages,  it  is  proposed  to  add  to  clause  8 all 
packages  to'have  the  gross  weights  markcil  upon  them.” 
This  resolution,  he  said,  had  been  prepared  by  the 
Committee  as  a result  of  complaints,  which  had 
been  very  freipient  of  late,  of  ■weights  turning 
out  to  be  short — that  was  complaints  of  packages 
not  turning  out  to  be  such  as  to  correspond  with 
the  weights  buyers  had  paid  for.  A number  of 
instances  had  been  brought  before  the  Committee 
of  the  A.ssociation  lately.  Complaints  had  been 
laid  before  them  where  very  serious  di.screpancies 
W’cre  shown  to  have  taken  jilace  and  the  com- 
plaints were  supported  by  the  weights  from  the 
London  Warehouses,  showing  the  Customs  w'eights, 
and  affording  jiroof  that  the  packages  did  not 
contain  the  quantities  that  had  been  paid  for. 
The  Committee  on  various  occasions,  when  these 
instances  were  brought  before  them,  afforded  the 
best  advice  which,  in  their  opinion,  they  could 
give  to  tlie.'C  persons  who  brougiit  the 
complaints  before  them.  But  as  the  out«ome 
of  it,  all  the  Committee  thought  that,  it  wouhl 
be  welt  if  some  means  were  devised  to  enable 
buyers  to  check  weigliLs  when  taking  delivery 
from  the  sellers’  go-downs.  At  present,  under 
clause  8 of  the  conditions  of  sale,  it  was  stated 
‘ to  ascertain  actual  net  weights  10  per  cent 
of  each  break,  but  not  less  than  three  pa(d<ages 
to  be  turned  out  and  weighed,  and  the  average 
result  taken  as  representing  the  actual  net  weight 
of  the  tea  in  each  package  of  the  break,” — so 
that  w'hen  a buyer  w'ent  to  take  delivery  of  tea 
a seller’s  go-dowa  it  was  practically  im. 
possible  to  gi\e  effect  to  this.  Clause  8 of  the 
conditions  of  sale  was  therefore  iir.octically  a 
dead  letter.  Buyers  generally — at  least  a good 
many — took  teas  to  thegodown  and  there  weigherl 
them  and  then  turned  them  out  to  ascertain  wdiether 
they  contained  what  they  weie  represented  to  con- 
t.ain.  They  could  not  very  well  comply  with  the 
terms  of  condition  No.  8 and  it  was  in  order 
to  enable  them  to  have  some  practical  check 
that  the  motion  had  been  brought  forward, 
to  re«iuire  that  all  packages  should  have  the 
gross  weights  marked  ui>on  them.  If  they  had 
this,  the  buyer  could,  on  taking  delivery,  pass  a 
few'  packages  over  the  scale  and  see  w’hether  the 
weights  corresponded  with  the  gross  wei<'ht 
marked  on  the  packages,  and,  if  there  was°  a 
discrepancy,  to  there  and  then  draw'  the  atten- 
tion of  the  seller  to  it.  He  thought  that  was  a 
very  reasonable  request.  Some  Superintendents  of 
Estates  marked  both  the  gross  anti  the  net  w ei<dit 
upon  patdeages.  They  had,  of  course,  to  mark  the  ?iet 
weight— they  need  not  necessarily  mark  the  tare- 
but  if  they  gave  the  gross  weight  it  would 
afford  an  opjiortunity  for  checking  to  some  extent 
the  weight  of  iiackages  and  to  see  whether  the 
man’s  scales  in  the  factory  were  correct  or  not. 
No  one,  of  course,  had  any  de.sire  to  pass  off' 
short  weights,  but  at  the  same  time  weights  and 
scales  would  get  out  of  order  and  the  resolution 
would  enable  them,  on  receipt  of  a complaint,  to 
.see  where  the  weights  were  w’rong.  It  was  not 
asking  anything  unreasonable,  and  therefore  he 
begged  to  propose  the  re.solution. 
THE  GROSS  W'KIGHT  SYSTE.^I. 
Mr.  M.vckw'ood  said  he  had  great  pleasui’e 
in  seconding  the  resolution,  and  it  Would  be  only 
reason.able,  to  give  effect  to  the  motion,  if  they 
asked  the  brokers,  when  printing  their  catalo^nes 
to  state  the  gro.ss  weights  of  the  jiackages  off’ei'ed. 
It  was  a great  a.s.sistance  to  know  that  teas  were 
bulked,  and  also  an  advantage  toknowthat  packa*>es 
w'ere  hooked,  and,  he  thought,  that  while  it  might 
not  lead  to  increased  bidding  it  would  lead  to  bid- 
liing  w'ith  more  confidence  if  the  gross  weight 
were  marked.  He  had  all  the  more  reason 
in  supporting  the  re.solution  becau.se  he  had  him- 
self been  fVir  the  last  three  or  four  montlis  con- 
sider.ably  worried  and  troubleil  over  this  question 
in  both  capacities, — as  a buyer,  in  having  to  "et 
allowances  made  him,  in  some  cases  satisfactory 
and  in  others,  unsatisfactory,  and  as  a seller  he 
h.ail  had  the  same  trouble.  Rule  8 as  it  at 
present  stood  ab.solutely  debarred  any  man  from 
making  a claim  in  respect  of  tea  if  he  had  taken  it 
out  of  a go-down.  The  rule  was  neither  conducive 
to  kindly  feeling  in  the  town  nor  to  the  advance 
of  business.  As  a rule  they  could  only  send 
in  claims  to  the  man  who  Knew  all  about  the 
matter  and  the  only  man  who  tvas  in  a position 
to  tell  was  the  man  on  the  e.state.  As  things  ut 
jirescnt  stood  it  was  largely  a matter  of  courtesy 
whether  a .seller  would  make  a refund  for  short- 
age or  not.  He  asked  what  could  a buyer  do 
.supposing  his  claim  was  objected  to.  He  conhi 
not  go  against  an  a.ssurance  by  a man  he  had 
known  for  years  and  in  whom  he  had  the 
utmost  confidence.  He  w'as  of  opinion  that  tlie 
gross  weight  system  would  help  them  very  much. 
Un  the  other  hand,  as  regarded  claims,  he  thought 
a line  should  be  draw'n  soniew'here  as  some  of  the 
claims  were  really  frivolous.  He  liad  one  before 
him  at  |iresent.  His  firm  recently  sold  5 chests 
of  tea  that  were  probably  not  weighed  in  Colombo. 
They  w'eighed  it  anti  it  w'as  ifound  deficient 
according  to  the  customs  w'eights,  to  the  extent  of 
5 lb.  and  a claim  w'as  made  accordingly.  AVitl» 
all  the  care  that  was  taken  in  factories,  trilling 
mistakes  were  likely  to  occur,  Xhw  was  « sul> 
