FliH.  I,  i8g6.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
5^9 
THE  KE-EXI’OKTS  OF  CEYLON  AND 
INDIAN  TEAS. 
One  of  tlie  most  strikinu;  feature.s  of  tlie  re- 
norts  i)eriodically  funiislied  by  Messrs,  Gow, 
Wilson  & Stanton  on  tlie  statistics  of  the  tea 
trade  is  tlie  statement  given  therein  as  to  the 
re-e.x|)orts  of  teas  from  tlie  United  Ivingdom. 
The  ilepnrt  before  us  gives  tlie  lignre  for  the 
re-ex, lort  between  the  1st  June  and  SOth  Nov- 
ember for  the  years  IShd,  ’03,  ’Of  and  ’9.3.  Ilriefly 
abstracted,  this  statement  sliows  that  since  1892 
the  re-e.x])ort  of  China  tea  has  fallen  from  sixteen 
million  pounds  to  nine  million  pounds ; that  of 
Indian  teas  has  risen  fiom  1,1)38,-151  lb.  to  1,992,095 
lb.;  while  the  increase  in  the  case  of  Ceylon 
tea  is  represented  by  a rise  from  1,818,1541b.  to 
3,780,377  lb. ! Ilougiily  speaking,  while  China 
has  fallen  se\’eu  million  iiounds,  only  some  two 
and-a-(piarter  million  of  Indian  and  Ue3don  have 
been  sent  from  the  United  Kingdom  towar<ls  re- 
dressing tliis  falling-oil.  Wepresume  this  difl'er- 
ence— or  rather  this  discrepancy — has  been  made 
up  by  increase  in  the  direct  exports  from  China 
to  foieign  countries.  This,  however,  is  not  the 
])oint  that  most  directly  strikes  us  with  respect 
to  the  statistics  above  (pioted.  The  question  we 
should  desire  to  see  answered  is:  “Why  has 
Ceylon  so  far  outstripi)ed  India  in  this  re-ex- 
port of  teas  to  foreign  markets  ? ” While  India 
during  the  term  reviewed  has  added  but  300,090 
lb.  or  so  to  ber  le-export,  Ceylon  has  added 
not  greatl^'^  under  two  million  lb.  Certainly 
this  difference  is  a very  striking  one.  How  can 
it  be  accounted  for?  We  can  hardly  assign  as 
a re>»son  that  Ceylon  agencies  may  have  been 
more  active  in  their  respective  lields  of  work 
than  those  of  Lidia.  After  all,  such  lields  have 
been  mainly  confined  to  America  and  Russia. 
In  the  first  of  them  the  two  tea-growing  coun- 
tries have  been  working  simultaneously’,  and,  to 
a great  extent,  in  syiujialby’  with  each  other. 
In  Russia,  it  is  true,  M.  Rogivue  has  suc- 
ceeded in  creating  a considerable  demand  for 
Ceylon  tea,  but  we  believe  Indian  tea  has  not 
been  without  representation  there.  Australia 
may  be  left  out  of  coni])arison,  because  she  im- 
ports most  of  her  tea  direct  from  the  producing 
countries.  Failing  effort  to  account  for  the 
difference  mentioned  on  the  lines  above  sketched, 
nothing  remains  but  to  assume  tli.at  there  exists 
a prefereritial  taste  for  Cejdon  over  Indian  teas 
in  the  outside  markets  of  the  world.  We  do 
not  assert  that  this  is  so,  but  wo  can  hardly 
suggest  any  other  probable  or  possible  cause  for 
the  relatively  rapitl  progress^  made  by  Ceylon 
teas  in  this  matter  of  their  re  export  from  the 
United  Kingdom. 
THE  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  STKAITH  AND 
THE  .SELANGOR  PLANTERS’  ASSOCIA- 
TION. 
TO  -HIS  KXCKLHKXCV  SIU  CTlAltl.ES  liULLEN  ilUtUI 
MITC1IE1*L)  G.C.M.O  < GOVEitNOK  AND  COJIMAN'IHoIGIN- 
CHIEF  OF  THE  STUAITS  SETTLE^IENTS  AND  ITS 
HEi*EXi)ENUlES  : 
Youu  ExceLLK.xcv,— We.  the  undersigned  members 
of  the  Committee  of  the  Selangor  Planters’  As.so- 
ciation,  desire  on  behalf  of  our  Association  to  offer 
to  Your  Excellency  and  Lady  Mitchell  on  this  the 
occasion  of  your  third  visit  to  Selangor,  our  most 
hearty  and  cordial  welcome. 
We  feel  sure  that  Your  Excellenoy  cannot  but 
be  struck  by  the  great  change  in  the  aspect  of  the 
country,  which  has  resulted  i'l'om  the  rapid  advagee- 
66 
meiit  of  the  coffee  enterprise.  We  desire  to  tender 
to  you  our  sincere  thanks  for  the  vigorous  steps  you 
have  taken  to  forward  the  cause  of  free  labour,  and 
we  trust  that  Your  Excellencj^’s  appeal  to  the  Madras 
Government  to  send  over  Delegates  with  a view  to 
ascertaining  the  exact  conditions  under  which  the 
Tamil  inimigraut  lives  in  this  country,  will  result  in 
the  Mai  ly  Peninsula  being  thrown  open  to  unrestricted 
emigration  from  India, 
We  recognise  and  appreciate  Your  Excellency’s 
wise  determination  to  so  foster  and  encourage  agri- 
culture that  the  State  may  in  the  future  derive  a 
largo  proportion  of  its  revenue  for  this  source  and 
not,  as  in  the  past,  be  entirely  depended  on  tin. 
We  trust  that  Your  Excellency  will  permit  us,  as  a 
body  of  practical  7iien,  to  draw  your  attention  to  vari- 
ous points  in  the  policy  of  the  Government  which 
affect  labour  and  the  planting  enterprise — points  upon 
whicli  we  believe  Your  Excclleucy  will  agree  with 
us  tliat  our  opinions,  as  coming  from  those  most 
nearly  interested  in  the  question,  aro  not  unworthy 
of  Your  Excellency’s  close  consideration. 
L.mjouk.— It  is  felt  to  bo  a great  hardship  that 
labourers  can  leave  the  service  of  their  employers 
at  a month’s  notice  without  settling  their  liabili- 
ties, unless  bound  by  written  contracts  of  service. 
It  is  true  that  employers  have  their  civil  remedy, 
but  as,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  coolies’  assets  are 
nil,  it  is  useless  for  employers  to  try  to  recover  ad- 
vances through  the  Civil  Court.  We  submit  that 
there  can  be  no  injustice  in  making  it  compulsory 
for  coolies  to  either  pay  or  work  off  their  advances 
(taking,  say,  jj.!;')  as  a maximum  indebtedness  for 
each  cooly)  before  leaving  their  emploj^er’s  service. 
It  is  claimed  that  written  cou'cracts  obviate  this 
difficulty,  but  we  are  of  opinion  that  such  contracts 
are  utterly  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  free  operations 
as  binding  the  labourer  to  work  for  a fixed  period 
exceeding  a month,  and  w'e  know  that  they  are  ex- 
ceedingly unpalatable  to  the  coolies  themselves.  We 
would  have  our  labourers  free  to  leave  us  at  a month’s 
notice  if  they  choose  and  if  wo  cannot  so  identify 
our  interests  with  theirs  as  to  make  it  to  their  obvious 
advantage  to  stay  with  ns  ; but  we  ask  that  this 
freedom  with  regard  to  their  movements  should  be 
coutingeut  upon  the  proper  settlement  of  their 
just  liabilities,  and  we  qiwte  the  instance  of  Ceylon 
where  this  principle  is  most  strongly  insisted  upon 
by  planter.s  and  recognised  as  equitable  by  the 
Ceylon  Government.  We  sincerely  trust  that  Your 
Excellency  will  sea  fit  to  meat  our  views  in  this 
connection  before  the  new  Labour  Code  becomes  law. 
Auction  S.xle  of  Forest  or  “Waste”  Land. — Your 
Excellency  has  inaugurated  the  system  of  selling 
forest  or  “waste”  land  in  districts  which  appear 
best  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  coffee,  by  auction 
sale ; the  size  of  blocks  so  sold  has  been  limited  to 
320  acres  approximately,  and  the  usual  clause  pro- 
viding for  the  cultivation  of  one  fourth  of  the  whole 
area  within  a ))eriod  of  five  years  has  been  inserted 
in  all  grants.  Y^our  Excellency  has  stated  in  a recent 
despatch  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies  that 
your  object  in  introducing  these  innovations  has  been 
primarily  the  exclusion  of  the  speculator  in  land. 
As  bond  fide  planters  ourselves  we  would  record  our 
entire  approval  of  any  measures  which  will  achieve 
such  a desiralrle  result,  but  we  are  of  opinion  that 
the  cultivation  clause  in  itself  is  sufficient  for  this 
purpose,  and  moreover  that  the  practical  utility  of 
this  clause  would  be  considerably  euchaucod  by  the 
issue  of  larger  grants,  inasmuch  as  the  holder  of  a 
block  of,  say,  1,000  acres  would  find  it  a much  more 
difficult  matter  to  dispose  of  his  laud  in  the  third  or 
fourth  year  after  purchase,  with  2.^0  acres  to  be  brought 
under  cultivation  during  the  time  that  remained 
before  the  Government  had  the  right  of  re-entry,  than 
the  holder  of,  say,  throe  blocks  of  320  acres  each,  who 
could  very  possibly  place  his  land  in  three  difl'ereut 
quarters  with  the  obligation  attached  to  each  of  oulj’ 
opening  80  acres  in  from  one  to  two  years. 
VV'^o  also  consider  that  blocks  of  320  acres  are  insuffi- 
cient in  area  to  admit  of  economical  working,  and  that 
the  general  effect  of  sales  by  auction  is  to  put  the  trained 
planter  who  has  selected  his  blocks,  and  spends  time  and 
taonev  in  doing  so,  at  a serious  disadvantage  wheq 
