6o6 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[March  i,  189^. 
fellow-subjects  iu  the  North-West  arid  Central  Pro- 
vinces of  India,  may  I suggest  a measure  which 
would  tend  to  relieve,  even  iu  a slight  degree,  some 
of  the  I xisting  pressure  ? At  this  season  of  the  year 
it  is  usual  for  tlie  tea  gardens  in  Assam,  Cachar, 
Sylhet,  and  oth.-r  places,  to  recruit  labourers  from 
the  famine  districts  by  head  men  sent  from  the 
different  gardens.  It  is  a very  unsatisfactory  and 
e.xpensive  methods,  as  these  men  frequently  return 
without  a single  recruit,  after  having  received 
advances  of  luiudreds  of  rupees  from  their  gar- 
den managers,  on  the  faith  of  glowing  reports 
as  to  the  number  of  labourers  collected.  What 
I would  suggest  is  that  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment should  appoint  immigration  agents  in  each  of 
the  affected  districts,  to  whom  the  managers  of 
gardens  could  apply  direct  for  the  number  of 
labourers  required,  and  who  would  send  them  up 
under  proper  supervision.  Many  gardens  are  short 
of  labour,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  and  expense 
of  getting  it  ; but  if  each  garden  manager  could 
notify  his  wants  direct  to  the  Government,  and 
could  be  supplied  with  the  labour  required  quickly 
and  cheaply  (he,  of  course,  paying  all  expenses),  it 
would  be  to  the  mutual  benefit  of  the  Government 
and  planter.  From  my  knowledge  of  the  tea  dis- 
tricts work  could  be  found  for  at  least  another  half 
million  of  labourers,  who  would  be  rescued  from 
starvation,  and  would  enjoy  a degree  of  happiness 
and  x>rosperity  unknown  in  their  own  country.” 
The  Cane  Sugar  Question. — The  sugar  planters 
of  the  Mauritius  have  followed  the  example  of  those 
iu  the  West  Indies,  and  are  asking  that  their  lot 
may  be  ameliorated  without  indicating  how  it  is  to 
be  clone.  On  Friday  Lord  Stanmore  and  the  Mauritius 
Delegates’  Committee  attended  by  appointment  at 
the  Colonial  Offico,  and  presented  to  Mr.  Chamberlain 
a petition  from  Mauritius,  signed  by  over  10,000 
persons  interested  in  the  sugar  industry,  praying 
that  measures  may  immediately  be  taken  ny  the 
Government  to  relieve  the  critical  position  of  the 
colony  and  enable  its  produce  to  compete  in  the 
markets  of  Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies  on 
equal  terms  with  beetroot  sugar  from  foreign 
countries.  Lord  Stanmore,  in  iiit  oducing  the  de- 
putation, pointed  out  that  the  position  of 
Mauritius  iu  the  event  of  the  failure  of  the  sugar 
industry  would  be  worse  than  that  of  the  West 
Indies,  as  the  colony  had  no  other  industry  to  fall 
back  on.  He  claimed  the  sympathy  and  assistance 
of  the  Government.  Mr.  Chamberlain,  in  his  reply, 
as  lured  the  deputation  that  the  Government  was  fully 
aware  of  the  gravity  of  the  siiuation,  and  sym- 
pathised with  hardships  that  were  not  the  result  of 
natural  causes,  but  of  artificial  interference.  He  could 
give  no  indication  of  the  course  Her  Majesty’  Govern- 
ment would  think  fit  to  pursue  until  the  Commission 
lately  sent  out  to  the  West  Indies  had  reported,  which 
it  was  expected  to  do  in  about  three  or  four  mouths’ 
time. — 11.  and  C.  Jlail,  Jan.  22. 
CLOSE  OF  THE  INDIAN  TEA  SEASON 
FOIi  1890. 
Tlie  following  figures  and  comparisons  from  the 
latest  circular  of  Messrs.  Watson,  Sibtliorp  & 
Co.  of  Calcutta  are  of  .special  interest  : — 
Exports,  Stocks,  Ac.,  of  Indian  Tea. 
1896.  1895.  1894. 
lb.  lb.  lb. 
Exports  from  Calcutta 
to  Great  Britain  from  1st 
Jan.  to  31st  Dec, ..128.182, 030  121,140,686  116,280,876 
Exports  from  Cal- 
cutta to  Great  Britain 
in  December  ..  12,028,512  10,264,120  10,491,413 
Stocks  in  London  on 
8l3t  December  ..  54,100,000  52,638,498  47,930,601 
Deliveries  in  London 
from  1st  Jan.  to  31st 
December. . 124,667  003  115,003,2)1  117,423,711 
Do  in  Dec.  ..  11,600,000  9,933,268  9,320,911 
Landings  in  London 
from  1st  Jan.  to  31st 
December  ..  125,385,831  119,806,191  115,323,648 
Do  iuDec.  ..18,500,000  17,305,803  13,808,490 
Exports  from  Cal- 
cutta to  Australia  & 
New  Zealand  from  1st 
Jan.  to  31st  Deo.  ..  5,482,881 
Do  in  Dec...  589,718 
Do  from  Calcutta 
direct  to  America  from 
1st  Jan.  to  31st  Dec.. . 1,164,279 
Do  in  Dec.  ..  149,278 
Exports  from  Calcutta 
to  all  other  places  from 
1st  Jan.  CO  31st  Dec.. . 5,828,365  4,177,.528 
Do  in  Dec...  604,604  670,717 
6,172,486 
608,795 
939,040 
66,251 
5,489,390 
434,314 
505,679 
61,215 
4,462,270 
359,553 
“ HESEKVE  FEND.S  OF  TEA  COMFANIES.” 
Some  days  ago  a local  daily  contemporary  had  a 
deliverance  on  the  above  subject  and,  cpioting  from 
a London  Sharebioker,  he  aflbrded  but  a poor 
picture  of  the  stability  of  Ceylon  Tea  Companies  so 
far  as  “reserves”  were  concerned.  This  may  be 
judged  by  the  extract  we  a])pend  : — 
“ The  following  table  compiled  by  one  of  the  best- 
known  London  sharebrokers  doing  business  in  Ceylon 
stock  tabulates  the  information  so  that  the  position 
of  affairs  iu  thi<  respect  can  be  seen  at  a glance; — 
STATEMENT  OE  THE  HESEKVE  FUND  OP  BOMB  ESTATE 
IN  CEYLON. 
Of  45  Sterling  Companies  : — 
Total  indebtedness  . . . . £5,9.36,999 
Deduct  Consolidated  Tea  and  Lauds 
Company  . . . . 1,800,000 
£4,136,999 
Total  Reserve  £144,482,  or  3’49  per  cent. 
Of  this  total  reserve  the  Ceylon  Tea 
Plantations  Co.  has  £70,000 
The  indebtedness  of  the  C.  T.  P.  Co.  is  218,460 
Leaving  for  the  other  23  Companies  £3,838,539 
And  the  balance  of  the  Reserve  Fund, 
.£144,482  less  £70,000,  allows  £74,482, 
equivalent  to  a percentage  of  i'91 
Of  29  Rupee  Companies  ; — 
Total  indebtedness  . . . . R7, 141, 458 
Tot.il  Reserve  11262,000,  or  equivalent  to  a 
percentage  of  3'6 
‘ But  these  figures  present  the  case  iu  a much  too 
favourable  light,  seeing  that  the  11262,000  set  down  ai 
the  reserve  of  the  Rupee  Companies  are  strictly  speak- 
ing no  reseive  at  all,  being  chiefly  sums  passed  to 
“ extension  fund  account,’’  and  have  all  been  expended 
in  developing  the  estates.  They  are  not  reserves  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  word  in  such  a liquid  form  as 
reserves  should  be.” 
Now  ill  referring  to  the  .above  statement,  we  notice 
in  the  lir.st  place  that  the  London  Sharebroker 
talks  of  the  “indebtedness'’  of  the  Companies, 
under  which  term  lie  evidently  includes  tlie 
share  capital  which,  of  course,  is  not  indebted- 
ness. Next  he  proceeds  to  draw  a comparison 
between  the  Reserve  Fund,  and  the  so-called 
“ indebtedness,.”  In  the  opinion  of  reliable  mer- 
cantile authorities,  this  is  not  sound — unless  it 
is  contended  that  in  the  c.ase  of  Tea  Companies 
a Cash  Reserve  Fund  should  be  built  ui»  as 
against  the  possibility  of  a loss  of  the  capital 
of  the  Conniany,  or  in  other  words  a collapse 
of  the  Tea  Industry.  .Such  an  eventuality  we  are 
not  going  to  di.scuss,  at  any  rate  for  the  luesent ; 
and  we  think  tor  our  contemporary  or  his  share- 
hioking  friend  to  sugge.st  such  a thing  in  the 
w.ny  they  have  done,  is  far  more  likely  to  do 
harm  than  to  do  good.  The  more  general  opinion 
