686 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST 
April  ij  1897. 
direct  taxation  is  distasteful  to  the  public,  particularly 
when  it  affects  anything  in  the  shape  of  feed  or  drink. 
Much  sympathy  was  evoked  at  the  Romford  and 
Walthamsto  AT  elections  by  Opposition  orators  point- 
ing out  how  much  more  useful  it  would  have  been 
to  have  taken  off  the  duty  on  tea  and  similar 
articles  of  universal  consumption  than  to  have  drawn 
on  the  national  exchequer  for  the  relief  of  agricul- 
tural rates. 
Unf.\ir  iNcinKNCK  OF  THE  DuTY. — Another  as- 
pect of  the  question  which  tveighs  with  the 
pnblic  is  the  unfair  incidence  of  the  duty, 
duty.  As  “ Planter  ” points  out.  on  quality  teas  the 
duty  is  just  half  as  much  as  it  is  on  common  teas, 
which  is  a manifest  hardship  to  the  average  consu- 
mer. Tea  nlanters  unacquainted  with  the  ins  and 
outs  of  home  politics  have  no  idea  of  the  large  part 
that  this  question  of  taxing  tea  plays  in  rural  politics 
and  in  the  political  discussions  always  going  on  in 
the  poorer  urban  districts.  “ Planter  ” has  patriotic 
compunctions  as  to  the  advisability  of  abolishing  the 
duty  altogether  on  the  ground  that  in  the  event  of 
war  it  might  be  expedient  to  rise  the  revenue  bj' 
increasing  the  tea  duty.  But  as  it  is  generally  ad- 
mitted by  both  parties  in  the  State  that  the  burdens 
of  taxation  should  be  imposed  on  the  persons  best 
able  to  bear  them,  no.  Government  would  be  likely 
to  put  a tax  on  food  or  kindred  substances,  that 
falls  most  heavily  on  the  masses,  while  there  was 
an  income  tax  to  screw  up,  which  mainly  falls  on 
the  well-to-do  minority.  As  to  putting  differential 
— mueh  as  Indian  and  Ceylon  planters  may  desire  it 
—duties  on  China  teas,  that  proposition,  however 
plausible  in  theory,  is  not  within  the  range  of  prac- 
tical politics.  No  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  would 
entertain  the  idea  at  present  ; Sir  Michael  Hicks- 
Beach,  who  is  one  of  the  staunchest  of  Free  Traders, 
least  of  all.  British  enterprise  and  the  hold  British- 
grown  teas  have  on  the  community  are  the  best 
safeguards  against  China  competition.  We  do  not 
believe  ourselves  that  the  consumption  of  tea  has 
reached  its  limit,  as  some  aver.  The  tendency  of 
the  tunes  in  all  ranks  of  society  is  to  eschew  the 
cup  that  inebriates  and  to  drink  more  and  more 
tea.  This  tendency,  if  it  be  condemned  by  the 
medical  faculty  occasiiially,  is  still  growing, 
for  all  classes  of  the  community  are  fond  of  tea, 
and  believe  that,  in  spite  of  the  evils  of  dyspepsia 
which  are  supposed  to  wait  on  those  who  drink 
too  much,  there  is  nothing  yet  known  which  com- 
pares with  tea  as  a comforting  and  invigorating  drink. 
Tea  Planting  and  Matrimony. — The  columns  of 
Truth  are  usually  open  to  grievances  of  all  kinds, 
either  at  home  or  from  India  and  the  Colonies,  but 
there  are  some  problems  rather  too  wide  and  deep 
even  for  Tnith.  We  recently  touched  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  planters  and  matrimony,  admitting,  however, 
that  it  was  rather  a large  order.  The  editor  of  T,-uth 
evidently  thinks  so  too,  for  he  says  : I am  desired 
by  an  Indian  tea-planter  to  help  in  correcting  the 
mistaken  notion  which  prevails  in  many  quarters 
at  home  respecting  the  class  of  young  men  who 
are  required  in  the  tea  industry  The  idea 
seems  to  be  that  any  ne’er-do  well  or  noodle 
will  be  good  enough  for  a berth  on  a tea  garden  in 
India  or  Ceylon,  and  owing  to  the  foolish  com- 
plaisance of  directors  of  companies  and  owners  of 
estates  in  yielding  to  the  influence  of  relatives  and 
friends  such  youths  are  often  sent  out.  The  busi- 
ness is  really  one,  however,  in  which  a special  scienti- 
fic training  is  demanded,  and  directors  who  foist  on 
to  an  estate  incompetent  young  fellows  with  no 
knowledge  or  aptitude  for  the  work  do  themselves  and 
their  shareholders  a very  bad  turn.” 
The  Labovu  Question.— TrutA  touches  upon  another 
matter  affecting  tea  planters,  for  in  the  same  issue 
as  the  above  the  editor  says  : “ A new  phase  of  the 
coolie  recruiting  question  is  brought  out  >n  a letter 
that  I have  had  from  a tea  jilanter  at  Sibsagah,  in 
Assam.  Ue  frankly  admits  that  under  the  system  of 
so-called  ‘ free  emigration  ’ from  Chota  Nagpur, 
coolies  are  brought  and  sold  like  cattle.  Nor  does 
he  deny  that  atrocious  cruelty  is  practised  in  con- 
nection with  the  traffic  ; but  he  says  that  these  in- 
iquities occur  in  the  recruiting  districts,  where  the 
planters  are  powerless  to  stop  them,  and  that  once 
the  coolies  get  to  the  tea  gardens  they  are  well 
treated.  The  special  point  of  view  from  which  he 
writes,  however,  is  the  high  price  which  employers 
in  Assam  now  have  to  pay  for  these  ‘‘  free  emigrants.” 
Formerly  a planter  could  send  forth  one  of  his  own 
garden  sirdars  as  a recruiter,  and  rely  upon  his 
bringing  back  twenty  or  thirty  or  more  adults,  at 
a cost  of  from  R35  to  R50.  Now  the  supply  of  such 
labour  from  Bengal  is  almost  wholly  in  the  hands 
of  coolie  contractors,  and  these  middlemen  make  the 
planters  pay  from  RlOO  to  RI50  for  each  adult 
delivered  in  Assam.  One  result  of  the  high  prices 
is  that  a strong  inducement  can  be  held  out  to 
men  to  abscond  and  enlist  over  and  over  again,  the 
dealer  in  coolies  making  a good  profit  for  himself 
each  time.  My  correspondent’s  proposed  remedy  for 
a state  of  things  which  he  plaintively  declares  is 
becoming  unbearable  seems  to  be  a combination 
among  owners  of  tea  estates  to  boycott  the  coolie 
contractors,  and  run  the  recruiting  business  on  their 
own  account,  though  under  the  supervision  of  a 
Government  officer’  This  would  be  a very  good  move 
for  the  planters,  bnt  whether  it  would  be  sufficient 
to  put  an  end  to  the  abominable  abuses  which  exist 
in  the  recruiting  districts  is  exceedingly  doubtful. 
What  is  wanted  is  a root-and-branch  reform,  if  not 
the  abolition  of  the  whole  system,  which  at  present 
is  nothing  less  than  a legalised  slave  trade.” 
The  Chemistby  of  Tea. — Mr.  David  Crole,  whose 
book  on  “ Tea;  a Text-book  of  its  Cultivation  and 
Manufacture,”  will  be  published  shortly,  read  a 
paper  on  “ The  Chemistry  of  Tea”  at  the  Society  of 
Arts  on  Wednesday.  The  paper,  a portion  of 
which  we  publish  in  another  column,  was  a very 
technical  one,  and  as  there  were  few  among  the 
audience  who  had  made  a special  study  of  the 
chemistry  of  tea  the  discussion  on  the  paper  was 
necessarily  brief,  although  the  chairman  called  on  Mr. 
Christison  and  other  gentlemen  ivho  have  had 
practical  experience  of  tea  manufacture  to  take  part 
in  it.  We  have  not  space  to  reproduce  Mr.  Crole’s 
elaborate  and  carefully  prepared  exposition  of  the 
chemical  constituents  of  tea,  but  we  reproduce  the 
more  practical  portion  of  his  paper  dealing  with  the 
chemistry  of  the  process  of  manufacture.  As  the 
chairman  of  the  meeting  stated,  the  whole  subject  of 
the  chemistry  of  tea  requires  investigation,  and  Mr. 
Crole’s  paper  should  help  to  stir  up  interest  in  the 
subject. 
R.vther  Too  Popular. — At  a time  when  there  are 
complaints  that  the  ‘‘  creeper  ” system  is  overdone, 
and  that  tea  planting  as  an  occupation  for  young 
men  in  search  of  employment  and  adventure  is  over- 
stocked, tlie  appearance  of  articles  in  family  papers 
on  the  popularity  of  tea  planting  are  not  so  welcome 
as  they  otherwise  might  be.  We  reproduce  elsewhere 
an  article  on  “ Tea  Planting  as  a Profession  ” from 
the  pages  of  Hearth  and  Home.  It  is  not  a highly- 
coloured  picture  of  the  prospect,  but  it  is  calculated 
perhaps  enthuse  young  men  with  a desire  to  go  tea 
planting  before  they  have  ascertained  the  difficulties 
which  are  pretty  certain  to  overtake  thorn  in  the  pur- 
suit of  a likely  opening.  Unless  a young  man  has 
first  passed  some  time  in  an  engineer’s  shop  and 
mastered  the  rudiments  at  least  of  mechanical 
engineering,  to  say  nothing  of  agricultural  chemistry, 
and  has  rendered  himself  fit  for  the  tea  garden,  he 
is  of  no  practical  Uoo,  and  has  everything  to  learn. 
If  he  has  done  all  this  he  has  still  to  find  a vacant 
berth  where  his  rudimentary  knowledge  will  find 
scope  for  expansion.  Under  those  circumstances  the 
choice  of  climate  and  the  attraction  of  the  life  need 
not  fill  too  large  a jilace  in  his  mind.  Of  young 
men  on  the  look  out  for  billets  on  tea  gardens 
there  are  enough  and  to  spare ; therefore,  unless 
new  corners  are  physically  and  mental ly  lit  and  sped- 
