March i, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
647 
noticed in En'?land and since he came out here 
various paragraphs, some from newspaper corre- 
spondents and others of more or less an editorial 
nature, putting the saddle upon the wrong horse. 
Tlie Governor as they knew was extremely prompt 
in the matter and did his very best. When he got 
home he went to the Colonial Office and found that 
they had been equally prompt. He found that they 
had a despatch from the Director at Kew, which 
hail since been published in Ceylon, in which he 
practically declined to send out a cryptogamist 
and suggested in the meantime getting a botanist 
from India. He was not at all satisfied with 
that and thought there was something behind 
it. The Colonial Office were good enough to ar- 
range an interview between him and the Director. 
He heard all the Director had to say and he was 
not satisfied with it, but the Director showed 
him a letter written by their Peradeniya Director 
about that time specially asking him not to send 
out a cryptogamist — that he did not think it was 
fungoid and that it was inexpedient to send out 
a cryptogamist. Therefore it was at the request 
of the Peradeniya Director that a cryptogamist 
was not sent here. In making this explanation 
he did not wish it to be thought that he was 
blaming the Director; doubtless he did it with 
the best rf intentions ; but the effect of his letter 
naturally was to prevent the Director at Kew 
agreeing to the request for a cryptogamist. 
The Chairman thought the request made by 
the mover of the resolution a very small one 
and one the Association could easily and readily 
comply with. He thought that it would be on 
the proper lines and that a Sub-Committee would 
be the best to see that the proper samples were 
given to an analyst. A Sub. Committee could be 
appointed at an early meeting to carry out the 
suggestion made by Mr. De Sanctis and the As- 
sociation would be prepared to pay the tees. 
This was agreed to and the Chairman inti- 
mated that the matter would be brought up at 
the next Committee meeting. 

THE CURRENCY QUESTION. 
To the Secretary, Ceylon Planters’ Association 
Colombo. 
Dear Sir, — At the last Annual Meeting of tl e 
United Planters’ Association of Southern India, I was 
instructed to address all the large Produce Asso- 
ciations, Chambers of Commerce and Mill Owners in 
India and Ceylon with a view of ascertaining whet her 
they would join us in forming a combination for ti e 
purpose of representing to the Secretary of Sii.te 
for India and the Houses of Parliament the tiitical 
condition of the producing industries of this cciintry; 
and to forcibly point out that if the present f.nancial 
policy is long continued the export trade of India 
must seriously suffer, with the reiv.lt that the iinrl 
position of the Government of India will be worse 
than if it had never made the fatal blunder of tam- 
pering with the currency. 
2. In accordance with this resoluticn I beg to re- 
quest that you will favour me with the views of 
ycur Association, (a) On the closing of the Mints 
and the General policy of the G. Minient of India 
in endeavouring to create an artifical rate of exchange. 
(h) On the effect that this artificial rate has had on 
yonr industries. 
3. Y'ith regard to ourselves the effect of the pre- 
sent financial policy of the Government of India has 
been as follows : — Our chief industries are the grow- 
ing of coffee and tea. Our coffee has to compete with 
Brazil, and our tea with China and Japan. Taking 
the present intrinsic value of the lupee at between 9d 
and lOd the Government has forced it up to Is 4d or 
60 per cent, over its real value. Brazil has nominally 
a gold standard, but owing to bad financing the value 
of its standard coin, the milreis, has fallen during the 
past ten years from 27d to between 8d and 9d, so that 
for all practical purposes Brazil is a country with a 
currency on a level with that of all silver standard 
countries. As a result Brazil has flooded the markets 
wnh coffee w'hich she can sell profitably, owing to her 
low rates of exchange, at. 40s per cwt. In India, on 
the other hand, under existing circumstances coffee 
cannot be produced at a profit under 80s per cwt. 
Luckily owing to its superior quality it can still com- 
mand this price, but it has to compete with the better 
quality'^ coffees of Costa Rica and other silver standard 
countries of Central America. Y’v u'ould point out 
to you that this action of the Go\einment of India 
in maintaining an artificial rate of exchange act as 
a bounty in favor of those countries of 60 per cent. 
4. In like manner our teas have to compete with 
China and Japan. The former has a silver stand- 
ard, and Japan, though she has recently adopted 
a gold standard, has fixed her ex- hange (doubtless 
having this and other competition in view) at the 
present low rate ruling in silver standard countries, 
and IS for all practical purposes one of them. Here 
again, ^ing to the action of the Government of 
India, China, and .Japan enjoy a bounty of 60 per 
cent. Although Indian and Ceylon teas have been 
able to wrest the British and Colonial markets from 
China and Japan, they have only succeeded in doing 
so owing to their low rate of exchange in thepast, 
and even then at a cost to themselves of more than 
50 per cent, reduction in the price of their teas It 
must further be borne in mind that Chinese and 
Japanese teas, although inferior in quality are still 
for a higher price in silver than ours 
and that the Japanese exports have increased 
aunng the last twenty six years, from 18| to 60 
uiilliou lb., and the Chinese from 236 to 239 
million lb. This increased export has so far found an 
outlet in the mai kets ol Russia and the United States 
where our competition has been less keen. The 
sttuggle that is to come must be to conquer these 
markets, involving in all prebability a further fall in 
the gold price of tea. In view of these facts, we main- 
Um that It will be impossible for Indian and Ceylon 
Planters to coniinne giving this bounty of 60 per cent 
to their rivals and yet compete with them suc- 
cessfully in the world’s maikets. It seems to us that 
the future prosperity of India and the safeguard for 
its increasing population, shielded by Government 
from war and famine, depend mainly on the cultiv - 
tion of the enormous tiacts of waste land tht t u 
contains, and as pointed out in the Indian article r f 
the London Times this has hitherto been effect i a 
by the cuhivation of articles of export such aster 
coffee, ju.c, cotton, wheat and seeds. Owing to the 
constant opening up of new countries and increasing 
facilities of cheap communication with the world’s 
markets, the gold price of India’s produce is more 
hl.elv to fall th-n rise. It seems therefore the height 
of folly for the Government of India deliberatelv to 
throw away the advantage which alow exchange gives 
the export trade of India in their severe competition 
with bo.h gold and silver standard countries; 
6. We shall be told that the loss to the export 
t: ade IS largely balanced by the gain of the import 
trade, but the latter is a much smaller trade than the 
former, is not so necessary, and denends for its volume 
largely on the power of the exporters to purchase im. 
ports. If the export tiade suffers the import will 
ako suffer proportionately, and the better off ex. 
porters are the more imports they can purchase ' 
7. We are well aware that the Government of 
India IS not in a position to forego the saving now 
effected in sterling chaiges without increasing its 
taxation to a considerable extent. But we believe 
that if Government were to re-open the mil ts and 
refrain from tampering in any wav with exchange 
the export trade of India, under a low exchange’ 
would very rapidly increase, (as has been exempli- 
fied by the coffee 1 1 d v 1 eat trades of South America) 
and that with in on a ,d land and other sources of 
revenue the impositu n of a direct 5 percent export 
duty would be found sufficient to cover the loss on 
