752 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[May 2, t? 98 . 
THE NEW AMERICAN TEA LAW. 
We read in the Latest A Gorcr that tlie 
constitutionality of the new tea law h.as been at- 
tacked by a linn of importers, throusb a suit 
brouo'ht in the United States Circuit Court, to 
restrain the Collector of Customs at New York 
from destroying a lot of rejected tea. 
The tea trade, ostensibly, sought to exclude the 
importation of unwholesome or injurious teas— a 
very commendatory act; but the new law, with 
its arbitrary standards, excludes many low-prade 
teas that are unobjectionable from a sanitary 
standpoint. The attorneys in the case state that 
the whole proceedinij, in connection with exami- 
nation is secret and somewhat of a “star 
chamber ” character. The Secretary of the Trea- 
sury tixe.s his standards in Febr uary of each year. 
If teas are on the way durinr; the chaitge of 
standards, on arrival they will be judged by the 
new standards, the law making no juovision for 
their being judged by the old starrdai'ds. The 
claim was made that Congress was fooled in 
passing the act, the real- purpose of its being 
passed being to shut out moderate-)rriced teas so 
as to make it possible to put on the market large 
quantities of old .and inferior teas which could 
not compete with good, low-priced teas, and that 
this has been the actual result of the act. At 
arty rate, the existence of this act makes the 
inr'portation of teas a business too prec.arious to 
be continued. The claiut of the ]ilaintrffs is that 
the act is unconstitutional and void. The tea trade 
are said to be very timiii in resisting the enforce- 
ment of the act, because the power of the 
examiners is so absolutely discretionary that a 
slight prejudice against a firnr on the part of an 
exautitter is liable to unconsciously affect Iris 
judgment, although he may be perfectly honest 
in the premises. No claim is made or suggestion 
that the examiners have not acted in this case 
with entire honesty and good faith ; but the fact 
is that the power to almost arbitrarily exclude 
teas without appeal is too great a power to place 
in the hands of any otficiah The appeal to the 
Board of Appraisers is almost useless, inasmuch 
as the persons employed to examine teas acquire 
the habit of being a sort of prosecutors for tlie Gov- 
ernment, and theii natural tendency is to aflirm 
one another’s reports without any' want of good 
faith on their part. Also the standards fixed aie 
really no test of the qualify or whole.someness of 
the tea. In point of fact, the teas excluded are of 
a far higher quality as to purity and fitness for 
consumption than great quantities of teas which 
are admitted without objection. 
The operation of the act is also capricious and 
arbitrary. At the )iort of New York the ex- 
aminers seem to go on the principle of giving the 
beneiit of the doubt to the Government in ex- 
cluding the teas. In other ports they adopt the 
opposite policy. 
The ostensible pui pose of the act is to compel 
the American peojde to drink a higher-priced 
class of tea than they would otherwise do. The 
pretext for the exercise of the power by Congress 
is its constitutional power to regulate commerce ; 
but the real, practical operation of the act is the 
exercise ot |iolicc or iicalih jiowcr for the tea- 
drinking in the United IStatcs. This [lower is 
not vested in Congress, and if the act were ex- 
[iresscd to be for that [lolice purpose its uncon- 
stituiion.ality would lie beyond question : but the 
[lower to regulate commerce is not loY to Con- 
o-rc.ss, because its results may be in some respects 
[lie e.xercisc of police powei’i 
There is a great de.al of truth in the above criti- 
cism says the Ainericmi Grocer. We cannot 
believe that Congre.ss designed to exclude any tea 
not injurious to heilth, simp'y' because it is low 
in p;ice. The standards ado|ited by the Govern- 
ment do not recognize the amount of thvine in 
tea; the amount of extr.active matter; amount 
of ash, or other c msiderations which ilctermine 
the [ihysiological valueof tea. The standards are 
[lurely commeicial, and it is a well-known fact 
that many higii-priccd teas are inferior, from a 
chemical standpoint, to many low-gr.ade teas. 
The absurd sieve test imposed last year revealed 
the unfairness of the standards governing last 
■season's im|iort, as it excluded some of the 
choicest te.as grown in the world. We believe 
that the trade (including the critics) are a unit in 
favour of excluding tea that is injurious to health, 
but they are not a unit in favour of excluding 
very cheap tea if it is wholesome. 
We can say positively that some firms here have 
been overloaded for y'ears witli unsaleable low- 
grade teas. If the Government stops the importa- 
tion of a tea below the stand, ard, is it not equally 
its duty to stop the sale of similar tea now on the 
market ? 
Another feature of the .situation is revealeil in 
a letter from China, printed in the New 
York Journal of Commerce of Feb. 21, in which 
is .a statement showing conclusively that the 
new tea act was justifiable, in so far as it pro- 
hibits imports of unwhole.some or adulterated 
tea, and timt it has had the effect of com|)elling 
Chinese dealers to improve the leaf. Reference is 
then made to facts to demonstrate the beneficial 
effect of a National tea act ; but should the act 
deny entry to a tea that is wholesome, simply 
because it is of low grade, or, what some desig- 
nate cheap and nasty ? If the same rule 
ivas applied to the importation of coffee, triage, 
or very low grailes, would be excluded. And 
yet it has never been charged that such coffee is 
prejudicial to health. 
Thus far the tea act has enabled holders to un- 
load low-grade teas imported prior to the act at a 
big .adv.ince, their conscience not standing in the 
way of their selling teas for consumption tliat are 
below the established standards ; while their 
conscience is very tender when similar teas are 
now offered tor entry under the act. 
We very much doubt, says our contemporary, if 
the Government has a right to e.stablisli any 
otlier standard than that of wholesomeness in ad- 
mitting tea or any other article of food to entry 
for consumption. We are glad that this question 
is to come up for review by the courts. 
EAST INDIAN PLANTING. 
A w.iter in Calcutta paper. Capital, thinks that 
a farm for the purpose of producing lac affords as 
g5od an investment for capital as any the country 
c in offer. It is said to have failed when attempted 
ill Cachar, but that was simply from the person who 
undertook the business being unacquainted with the 
habits of the insect, and placing his nucleus out in 
the full blaze of the sun, whereas it is only found 
in the densest forest undergrowth. Again, he says, 
take the item of beeswax. The southern face of the 
mid-mountain range teems with hives ; and in many 
villages artificial ones may be seen. Yet no European 
has turned his attention to the important industry 
ot apiculture, though no more eligible site than the 
orange groves could be had, the blossoms of that 
fruit in March and April affording, perhaps, the most 
suitable food for the many million of insects that 
are encountered. Although there is but little doing 
in the wholesale trade, the price of the comb, 
