The Express.
London, England, 1846-11-26 00:00:00

conunutatioill

ea act, in order to stop smuggling, and to add to
the comforts of the people, reduced the duty from Is. and 6
per cent, ad valorem duty to 124 per cent. The conse-
quence was, that the consumption rose from 5,000,0001b5. to
21,000,0001 b.. in 1795. (Loud cries of " Rear, hear.")
There is some little discrepancy in the actual amount of the
tea consumed at that period. dome parties state it as low as
3,000,0001 W. ; I think 5,000,0001 M. may be taken as a fair
estimate. In 1795 the duty was raised to 20 per cent. ,• and
from that period to 1834, when the charter of the East India'
Company was abrogated, there was a continuous rise of duty
at nine various periods ; and at the latter date the consump-
tion though more in pounds was less per head than in 17e-0.
(Rear.) As this is from a parliamentary domment. bee
better read you the statement, and it will carry ore eleg
tory of the trade to the year 1836.
la 1784 the tan was 121 per cent.; in tr..a it esseetteee to 20 per
cent.; in 1797, to 20 per
.eent. ell 2a. &I. I'
at and above that time; at 1798. in 20 end SS PeTri
in IMO, to. 20 lnd 40 per cent. ; in 1801, to ',/;'erenet BtP Yin
1803, and 9S per cent. ; in 1806 to 96. per cent. OR ell Primo;
:au in 1319, to 96 per CCM.. under 2s. %Relb., and 100 per cent, at
and above that price, continuing to the weemetien or the comp uire
shunter.
InlaMkeledtheectThdeentngbeinfite throw n open, the duty was attempted
be
quality, being le. 6d. per a or
2, 4ei
thewhilcehwelasteo„sup2T"ld.topewr lbk.
011 the middle, and In, per lb. cm the finest kinds. This scale
was also constructed on the principal of taxing, aa Dew aa may be, the
article with an average d•
,rty of 100 per cent. ; but was abandoned in
1830 owing to mowo o necessary tostate I ere, and was succeeded by
a uniform duty of 2„ id, per lb., until 1840, when the additional
Per cent, Imposed 'AI all Castoms• duties, brought it up to Is. 21d.
perlb.
A very imPot'eant fact connected with the importation of II
tea is embraced between the periods 1822-3 and 1831-2.1
The PAW.. India Company reduced the price of Bohm
71d. per. lb., and as it was charged an ad valorem duty, a
similee reduction was made on the part of the government,
together amounting to Is. 3d. per lb. The consequence was,
that the consumption, which, in the former period, was
1.,800,000 rose in the latter to 64,000,000 lbs. (Hear.) If
this reduction had not taken place, it would appear from the
figures that there would have been an actual decrease in the
sales up to 1833 of 1,000,0001 be. •. this reduction produced
en excess of 46,000,0001b5. On the abrogation of the
charter, the consumption increased from 31,000,0001b5. to
44,000,600165, producing • revenue of 4,800,0001. We
have to contend with the difficulty of supplying this. But
when we look to the increase that has taken place by the re-
duction
of duty, and the effect of low duties in other coun-
tries, I trust it will induce the Chancellor of the Exchequer
to believe that the reduction of duty will produce a great
increase of consumption. (" Oh, oh.") The quantity often
consumed in the Channel Islands:is about 411bs. per head. In
Newfoundland it is 51bs. per head, and in New South Wake
%lbs. per head. ("Oh.") Now, with the evidence before
us that moderate duties produced increased consumption,
the Chancellor will be fully warranted in doing what he
can to increase the comforts of the people. For tea is not
now a luxury ; it has become one of the necessaries of life.
A friend of mine, whom I see in court, was in Staffordshire',
lately, where he saw four men doing some work; some ale
was sent out to them, but they said, " We are not teetotaller.,
but we find that tea enables us to do eur work better; we
shall therefore be obliged to you for a cup of tea instead of '
the ale." This shows clearly the taste of the people, so
that they will prefer tea if they can get it. Mr. Brown then
combatted the objection that China would not be able to pro-
duce a sufficient quantity of tea. He went into several cal-
culations to show this. The Chinese, for example, used tea as
we do beer. Their consumption was about 71b. per head ; '
and multiplying this by the population of China, it would be
seen that the additional per tentage we should draw would he
trifling indeed. In fact, they had the means of indefinitely
extending the cultivation of the plant. We must not lose
sight, Mr. Brown continued, of the fact, that a larger con-
sumption of tea would necessarily produce a larger con-
sumption of sugar. This will greatly assist the govern-
ment in making up the revenue. One argument brought
against us will be, why do not the United States consume a
larger quantity, where the duty was already moderate, and
now there is none at all ? The answer is, the taste of the I
Americans is for coffee. They use six lbs. per head, or
120,000,0001 be. per annum, while we consume but 34,000,000
lbs, or 1 fibs per head. So that what we use in tea they use
in coffee; and, hence, as our taste is fur tea, and not for
coffee, I should not be surprised to see the consumption in.
crease three-fold. (Hear.) As for the moral effect, that
part of the question will be ably handled by some of the gen-
tlemen who are to come after me. It is quite true that the
collection of a specific euty is much easier for the govern-
ment and for the merchant ; but is it equity—is it justice—
that the most valuable dmeriptiens of t a should pay
only the same duty as the lowest kinds of Bohea, depriving
the great tams of the people of the use of this wholesome
teverage ? It has been clearly shown by Mr. Bamfield, in
one of his lectures, that the great mass of the consumers of
tea, the poorer climes, are as 10,300,000 compared with
4,500,000 of the middle class, and 1,200,000 of the rich. Mr.
Brown concluded by pressing upon the public at large the
necessity of aiding in the movement for the reduction of
the duty on tea ; inasmuch as it was only by enlisting the
almost omnipotent voice of public opinion in their favour
that their efforts could be successful.
Mr. BRASILRY relocate rose with great pleasure to emend
the resolution, 11e entertained no fears as regarded the re-
duction of the duty on tea. Rethought the reduction might
safely be made, without danger to the revenue, and on such
a scale as to affect the retail price to the consumer, without
which no benefit would be conferred on the poorer classes.
There could be no doubt that a reduction of the duty on tea
would confer great benefits on the town of Liverpool in par-
ticular, on the working classes in general, contributing
largely to the comfort of the fire-side, and inducing the
working man to speed his evenings at home. Mr. Moore
concluded a long and able speech by seconding the resolution.
Mr. Duxes, wine and spirit dealer, thew rose to address
the meeting. He said, feeling deeply the exorbitant and dis-
proportionate duty imposed on tea, he had deemed it his
duty to aid the object for which the meeting was assembled,
and had made some calculations from official documents as to
the effect of a reduction on another article. And if he could
prove that such reduction had not diminished the public
revenue, but had, on the contrary, augmented it, he might
hope that such evidence would strengthen the hands of those
who had to impress upon her Majesty's government the ne-
eessity and advantages of a reduction of the duty on tea;
because the conviction that such reduction would injure the
revenue, was perhaps the only obstacle in the way. It would
be in the recollection of many in that room that, early in the
present year, the duty on brandy was reduced from 228.101.
to 15s. per gallon—a reduction of nearly one-third. Mr.
Dixon then read in extenso a table, showing the amount of
duty paid, and the number of gallons released for a certain
number of months in 1841, 1815, and 1846, from which it
appeared that, notwithstanding the extensive reduction of
duty, such was the increased consumption, that there was
already an:actual gain to the revenue of about 16,000/. The
reduction made on wines had also tended to increase the
revenue. Mr. Dixon proceeded to remark that if a reduction
of duty on articles of luxury, the consumption of which was
confined to the more affluent portion of the community, had
led to an actual increaseof revenue, how much more forcibly
would the pi inciple apply to an article absolutely required
by every class of the community ? (Applause.) He would
, not endeavour to show the advantages of a reduction of the
duty on tea in a commercial point of view; this had already-
been so ably gone into, that it would be unbecoming in him
to add one word to it. All he would do, in conclusion, was
to express an ardent hope that the millions of those who
moved in the bumble walks of life in this densely-populated
land might be enabled, through the instrumentality of the
promoters of the present movement, to partake plentifully of
that beverage which " cheers but not inebriates," and adds
to social intercourse and the comfort of the domestic hearth.
(Applause.)
Mr. Hume HORNBY moved the next resolution. He said
he felt some difficulty in making observations on this subject,
inasmuch as he had never yet heard any argument advanced
by those opposed to the reduction of the duty on tea, to
which it would not almost be an insult upon the common
sense of the meeting, to attempt to make any reply. It had
always appeared to him that the excessive duty on tea was
so utterly indefensible—attended by such manifest, such un-
mitigated severity—that it was a matter of surprise so little
hail been hitherto done to induce its reduction. But it was
in reference to its mischievous effects upon the moral habits
of the working classes that it had now become a question of
paramount and pressing importance to the public at large.
At the present moment, when the utmost anxiety existed to
rescue our working population from ignorance, destitution,
and degradation, it should require no inducements to be
held out to cause government to make a reduction of the
duty on an article of general consumption—a reduction
which it was admitted on all hands would ameliorate the
social, moral, and physical condition of the humbler dames.
He was aware that, a making these observations, he had
entered on a topic reserved for gentlemen who should suc-
ceed him ; but he felt deeply on the subject, and trusted he
would therefore be excused. We had been so long accustomed
to the high duty on tea, that he believed we had at length be-
come unable to make a proper estimate of itsevil consequences.
If any stranger ascertained that China mead supply us. to
all practicable purposes, with an unlimited supply of tea,—
what would be his astonishment on finding an impediment
to the increased import of tea, arising from an artificial regu-
lation of our own ? that it was in consequence of our im-
posing a higher duty on this article, with the exception, he
believed, or ardent spirits and tobacco, than any other in the
commercial tariff. There was no valid reason why a reduc-
tion should not take place. He (Mr. Hornby) believed
there was no instance of an excessive duty on any article
of universal consumption being reduced, where an increased
consumption did not compensate for the lose of revenue
which must otherwise have been felt. In the case
of coffee the reduction was attended, not by lees, but by
actual profit to the revenue. With tea, in his opinion,
the result would be still more striking, because its taste was
more congenial than coffee to the people of this country. Rel
for his part had not the slightest doubt, if the duty on teal
were reduced from Is. 21d. to la. per lb., in a few years the
consumption would be trebled, and the revenue would be a
gainer instead of a loser. Mr. Hornby concluded by. affirm-
ing that we had not acted in a spirit of true reciprocity with
China—maintaining the duties on tea after their granting
a tariff admitting British manufactures at the moderate duty
5 per cent.
Mr. T. B. House.ALL seconded the resolution. He expressed
his opinion, amid loud applause, that no trilling reduction I
would be of any importance whatever ; but that we must
have a large and substantial reduction. He amplified the
calculations of Mr. Brown, to show that previous reductions
of the duty on tea had not injured the reveen
months ofth and stated
the important fact that during the past ten
present year the shipment of goods to China bad fallen off
40 per cent. He concluded by expressing his conviction that
government not only would, but readily, attend to the re-
presentations which the meeting might make to it.
The meeting was subsequeotiy addressed by Mr. Adam
Hodgson, Mr. Thomas Blackburn, Mr. Winch, Mr. Brod-
ribb, Mr. Hepworth, Mr. Christopher Rawson, Mr. Geo.
Grant, Mr. J. Cropper, Mr. T. Brocklebank, Mr. William
Rathbone, and Mr. Thornley, M.P. and all the resolutions
were passed unanimously, and ordered to be inserted in the