The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-25 00:00:00

THE TEA TRADE.

FURTHER IMPORTATIONS OF SPURIOUS TEA.
Yesterday was fiX2d upon for the second sale of teas
imported under the free trade system, and in consequence
of the great interest which has been manifested in all parts
of the country to watch the progress of trade under the
new order of things, the result of the sale was looked
forward to with curiosity, especially as it was known to
the trade in London that a portion of the sale consisted of
an article called tea, but which competent judges declared
to be spurious.
The first sale was under the management of Moffatt
and Son ; and on a partner of that firm ascending the
rostrum,
Mr. SANDERSON rose and said, before the sale proceeded
he wished to call the attention of the trade to a subject
which he considered of the greatest importance to the tea
trade, and to the public at large. He, however, was not
aware whether he should be in order to proceed now, the
article called tea, of which he had to complain, not being
in the sale of Messrs. Moffatt, but in that of Messrs.
Styan and Co., or whether he should wait until that sale
commenced. (Cries of "Go on now.") He would then
beg the trade to turn to the folios of the catalogue of Mr.
Styan's sale (the folio and lots comprising the " tea" corn-
' plained of were here stated), and it would he found that
' there were 40 chests of black tea which were designated as
" very ordinary tea." It was his belief, indeed he was per-
fectly convinced, that what was there denominated tea was
not tea at all. (Loud cries of " Hear.") If such stuff as
that were allowed to be foisted upon the public as tea, he
felt convinced that it would prove highly prejudicial to the
revenue, to the public health, and to the tea trade. He
feared that until the present scale of duties was abolished,
the introduction of such trash could not be prevented, and
he hoped the trade would enlighten his Majesty's Govern-
ment and teach them that the remedy would be a single
duty or no duty whatever. (Cheers.)
Mr. NICHOLSON considered that that was not quite the
time for entering upon discussions of this sort.
Mr. TRAVERS, of the firm of Travers and Son, had care-
fully inspected the trash above alluded to, had compared the
leaves, and he would assert that there was not a leaf of tea
in it.--(Hear.) He would also inform the trade, or any
other person who might be disposed to purchase it, that it
would be liable to seizure ; if, therefore, any parties pur-
chased it, they would do so with their eyes open, and the
purchasers would be liable to be fined by the Excise under•
the provisions of the law, although the Customs had allowed
it to pass.---(Hear.) It was the interest of the trade to
prevent such trash from obtaining a sale. He called upon
the trade not to give a bidding for the stuff, and if any one
did make an offer, the trade would see who would sell such
an article for consumption.—(Hear.) He would conclude
by stating that by 11 George 1., c. 30, s. 5, it was provided
that no parties " shall mix with tea any leaves, other than
leaves of tea, on pain of forfeiting the tea, and also 100/."
The 4th of George IL, c. 14, s. 11, also provided that if
any dealer " shall mix any other plant in imitation of tea, or
shall sell or have in his custody any such, he shall for every
pound forfeit 10!."
Mr. STYAN said, as he had not received any intimation
that such questions were to be put to him, he was rather
taken by surprise ; hut lie expressed his readiness to give
every informal:.4► in his power. He had been instructed
as a broker to sell the teas, and lie had given it a character
as very ordinary tea. He was bound, however, to express
his opinion that the stuff now declared for sale was not tea,
and, under all the circumstances, he would not press the
sale of the lot in question.—(Cheers.)
Mr. R. GIBBS said the Custom-house officers had desig-
nated the Hamburg teas as unfit for use.
Mr. TWINING said, as men of business, they were there
for the deSpateh of the sale, and he regretted that anything
had arisen to render these discussions imperatively neces-
sary. He felt surprised that the Custom-house officers
should have allowed such tea to pass, especially as they
took out three ounces from each, and inspected it. These
teas ought to have been described by the lowest terms,—
viz., as " unfit for sale."
Mr. FOY said, that with respect to the 30 boxes, there
could be no doubt but that they were not tea. The trade
was greatly indebted to Mr. Thompson and Mr. Styan in
withdrawing these spurious teas, and to their principals for
refusing to sell them by private contract.—(Cheers.)
The sales were then commenced. Mr. Moffatt, who
conducted the first sale, stated that some seizures had taken
place, because teas were mixed in one chest. The seizure
had been made by the Crown, under the 3d and 4th of
William IV., cap.lol, sec. 5, which provides, " If two or
more sorts of teas, not perfectly mixed together, be imported
in one package, the same shall be forfeited, and shall and
may be seized, sued for, recovered, and dealt with, in the
same manner as any forfeiture incurred under any law re-
lating to the Customs."
The sales, comprising rather above 1,000 packages, then
proceeded. They were conducted by Mr. Moffatt, Mr.
Styan, Mr. Thompson, and other brokers. The teas offered
being of very inferior kind, produced very low prices, and
the greater part were bought in. Since the conclusion of
the sales a letter has been written by the Customs' depart-
ment, stating that 13 boxes of the teas offered during the
day had been seized, as they contained portions of spurious
and unknown leaves.
The total importations of teas since the trade has been
opened are as thllows :—By the Columbia, 410 boxes ; by
the Troughton, 574 boxes ; by the Lloyd':, 592 boxes ; by
the Neva, 80 boxes ; by the Neptune, 190 chests ; all from
Singapore ; making a total of 1,836 cheats.

The principal object of the recent voyage of his
Majesty's ship Chanticleer, by order of the British Govern-
ment, was to ascertain the true figure of the earth, by a series
of pendulum experiments at various places in the northern and
southern hemispheres. The present expedition was under-
taken by, and the care of it entrusted to Captain Foster, by
his Most Gracious Majesty. The time occupied, was, we be-
lieve, nearly three years. From the numerous countries visited
in the course of this voyage, the narrative about to be hid be-
fore the public may be regarded as one of the most important
since the publication of Captain Beechy's Voyage.