The Democratic sentinel and Harrison County farmer. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1851-1852, 1852-08-18
ChicorH and Coffee.

The English government aving come t,
the determination to stop the adulteration o
Coffee, the article has risen in price. III,
adulteration has been mostly in Chicory, 4
species of wild endives, has been for many
years cultivated in France and Belgium. and
used by the midlng and lower orders there
as a cheap mixture with coffee. About the
year 1888 it was introduced into England
/ by some parties who thought that it would
DC profitable speculation TO import, as il
would be eagerly bought in country where
coffee sold at 2s. to Cd. per pound. When
it arrived it was not known by the customs
but was classed among the unenmerated
goods, and the importers found there was d
great obstacle to the sale of it, as it was con-
trary " the Excise laws for licensed dealers
in coffee to have initiative substances on thei
premises, and few would run the risk of the
penalties attached tp the offence. The I'M
.porters then ingeniously represented to the
government the advantage uf providing a
cheap beverage for the poor, and solicited
that t would atfix duty on chicory; this
was acceded to. and a duty of 2Os. per cwt
was affixed Chat on cofe being DOS. and 84s
per cwt, This consesSion naturally led a
further claim, and the treasury was then thus
addressed: 1.-The Legislature has natural
lied chicory as an article Of import, subject
to duty, but Il law exists which preclldes
her selling it; the grocers are the persons
who must retail it: the poor man may then
buy so much coffee and SO much cbicory, .
and strange to say this plausible theory was
adopted, although no two practical men
would have differed as to It's application, and
on the 31st of August, l840, an order was
issued by the board of Excise stating ''t!at
no objection be made on the part of the rev.
enue TO dealers and sellers of coffee mixing
chicory with coffee, or to their having the
same so mixed in their possession" %.
One consequence of this permission ap-
pears to have been the discovery that chico.
ry could be produced in England, and sold
at a much less price than foreign subject to
a duty, and au extensive cultivation Of the.
dandeion plant took place in Loncashire; ii
was sliced, kiln-dried, shaped, and then
christened English Chicory.' This was all
SO done in other countries, and buyers to a
large extent were found; inferior limitations
were attempt, and one ingenious man is sta
ted to have contracted for the cabbage stalks
in Covent garden market to convert into CHI
cory, but that did not succec l.. ... s.sg gal
AS to the quantity of chicory used, il is
stated in the memorial to be about 5000, :.
900 lbs. per annum, being one-ffth the a.
mount OF cuare consumed; if this estimate
becorrect, the loss to the revenue is fl0o,-
900 per annm; and taking it at the, low du-
ty of 4d., the consumers are cheated out of
E40O,U00, when delivered at Is. Sd. per
pound, as coffee. . -. ..u.rt.sE- a@
Tie government returns show decrease
in the consumption Of coffee, a fact whichin-
dictate, in other circumstances, the great a.
dulteration which has been practiced. The
new regulation as intended by government,
is this: "rhose dealers who have mixed
coffee on stock will be allowed short time
to dispose OF it, and no penalty will be in
tlicted On them for selling it. But every
packet containing cbicory must hereafter
have label stating the fact; and mangel
wurzel, beans, or peas, or any other articles,
may be sold by coffee dealers. provided that
they shall be sold under their own designa-
tion." The consequence of thus compelingj
each to stand on its owa footing WAS an'im-E /
paired demand for coffee. .-r (