Arizona republican., 1899-01-03
COFFEE AND TEA
The Former Beverage Overshadow-
 ing inc Latter.

Washington, Jan. 2.-(Specia1)-
 More coffee and less tea, or a substitu- tion of coffee for tea, seems to be the
 rule with the American people just now. The figures of the treasury bur eau of statistics show that che coffee importation of the past year has been the heaviest in the history of the coun- try and the tea imp0rtationS the light est in many years. The importation Of coffee in the calendar year 1897 was
 over SGO, ,O0O, ,O0O pounds, and the 1898 figures will be about the same as those of 1897. In no earlier year were the importations ever as much as 700, ,O00,- 900 pounds.
 This is a larger amount of coffee for each individual than was ever before consumed in the country, the per capita consumption being about eleven pounds annually, while no earlier year
 showed a per capita consumption of as
 much as ten pounds. Reduced to tons.
 the total for the year 1898 would be 100000 tons, requiring for it's transpor- tation 27,000 cars, which, if grouped in a single train, would nearly reach from Phoenix to Ash Fork. The United
 States is by far the largest coffee con suming country in the world, our own consumption being nearly double that of all Europe, and practically half of the coffee produced in the world In only two countries-Holland and Den mark-is the per capita consumption larger than that of the United States, that of Holland being 23 pounds per capita and of Denmark 15 pounds against Il pounds per capita in the United States, 5A pounds in Germany, 3H in France, and less than one pound per capita in Great Britain.
 These figures are especially interest ing in view of the fact that coffee can be successfully grown in all of the islands which are just coming into clos CT relation with the United States It is now the largest article of export from Porto Rico and the production there can be largely increased since a very large proportion of the island is capable of producing coffee, which grows most successfully on the high lands and mountain sides. In parts of Cuba conditions are similar, and at one time the coffee production of that is land amounted to nearly 100, GOO, 900 pounds annually, though after the in troductiOn of the sugar industry, it practically disappeared, sugar growing being more profitable. In Hawaii cof- fee is being successfully grown, and the area there can be materially increased, and the same is true of the Phlnppines
 One important point regarding the business end of the coffee production problsm as relates to those islands is found in the fact that the principal coffee producing countries of the world place an export tax of 121a per cent on coffee leaving their ports, thus giving a decided advantage to those producing
 +frr, is imposed.
 An average of over $50, ,O0O, ,OOO a year has been sent out of the United States in the purchase of coffee since 1893, l and while the amount in the last year is less than this average because of the exceedingly low prices, the total is suf- fcient to indicate that a marked advan- l tage to the country would result if this sum annually expended for coffee could | be paid to it's citlzens either in person or represented by their capital if in vested in this industry in those islands. |
 Tea importatiOns, as already indi- cated, will be unusually light during | the year just ended, and the withdraw Il of tea from warehouse for actual con- sumption will be very much less than | he actual importations. The total i'm | portations of tea for the calendar year |
 
 in past years they have ranged uD- | wards of 90,00O,000, those of the fiscal | year 1897 being 113,000, 900 pounds.
 The reduction in the consumption of | tea by reason of substitution of coffee S apparent in a marked degree in the | receipts from the customs duty on teaH imposed by the recent war revenue act Estimating upon the importations of recent years it was reasonable to pre- ;urne that the uniform tax of 10 cents per pound would result in a revenue 1f nearly $1O,O00,OO0. This expectation, however, has not been realized. The ca withdrawn from warehouse for con- sumption in the full five months July, August, September, October and No 7ember in which the act has been in operation amounted to only 13, ,3S0, 900 and the revenue from tea dur ng that time was consequently but lit .le over a million and a quarter dol aEs.
 One curious fact which develops in conjunction with the imposition of a luty of 10 cents a pound on tea is the reduction in import prices which has followed. A recent letter rom a leading tea dealer in New York discussing this subject states that inn ,ort prices are now from 25 to 30 per ent less than last season, while an ther equally prominent dealer of that ity states that the average price in ,hina has declined cents per pound rom last season.