The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-09
PLACE IF TEA
 IN CIVILIZATION British Think They Could Not
 Live Without It A POPULAR BEVERAGE .I.
POPULAR BEVERAGE
They Have ReVolutionized the Tea Business Both at Home and Abroad-Some Interesting
 Figures on Trade.
From the London Express.

It is difficult at the present day to realize the change which was wrought in the lives of British people by the popu- larization of tea. Perhaps it is only by reference to the writings on this subject, published when the triumph of tea over beer as the breakfast and afternoon bev- craze was fresh in mems minds, that we can gain any adequate idea of the enor- nous benefit which the dietetic revolution brought in it's train. The pictures drawn by the advocates of the foreign drink" may be 8 little oyer-colored, yet can 1t be doubted that men have become healthier, happier, and better for the change they have made?' We have only to imagine how we should be affected. mentally and physically, if we were de- priyed of tea to recognize at once all that it means to our comfort.
 To the ingenious Chinese of course we owe our first acquaintance with the pre- cious liquor which drives away 'the five causes Of sorrow" But it is to British en- terprise that our thanks are due for bringing good tea within the reach of everyone, In the heyday of the Chinese monopoly the average value of tea in bond was about Is Sd. per pound. At the
 
 pound. It is astonishing to recall that f even as recently as 1886 China sent us 136000,000 pounds, and to contrast with this the quantity imported last year for consumption, namely. a little under 9,000,- GOO pounds. India and Ceylon, on the other hand sent Us more than 250,0O0, coo pounds. These figures throw some light on the striking achievement which stands to the credit of British commercial energy in India.
 The establishment of the Indian indus try was uphill work. Tea came first from China, and people naturally clung to the idea that China tea was the only drink. Against this prejudice, the British planter had to fight, although one of the causes which led to the determination of the Bengal government to start the cultiva- tion of the tea plant was the "poorness of the quality of the tea imported by the East India company from China. But in the course of time the taste of the pub lie was captured. We read in the article on tea in the Encyclopedia Britannica: '.Indian tea has now QSSD a recognized position in the London market, generally averaging from 4d per pound higher than Chinese tea"
 After 1886 the China trade fell away, and is now merely a fraction of the whole.
 It Is one of the anomalies of our pres ent system of taxation that the product of this great British industry, which has been established in the teeth of formida- ble difficulties, and which has promoted the health and happiness of the nation, is heavily taxed while non-British prod ucts, such as wine, coffee and cocoa, are in comparison lightly treated. Indian tea is grown in the empire; it's cultivation and manufacture give work to a great number of white and colored subjects of the King, and the British capital invested in the industry amounts to many mil lions. There are consequently the strong est grounds for according indulgent treat ment to tea, whether regarded as a necessary food or as the product of Brit ish capital and labor. But these consid- erations in practice are set aside.
 What is the reason? It can only be that the inelasticity of our present sys- tenn of taxation forces successive chan I-cellors of exchequer to tax tea because 1t has been taxed before. Neither party can desire to continue the taxation, or at least, the heavy taxation of tea. Such a course is opposed to the professed principles of the present administration and 1t clashes with MT. Asquith's decla- ration the other day mo human being outside a 1unatic asylum" would pro- pose to place a tax on articles which we cannot produce ourselves. In spite of these sentiments there is a duty on tea, and an abnormaly heavy one.
 Because the tea duty was reduced in 1906 from Cd. to 5d. per pound 1t has been argued that the penny then taken off should now be remposed to help Mir. Lloyd-George in providing for the deficit which is mainly due to the demands of the old age pension scheme. But the re- duction of 1906 was in the nature of a repayment of debt and 1t was not re- payment in full, for after the duty had stood at 4d. from 1890 to 1899 it was raised to 6d in 1900, and raised again in 1904 to Sd. At the present moment 1t is still higher than 1t was before the temporary war tax was put on.
 The raising of the duty did undeniable harm to the British producer and the British consumer. It restricted the out put of the former, and 1t promoted the importation of inferior tea to the detri- ment of the latter In 1901 the quantity of China tea on which duty was paid was l 9,S25,000 pounds, and in the following three | years the average amount rose to over l IF, 2,500,0O0 pounds. There is fine China tea, | of course, just as there is fine British l grown tea. But the British consumer l does not gain--he loses-when the impor- | tation of China tea is encouraged at the expense of Indian, because the bulk of | the former in the London market is of a 1 common description.
 For good China tea it may be claimed | that 1t contains less tannn in the dry 1 leaf; >ut this, after all, does not amount to much. as it Is weaker than the British 1 Indian growths; and as a larger quantity | must be used to produce the infusion, the 1 amount of tannin in the cup Is about the same in each case if, indeed, the ad- vantage Is not on the side of the Indian | product. On the other hand, stuff which is really unfit for consumption is sold in Mincing lane at 21ad. per pound In a recent trade report 1t is stated that gro- cers find 1t increasingly difficult to use ] China tea in their competitive qualities and that considerable quantity has been l re-exported for the manufacture of caf- feine.
 The relief afforded by the withdrawal of a part of the added taxation was an acknowledgment of the urgency of the Indian planters case, and to return to the policy of squeezing him would be pure folly It would immediately check the recovery which has begun. As for the consumer, even the withdrawal of a penny would be to his advantage. The consumer is undoubtedly reaping now the benefit of the remission in 1908, although
 at the time 1t was difficult to give him
 the benefit immediately of a reduced
 price.
 Why He TraIed the EIopers.
 From Puck