Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1911-10-28

The tea importers of Chicago are cup
in the arr as to the ultimate outcome
of the dispute over the rulings against
artifcially- tea. Inasmueh as the
claim is made that Chicago, next to
New York, handles more tea than any
other city of the country, the impor-
lance of the matter to the houses there
can easily be seen, says st. Louis Inter
state Grocer.
The trouble seems to be that no one |
knows Just exactly what the law is
Tea houses and wholesale grocers say |
they are willing to abide by the rules
and regulations once they get the thing
cleared up, but that there are too many
conflicting statements being made and
contrary actions taken to satisfy them.
A press dispatch from Chicago says that
the disturbing question may be settled
at meeting of the tea board in New
York. The controversy arose over the
standards for No. and No. green
teas settled upon early in the season.
The recent difficulty at San Francisco
is attributed to excessive zeal on the
part of the officials there. 1t is under
stood that the sentiment favoring the
tea board s standards has as its basis
the theory that the inspection in San
Francisco is faulty. One gentleman in
close touch with the situation insisted
that the San Francisco chemist who
made analyses on which the report of
the inspector at that port was based
did not know his business, and that
what he determined to be artificial col
Oring was the natural color of the tea.
This gentleman asserted that the
standards made by the board for Chi
nese green and black teas were fair
and equitable and scientifically sound,
and characterized as nonsense the story
sent out from New York some weeks
ago to the effect that the board had
been imposed upon and induced to
adopt unwittingly an artifcially-colored
standard for Chinese teas.
Roughly speaking, there are four an
giles of attitude on the situation. One
class of dealers is strongly in favor of
the tea standards as made by the tea
board, the personnel of which was an
nounced early in the year. These deal
ers comprise strictly tea merchants and
some wholesale grocers.
Another class is wholly conservative
and tries to hold aloof from any APP
pearance even of interest in the contro-
versy This class comprises some of
the largest and oldest of the wholesale
grocery firms in the city. Their atti-
tude is crystallized in the uttersnce of
NJ A. Dean, vice president of Sprague
Warner & Co., who said: ''We prefer
that all teas imported to this country
be without artificial color. About two
years ago we filed a petition with the
secretary of agriculture requesting him
to exercise his power to prohibit the i'm
portation of colored teas, and we still
believe in that policy. We have no in
terest in the so-called controversy.
This is also understood to be thu
attitude of Franklin MacVeagh & Co.
of which firm the present secretary Of
10 the treasury was at one time the head
= but from which he severed all connec
ton at the time of accepting the port
folio of the treasury.
Between these two extremes IL a elias
of dealers, mostly wholesalers, catering
5 to trade demanding low-priced teas AM
}. package goods, who are hoping that tn
l. order of the treasury department for
n bidding the importation of artifcially
colored teas will not be too drasticall.
enforced, and another class who see II
> restricted importation a chance t
) make a considerable profit on heav.
q stocks of Japanese, India and Ceyloi
( teas, the vast majority of importation
of which have not fallen foul Of tn
treasury departments ruling on artih
|, cial coloring.