The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Part 11

According to the annual tea reports of Messrs. W.J. Thompson and Son, and Messrs. W.E. Franks and Son, the total imports of tea during the last fifteen years were as follows, reckoned in millions of lbs.:--

Years. Black. Green. Total. Home Consumption.

1838 26,786 8,215 35,001 36,415 1839 30,644 7,680 38,324 36,351 1840 21,063 7,161 28,224 31,716 1841 24,915 6,303 31,218 36,811 1842 31,915 9,729 41,644 37,554 1843 39,513 7,340 46,853 39,902 1844 39,644 8,749 48,393 41,176 1845 39,518 11,790 51,338 44,127 1846 44,017 12,486 55,503 47,534 1847 46,887 8,368 55,255 46,247 1848 37,512 7,611 45,123 48,431 1849 43,234 9,156 52,400 50,100 1850 39,873 8,427 48,300 51,000 1851 62,369 9,131 71,500 54,000 1852 55,525 9,175 64,700 54,724

The duty on tea was gradually raised from 9d. per lb. in 1787 to 3s. a lb. in 1806. It was 2s. 2d. per lb. until May, 1852, when 4d. per lb.

was taken off, and further annual reductions are to be made. Down to the year 1834 the duty was an _ad valorem_ one of 96 per cent. on all teas sold under 2s. a lb., and of 100 per cent. on all that were sold at or above 2s., charged on the prices which they brought at the East India Company's sales. The _ad valorem_ duties ceased on the 22nd of April, 1834, and under the act 3 and 4 William IV. c. 100, all tea imported into the United Kingdom for home consumption was charged with a customs as follows:--

Bohea 1s. 6d. per lb.

Congou, tw.a.n.kay, hyson skin, orange pekoe, and campoi 2 2 "

Souchong, flowery pekoe, hyson, young hyson, gunpowder, imperial, and other teas not enumerated 3 0 "

In 1836, the uniform duty of 2s. 1d. per lb. on all descriptions of tea was imposed, which, with the additional 5 per cent, imposed in 1840, made the total duty levied per lb. 2s. 2d. and a fraction.

During the years from 1831 to 1841, in spite of an increase of nearly three millions in the population of the country, and notwithstanding the impetus given to the tea-trade by the abolition of the East India Company's monopoly in 1833, the increased consumption was only 6,675,566 lbs. Great as the increase has been of late years, however, it is very far short of what we might expect to see were the duty reduced to a moderate per centage on the value of the article as it comes from the Chinese merchant. In Jersey and Guernsey, where there is no duty on tea, the average consumption is 4 lbs. per head per annum. The same rate for the United Kingdom would require an annual importation of nearly 150 million lbs. I a.s.serted, many months ago, if the duty could be gradually reduced from its present exorbitant amount to 1s. per lb., the revenue would not suffer much, whilst the comfort of the people would be much increased, and our trade with China greatly improved.

Years. Teas Imported, lbs. Entered for Home Consumption, lbs.

1843 42,779,265 35,685,262 1844 50,613,328 41,176,00 1845 53,570,267 44,127,000 1846 57,584,561 46,554,787 1847 55,255,000 50,921,486 1848 47,774,755 48,735,696 1849 53,460,751 50,024,688 1850 50,512,384 51,178,215 1851 71,466,421 53,965,112 1852 66,361,020 54,724,615

Amount of duty received on tea:--

Prices of Sound Common Congou per lb.

1841 3,973,668 1s. 7d. to 2s. 0d.

1842 4,088,957 1 7 1 10 1843 4,407,642 1 0 1 2 1844 4,524,093 0 10 1 0 1845 4,833,351 1 0 1 9 1846 5,112,005 0 9 0 9 1847 5,066,860 0 8 0 9 1848 5,330,515 0 8 0 8 1849 5,471,641 0 8 0 9 1850 5,597,708 0 10 1 1 1851 5,902,433 0 8 0 8 1852 5,986,482 0 7 2 2

Mr. Montgomery Martin, in his work on China, published in 1847, gave the average annual consumption of tea, the produce of China, as follows:--

lbs.

Great Britain and Ireland 45,000,000 British North America and West Indies 2,500,000 Australasia, Cape of Good Hope, &c. 2,500,000 British India and Eastern Islands 2,000,000 ---------- Total used throughout the British Empire 52,000,000 ----------

United States of North America * 7,000,000 Russia 10,000,000 France and Colonies 500,000 Hanse Towns, &c. 150,000 Holland and its Colonies 1,000,000 Belgium 200,000 Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 250,000 The German States 500,000 Spain and Portugal 100,000 Italian States 50,000 South American States 500,000 ------- Total consumption in foreign countries 20,250,000

[* This is only one-third the actual consumption.]

According to this statement, it would seem that the English consume twice the quant.i.ty of tea that is used by all the other countries excepting China and j.a.pan.

The consumption of tea in Europe and America I estimated a year or two ago as follows:--

lbs.

Russia 15,000,000 United States of America 18,000,000 France 2,000,000 Holland 2,800,000 Other countries 2,000,000 Great Britain 50,000,000 ---------- Total 89,800,000

The estimated consumption, at the rate of consumption found where taxation is favorable (as for instance 1 pounds--the average of this country) would give the following:--

cwts.

England 400,000 France 510,000 Germany 400,000 Austria 500,000 Prussia ...

Belgium 63,000 Russia 900,000 Rest of Europe 750,000

The total exportation of tea by sea from China, was estimated by Mr.

Martin in 1847 at 76 millions of pounds, viz.:--

England 50,000,000 United States 20,000,000 All other countries 5,000,000 ---------- 75,000,000

which, at 20 taels per picul (133 lbs.) amounts to 11,280,000 taels of silver at 80d. per tael, 3,760,000. The present Chinese duty of two taels five mace, does not include s.h.i.+pping and other charges; the old duty was five taels, and included all charges paid the Hong merchants.

The export by sea is now about 97 millions of lbs.

The following was the returned value of the tea exported from the five Chinese ports in 1844 and 1845:--

1844. 1845.

Canton 2,910,474 3,429,790 Shanghae 67,115 462,746 Ningpo 2,000 2,000 Amoy 544 Foo-chow-foo 638 --------- --------- 2,979,589 3,895,718

The average cost of tea in China at the s.h.i.+p's side is 10d. per pound, while it is confidently a.s.serted that it could be produced in many parts of America at 5d. the pound. The great cost in China is owing to the expensive transportation, the cultivation of the fuel used, the absence of all economy of machinery, &c. It is only by adulteration that tea is sold in China as cheap as 10d. In America the beating and rolling of the leaves (one half of the labor) could be done by the simplest machinery, fuel could be economised by flues, &c.

The Russian teas, brought by caravans, are the most expensive and best teas used in Europe. The Chinese themselves pay 7 dollars per pound for the "Yen Pouchong" teas.

Full chests were exhibited in 1851, by Mr. Ripley, of various Pekoe teas, some of which fetch 50s. per lb. in the China market; whilst 7s.

is the very highest price any of the sort will fetch in England, and this only as a fancy article. The plain and orange-scented Pekoes now fetch little with us; but as caravan teas, are purchased by the wealthier Russian families. The finest, however, never leave China, being bought up by the Mandarins; for though the transit expenses add 3s. to 4s. per lb. to the value when sold in Russia, the highest market price in St. Petersburg is always under 50s. Among these scented teas are various caper teas, flavoured with chloranthus flowers and the buds of some species of plants belonging to the orange tribe, _magnolia fuscata_, olea flowers, &c. The Cong Souchong, or Ning-young teas, are chiefly purchased for the American market. Oolong tea is the favourite drink in Calcutta, though less prized in England, its delicate flavor being injured by the length of the voyage. For delicacy, no teas, approach those usually called "Mandarin teas,"

which being slightly fired and rather damp when in the fittest state for use, will bear neither transport nor keeping. They are in great demand among the wealthy Chinese, and average 20s. per lb in the native market.--(Jury Reports.)

The consumption of tea in the United Kingdom may now be fairly taken at fifty-four million pounds yearly, and sold at an average price to the consumer of 4s. 6d., per pound. The money expended for tea is upwards of twelve millions sterling.

The expenditure of this sum is distributed as follows, in round numbers:--

Net cost of 54,000,000 pounds, average 1s. per pound 2,700,000 Export duty in China of 1d. a lb. 337,500 s.h.i.+pping charges, &c., in China 25,000 Freight, &c., China to England, about 2d. per lb. 450,000 Insurance, d. per lb. 112,500 Commission, about d. per lb. 56,250 Tasting charges, &c., about 1/8 of a penny per lb. 28,125 Interest for 6 months on 3,709,375 at 5 per cent. 92,734 --------- Total outlay in China 3,802,109 Profit to exporters in China,(about 12 per cent.) 445,116 Landing charges, &c., in England 39,000 ---------- Cost price in bond in England 4,286,225 Duty received by government at 2s. 2. per lb., about 5,985,482 ---------- 10,271,707 Profit divided among tea-brokers, wholesale and retail dealers, &c 1,878,293 ---------- Total outlay by British public for tea, at 4s. 6d. per lb. 12,150,000

The tea imported into England in 1667 was only 100 lbs., while for the year ending June 30, 1851, the export from China to Great Britain was 64,020,000 lbs., employing 115 vessels in its transportation; and to the United States, during the same time, 28,760,800 lbs., in sixty-four vessels. Within the last five years, the export has increased 10,000,000 lbs. to the United States, and 17,000,000 to Great Britain. These statistics will show the immense importance of this article to commerce, and the vast amount of s.h.i.+pping it supports.

But let us follow out the statistics a little more in detail.

The population of the Chinese provinces, as quoted by Dr. Morison, from an official census taken in 1825, was 352,866,012, and we may fairly conclude that during the last twenty-eight years this population has extensively increased. If we a.s.sume the annual consumption of tea at four lb. per head on the above population; and this is no unreasonable a.s.sumption in a country, where, to quote from Murray's valuable work on China, tea "is the national drink, which is presented on every occasion, served up at every feast, and even sold on the public roads;" we shall have a tolerably accurate result as to the total consumption in the empire. Indeed this computation falls short of the actual relative consumption in the island of Jersey, where, as we have seen, nearly five lbs. is the annual allowance of each individual.

If we multiply the population of China by four, we have--

lbs.

Total consumption of tea in China 1,411,464,048 Export of Great Britain and Ireland, for the year ending June 30, 1851. 64,020,000 Export to the United States, same period 28,760,800 Export to Holland, returned at 2,000,000 in Davis's "China" 3,000,000

Inland trade to Russia 15,000,000 Export to Hamburg, Bremen, Denmark, Sweden, &c., seven cargoes, about 3,000,000 Export to Sydney, and Australasian Colonies, at least 6,000,000 Export to Spain and France, four cargoes 2,000,000 --------- Total lbs. 1,533,244,848

The above is exclusive of the heavy exportation in Chinese vessels to all parts of the east where Chinese emigrants are settled, such as Tonquin, Cochin China, Cambodia, Siam, the Philippines, Borneo, and the various settlements within the Straits of Malacca. In comparison with such an enormous quant.i.ty, the 54 million lbs. consumed in the United Kingdom sink into insignificance.

The cost of tea to America, at the s.h.i.+p's side in China, say 29,000,000 lbs., at an average of 1s. per lb., would be 1,450,000 The cost to England, 64,000,000, at the same price 3,200,000 The cost to other places, say 25,000,000 1,250,000 Russia, 15,000,000 750,000 ---------- Total 6,650,000

It is therefore clear, that were the demand to be doubled from Great Britain, it would make very little difference in the Chinese market; since it would be only a question of letting us have six per cent, of their growth of the article, instead of three.

When we remember that the tea plant attains to maturity in three years, and its leaves are then fit for picking; and that there is a vast extent of country to which it is indigenous, growing in every climate between the equator and the lat.i.tude of 45 degrees, it is evident that, were there a necessity for it, the actual production of tea in China could be increased to an almost unlimited extent in the s.p.a.ce of three or four years, an extent far more than compensating for the extra three per cent., which might be, in the first instance, required by the British.

The certainty of an increased consumption following upon a reduction in the price of tea to the actual consumers of it, is so obvious as to require demonstration to those only who have not considered the subject. The population of Great Britain and Ireland is, say in round numbers 30,000,000, the actual consumption of tea is only 54,000,000 lbs., or little more than one pound and three quarters for each individual. In the neighbouring island of Jersey, there are nearly five lbs. of tea consumed by every inhabitant yearly; and as we may fairly infer from a.n.a.logy that similar results would arise from a similar cause, the consumption in the United Kingdom in the same ratio would amount to no less than 150 millions of pounds annually.

Tea, observes a most competent authority (Mr. J. Ingram Travers), is the favourite drink of the people: all desire to have it strong and good, and none who can afford it are without it. But in the agricultural districts the laborers use but little; numbers of them "make tea with burnt crusts, because the China tea is too dear." In Ireland the consumption is greatly below that of England; there are comparatively few people who do not, on company occasions, make their tea stronger than for ordinary use, and the general economy in the use of tea forms an exception to almost every other article of consumption. As to the working cla.s.ses in the manufacturing districts, Mr. Bayley, President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, himself a very extensive manufacturer, and therefore well qualified to speak to the fact, says:--"The common calculation of two ounces per head per week I should think is very much in excess of what the working cla.s.ses consume. Domestic servants, I believe, have that quant.i.ty allowed them, but I should say that the working cla.s.ses do not consume one quarter of that." And yet it is these cla.s.ses who are the great consumers of everything cheap enough to be within their reach. It is this consumption that, under better earnings, has sustained the steady increase of nearly two million pounds of tea per annum for the last eight years, and still there is such ample room for increase that domestic servants are allowed at least four times as much per head as those working people who value, more than any other cla.s.s, the cheerful refres.h.i.+ngness of tea, but who, stinted in its use by the exorbitant duty, are tempted and almost driven to the use, instead, of degrading drinks.

And if the general consumption of the population should rise to even half servants' allowance, or one ounce per head per week, the consumption of tea would reach 97,500,000 lbs. per annum. And as to what might be used if the taste for it had free scope, some idea may be formed from the fact that the consumption of such people as have found their way from these countries, where the consumption is 1 lb. 9 ozs. per head, to Australia, has there risen to 7 lbs. per head, at which rate the consumption of the United Kingdom would be about 210,000,000 lbs. per annum, and which, even at a 6d. duty, would produce five millions and a half. There is nothing in the air of Australia to give any especial impulse to tea drinking: on the contrary; in this comparatively cold, damp climate, people would naturally use a hot beverage more largely than in the dry warm climate of Australia; and, after all, great as the Australian consumption seems, it is scarcely more than a quarter of an ounce per head per week above the allowance to English domestic servants.