CHAPTER XXXIV.

MARKETS OUTSIDE GREAT BRITAIN.

I have forestalled a good deal on the above in the last chapter, so this will be short, but, I hope, cheering.

AUSTRALIA.

This, from the correspondent of the _Tea Gazette_ in Melbourne, as to the size of chests, should be attended to:--

If the planter wishes to get his Tea direct into consumption, the packages must be small, to suit buyers. In the Colonies a large trade is done in 38lb. half-chests. They are within the purchasing power of a numerous class, and are easy to handle.

A fierce fight has been going on in Melbourne between the advocates of China and Indian Tea. The latter say China Tea is often adulterated, but this is disputed by the former. Of course _I_ cannot say which is right, but chemical analysis, to which China Teas have been subjected in Melbourne, would seem to prove that in some cases they are _not_ pure. We all know China Teas in London have, in several instances, been pronounced unfit for consumption, so it is _possible_, of course, that similar Teas are sent to Australia.

The Tea trade in China has taken alarm at our attempts on the Australian market. This is what the _North China Herald_ (an organ of the China Tea trade) said lately:--

There are no squeezing mandarins in India; there is European supervision in the packing and firing of the leaf, and the plantations are connected with civilisation by the railway and the telegraph. Everything is done to give India an unfair advantage over China. Consequently, India tea of the same quality is far cheaper in London than the ill-regulated produce of Hankow and Foochow, and it is only the conservatism of the consumer, _who is not yet entirely habituated to the Indian flavour_, that prevents our losses being much heavier than they are. Every year this preference for the leaf that has been longer known is wearing away, and our buyers will soon have to reckon with its disappearance. As yet, Indian Tea is hardly taken on the continent of Europe at all; but here, too, it will penetrate sooner or later, as it is doing into America and Australia, and then there will be no corner of the earth where the sway of China Tea will be undisputed. Until foreigners can supervise the packing of the leaf in China as they do in India, the produce of the latter country will continue to have an unfair advantage. The time no doubt will come when we shall be able to go up and buy the raw leaf on its native hills, pack it by our own methods, and bring it down by railway to Shanghai for shipment; but _for years yet we labour under the disadvantage of having to buy it just as the Chinamen choose to prepare it, without any real knowledge of the total crop at any time, or any immediate power to manipulate the Teas to suit the tastes of consumers_.

Mark you, this is an enemy’s opinion. May his prognostications be accomplished to the letter!

The following is from the _Tea Gazette_ lately received:--

THE CALCUTTA TEA SYNDICATE.

We are glad to learn that this most useful body intends to continue its operations in opening up, wherever possible, new markets, although there will be no more soliciting supplies of Tea for Australia--the feeling being that the trade in this direction may now be left to take care of itself.

The Tea Syndicate has done a great good, and those able to ship to Australia should at once arrange to take the fullest advantage of the opening made for them. We would have wished that the Syndicate had continued actively its operations there, but perhaps they are right in leaving, now, the further development of the trade they have so successfully founded to private enterprise. It will be the fault of owners themselves if they do not take advantage of the large market opened to them.

I conclude my notice of Australia as a market by the following, also from the _Tea Gazette_. Matters there certainly look promising for the Indian planter:--

THE NEW AUSTRALIAN TEA ASSOCIATION.

Our friends in Australia, now that they are convinced of the purity and good quality of our Indian Teas, have determined, we are glad to see, to follow in the wake of the Calcutta Tea Syndicate, and push by _united_ effort Indian Teas throughout the Australian Colonies. Knowing full well that no half-hearted measures would be likely to succeed, and that the efforts of a few individuals would not meet the requirements of the market, our friends in Victoria and New South Wales have _combined_, and formed an association under the title of the “Calcutta Tea Association,” for the sale of pure and unadulterated Indian Teas to wholesale merchants, storekeepers, and customers in general. Large and handsome premises have been taken in King Street, Melbourne, and Charlotte Place, Sydney, in which the operations of the Association are to be carried on on a large scale.

AMERICA.

The following is from the _Daily News_--a Calcutta paper:--

We were glad to note that our American cousins were being induced to give some orders. If only Indian Tea was once taken up, and became popular, its future would be secured. The teeming masses of people in the States would consume more Tea we should imagine than all the English public, provided Indian Tea took the place of China. Australia so far has done well, but the market there would be easily glutted, whereas, if its use became general, it would be almost impossible to glut the American market. The millions of settlers in America and in Canada all use Tea at their meals very much as an Englishman takes his beer, so that the inland consumption must be very large. In Australia, every shepherd carries his pannikin of Tea, and the amount he swallows in twelve months must be pretty considerable. In the backwoods of America and Canada, each woodcutter consumes nearly half a pound of Tea weekly, so that, with its millions of people, America could easily dispose of millions of pounds of Tea, which would not only clear off all the surplus Tea in the London market, but would probably cause a deficit. We wonder if in our time this golden era will take place.

This from the TEA GAZETTE:--

TEA IN AMERICA.

A petition has been presented to the United States Congress asking for the prohibition of the importation of adulterated Teas from China and Japan, which are at present extensively sold. This, it is thought, will lead to increased attention being paid to Indian Teas, which are well known to be pure and unadulterated.

Again from same paper:--

The circular lately addressed to the local Tea planting interest by the Committee of the Calcutta Syndicate, reporting the results of Mr. Sibthorp’s efforts to create a market for Indian Teas in America, opens up a vista of unprecedented prosperity in the future.

That the population of America, the bulk of which consist of the same races among whom Indian Tea has grown in favour so rapidly in the United Kingdom, should persist in rejecting it after a fair trial was _à priori_ highly improbable. It was, therefore, reasonably to be presumed that whatever difficulty might beset the opening up of this new market would consist chiefly in the obstacles to securing such a trial.

Mr. Sibthorp’s report not only bears out this view of the case, but justifies a confident expectation that the obstacles in question, so far as they have any real existence, will speedily disappear. In Chicago, so far from having had to encounter any of those strong trade prejudices which were met with at first in Australia, Mr. Sibthorp found the leading importers, Messrs. J. Doane and Co., ready to render every assistance and confident of being able to dispose of five thousand half chests the first season, without forcing the market. Similar success seems to have attended his efforts in New York, and a telegram has been received from him ordering a thousand half chests for shipment to that port.

The importance of this new market is immensely enhanced by the circumstance that the American consumption of Tea is destined to increase, owing to mere growth of population, at a rate not to be looked for in any other country; at such a rate, in fact, that if India could only secure the annual addition to the demand from this cause, she would probably have to double her production in less than a generation to enable her to meet it.

So far from seeing any reason why she should not secure this amount of custom in the New World, we see none why the proportion of India to other Teas consumed in America should not ultimately be as large as in England, where there was once a strong prejudice against Indian Tea.

What possible foreign markets have we besides Australia and America? Russia and many European countries are on the cards, and if the Calcutta Syndicate will continue its work great results may ensue. Those who know the Continent often say, and it is true, that no good Tea can be had in France, Germany, or Italy (it is _not_ so in Russia), and retail dealers have offered again and again (made the offers to me) to take large quantities of the Indian Tea of which I have shown them samples. As this is so, why not supply them? But it cannot be done well to any extent by individual planters. The Calcutta Syndicate could easily do it, and I quite believe they would find the work in Europe easier than in America.

The Amsterdam Exhibition, so soon to take place, affords a great opening, and from all I hear it will be taken advantage of. Inhabitants from all countries will be there, and the fame of our Teas should thus spread throughout Europe. The _Tea Gazette_ says:--

THE AMSTERDAM EXHIBITION.

It is intended to have Indian Tea well represented at the forthcoming Exhibition at Amsterdam; and we trust that the most will be made of the opportunity. There is no reason why we should not succeed in Holland as well as we have succeeded in _America_ and _Australia_. The rapid strides going on in production must be met by exceptionally active exertions to open out new markets, and to see that those recently opened out are not allowed to drop for want of fostering.

The effect of this opportunity will be by no means limited to Holland, as in all probability thousands will flock to the Exhibition from adjacent countries, and many from all parts of the world.

We hope that every advantage will be taken of future International Exhibitions in any part of the world by an adequate quasi-permanent organization in Calcutta, and we sincerely trust that the existing Calcutta Tea Syndicate will not cease its most useful operations until all the world bows to the great god Indian Tea. The operations in countries other than Great Britain during the last few years show what important developments in the Tea trade of this country are now taking place, and every exertion is necessary to maintain these successful results--for which the industry is so much indebted to the Syndicate.

THIBET.

This is a large, mountainous, and table land country on the northern side of the Himalayas. It is at a very high elevation, intensely cold, and very thinly populated. The Thibetans drink much Tea per head, but they use Brick Tea; this is made of the coarsest leaves compressed with some glutinous substance.

There is no difficulty in its manufacture. At present it is supplied by China, which is close by, but not nearer than India. Many think much of our coarse Tea (particularly from the Himalayan gardens) might find a market in Thibet, and I incline to the belief they are right. The quantity would not be very large, “but every little helps.”

Formerly much Tea was sold to the native tribes over the northern border by the gardens in Kumaon, Gurwal, and Kangra. Why I know not, but I hear the trade has fallen off to some extent; the Teas are taken to the Central Asian markets.

I have done with foreign markets, but there is yet another and a very large one regarding which nothing has yet been done: I allude to the market among the natives of India, in other words

THE LOCAL MARKET.

The following is from the _Calcutta Englishman_ on the subject:--

The letter of our correspondent “A. E. T.” calls attention for the hundredth time to the failure of the planting interest to make the most of the local demand for Indian Teas. It is only necessary to compare the prices realised at the public auctions with those at which even the most liberal of our retail firms offer to supply their customers with such Teas to see that but a very small fraction of the difference between the prime cost of the Tea and what the consumer has to pay for it goes into the pocket of the planter. It is probably no exaggeration to say that while the consumer pays, on the average, from twelve annas to a rupee per pound more than the actual cost of the Tea laid down in Calcutta, the planter may think himself fortunate if he can appropriate from half an anna to an anna of this sum. By whatever course of argument the fact may be justified, it is certainly not justifiable by the equity of the case as it appears to ordinary minds. For it is the planter who has borne the heat and burden of the day, and the proportion which the capital invested by him bears to the ultimate return is immensely greater in his case than in that of the retail dealer.

On whom does the blame for the continuance of this state of things, if blame there be in the matter, rest? Hardly on the public. They would only be too glad to allow the Tea planter, say, four times his present profit instead of allowing twelve times that profit to a middleman or a series of middlemen. The public, however, can give their custom only to those who bid for it, and who consult their convenience in the arrangements they make to secure it.

It is evidently the planter, and the planter alone, who can move in the matter. But whether out of regard for the interests of the retail dealer, or from a belief that the game is not worth the candle, he does not move. If there were a retail Tea trade worthy of the name, in the proper sense of the term, in Calcutta, it would probably not be to the interest of planters to enter into competition with it. But though we have many retail establishments who deal in Tea, its sale is, in the great majority of cases, only one item of a very multifarious business, the profit on which, as a whole, is probably not excessive under all the circumstances of the case.

As to the game not being worth the candle, that is possibly the case if only the present demand is considered. But we are persuaded that it is otherwise if regard is had to the expansion of which that demand is capable.

If Indian Tea were procurable in the bazaars in parcels of moderate size at a reasonable advance on auction prices, we believe that a large native demand for it would rapidly grow up. As it is, an extensive business goes on in China Tea of the most wretched quality, some of it sold in packets of a few ounces, and some of it loose in still smaller quantities. Even in Calcutta this Tea is sold at prices which would pay the Indian Tea planter a handsome profit, while in the interior it is sold at rates which would have been high fifty years ago.

Surely a Syndicate which extends its efforts for the popularisation of Indian Tea to such distant and widely separated markets as Australia and America might profitably make some systematic effort to promote its use among the vast population at its doors.

The time may be far distant when the great bulk of this population will adopt Tea as an ordinary beverage; but the way in which the habit of using it has spread during the last ten or fifteen years, among all classes of the vast population of Calcutta, affords an indication of possibilities very well worth testing.

When last in India I wrote on this subject largely, but all to no avail. The following was one of my letters which appeared in the _Tea Gazette_:--

THE MARKET AT OUR DOORS.--CONSUMPTION OF CHINA TEA IN INDIA.

The _Statesman_, in a recent article, observes as follows, while discussing the maritime trade of British India:--

“Perhaps the most anomalous import we have is Tea. It is hardly conceivable that while Indian Tea continues to advance in public estimation at home, we should not only use China Tea in India, but that in increasing quantities.”[93]

In 1876-77 the imports of China Teas were a little _under_ two millions, but in 1880-81 as much _over_ three millions! The _Statesman_ states, and truly, that the reason of this is simply “that Indian Tea is sold in too large packets to be easily obtainable by the general public, for it seems, as regards Indian Tea, the smallest quantity that can be bought is one pound, whereas an ounce of China Tea can be purchased.”

Further on, the _Statesman_ kindly alludes to my advocacy in the _Tea Gazette_ of a company to sell Tea in small packages to the natives, stating also that such a trade is “capable of almost unlimited expansion at a fair profit,” which is exactly what I have, for some time, been trying to hammer into the heads of those interested in the Tea industry of India.

Now, Sir, is it not absurd that while the _bête noir_ of our industry is “supply in excess of demand,” and while, with this dread, we are trying (it seems with success) to open up new markets at the Antipodes and in America, we are neglecting a market at our very doors, the limits of which, I hold, no man can foresee, for is it not a market where the possible buyers number 200 millions?

Is it not also more than absurd, nay a very shame to those interested in our industry, that while we have a better article than China Tea, we allow, by our supineness and lack of enterprise, more than three million pounds of an inferior article to be sold in the birth place of the better? And why? simply because we _will_ not supply it in the form the teeming crowd of natives willing, nay anxious, to buy can avail themselves of it!

Since I advocated in your paper the formation of a company to sell Tea to natives in small packets, and showed, I thought conclusively: 1--That the capital required was not large (say one and a-half lakhs). 2--That the shareholders might expect very fair dividends. 3--That there was no assignable limit to the trade which might be developed. 4--That if such a company was started and worked well, all fear for the future of Indian Tea would be at an end. 5--That every Tea owner, who became a shareholder, would advance his own interests by many times more than the dividends he would receive--since then I have obtained from England estimates of all the machinery required to bulk and pack the Teas, advice from the best firms as to _the mode_ so successful in England, and I am more than ever convinced that the company would be a money-making one, and that, in two words, we shall sadly neglect our own interests if we do not accomplish it.

Again, since my former articles I have spoken to dozens of Tea planters and Tea owners on the subject, and all of them think highly of the scheme, while many only wait for the company to be launched to take shares. I could name more than one influential native also who is willing to join, and this is a good sign, for, in my opinion, a moiety of the directors should be natives. I will myself become a large shareholder, though I cannot offer my services on the board, for it must be in Calcutta, and I do not reside there.

I am convinced, if the company is launched, the shares will be taken up in a week.

But if no one in Calcutta is public-spirited enough to launch such a company, why should not an association of a few individuals try to carry out the scheme. I quite believe Tea proprietors would help them, at starting, by supplying, on reasonable credit, the coarse Teas suitable. Were this done, the thin edge of the wedge would be driven in, and, if the association succeeded, they might later transfer the business at a fair profit to a company.

I had written so far when I saw your remarks on the same subject in your last issue. I cannot agree with you in thinking an association would be _better_ than a company, but I say, failing the last let us have the first--in fact, let us make a beginning.

I give here below, to save the trouble of reference, the last part of my former article:--

“I will now, in conclusion, shortly estimate for how much two and four ounce packets could be sold to the consumer.

“Supposing suitable Teas could be bought at six annas per lb. (and all Tea planters know that a very large supply of broken Teas with some red leaf would be available at that price), one ounce would equal 4-1/2 pie or 9 pie for 2 ounces. We may then calculate thus for each 2 ounce packet:

R. A. P. Tea 0 0 9 Tin foil, company’s mark, labour of making up packet, wear and tear, bulking machinery 0 0 3 Profit to company 0 0 3 ------- Price at which company could sell 2 ounce packets 0 1 3 Profit to dealer or middleman 0 0 3 Profit to retailer 0 0 3 ------- Cost to consumer for 2 ounce packet 0 1 9

“As making up a 4 ounce packet would be cheaper in proportion, and the profit to company, middleman, and retailer need not be double the 2 ounce rate, we may fairly say that 4 ounce packets could be sold at 3 annas.

“I have sent to England for an estimate of the necessary machinery, so that if my project meets with favour, there will later be no delay on that score.”

Surely the above figures, and I believe they are sound, have _the look_ of success about them.

I hear it has been suggested that paper packets would deteriorate by keeping, but protected by a good wrapper of tin-foil inside, I feel sure this would not be the case.

EDWARD MONEY.

Nothing has been done to this day; and thus, to our shame be it said, we are allowing a market capable of indefinite expansion to remain dormant.

FOOTNOTE:

[93] With few exceptions it is bought by the Natives alone and for the reason given above.--E. M.