MRS MOODLE ON THE PREFERENTIAL TRADE.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 374, 9 July 1903, Page 5

MRS MOODLE ON THE PREFERENTIAL TRADE.

"I say, Bill, what's this 'Preferential Tariff' the papers are all talking about V " Oh. that there i Whj it's a thing that Joey Chamberlain and Dickey Seddoa's fixed I «P." | " Diek'a always a-fixtag up things. Is it s;ot anything te do with these frown sheep 7" "No you silly; it's a new thing!" "Well, what is it 7" " You be qaiet, and I'll explain. Supposin' you was—was—" "doon then." " Gimme time. S'posin' you were going to Syksie, the storekeeper, aad said to him: ' Here, mister, if you buy my eggs I'll buy my groceries from you—that'd be a preferential tariff " " Would it ?. Bat I know better; that old Syksie would charge me more than enough." " No* him. He's as honest as the day— IF TOW KEBF YOUR BTB ON HIM." " I guess so. Last Tuesday I said to him: 'Oimme lib Hondai Lanka Tea.' §az he: "I've some far better.' See I: "Well, sunnie, I'd like to see it. Bring it oat.' So he fetched out a beautiful ornament and sez: ' That's 2s 4d a pound.'" "Ho, hoi" " Yes, and sez I,' How much of this goes te a tea cup T ' Oh,' sez he, ' it's the tea I mean.' ■ Then why don't you say what you do mean? Show me that good tea.'" ' ; "He hadn't get it." "Hadn't he. He pointed to a stack of j Jinks's blend. ' That's the best,* sea he " " Oh, the old swindler 1 Why, it's perfect rubbish. Didn't we pick the sticks out of the tea when we had a packet f "Of course; and little Jimmy cried Whan he drank it, and called it senna tea I So I said: •Mr Syksie, my cousin Jack, the grocer, told me had a tremendous profit op this, but nobody would buy, ornaments and all.' The cheek of Syksie 1 I said, set 1 1. • Sonnie, hand out the Hondai Lanka , an' none of your jokes; an' I was that mad-I just tipped his old ornament on the floor." ; "Ha, ha! Now, Bella, that explains the preferential tariff. He prefers 'Jinks'* Blend' because ho gets big discounts." " Oh, you don't know a thing about it. You're like all the rest of the men—you're as full of knowledge as an empty pot " " Well. I know you can't beat Hondai Lanka Tea," "Any fool knows that, hut it's only a woman like me that wi\ insist on getting it from grocers like Syksie. But there's not many like him. Jack says they are mostly 'straightforward, honest men."' " Oh, well, let's get a cup of the real unblended stuff. For the genuine, pure Ceylon, Hondai Lanka can't be equalled by any blend going."