THE TAX ON TEA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue XXXXV, 10 December 1903, Page 2

THE TAX ON TEA.

The. deputation whiph waited on the Premier <m Thuraday on the question of the import duty on tea, although they did not achieve a remission of the tax, certainly did some g'ood in bringing the matter pi onimently before the notice of the Prime Minister. New Zealand seems to be a nation of tea-drink-ers, and anything that would tend to raise the price of such an article of overy-duy use must have an effect o'li nearly every section of the communvty. As we hud feared, this clause of the Preferential Trade Bill was passed when members of the House, completely exhausted by long sitti'ng«, were drowsily reclining in their seats instead of keeping a watchful eye on thb provisions of one of the most important measures that has ever been brought before the House, and a meawui"e which is farreaching its effects. We cannot conceive how this injustice could have 111 en perpetralvU had the members been conscientiously attending to the business of the cotuntry—as i'he.N are jiaid to 'do. The Premier's explanation of the means of the clause being inserted in the measui-e is very simple. The wholesale houses lepreseii'ted to him that the importation of Ceylon-packcd tea was in'teriering seriously with the packing industry of the colony', but failed to point out tiie advantages acciuing to tile consumer from this pi active. j\Jr ScdiLion, ever zealous in file cause of labour, and favoured by a slumbering House, introduced this clause and passad it into law. We uuu Id like to point out again the harmful effects of the lieu legislation, first showing the other aspect the advantages to consumers under tile oid arrangement, a-, pointed out in the resolution passed by the ii a'.X'snien's Association. First, teas packed iu the co'ur.'try where they are produced retarn their original aroma ; Ceylon possesses packing-houses equipped in the most up-to-date manner, and unploymg ehvap lu'bour ; and the importation was formerly distributed amongst so many retailers as to pi event any ■'corneii'iig" of the imI porta ( .? 1 ' " m, »" to force up the juices Ihe new system, inadvertently introduced by the Legislature, withr ® t ® u « l ' s '' rolu competition with the wholesale importers, and gives these a luowpoly which can be used to the detriment of the masses. It also allows the wealthy classes, who can all'oi<d to buy in large quantities, a distinct preference compared with the masses, who art the chief tea-drinkers, but who are conlined in tbeiimpurebases to th« pound or half-pound'' packets. Then again, it opens the way for the itinerant tea-merchant, who can import, pack, and sell cheap and inferior teas. At present this gentleman has no chance in the market, tlvanks to the retail import trade. Then again, it is urged that the tea which is sent in bulk to the colony cannot be packed so as to retain all its best qualities. The suggestion that retailers yluould do lheir own packing and thus absorb labour opens up another phase. First of all, many retailers coulid not afford a packing plant, and again, the present. state of the labour market IS such as to preclude the possibility of locally packed tea being supplied to tlie consumer at the present prices. We hope that this matter will be remedied early in next session, for the sake of the thousands o'i coiiMimers aivJ the importing retailers ; for New Zealand ui*y well a; 1 " 1 at becoming, like the Mother Country, "a nation of shopkeepers."