THE TAX ON TEA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8105, 9 May 1906, Page 3

THE TAX ON TEA.

A THREATENED MONOPOLY. An agitation has recently been commenced in the direction of inducing the Government to impose a duty of twopence per pound on all ten imported into the colony in packets of less than four pounds in weight. Under "The Preferential and Reciprocal Trades Act, 11)1)3," it was provided that from and after March 31st, 1004, no duty shall be leviable on tea in any part of the British Dominions except on tea in packets not exceeding one pound in weight.

Tho duty on packages of one pound in weight, and on foreign tea, is twopence per uound.

The proposal formed the subject of an interesting discussion at Monday night's meeting of the Executive of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce. Mr M. Eraser drew attention to the published report of a meeting in Auckland ou the subject of tea-packing, and moved : " That in the opinion of this Chamber, all British-grown tea should be admitted into the colony free of duty; tliat the agitation to impose 2d per lb on imported packet tea anse entirely from a few interested persons, and was lu direct opposition to the interests of the consumer, and not in accord with the express wish of the Premier, to make British-grown tea free in New Zealand; that there can be no object in having tea opened and re-handled in the colony, except to enable the packer to make an additional profit from it, thus increasing the cost, while diminishing the yalue to the consumer; that the imposition of such duty would create a dangerous mouoply and inflict a great hardship on the people of the colony. Speaking to this resolution, he said this agitation for protection came exclusively from a few tea packing firms.It was absurd to call it a colonial industry. It was no move an industry than the manipulation of Taranaki butter in England. It should be a monstrous thing that a duty of 2d per lb would be imposed on the butter we sent home, packed in tins, yet this was what the tea packers were asking us to do against the tea grown in Ceylon. A tea packer, pleading for protection at the meeting of the of Commerce, remarked that * he duty would be a protection to the public. This was absurd. There could be no object in rchaudling tea in the colony, except to enable the packer to make an additional profit. The consumers were now well satisfied, for they got 17oz of good tea, packed fresh in Ceylon, put up 111 hermetically scaled lead packets, as against 13oz packed in paper in New Zealand. This is what an Auckland paper called a fraud! It was easy to see where the shoe pinches. As an instance of what might happen if the Government gave a bonus to any person who might set up in the trade, Mr Fraser said: " I am prepared to prove that a parcel of China tea imported m 18S3, ex " Tamasui," lying iu bond for some years, was purchased by a tea packer, tinned and packed in various sizes, and sold to a store not 100 miles from New Plymouth. The demand for China tea having ceased, the tea lay for 12 years in stock. It was then bought by a packer, strong on colonial industries, faked, or say blended, and s ild again in' Taranaki as pure Ceylon tea." Mr Johns thought tea packers should claim protection on the sanio Footing as the candle industry. Mr King pointed out that the caudle trade was a genuine colonial industry, manufacturing the raw material produced in the colony, and wss a valuable assistance to the prosperity of the country. That could not be said of the lea packing, which could not really be classed as a local industry. The Government had already shown they wished to protect the public, by allowing tlie 17oz packet to come in Free. The motion was carried unanimously, and it was decided to send a cony of the resolution to every member of the House of KepreseutaLivcs, and to every Chamber of Commerce in the colony.