To the Editor of the Norra-Cniwa Daty News, Srr,—Will you kindly allow mo apace in your journal to make a suggestion, which, if acted upon, would I think materially benefit a considerable proportion of our community—TI refer to Tea-shippers Owing to events which have lately occurred and to which I need not here particularly refer, it is incumbent upon the Shanghai General Chamber of Comis services by the to the approval of the Trade. - The Guilds ted abject
have, since the death of the Into Arbitrator, selected a gentleman whose appointment the Trade for well-known reasons cannot accept. I would suggest that in future the romuneration and'consequently the selection should rest with the foreign buyers, and in order to find the necessary funds I propose a tax of one candareen per half-chest on Green Tea, It is very desirable that one weighing should prevail both hero and in Hankow. The custom adopted there is fair, and meets I think with the approval of the rade generally; but for some unknown reason hag not hitherto been followed here. Taking the supply of green tea to average 40,000 half-chests, a tax of one candareen would produce Tls. 4,000, which would pay for the expense of an arbitrator both here and in Hankow; while if the Hankow system of weighing was adopted the gain would average fully one Ib, por half-chest, This on 400,000 would amount, at one shilling per 1b. (a not too liberal estimate of value), to just £20,000—not a bad return I think for an expenditure of Tls. 4,000. It would, besides this, produce something like equality among buyers, and do away with the unfair advantages which some firms have hitherto had over others, The buyers of green tea are comparatively and it would be an easy matter for the palpable that there is no danger of their not acquiescing in an arrangement which is both equitable and advantageous, There used be no difficulty about the Guilds not agreeing, for, if acted upon at once, buyers would be able to take this into account when purchasing the leaf in the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.