HC Deb 19 April 1904 vol 133 cc566-7

I can obtain it from tea or from sugar. Sir, the sugar duty was only recently imposed, and the trade has lately been subjected to some uncertainty owing to the Brussels Sugar Convention. On the whole, therefore, it has appeared to His Majesty's Government that it is better that the sugar trade should not be disturbed again at the present time, and we propose to have recourse to tea. I shall ask the Committee to add twopence per pound on tea. As I have already said, tea did well. It produced last year £250,000 more than the estimate in twelve months when almost every other source of revenue failed to realise anticipations. Allowing for the disturbance created by forestallments and backwardations in recent years when changes in taxation have been anticipated, it has been a steadily growing revenue, and the consumption is not likely to be materially checked by the increase which I propose. Even with that increase the average price to-day, duty paid, will be hardly one half of what it was in 1864. From this source I expect to get £2,000,000.