istricts of Siam 3,500 to 4,000 tons are exported
annually.

The duty at present levied on pepper in England is 6d. per lb., while
the wholesale price for that of Pinang, Malabar, and Sumatra is about
4d. per lb. White pepper ranges from 9d. to 1s. 6d. per lb. The prime
cost in Singapore is not more than 11/2d. per lb.

About 70,000 or 80,000 piculs of pepper are annually exported from
Singapore, of which between 30,000 and 40,000 piculs have, until
within the last two years, gone on to Great Britain. More than
one-half of the pepper exported from Singapore is grown in the island
by Chinese settlers.

The low selling price of the article in the English market, the high
duty levied upon it, and the large freight paid for its carriage to
Great Britain, now leave so small a price to the cultivator in
Singapore, that the cultivation ceases to be remunerative, and is
carried on at a loss; and has consequently within the last year or two
begun to decrease rapidly, involving the Chinese growers, who are
generally of the poorest class, and without capital, in great
distress. A reduction in the duty on pepper has always been followed
by a very large increase in the consumption of the article, as will
appear from the following table, showing the importation and
consumption in Great Britain during some of the first and last years
of the different rates of duty:--

Duty Singapore price
Year Quantity consumed s. d. s. d. s. d.
1811 1,457,383 1 101/2 0 71/2 to 0 73/4
1814 941,569 1 101/2 0 11 " 1 1
1820 1,404,021 2 6 0 61/2 " 0 63/4
1824 1,447,030 2 6 0 43/4 " 0 51/2
1826 2,529,027 2 0 0 4 " 0 41/2
1836 2,749,491 1 0 0 0 " 0 0
1837 2,625,075 0 6 0 0 " 0 0
1845 3,210,415 0 6 0 21/4 " 0 43/4

In a memorial from the mercantile community of Singapore, sent home in
1848, it is asserted that a reduction in the duty of pepper being
always attended by a large increase in the consumption, would not lead
to any serious loss in the revenue, while it would confer a great boon
on the poorer classes, to whom it has now become a necessary article
of life. The reduction would also be of great