The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 1935. The Decline of Tea

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21506, 22 June 1935, Page 14

The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 1935. The Decline of Tea

The American Chemical Society, according to a recent cable message in "The Press," believes that it has "completely vindicated" tea drinking by showing that an average man can drink 43 cups a day with impunity. The society does not seem to realise that it has devastatingly condemned the modern attitude towards tea drinking. Though few will want to go to the limit of this safe quota, many millions of AngloSaxons will be made happier by the thought that their usual 10 or 12 cups a day will harm their stomachs as little as their pockets. Yet such an attitude towards tea, or indeed towards any food or drink, is brutal and uncivilised. Drunk at the right time and in a proper frame of mind, tea benefits both body and soul; but the British, particularly those of the Dominions, have long since lost all proper respect for tea. It is just a drink to be taken at any time and with any food. The story is told of himself by a New Zealander, otherwise a man of learning and reputation, who, at a public dinner in London, staggered the company by waving aside the wines and demanding a pot of tea with his meat.

The truth is that, like so many blessings, tea has come to be misused and disrespected merely because it has become cheap. Were each cup to cost an appreciable sum, a certain ritual would probably arise for its drinking, like that practised with wine; and people would pride themselves on being able to distinguish minutely different varieties or on possessing expert skill in making it. It is worth remembering that when tea first came to England in the middle of the seventeenth century its ceremonial value was fully appreciated. Garway, the first English tea dealer, issued a broadsheet entitled " an exact description " of the growth, quality, and virtues •' of the Leaf Tea," in which he says that " in respect of its scarceness and " dearness. it hath only been used as " a regalia in high treatments and " entertainments and presents made

'• thereof to princes and grandees." His prices were from £ft to £lO a pound. A writer of the time mentions "that excellent and by all " Physitians approved China Drink "called by the Chineans Tcha, by "other nations Tay," implying that nothing but good was spoken of the new beverage. By the early nineteenth century, however, it had come within the reach of mosi people and William Cobbett found nothing good to say of it in his " Cot- " tage Economy." He saw in tea a malign influence, undermining the morals of Englishmen, taking their money, and wasting their time. After adding up the cost of the cups, pot, and kettle, the firing, and the tea itself, he declared tea drinking to be a reckless extravagant, for cottagers, a custom which wasted valuable hours of the housewife's time and encouraged gossip. Such vehement blame of a harmless pastime seems quite incredible to us now; but it shows how soon the real value of tea was lost sight of, once it came into common use.

In the East, where tea was known for centuries before it came to Europe, a much more civilised use was aiv/ays made of it. A Chinese sage went so far as to say that tea should never be served unless two ; hours could be spent in the enjoy- ! ment of it. About its origin a lei gend has grown up that the first | person to taste tea was a Chinese monk called Bodhidharma, who had ! taken a vow to pass nine years in sleepless contemplation of the virtues of Buddha. At the end of eight he almost fell asleep, but was able | to keep his vow by sucking the leaves of a nearby tea shrub. For a long time tea was used only as a medicine to revive the eyesight or soothe the nerves; and a dose was given by mixing ground-im leaves with any ordinary food. Even when it became popular as a drink the powdered leaves were at first cooked and drunk with it. It was at this time that the Japanese adopted the custom, which is the reason why the tea served in' Japan on ceremonial occasions still has the powdered leaves whisked up in it. Although tea drinking came to her from China, Japan is the country which has given it most honour. The famous tea ceremony, the drinking of tea in a very simple but minutely prescribed manner, is symbolic of a philosophy of life. The philosophy, known as " The Way of Tea." fosters admiration of the beautiful in daily life, discourages any vulgar display or affectation, and lays the foundation for an atmosphere...of thoughtful calm in the home. Behaviour that conflicts with these principles is said to be " not tea," in the way that to English-speaking peoples certain thing 3 are " not " cricket." The fact that tea drinking is part of a ritual among the Japanese does not in any way detract from their appreciation of it as a drink. In the ceremony it is served after the sweetmeats have been eaten, and the guest is expected to savour its fragrance and admire its consistency as he drinks. Then he takes the last half sip with an appreciative sucking noise and praises the skill of the tea maker. The idea of destroying the pure taste of the tea by adding milk or sugar is to the Chinese or Japanese as sugar on porridge to the Scot. The findings of the American Chemical Society will doubtless cause some amusement to the Eastern peoples as they reflect upon the number of things there are to know about tea drinking of more importance than the maximum amount i which a man mav safely honsjane. j

The Social Security Bill Mr Roosevelt has significantly described the Social Security Bill, passed by the Senate this week, as " at once a measure of alleviation " and a method of prevention of " economic depression." He means, apparently, that the measure is designed, not merely to relieve the economic plight of the unemployed, the sick, and the aged, but also to stimulate industry by the creation " of additional purchasing power and 1 to relieve unemployment by with- ; drawing from industry workers who - are more than 65 years of age. , What its actual effects will be it is impossible to prophesy; but it can safely be said that, of the many, ad--1 venturous measures passed since ' the recovery programme came into ■ operation, none is more likely to ■ defeat its purpose and none has : greater potentialities for harm. At the moment it is the financial impli- [ cations of the measure that are caus- ! ing most uneasiness. In the last I few years the Federal Government 1 has been spending several times its income and has found it necessary : to load the banks with "fiat de- : "posits," with the result that onethird of all bank investments in the United States are now in the ', form of Federal securities. In sp-te of this, the Government has embarked on a social security scheme, the cost of which, on the most conservative estimate, will be £8,000,000,000 between 1936 and 1950 As there is small prospect that the rate of taxation will be raised commensurately with the increase in State expenditure, it must be assumed that during this period there will be a further increase m the national debt. By 1970, moreover, the Government will have accumulated a fund of £6,500,000,000, the proceeds of the unemployment insurance levy. Even if this fund escapes the grosser forms of misappropriation, the task of investing it without disturbing the currency situation will be formidable. Nor J can the possibility be ignored that j the old age and sickness pensions! and unemployment insurance will j become' a " ramp " comparable to j the war veterans' bonus. With the present high level of unemployment j there is no prospect of any scheme of unemployment insurance becoming self-supporting, so that for many years to come payments under it will be equivalent to a dole. The question is whether the traditional generosity of Congress will not prevent it from ever becoming anything more than a dole. The administrative difficulties of the social security scheme are quite as serious as the financial, though somewhat less spectacular. The experience of Great Britain and of most European countries in the fields of unemployment insurance and pensions shows clearly that, if expensive and demoralising abused are not to creep in, the civil service must show a high level of integrity and ability. The United States has already learnt, from the administrative failures of the new deal, that its civil service possesses neither of these qualit cs. To add to this difficulty, the Federal and State Governments possess a concurrent jurisdiction in social legislation, with the result that the administrative problem is further complicated by the need for coordinating central and local schem:s. It is argued by the supporters of the Social Security Bill that the measure will merely bring the United States into line with Great Britain. That is true enough; but it ignores the important point that in Great Britain social services were built up cautiously and slowly, causing a minimum of social disturbance and never at any stage imposing sudden and j severe strains on the financial and administrative resources of the State.