"DUMPING" OF HOPS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 174, 16 April 1908, Page 7

"DUMPING" OF HOPS.

THE AMERICAN' ABTICLE. A QUESTION IN THE COMMONS. BREWERS AND PATRIOTISM. ■ BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION—COrYRIGIII (Rec. April 15, 11.40 p.m.) . London, April 15. In the House of Commons, Mr. Gilbert Parker, Unionist and tariff reform member for Gravesend, directed attention to tho'ruin of- tho Kent hop industry by tho dumping of 8000 tons of American hops in tho United Kingdom a few weoks ago. . , , Mr. Lloyd-George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, deprccatcd exaggeration. ' Ho at-' tribiited thq difficulties of .the British industry largely to the development of labour-saving machinery and the uso of hop substitutes, Tho Minister jocularly, suggested that tho brewers should show thoir patriotism by only using British hops. He urged Parliament to await- the results of the inquiry by the Select Committee. . , /. V . THE CASE FOR THE GROWERS. Tho tariff reformers have decried tho Selcct Committee, on the ground that it is "packed" with freetraders,' and some of the Kentish hop-growers have refused to givo evidence before it.' The. Liberal .-Ministers' are at present very much at grips, with tho. tariffites over : hops, and with the brewers over beer, and the x wholo industry must ba somewhat of a nightmare to them. For the 'following statistics, the "Daily Express" (which is a tariff roform, anti-Government paper) is responsible:— 1 ' :

In the last twenty-seven years the acreago under .hops in tho-United Kingdom has olined,over, 30 per cent. The startling nature qt the decrease will be!seen'from the following figuresi . ' . , , i 1 ' Acres. - ■ -A arcs:. ISBI-5 1 68,000 IMS 46,700 : 1891-5 58,000 '1907 ... 41,900 - • 1901-5 ; 4!>,000 . Decrease since 1881, 23,100-.acres. -'. . . Evory acre under hops/represents .an- averago of : .£25 spent in labour, so that, the grubbing of these 23,100 acres means a probable loss ,of -JC-577,000 ?to British/working men and agriculturists. _ .If this acroago could be placed under cultivation 'for hops again it' is estimated that the following benefits would ensue 1. Nearly 8000 more agricultural labourers, with their* wives arid ■ families, would find ~permanent.employment. . ■2. Some 138,000 more men,-women, and children would find employment at picking- ; time. :'• ; •' ; ; : 3. There would bo greatly increased prosperity in all the trades dependent 'or partly, dependent on, the hop industry. [' ': i In fifty selected ;parishos 'thero were' 8834 acres of hops in September last. Since; then. 1495 of these, acres' havo been grubbed, representing' a' decrease of.' ICi per cent. ' , ' ' . -, This means .that.-270 :• labouring' men and women who havo been employed in the, cultivation of; these hop' lands, are thrown out -of employment, in addition to. 4500"home" pickers, and-7500 "immigrant" pickers. : : 1