St. Mary's beacon., 1858-08-12
BALTIMORE. -i'gmsf 81, 1853.
To tie Editor CMe Planters .f,lrocate.

SIR: noticed III your paper. some weeks
ago, an article respecting the improper man
agement of the Tlhaccn wHrrhu:rw.z i'm the citv
Of Baltimore. ami the likelihn,,i uf call for n
meeting of the PLANTERS of Prince Georges, TO
take the matter into consideration and to
adopt some measures Ia protect their interests
against the great and shameful evils complain
el of. Why not make the call general. for all
the plantcrs@f TIE 9Th Congressional district
I" meet at Upper Maribcron-h IN some given
day? The time has certainly arrived. when
something should he done Ia protect us against
the many abuses and lp-,cs Ia which VIC have
been regularly subjected for many ycars-in-
deed, ever since HE warehnll."s were ttoken
up in the counties and transferred to this citv.
The evils that have grown ont of this original
false step have been "f course greatly aggravat-
ell by the more modern practice Gf converting
the warehouses into political machines.
To enumcratc all the abuses tn which we
have been subject. since the damage referred
to, is not necessary TO tile Objects of tits brief
| note-thoIsh may mention one or two facts,
well known tn mahy farmers, which will show
the nature 81 The injustice We complain Of.
Thus, it formerly cost zoe per hid for inspect
ing; Low it costs s .2j-a loss I" the farmer
OF 55c. per hid. Averaging this with the
number Of hhdS. inspected, the loss per annum
to the planting Interest is about S27, 500. To
this add 81 900, on account Of about 800
bids. which arc ANNUALLY set down az 'scrumhs
and SCRAPS" IEnrc than should I've placed In
that list-tO say nothing about 800 hlltis sup
posed to have been stolen annually, 10y tho
process knowp as ''thc outdoor operation"
Add about :s30u0 Er tho absence r,f the in
spectors half their time and similar amount
for cost of assistant Inspectors, and extra clerks
and about one thousand for extra hhnr in
packing the "scrap and crumb" Making,
even in these few particulars, a loss to the
planters annually Of about $4,000,
1t is certainly high time for every planter
to consider and suggest some plan TO cure this
great abuse, which Is preying upon our sub
stance. IL something be not speedily done, the
outrage on our Tobacco n',lst lie increased to
keep the hands at work--to say nothing of
the large debt of Sl36, 900. now hanging over
the warehouses. How Is this to be paid, ex-
cept by an increased outrage on TOlacco?
Such a result as this was never anticipated; for,
when we bnilt the last warehouse. no. 81 we
were induced to beliete that the outrage would
be reduced to T5c per hhd., inasmuch as we
would not have to pay storage. And it is some
what remarkable that, at the time we had
stOrage-bills to pay, more revenue was derived
from the warehouse than at this time; and we
did not lose 800. hhds. annually. more than We
should have done. as ''scrap and crumb," nor
800 more by the "out door operation" Some
of the hands and other parties, it will lie re-
membercd, were fairly caught in this outdoor
operation last April, but have never lIcaM
Of their being punished. Indeed, it would
hardly seem merciful or necessary to pnniSh
them while the INSIDE operations" Of various
kinds, fleece us still more.
Now, what is to be done? Some planters
suggest an increase of the inspectors, salaries
That would scarcely do any good, for we shall
have the same style Of officers, SO long rs they
are appointed upon party considerations. 9th
crS propose to sell four of the warehouses, and
to huild large inspection House, at the month
Of the Pautuxent River; in order 20 concentrate
our Tobacco at one point. whence it could be
shipped at all seasons of the year. Under such
an arrangement. we could ship direct to New
York for 81 per HID, and realize abont 81
PCT hid. more for the produce. Others ap-
pear 10 think, with the late Comptroller, Col.
BArENAS, that Chief Inspector or States
agent. should be appointed, whose duty should
be to examine the condition of the ware-hOus-
es daily, and to supervise the acts of both In
spectors and hands noting how strictly they
perform their duties--and to examine and
| countersign all returns 10 the Treasury. Ny
own decided opinion j. thai the plan for the
inspection house ut the mouth OF the Patux-
cut, upon the whole, promises more lasting adj
vantages to the Tobacco interest.