St. Mary's beacon., 1858-08-12
BALTIMORE. -in1rsf 81, 1853.
To the Editor frMc ilGn!yrt' .idroca,e.

SIR: nnt't0 ~ y''.r PAPER, some weeks
ago, an article respecting i;e improper man
ngcmcnt Of the Trhacr', warrho;.-c> in the CITY
Of Baltimore. airG the Likelihood Of call for a
meeting of the pIartcr> IT Prince Georges, to
take the matter intn ,uliaidcr stion, and TO
adopt some measures tn project their interests
against the great ar.i shameful evils c'mplain-
e! Of. Why not mahc the call general, for all
the planters 0i the G;!i Congressional district
to meet at Upper Mar;Iro'l.p on some given
day? The time has certainly acrire,!, when
something should lie d"lc l., protect lis against
the many abuses and l,.>ers Ia which we have
been regularly subjected for mary vears.-in-
deed, ever since tie wlrrhou.,'s were broken
up III the counties anil traus'yrrc.! to this city.
The evils that have grown uut oi this original
false step have been Of course greatly aggravat-
ell by the more modern practice Of convertir:
the warehouses into political machines.
To cnumcrc,c I'll the abl<cs 10 Which we
have been snl;Cc,. since the damage referred
to, is not ncccsS:ry - the objects oi tis brici
note--though ] may mention one or two facts,
well known to many farmers, which will show
the nature It toe injustice wr complain ,.i.
Tins, it formerly c''st 1uc per hh, f,rinspcct-
ing; LOW it costs :: :l.@2j-a loss +" the farmer
of j5c. per nhd avcragng this with the
70 the planting interest il about S27, 800 To
this add $4,000, oF account vi fbout 800
hhds. which are :im5 Tally set down ts "crhfnbs
and scraps," i.orc tiln should hc placed in
that list-to say nothing about 500 hh(is. sup
pcscl To have hcca stven annually, Icy tie
process known as .'lLc outdoor operation"
Add about $4,000 for the absence of the in
spcctors half their time, ami a similar amount
Tor ccst 0t assistant Inspectors, and extra clerks
and abort one thousand for extra labor in
packing the scrap and crumh" 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, wlirk is proving upon orr sub
stance. Ii something I've not speedily done. the
outrage on our Tobacco must be increased to
keep the hands at work--to say nothing Of
the large debt of 1896 900 now hanging over
the warehouses. How is this to be paid, ex-
cept by an increased outrage on Tobacco? :?
Such q result as this was never anticipated; for.
when we built the last warehouse. no. 81 we
were induced to believe that the outrage would
be reduced to 75c per hhd., inaSmuch as we
would not have to pay storage. And it is some
what remarkable that, at the time we had
storagc-billS to pay, more revenue was derived
from the warehouse than at this time; and we
did n"t lose 500 hhds. annually. more than we
should have done. as ''Scrap and crunib." nor
500 more by the ''out door operation" Some
Of the hands and other parties, If will be re-
membered, were fairly caught in this 'out-door
operation lust April, hut have never heard
OF their being punished. Indeed, it would
hardly seem merciful or necessary to punish
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, long rs they
are appointed upon party considerations. 9th
crs propose to sell four Of the warehouses, and
to build large inspection House. al the month
Of the Pautuxent River; in order to concentrate
our Tobacco at one poirt. whence 1t could be
shipped at all seasons of tie year. Under such
an arrangement, we could ship direct 10 New
York for 81 per hid, and realize about 81
per hid. more for the produce Others ap-
pear to think, with the late Comptroller, Col
BArEMAN, that Chief Inspector or States
agent, should be appointed, whose duty should
he to examine the condition of the ware-hUus-
es daily, and tn supervise the acts OF both In
spectors and hands noting how strictly they
perform their dutieS-and TO examine and
counterSign Ill returns TO the Treasury. Ny
own decided opinion is that the plan for the
inspection house At the mouth Of the Patux-
ent, upon the whole, promises more lasting ad-
vantages to the Tobacco interest.
AN OLD PLANTER.