Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-09-02
som TIE PORT Tdbaeeo Tfmes.)
DOBACCO INSPECTION.

Rom Tie PORT Tobacco Iymes.)
10BACco INSPECTION.
= meeting Of the Tobacco PLAN
- held IN Baltimore few days ago,
atFhich il was determined to petition
tk&nezt Legislature to abolish the pres
e. system Of inspection, is q move
ut which islikely to attract general
- ntion Of all immediately connected
VI the product of the article in ques-
= stated that the present system
= nefaeient and expensive, and that
MpkylAnd branded tobacco cannot be
sold under its brand in Europe, but has
q % again inspected there before it can
Odd purchasers. 1t is proposed now to
akolish the present State inspections,
torrent out the warehouses to the high
@ responsible bidders and have private
1pection Of all tobacco stored therein.
~ and shippers have long been in
g this PLAN but farmers we be-
lieve I've generally objected, prefer
risst1g present system.
Without any special knowledge on
the subject Of its practical working,
we know enough of the present system
to condemn it as vicious, and as the
proposed change is based on correct
principles we are inclined to favor it,
As rule, commerce should be as little
interfered with by laws and govern
neutrality-suspicious. as possible. Theless
hampered it is by these the nearest we
approach to that free trade W hich should
only be regulated by the law of supply
and demand. There are certain articles
however of traffic, which from their
very nature vary essentially in quality
and value, and yet the variance cannot
readily be discovered because of bulk
or other reason, such as tobacco and
-four. Here an inspection by an expert
is absolutely necessary for the protec-
ton of both buyer and seller and this
duty, we believe, may always be much
more safely entrusted to private enter
prise than to official appointees. Grad
ually people are awakening to q sense
of this fact. Men who are engaged in
trade have long been in favor of the
abolition of all State inspections, and
the present system has only been re-
tanned, partly to crafty the farmers,
but more, we are sorry to say, as a mat
ter of party expediency and for the pur-
pose of party patronage. Still public
opinion has been steadily making ad-
vances and gaining victories in this d.
rection. At one time everything sold
had to be measured or inspected by a
States officer, even every stick of wood
carried to Baltimore had to be measured
by wood-corder appointed by the Gov
ernor. But that is now among the
things that were. Four years ago a
severe blow was struck at the whole
system by the Hon. John Lee Carroll,
through whose instrumentality and in
influence mainly the inspection of -four
by State officers was abolished. Pri-
vate Inspection of this article has been
found to work SO well that we are not
surprised at the present movement, and
we are sure it will meet with the hearty
cooperation Of the next Governor, who
is man of enlarged and liberal views
on this and cognate subjects. Doubt
less, if the original purpose could be
carried out and competent and proper
men were selected to Office, the seller
might derive some advantage from hav-
ing an inspector who was appointed by
the State. But we are sorry to say that
the question of competency is one that
rarely If ever is thought of when a to-
baccco inspector is to be appointed
The only question to be then solved is
one Of political influence, and if the So
luton of that is satisfactory it matters
not whether he ever saw tobacco or not.
The natural result of all this is that
every inspector is rabid politician and
his warehouse is hotbed of political
corruption. No man can be appointed
to the humblest place therein unless he
be a political striker. who will strike
his best according to orders at both the
elections proper and the primaries
How servilely they can obey the behests
of the appointing power, we witnessed
here very recently, and do not wish to
see the like again.s
Under such system it is not strange
that the brand of the Maryland State
inspectors should add nothing to the
value of tobacco. We do not know of
any frauds ourself, but it is not unfre-
quently the subject of remark that any
man who will choose to superintend
personally the inspection of his own
tobacco may by the judicious invest
ment of a few dollars designate the
spots where bulk shall be broken to
draw samples from. Whether this
is true or not one thing is very certain,
the present system is burden to the
State, last year the expenditures hav-
ing been greater than the receipts
ANY man who will take the trouble to
examine the subject can but marvel at
the increase of business Just before the
election which requires so large an addi-
ton to the number of laborers in the
warehouses and its sudden falling off
in few days thereafter. Nor vii! his
surprise be much abated when he makes
a calculation of the number of nails re-
quired in the course of a year. 1t
would be cheaper for the State to buy
the Avalon Nail Works ut once and de-
vote them exclusively to the furnishing
of the multitudireus demand of the
warehouses. These are some few of
the abuses connected with this matter,
which we have heard mentioned and we
have no doubt that if the subject were