The Hartford herald., 1879-06-11
To Tobacco Growers and Shippers.

In the opinion OF the Tobacco Ware
hOusemen of Louisville, the time ha
come for submitting to you the facts o
the extraordinary struggle which hal
been forced upon them; and We, who's,
names are hereto attached, pledge yOu
our honor that the following statements
are fair and true presentation of the
case:
In carrying our cause to you, We shal
not presume upon the relations of busi-
ness and friendship which have existed
so long between ourselves and you, OuI
customers and patrons, but shall rely
only upon the justice of our position and
your ability to perceive our rights and
your interests.
We shall show you that the contro-
versy is purely struggle between fac
tion of the buyers and the sellers of to-
baccO.
The first step i'm the contest was the
formation of a Buyers clique or ring.
All the parties to this movement bound
themselves in writing to act together,
and to make common cause against the
WarehOusemen and the Board of Trade,
for the purpose of extOrting from us GER
tain concessions which they had deter
W tlliOiCt ~ vi
buyers here enrolled themselves In this
conspiracy, but a large number, includ-
ing some of the most prominent buyers
as well as all the Louisville manufac-
turers, (perhaps with one exception,
firmly refused to do anything with
this buyers ring, and have held their
ground In good faith in the Board Of
Trade.
The demands which the buyers
league presented were these: That the
warehouse charges against buyers be re-
duced rs cents per hogshead that the
charges against sellers be increased to
cover the difference. 1t was
not contended that our total charges
were too high, but we were urged to
transfer the margin complained of to
the shoulders of sellers. BY accepting
these terms and increasing charges
against producers and other sellers, we
could have made peace with the buyers
league and ended the trouble.
We rejected their demands. They
threatened us with the power of the
whole buying interest. We, relying
upon the still greater and ultimately ir-
resistible power of producers and sellers
whose interests We were defending, de-
fled them to do their worst.
The leagued buyers thereupOn with
drew from the Board of Trade and pub
lished a compact to the effect that they
would cease buying until the Ware
hOusemen should yield to their de-
and until the Board of Trade
regulations should be changed to suit
their purposes.
Thereafter they held aloOf from the
market, but they soon discovered tOtheir
chagrin, that the sales kept ON as usual,
and that their prices were fully support
ed without their assistance. They had
reckOned upon the assumption that the
market would be seriously embarrassed;
that prices would decline; and that sell
ers would be forced, in self-protection,
to Use their great influence for the pur-
chase of peace, even at the price of sur
render. Their disappointment prompt
ed them to abandon the strike within
four days after they had published their
cartel. They returned to the auction
breaks and have since been purchasing
IN the usual manner. But they had
simply changed their tactics, without
abandoning the seige.
Failing to force us to grant their de-
mands at your expense by open assault,
they next undertook to undermine our
position with piece of strategy, which
you must see is perfectly transparent.
In carrying this into effect a warehouse
was started by two of the striking buy
ers, who published a scale of charges at
which it is impossible for any honest
enterprise to prosper
And to win over producers and sellers
to the support of their designs, they
also offer lower terms to sellers. The
reduction in selling costs is insignificant
while the buying costs are reduced one
half; but the theory was adopted that
even a trifling cut i'm selling charges
would be sufficient to conciliate sellers
and blind them to the real nature of
the scheme. At this new house the
of Tobacco is entirely in the
hands of the seeding buyers, a feature
that you can not consider favorable to
your interests. 1t is certainly impor-
Iant to you that your rights in this par
Iicular should be guarded by some one
other than buyers ring. Al of the
Board Of Trade buyers decline to re-
cOgnize this neiC tCdrehOuse, and refuse
% attend its sales, but the members of
'he strikers league are making daily
sacrifices to support it (; and show of
success has been secured by daily sales /
Of Tobacco belonging to the proprietors
md malcOntents.
Now, then, We wish to ask you plain !
y if We, your Representatives, have
lone well? Should We hare made !
peace 6y transferring the costs from
hem to yOuf Would you, the chief rep
Of the Tobacco selling inter
'sts ia the DOrid, hare ercused as if we
had permitted a buyers clique to assume
complete control and authority in this \
he chief market Of the Uorid9 II ,ce
,ad yielded the principle that buyers /
.lique can enforce one thing in this |
would We not have yielded /
llsO the principle that it can enforce /
Inything? If We had allowed such a
'lique to compel us to transfer to you a
'drt of their legitimate costs, would we
lot have aided i'm establishing the prin-
iple that they might require us next to
impose upon you all the costs, and
harge them nothing? Would we not
AVE betrayed you by becoming the
mere agents of q rings dictation, in
tead of being the representatives of
ellers, with the power to protect the
lights entrusted to US? Is there, in
hort, any single right of yours which
would remain secure after establishing
he precedent that the interest of
li9ue or ring is supreme?
We desire to assure you that all your
ights are fortified and guarded by laws
nd regulations which have grown up
nto the Board Of Trade system, and
which constitute its organic law. Under
his system, the business and the repu-
alton Of this market have surpassed
known elsewhere i'm America
r Europe. No other market attracts
uch cOnsignments of Tobacco, and ev- II
ry hOgshead is testimonial of your
onfidence I'm us and of your satisfac-
ion with your former experience with
S. No other i'm the world attracts such
numerous body of buyers, and each
ne attests i'm spite of himself, Thy the
cry fact that he comes to Louisville in
reference to other markets) that the
dvantages here (charges included) are
nora an than oloa Z