Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1881-02-18
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PORT TOBACCO. MD:
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Friday, Feb.......... 18th, 1881.
PORT TOBACCO. MD:
Friday. Feb. 18th. 1881
Is IT NECESSARY

inspection Of tobacco do 50 on the ground
that. because OF the peculiarly Of the
product, its bulk when shipped to market.
the great number Of its producers aad
their doubtful responsibility rcnlcr IN
spcc,ion Nv some reliable m,et"e aaS
necessary.
IT the premises thus assumed were
correct there possibly might be some
force in this argument But for the life
Of us VIC cannot see wherein tobacco diff
fers in any essential whatever from
hundred other products which are daily
bought and sold without inspection The
same argument would apply with eqld
and'pe,haps more force to corn, wheat,
-four, hay or almost anything else sold
in bulk Tn, producers Of the named
articles are as an hundred to one tobacco
planter Let US take baled hay for IN
stance Nearly every farmer, Of the
Northern, Middle aud Western States
except IN the limited tobacco growing
SECTIONS raises large quantities. Of hay
which is hailed upon the farm, and then
shipped for sale No human eye, cx
cespt his own or those Of his employers
have seen or can see the internal contents
Of those tightly compressed bales. They
may be fraudulently packed with little
good and sweet hay on the outside.
whilst the inside is but rotten or inferi-
49, ,,r.a. ,,,a briars We have been
- 'atse packing, and
where too the packer was uLkown and
again where he was known. Accord
ing to the above recited reason we ought
20 have an inspector Of hay appointed
and paid by the State We are in the
habit ofpurchasing considerable quaint
~ of fodder every year, AMI 1t not un
frequently happens we find the inside Of
the bundles so defective a. not to be fit
for use The parties from whom we buy
are laborcrs, who pull fodder on shares
and are irresponsible Surely then there
ought 20 be an inspector Of fodder We
sometimes buy beef by the quarter, and
when we get it home it has happened 1t
was so tough as to be UNBEATABLE. Then
there ought to be an Inspector Of beef.
We buy few tons of coal every year
and it generally happens we get guam
THY Of clinkcr with it. which INJURIES oul
stoves Surely there ought to be an
inspector Of coal We once bought 4
horse and, we're badly cheated in him
We could not see what was inside of MIN
therefore there ought to be a horse in
spector. Aud so we might 60 on through
the list of all purchaseablc articles Of any
bulk, and the same reasons exactly could
be given for requiring an inspector OF
each as is urged in the case of tobacco.
Our esteemed contemporary. the Times
in presenting its views on this point takes
the case Of hogshcad of sugar as illus
trating the dissinilarity ofother products
to tobacco The selection in unfortu-
nate for perhaps no other article could
more forcibly illustrate tho absurdlty
of the contention.
The cane from which sugar is made,
Ike TOBACCO, is cut when ripe, and the
juice compressed and boiled to the pro
per consistency and when cooled the
granulcs Of sugar are formed In this
condition, half molasses and half sugar.
tits poured into the hogsheads, which
are left to drain as the molasscs passes
through holes in the bottom of the hogs
head for that purpose, and the bulk in
the hogshead j: decreased more is pu,
therein. When the hogsheal has drain
ed sufficiently, or when the convenience
of the planter suits, or his necessities re
ket, consigned to commission merchants.
or faetors as they are there termed, who
IN turn sell them to purchasers either
for export, refining purposes or for CON
sumption. Up to this point the simi-
IaritY to the management and sale of to-
Sacco' is almost exact The hogsheads
Of sugar, like those of tobacco, are even
marked before leaving the sugar house
with the initials Of the planter and the
gross weight. Some planter, handle,
cure, and pack their tobacco much better
than others, and consequently get bet
ter prices. So some planters make their
sugar with more care, pack their hogs
heads and drain them better than others,
consequently also get better prices But
when the two commodities are offered for
sale then the difference for the first time
appears There is no inspector of sugar
The purchaser buys that, as he ought TO
buy every other commodity, upon his
own Judgment and without any inter
mediary The same thing exactly is
the case about cotton. and so of nearly
every thing except this wonderful article
of tobacco. which the State must needs
assume guardianship over.
We may be both blind and stupid, ex-
ceedingly so, but for the life Of us We
utterly fail to see any necessity for the
inspection IF tobacco gu account of It's
bulk or pecuharities more than in the