Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1884-02-22
'"'h INSPECTIONS AND r.lE IN
sPRcTroSs'

d.. system II tobacco inspee
tons must be pa,en, !, .s,d, er
s.p' themselves, and !, !, .omeuha
p i FASHIONABLE whether they roolj no
abandon the argune.,. ;,,,,, relic,
upon them for any other nprpc.c that
the one which lies a, IL. t,llthei
struggles, that is a ,l,,....':.I ,urOos,
TO-, % retain the Offices and de patronage o.
the Offices AS an exclusive ,.,.,;oo Of til,
political spills distributaLle amongst til,
Peulnsular counties IN ,,,gment,
advanced by them seem "a ;. reiucibl,
70 TWO man propositions. First. that
The purchasers are engaged IN combi
"s''on TO cheat tie Planters. and that
0,hc'ai inspection is the ouly mean. the
planters have to protcc, ,hemselve,
against the cheat; Second, that the to.
Oa'cO warehouses He' belong 10 the planter
~ the penlnsuinr counties. and the STATE
has no right to dispose Of them without
the consent of those couniies The FIRST
argument on the cheat question. is a
bold aud shameful charge in substance
against the commercial and personal
honor of body of merchant. in one Of
the great trading cities Of Europe, the
CITY OF Bremen, whose merchants are
regarded throughout the civilized world
a most conscientious. puuctu. and en-.
'erpr's'ng' indeed rs the very models Of
0"1'~e'c'.l integrity. The testimony
gvca by the merchants Of Bremen
~gA''st the State inspections is over
Wlsl@ing. Next. lisa direct charge
against the body Of merchants resident
!" Baltimore who are engaged in the
tobacco trade, whose standing for integ-
T'ty and fair dealing is as high as that
Of the proudest of their assailauts Last.
ly, it involves necessarily charge Of
iFaud and completely with dishonest buy
ers on the part Of the large number Of
our native and resident commission
merchants through whom all the ,ales for
the planters are transacted Can any
dlspassonate man believe that il the
planter selects his own fair sample and
leaves it with his commission merchant
or leaves his commission merchant to
chose private inspector or sampler to
draw samples, that he cannot aud will
not deal with the foreign buyers on quite
as favorable terms as If he held State
inspectors sample? And if he sells by
his own private guaranteed sample. will
he not get better price than il the pur.
chaser took the risk of the official sam
pie being true sampled One can un-
derstand perfectly how the fraudulent
packer or planter might desire to escape
responsibility by selling under an official
sample, which carries no warranty with
it. But unless the commission merchants
are rogues; combined with roguish bay
ers, one cannot comprehend how an
honest seller can suffer BY fknishing his
own samples; nov. snS4 K ,tsfAzsa
such, corrupt combina'iFis, how any
form Of Inspection, public or private
could avail its victims. But the sbsur.
dity of these positions are their own
com alete rcfutation. Nobody but the
man who wants for himselfor bis friends
the place of tobacco inspector will be-
lieve that the wicked fairies have enter
ed into combination to surrender the
planters to their enemies. They seem
TO have no such evil intentions towards
the tobacco growers Of any ether State.
The other argument that the tobacco
warehouses belong to the planters is also
utterly withouta shadow Of justification.
In the FIRST place a very large proper
ton Of tobacco which has been inspected
was the product of Ohio and other
States, and as they helped to pay into
the treasury the tobacco funds they
would have as much right to a share in
the warehouses as the Maryland plant
ers. But to which of the planters of
Maryland do they belong? Arc the
gentleman who set up this claim the
heirs or the executors Of those peo-
pie who thirty, forty, city, sixty, years
ago paid inspection fees And how
large a proportion of fees over expenses
has been paid by any one Of the men
who set up this pretensicn, If they
kant to make it n matter of debt and
credit between themselves and any others
whom they lcgitimately represented oY
right ofsucces>ion to the property and the
public, they will find themselves on the
wrong sidO Of the account. Suppose
that sort Of agreement we're extended to
any other fund, in the treasury or
properly held by the State. '.Ifit is
good for the tobacco fund it would
wise be GeOd reasoning about the school
fund How would the clanorers about
the tobacco fund and their exclusive
ownership Of it like for Baltimore city
and the richer counties Of the State
to put forward the claim that the State
school tax should be distributed only in
proportion to the taxable property upon