Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-04-01
A WORD for Axr,cuiture.
ELK HILL, GoocHLAND CO., VA, /
March &c, 1886. !

| the midst of all this excitement on
local option, Knights Of Labor, and
many other questions Of like order,
and various important political ques-
tions, hope you wv pardon me for
asking your cooperation and little
space in the columns Of your daily, to
which am regular subscriber, in be-
half of the interest Of agriculture in
Virginia, and especially in the tobacco
growing counties or districts. Re-
siding in q county and upon farm in
that county, tobacco being the money,
and, ] may say the only money crop of
90 per cent. Of the farmers, and having
I grown it for nearly twenty years, and
being supervisor Of one of the districts,
am in position to see and know
much concerning the status financially
Of my countymen; and in short am
forced to the painful admission that
within the past decade the personally
has decreased just one half, and there
is not to-day more than one farmer in
twenty who is worth quite as much AZ
the end Of the year as he was at the
beginning. And am decidedly Of the
opinion this state Of affairs is true Of
nearly all Of the counties-tobacco
mean-north Of the James river and in
many on the south side, whilst of course
the exceptions lie in the bright dis
tricts. If such is the case, and it applies
equally to the grass and grain coun-
ties that compose our dear old State,
do you not agree with me that it is high
time the farmers were taking some ac-
ton in behalf Of their interest?
Now, sir, believe that upon the sue
cess Of the farmer depends the pros
perity of the whole professional and
mercantile population, and especially
do think it the duty Of the business
men of Richmond to lend a helping
hand to his hard-pressed and ill-used
brother, the farmer, in placing him by
some concerted action upon an equal
footing with the consumer, manufactu-
rer, and exporter Of his hard-earned pro-
ducts. The prices obtained within the
past six months in 90 per cent. Of the
crops have been far below the cost Of
production. Just think, if you please,
what that means-a years work, board
and clothes, and that Of the poor mans
family included, and his labor goae for
nothing. lie can't pay his work bill;
he can't pay his merchant, can't clothe
properly his wife and children, and his
supply of food must be small and Of
the cheapest kind. Luxuries they
never enter the poor DEVILS head. To
illustrate A hard-woIking and intelli-
gent white man, with a wife and three
little children, said to me the other
day that he would gladly sell
all the crops Of every kind he had
raised last year for $50. Fed and
clothed himself. wife, and three children
for $50 year. His little garden was
not included, but it is safe to say that
would not amount to $2j. And this,
my dear reader, is the rule, not the ex-
ception. But why enumerate further
cases Of this suffering? You may have
it in a nutshell when ! tell you that the
average farmer for the past three or
four years under the present "order Of
things" has had to content himself
and family on less than the State and
counties give the prisoners in the jails
and the convicts in the penitentiary.
Talk about the Knights Of Labor kick
ing against an average Of one dollar per
day. Why, sir, that is simply princely
when compared with the farmers lot.
You need not hurry this over and
say, Too highly colored. No, no
"'tis true, and pity it's It's true"
Now the question is, what can be done
to remedy all this alleged suffering, and
at the same time benefit nearly every in
terest in Richmond, Lynchburg, Danyille
and, in short, all the cities and towns as
we'll as the country, which, | think,
with the necessary concentration and
cooperation, will "blossom like the
rose" and in short time, instead Of
still decreasing, will begin and rapidly
increase in personally, enhance and
beautify the present homes, as we'll as
building up the waste lands OF which
Virginia has so much? Some may cry
impracticable, some impossible, some
no remedy, &c, &c. But the solution
to this problem is very simple and a
tale soon told. Let the producer, or
especially tobacco.grower, price his
tobacco or his labor. Don't talk about
supply and demand-we understand
that. But does not that apply to
tobacco when it has gone into the
SPECTATORS hands and through the
hands Of the manufacturer?
How is it now? The farmer goes to
Richmond with his tobacco years
time, labor, and expense, all in to-
bacco. He puts it in the hands of a
commission merchant or the inspector,
and he assumes the role of the suppl
cant, and his cry is, What will you
give me for it: instead Of classifying
his crop-lugs, short, long, or good,
better, best, calculating the cost, and
laying on few cents profit, just a,
every other seller in the land does.
Now, sir, am | asking too much!
think rot. Why, what would one Of
your merchants think if his stock, JUS,
selected with great care and expense in
New York, had to be disposed of in
that way? How long would he have
credit in New York? And still there
is no difference. The farmers tobacco
is his merchandise or stock in trade"
He pays his taxes and works for his
tobacco instead Of buying; and what
is the difference? Now, some may
say that policy would place the
manufactured article too high. Not
necessarily; and what if it did?
1t is luxury, and, take my word
for it, it will be consumed at
much higher price, if need be, as long
as "water runs and grass grows"
The shipper and manufacturer will say,
But we will not make so much money
our margin will be less. Well, not so
much as to break up the business, an
sure and, perhaps, after all, when
you are told that the producer would
be satisfied, generally speaking, with
an ayars0a Of IN capfu Da- rnuoJ g..