The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-24
CONSUMPTION OF TOBACCO.
More Than aoo,Ooo,ooo Pounds Used
Annually in America

From the Western Tobacco Journal
We don't know what IS the official
per capita consumption of tobacco in
the United States, but it is certainly five
pounds or over, judging by the amount of
tax paid for the year 1889, and the con-
sumption of imported cigars aud tobacco.
10 start Off with there is pa, 500, 600 pounds
OF chewing and smoking tobacco. Then
almost 1000, 600, 600 domestic cigars or
probably 20, 900, 900 pounds Of tobacco Then
$500, OOOpounds of snuff and about ,OO0OOO
pounds in cigarettes. This makes a total of
306,OOO,0O0 pounds Add to this t. 900. 900
pounds or imported cigars, cigarettes and
tobacco, and we have 10000, coo pounds.
which, divided up between say 63.OOOOOj
people, would give an average Of pounds
TO every man, woman and child ia tie
United States. But, of course, the whole
population of the United States do not use
tobacco-probably one in five would be
pretty fair estimate, or little more than
l2OO0,O0O people-almost exclusively men
ana boys. Then the actual average con-
sumption of tobacco users would be five
times pounds, or 25 pounds
The question arises, what does this %
pounds cost each consumer? A little com
putatio1 will approximate the cost.
Let US put the average cost of the 1885,
OSOIOSO SAsstA y C5DiS, WHICH Is cBFL8lnlY
low enough. and we have tine total cost Of
the cigars at retail as -S197, 100000.
The average retail cost Of the chewing
| and smoking tobacco at 90 cents is certainly
| not excessive, which would make the aggre-
gate cost Sl33, SOC, 200.
The cigarettes can be averaged at 1 cent
each on the 2, 100000. an aggregate Of
| $21, 40 900.
Putting the averages cost of snuff at 5
noY re, I'm
aggregate cost would be 6,934,0O0 on the
S,542, 600 pounds. sIr
The 100000 pounds of imported cigars
and cigarettes would not cost less than S. a
pound to the consumer, as imported cigars
pay about So per pound in import duties
and internal revenue alone This would
give $20,000,000 in the aggregate.
Now let US add the totals:
S197, 100000
dootccQ -...'.'..... ...'-. ...... l33,50l 900
Slgarettes ---...---...-- .-......... 2l,1400OO
Imported cigars, etc. ............. 10000 900
Total NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. S379, 374 600
Therefore the 10000, 900 pounds of to-
bacco consumed in one year bv the Il ,00O,-
600 tobacco CONSUMERS of the United State.
cost on an average Of 81 % per pound, or
each consumer spends on an average $50 so
per year on the tobacco he consumes.
If the tobacco users of the United States
would abstain for a period of two years
from the chewing, smoking and snuff taking
habit, and place the money they would snend
for tobacco in that period in a common
fund, there would be enough money in the
fund to almost wipe out the entire national
debt, and five years abstaining would give
the head of each family in the United States
enough money to invest in an eighty acre
homestead farm in the far western states
and territories, or it would give us a navy
CT fifty first-clasS war vessels fully
equipped, and create fund that would
man and maintain them and the navy de-
partment for period of at least twenty
five years.
1t can thus be seen what is the magnitude
Of the tobacco trade of the United States,
and what multitude of devotees are will
ing to pay annually for habit which gives
them much consolation and comfort, if
nothing else.