The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-08-23
TOBACCO IN FRANCE.
AState Monopoly. n Dine Of The Prlncipal
Sources OF Revenue.

#&NSaHE A4&S +. &&- FEft+
4 State Monopoly, and One OF the Principa,
Sources Of Revenue.
Visitors to France have noticed how
careful the customs officers are to Sc.
that I'D one is smuggling in matches OF
tobacco. The importation of matche,
is prohibited, and there is a very heay,
duty on tobacco. Any one who ha!
made the acquaintance of the Frencl
match will not readily forget it. 1t,
popularity is that it is very reluctan
to ignite, and it is no sooner alight tina,
it proceeds to extinguish itself. Matche
have hitherto been made solely by on,
company, which paid the governmen
q large sum every year for the priv
lege OF supplying Frenchmen with ba,
matches. AS a proposal to continu
this system threatened to overthrow
the Tirard ministry recently the gov
eminent has decided to take the manu-
facture of bad matches into its owl
hands,. The tobacco is made to sui
the matches. 1t is also bad and dear
The tobacco business has long been /,
state monopoly, says the N. Y. San
and is one of the principal sources 8
revenue. The latest report on the sub
ject shows that last years crop wa
20, 175,0 600 kilogrammes, which wa
valued at 16, 1923, 600 francs, or So, 2S4.
690. This was a poor year, giving
only 995 francs worth per hectare
while in 1887. the value per nectar,
was 1,811 francs. This was the HON,
production, but the government i'm
ports a great deal of American tobacco
in leaf, and manufactures it in France
The state gives the privilege of grow
ing the weed to planters, and look
after them with motherly care. l
fixes in what departments tobacco ma,
be grown. 1t marks off the number Of
acres to be planted. 1t selects Tine
variety of plant and settles what mum.
Der may be grown on each acre. No
only so, but the army of officials, who
are always prowling about on behalf Of
the state, count the plants in each acre
and the number of leaves on each
plant. Should a planter have less than
the inventoried number of leaves when
the harvest comes the officials will be
down on him. A much graver offense,
however, is to have too many leaves.
This is regarded as an attempt to de-
fraud the state, and unless satisfactorily
explained is followed by fines and I'M
prisonment. When he reaps his crop
the planter has not the privilege of ask
ing a price for it. The price is fixed
by the state. Tobacco is now grown in
twenty-e;ght departments. There are
81, 2S4 planters and 16,5O7 hectars of
plantations. There are twenty-seven
stores for the reception of indigenous
tobacco, and stores at Bordeaux,
Dieppe, Dunkerque, Havre, and Mar
settles for imported tobacco. The
state has t~wenty-one manufactures.
The largest is that at Lille, which
turns out {, 1000. 900 kilogrammes of to-
bacco a year. There are 20, 81 em-
ployes in the factories, OF whom 1850
are men and 1881 women. This does
cot include officials and agents. The
government does not treat its employees
very we'll and strikes in tobacco factor
les are frequent.
All the tobacco stores in France be-
long to the state. There are over 49,
900 of them. The state does not sell
tobacco at retail except in three stores.
The others are let to widows of officers,
government officials, and sometimes to
the widows of senators, deputies, and
projects. They take the place of pen
sions. If the government grants a pen
sion to the wife of some man who has
died in the service of his country that
generally mean that she gets a to-
bacco store, or bureau as it is called.
As the social position of the pensioners
will not allow them to run the. bureaus
directly, they let them. The dealer is
allowed 10 per cent profit by the gov
ernment, and is prohibited from selling
any tobacco except that supplied and
by the state. Neither must
:hey make cigarettes out of the gov
srnlnent tobacco. Every cigarette must
the official stamp. The state has
bureaus in Paris where the best
of cigars can be obtained.
These are either imported or made out
imported tobacco.
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