Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1892-10-19

TO an average OF tve or SIX cents u
pound. and of New yols and Ohio to-
baccos to perhaps the lowest prices ever
known. The following are extracts
from this journal:
at (McKinley duty did not improve
the tobacco. 1t did not change the at
mospheric conditions nor the soil, so that
a better grade of tobacco could beraised
in competition with the foreign leaf. 1t
did not prevent the frost from striking
the tobacco before it was ready to be
cut. 1t did not prevent the growth OF
the white vein. 1t did not prevent the
tobacco from rotting. 1t did not create
a wider market, nor even the longed for
home market, for the trash will all have
to be exported or used for manure. And
it did not raise prices.
1.-THE manufacturer being robbed OF
$3.50 pound ON his wrapper leaf by the
folly of the tobacco growers illusion,
gets square with the tobacco grower by
cutting down the price for his fancy
filters to bare cost"
Sumatra has become an absolutely es-
sential factor for the cigar industry.
Otherwise no manufacturer would be
fool enough to pay Si for Sumatra
if he could get an equally good wrapper
produced at home for fifty cents
pound. But we cannot produce any
thing like Sumatra, for neither Con
snecticut, Massachusetts,, New York,
Pennsylvania nor Wisconsin has got the
soil or climate of the tropical isle of Su-
matra. Neither would our importers be
such fools as to again import from $4,000
to 10000 bales of Sumatra year, as they
did when Sumatra came in under low
tariff. But somebody has got to pay the
raise in the Sumatra duty. The i'm
porter does not pay it., The manu-
facturer pays it, but he wants to un-
load the expense on others, and naSu-
rally.
At first he thought of the jobber and
dealer, but both kicked and refused to
share the higher expense of the Mckln-
lev tariff. The consumer-that is, the
smoker-kicked likewise, and refused to
nav six cents for his nickel or eleven
cents for his dime cigar. There were
but two other classes left to share the
expense of the Mckinley tariff, the cigar
maker and the tobacco grower. And
both are being made to pay the penalty
of the Mckinley tariff-the cigar maker
by reduction of his wages and the to-
bacco grower by a squeeze in the price
of his product Wrapper leaf we cannot
grow to replace the Sumatra. But we
can grow exceedingly fine binders and
filler leaf.
Under the ,ew idriff the importer was
willing tc pay good price for binders
and very gCod and even high price for
fine filler leaf. All our domestic fancy
filters commanded under the low tariff
much higher figure than most of the
cigar leaf wrappers ever can. Now,
however, the manufacturer has either
dispensed with the use of this type of
leaf, or if he utilizes it he wants it at a
very low figure-at the low figure that
common filters and binders formerly
sold. For the cut he makes on this
class of goods now has to compensate
him for the (by the Mckinley tariff
raised expense Of his wrapper leaf.
The fine filler and binder leaf that
commanded the high prices had been
raised by Wisconsin, New York, Penn
sylvania and Ohio. Consequently the
tobacco growers of these states have to
pay the penalty for the outrageous
Mckinley tariff rate of 81. And Con-
necticut profits by it-and profits by
it alone-because she raises some wrap
per leaf which has always been in de-
mand even under the lowest rate of
duty, and because we cannot import all
the wrapper leaf our extensive cigar IN
dustry stands in need Of.