The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-01-02
ours very truly,
KINNEY TOBACCO co.

JAS f. kearney, Resident Mgr.
Think Of leaf dealer receiving such
an order as the above ut this day and
timc-he would simply fall dead in his
tracks
But to the point find by reference
TO the old books of j +. Jordan S co
that cutters We're bought ut these prices
ana shipped to the Kinney Tobacco Co.
and commission OF 81 - per cyt
charged on same. So that m 20 cents
per pound, 1000 pounds Of the best grade
OF cutters would bring $4,000 TO Tho
farmers pocket and $3.50 to the middle.
man. What is the Status of affairs TODAY
now that the middle man has been
shocked ont from head taw." and
only the ring men arc left in: The best
grade Of cutters is only bringing II
cents per pound, which not ONLY knocks
the middle man ont of his $3.50. but
gets rid Of him to tile tune Of $4,000
actual loss to the farmer But the OK
ponents Of the Trust argue that every
thlng has come down in price ana that
ledI tobacco has only come down proper
n"hally with other articles. Lets sec
about that. Statistics for the last five
years show that the increase in tie CON
sumption Of manufactured tobacco has
III the production of leaf tobacco. and vet
the price Of the manufactured article is
just as high 10 the consumer rs il ever
was, while the poor farmer receives
about one-thlrd as much money as he
used TO for his crop Of leaf tobacco and
the middle man. is out of the business
entirely.
For the last two or three years there
mas been some competition caused by the
heavy purchases Of Mcssrs. Muri Broth
ers, of Japan. but the ocean cable
brings the sad message TO the middle
man that their concern has been bought
by the American Tobacco Co., and thus
the last vcstige Of competition is gone
Some Of these follows who draw nice
salaries from the Trust 20 50 far as to
say that taking the thing as Il whole"
tobacco IS bringing about as much as II
dld before the Trust was formed. Surely
these audacious rcasoncrs have got
the thing confused in their heads. and in
stead Of saying taking the thing as n
whole, they must mean TO say that the
Trust has taken '.the whole thing" ard
that they get as much ont Of it as they
used To. Such arguments are 50 pre-
posterous as to remind one OF the story
gotten off on a TennesSeean by a North
CarOllnfan during the war. II seems
that 4 lot of Tennessee soldiers had col
lected about GoldSboro and were good
naturcdly guying the North Carolina
boys about the ignorance Of North Caro-
inlanS when an old fellow from the
Tar Heel State arose and said that
he was raised in the backwoods Of Ran
dolph county, where the people were very
green and had never seen anything in
the way Of a wagon but a big two-whcci-
ed cart, and that one day fellow from
Tennessee came through his county with
big covered schooner wagon having
four wheels, when one Of his nei@hbors,
NICE young man, seeing that the hind
wheels Of the wagon were 50 much big
ger than the front ones followed the out
fit clear into South Carolina to see if the
hind wheels would not oycrtake tho
front ones. The Tennesseean was 50 inn
pressed with this North Carolinan that
he carried him in his wagon 10 Tenncs-
see whore he was soon made Governor
Of the State.
But in all seriousness. the outlook for
the farmer and the middle man is very
gloomy. To the man who has studied
the situation carefully. bEt two alterna
tiyeS present thcm>clyes-eithcr the
farmers viii have to quit growing tobac-
60 or they VIII have 10 control the sale
Of it after growing il: the former plan
would be the height Of folly and weak
ness anl the latter would be the perfec-
ton Of wisdom and manhood. The
farmer can no more afford To stop grow
ing the crop to which his soil is adapted
best than lie can afford 70 grow it at n
price far less than il costs 10 grow IT.
II i gratifying To know that remedy
is at hand the development of which
promises to be quite Interesting in the
near future
]. f. JORDAN.