The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-06-19
EY T 3. PARKER.


10 the tobacco Growers Of North Caro-
lima:
At meeting of the Executive Com
mlttce IL the city OF Raleigh May a.
the Secretary Of the North Carolina To-
bacco Growers Association was requested
20 issue en- address TO the tobacco grow
ers in the bright tobacco belt calling
their attention to the Association its
scope and purposes. The necessity of an
organization OF the tobacco growers of
the State was discussed at some Of the
agricultural meetings during the State
Fair in Raleigh. October, 1899. From this
call was issued by Mr.. j. Bryan Grimes
Who had been chosen President Of the
temporary organization, for a tobacco
growers convention to meet in the city
OF Raleigh, December 9Th 1899, and
another convention was held at Raleigh
=! January 18th, 1900
! This convention in January was we'll
attended b. growers, warehousemen and
| others interested in tobacco from this
state ana Virginia. At this meeting
! permanent organization was effected, and
| the North Carolina Tobacco Growers AS
soclati0n sprang into existence with well
defined purposes, not rival; but ally
| to the other farmers organizations in
| the State.
! The tobacco growers were ably repre-
| Sentcd and the personnel of the cOnven-
| t1on was strong. The grievances Of the
/ tobacco growers were set before the con-
vention, and with singular unanimity it
was agreed that they could be remedied.
/ The consensus of opinion was: That
| there no influences set in motion by
man, that can not be met and remedied
/ Iy men. The present low prices of to-
! baccO and their causes were discussed.
/ While it was shown that the acreage
| had materially increased during the last
| decade: that the consumption also of to-
! baccO had kept apace with the increase,
| and in fact if such thing We're possible;
/ that the next few years would see the
consumption outstrip the increase in
! yield. New territory has been invaded
| and manufactured North Carolina bright
| tobacco is no longer a. stranger in the
| Orient, nor in the Islands of the Pacific
ocean. while South Africa and other new
territory are asking for golden leaf.
With the increased demand, and the
limited area that grows bright tobacco,
| the growers could see no just cause for
the present low prices. In fact could see
no cause at all except such as has been
| brought about by the American Tobacco
! Company.
| II is alleged that this company gets as
much per pound or per goo, for its pro
! duets now as it did ten years ago, when
/ they paid two or three times as much for
| the raw material as they now pay. This
| has been made possible with them by
| organization and controlling the situa
| ton. They saw the necessity of controll-
| ing the output of manufactured tobacco.
as We'll as the price of the raw material.
| To this effect they have purchased or
otherwise silenced nearly all strong cCm-
| petition BY this means they have taken
| buyers off the warehouse floors, as well
as sellers OF manufactured tobacco from
out of tie markets. In this way they
/ have shown us the power and effective
ness Of organization. They have given
| the growers an object lesson that theE
should not be slow TO profit by. The in
! terest that was evinced at the January
meeting Of the tobacco growers showed
| their zeal and determination in the mat
| ter They have been working for the
enrichment of the trusts, and to the i'm
! poverishment OF their own farms and
| families, until they have decided to make
/ a cbange-to find remedy for the low
| prices or make one, as President Grimes
so well said in his address before that
body Some insist that if the remedy
| lies in organization, will never get
| it. as the organization of the farmers is
! an impossibilty.
| Old army officers laughed in scorn at
the idea Of Napoleon crossing the Alps
with his army. Something that had
| never been done and was considered By
! them impossible. Not so with Napoleon.
He said: Impossible is word to be
found only in the dictionary of FOOLS He
charged the mighty peaks and crags,
where armies and cannon had never
been. Within a few days the impossl
BILE" had been accomplished and he ard
his army OF sixty thousand had crossed
! the Alps and were marching through TIC
plains of Italy. The possibilities of DC
termned men have never been III 7a5drCd
The organization OF the farmers-thn TO-
bacco growers. is a possibility born Of
necessity Have the farmers less at
stake, less to accomplish than other
classes? The verdict Of the public is that
no class can be benefited more than
they, by discreet compact organization.
The motives that impel them. the neces-
s:ty that drives them. are factors that
will give them strength. The American
, Tobacco Company organized for the added
accumulation of wealth. The farmers
need to organize for self preservation.
Which shall outweigh. the love OF the
dollar, or a desire to pefpetuate the free
dom and liberties that fathers gave
US as an inheritance? Which should
make the stronger appeal to man. the
cnriching Of the few at the expense OF
the many or the giving to our families
the comforts of home. educa tiOnal and
other advantages that rightfully belong
to them. Shall the love of money make
a stronger appeal to the Trust than the
love Of home and all that the name car
ries with it does to us? AS men we
should spurn the thought. We can
master the situation. We can cross the
''Alps." 1t is not impossible. Nothing