The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-22
THE CIGARETTE.

THE CIGARETTE.
 Rise and Fall and Now Likely to Rise Again.
 We may search the records of tobacco trade events for a century or more and find nothing of the cigarette in popu- larity, nor does the history of the trade contain anything equal to its fall from grace, Again we are evidently on the eve of another great change, for the reduced tax will undoubtedly restore a. substantial part of the profit once made upon paper wrapped cigarettes, and, unless all signs fail, the production will increase. At this juncture then 1t might not be out of place to review briefly some of the leading events which have produced such remarkable results.
 We begin our review with the year that closed on June 30, twenty years ago. At that time the cigarette was not known outside of a few of the larg- CT cities. The industry was in its in- fancy, for the product, made up by the tedious and expensive hand process, had at that date reached the insignifi- CdHl LpLdl Ul ouoio 60 anu NiiAiS SiiSi V were several manufacturers in the field, none of these had come into prominence or taken a commanding place in the trade A factor which probably played an important part In keeping the man ufacture of cigarettes within narrow boundaries was the tax of SLID per thousand, though the price at which the goods were then sold was much higher than at later date, and cer- tainly high enough to afford a good profit to the manufacturer, jobber ana retailer. Still the growth of the busi- ness was small, comparatively speak, ing, though it was steady from year to year. Within two or three years a vast change came over the industry. The internal revenue tax on cigarettes was reduced May 1, 1883, to 50 cents per thousand, but at the close of that fiscal year on June 90. the production figures indicate only COP 2S7S10 were made and Withdrawn for consumption. But what then occurs? During the next twelve months the total tax paid product was pushed up to 90S 090, ,523, or in other words, 30 per cent. increase was add ed to the production of the previous year, and from. that time forward for fifteen years there was no check to the ever increasing consumption of paper wrapped cigarettes, until the dull of 1893 temporarily disturbed the ad- vance movement.
 From the year 1885 competition which had hitherto been more or less friendly, began to grow more aggres- sive. Out of the rank and file of cigar cite manufacturers five stalwart flg- ures had already emerged and taken their place at the front, and it was be- tween these five giants that the trade battle which ended in 1890 was fought to the bitter end. Not only did the is- sues then contested for have marked effect on the cigarette business of the country, but the fiery furnace through which these five manufacturers passed during these five years, changed, shall we not say, the history of the cigar and tobacco trade of the world.
 About this time a cigarette making machine was introduced that further reduced the cost of production. The first trials were unsatisfactory, but in Durham, we believe, it was perfected so that satisfactory results could be obtained, and from 1888 much the greater part of the cigarettes sold have been machine made.
 From 1885 to 1890 over 235,00OO00 cigarettes were annually added to the number made and consumed, and every form of advertising as well every method of introduction was resorted to in order to cultivate a taste for this class of goods. It Is no more than fair to assume that much of the anti cigarette legislation in the several states is a result of some of the meth ods adopted to increase the sale of this class of goods during these five years of violent competition. when, not only cigarettes and tobacco were given away to both dealer and consumer but pre- miums consisting of all sorts of arti- cles, from jack-knife to piano, or a pound of nutmegs to barrel of sugar, went along with a certain number of cigarette coupons. Special appeals were also made to the youth of the country in order to induce them to be- come cigarette smokers. The last years | of this increasingly intense rivalry and money wasting competition seem to | have made a marked impression on the manufacturers, for in the fall of 1889 a conference was held between the five dominating factors in the cigarette bus mess, and while they naturally enough 1ieruted over the terms of asettlement of their strife, they were all quite will Ii ing to agree that further continuance of it on the former basis was i'll advised and would be destructive to their busi- ness Out of this conference came q consolidation of the various interests and one would have supposed peace and plenty would thereafter reign for all time to come Nothing of the sort transpired. A year or two suff1ced to throw the trade into another competi- tive fight. exceeding in bitterness and violence anFthing that had gone be- fore.
 As it vii, be noted the above is a very brief outline of the important events in connection with the history of the cigarette industry during what might be termed it's first years of growth. It Is at this point, the second