The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-11-10
Dark Tobacco Growers Association.

Not in years has such representa-
tive body of farmers from Southside
Virginia been seen in Farmyille as
that which met here last Wednesday.
II was a crowd Of good humored stall
warts from more than a dozen coun-
ties.
The courthouse was crowded soon
after the bell rang, and the session
which began about noon, continued
throughout the day. The meeting was
presided over by President j. d. Shep-
person, Of Charlotte county. Shortly af-
ter noon Mr.. John Allen, ofTennessee,
who is the organizer of the Dark To-
bscco Associations for both his State
and Kentucky, addressed the meeting.
Mr.. Allen is a good speaker and held
the rapt attention Of his audience for
two hours. He dealt mainly with the
tobacco trust, and explained how the
Tennesseans and Kentuckyans had
extricated themselves from the hold
the trust had upon them lie gave
the average prices Of tobacco between
the years lS6O-'70, between lS70-'S0 and
said that they had gradually fallen so
low that now they were too small TO
average. He urged the necessity Of
organization, and a plan. The plan
in Kentucky and Tennessee, he de-
clared, was working admirably for the
grower. There the grower prepares
and prizes his own tobacco, and the
association attends to its sale.
The loose tobacco sales upon ware
house floors were in those States things
Of the past, and with heproduct pack
ed and housed, the grower is advanced
by the banks as much as four cents on
every pound he has thus stored, and
he is enabled to hold for satisfactory
prices. The speaker hoped, believed
and prayed that the end Of trusts was
near at hand. The American Tobacco
Company, the speaker said, had de-
stroyed every independent tobacco
mandatory in the United States. The
Infamous tobacco trust, he said, had
come to his county in Tennessee and
broken up every honest dealer on the
market, and worst Of all, the trusts
boast of their power. He declared that
the Tobacco Growers Association had
downed the greatest trust ever known,
both in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Dark Tobacco Growers AssO-
citation of Virginia, being an Organiza-
ton which up to this time has been
without any definite plan, Mr.. Allen
advised them that in the absence Of
any better suggestion that it adopt
the plan which has proven 50 success
full with his people that OF prizing
their own tobacco aud holding for liv-
ing prices, the weaker brother being
cared for by the association.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Allen
speech the association went into eX-
ecutive session.
The counties largely represented in
the meeting were AppOmattoX, Amel-
ia, Campbell, Cumberland, Buckiug-
ham, Brunswick, Charlotte, Nelson,
Powhatan, Prince Edward, Lunen-
burg, Nottoway and Dinwiddie.
Committees on organization and
and plans for selling tobacco were APP
pointed, and they remained in ses-
sion until eleven O'Clock Wednesday
night. Yesterday morning the Assoc
iation met at 8 O'Clock and up TO the
hour of going to press with the Herald
the committees were still laboring
over the perplexing questions with
which they had to deal. 1t was eX-
pected that the Association would adj
journ last night after definite plans
had been adopted