The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1906-04-20
overreporting, not OverproductiOn.

] k0NOf HeFNU'-ll mas Dteu llul
in the history Of Virginia farmers
when the tobacco crop was profitable
and they could look forward witt
great pleasure 10 the time when thei
crops would be sold, knowing the,
would get the value Of their tobacco
But in this day, the farmers are at tn
mercy Of the combines and trusts, VIII
are just sapping their very life's blood
and causing dissatisfaction, discourage
ment and poverty among class o
people, who constitute the driving
wheel Of the whole universe. WHY
the difference? In the days Of my
bOyhOOd, the farmers who labOred day
by day, and by the sweat Of thei
brow succeeded in making crop o
tobacco, prepared their crop for mar
ket, and when it was offered for sale
they had an undisputed right to prlc'
the fruits Of their own labor, and con
sequently their store accounts were
paid, and they had money left TO fur
nish their dear ones with some Of the
luXuries of life, and their families
were happy and contented.
In after years Messrs. Combine and
Trust raised the curtain and stepped
forward on the stage of life, and pro-
claimed TO the world, mot in words,
but in action that we expect in the
future to fix and control the prices on
the products Of your labor "You
work hard and make a good crop OF
tobacco and we will satisfy you"
What has been the consequence ?
They have satisfied themselves by
taking our tobacco at their own price,
the farmers have been disappointed,
dissatisfied, and a great many have
left their farms to follow some other
occupation, and some have been
brought to poverty and want. Brother
farmers, this is the state Of affairs
that has existed for years.
Shall we lie supinely on our backs,
and say to these combines and trusts,
go forward i'm your work, until you
have exhausted the last drop Of blood
from our veins, or shall we rise up
in one solid body, as honest men, and
say not only to the combines and
trusts, but TO the world, that we are go
ing to have a voice in fixing price on
our products, for which we have
honestly labored and made?
When the farmers complain Of low
prices, the first thing we hear, over
production contend it is not over
production, but over reporting. Every
market in the state keeps an account
OF all the tobacco they sell. These re-
ports are consolidated, and the aggre-
gate amount of tobacco sold in the
state reported accordingly.
! have always heard il said that fl
CURES did not lie" but ! think in
this case they do not prove to be cor
rect.
Let Us take Farmyille, our home
hear there has been about
nine million pounds Of tobacco sold
there this season; that amount will be
other markets are reporting
what they sell. These different re-
ports will sum up the aggregate
amount sold in the State. VIII this
be correct2 Let us see. have heard
from good authority that one ware
house i'm Farmville has sold two hun
1red thousand pounds Of tobacco that
was bought Oh other markets, shipped
there, reweighed and sold, and great
deal had been sold at the other ware
houses in the same way. 1t is over
evident that all this tobacco will be
reported twice, and when the figures
Df the market reports are compared
with the figures Of consumption, we
find they do not balance, and it Is
)ver-reporting instead Of over-produc-
ton.
Let the farmers do their own count
ing, their own selling, and the time
will come when they will be happy
and prosperous as in days Of our fore
fathers. b.