Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-20
COMBINE OF PLANTERS
ORGANIZED AGAINST THE To-
BACCo TRUST.
Forced the Foreign Buyers to Raise
Their Offers From Six to
Eleven Cents

Fo. the nrst time in history the tobacco
farmers of the country are getting together
along business lines and mak.ns a strong
fight on the tobacco trust and the foreign
governmental monopoies that take a large
part OF the American export crop, There Il
no thought that the farmers are going to
bust the trust" next week or that any CT
the small planters going to put Mr.
Thomas Ryan and hts colleagues out OF
business and make them hunt around for
quarter to get their laundry ngt. But the
situation from the viewpoint OF the planter
Is good deal better than ii has been. and
there is some prospect that with the in
creased crops now being raised and the
higher prices realized it will grow steadily
better
1t has all come about through the forma-
ton OF a Tobacco Growers Association in
several OF the states. The trust people
rather laugh at the movement. but the fact
remains that the planters have succeeded
In getting from four to six cents pound
more for their tobacco than they have ever
done in wears. and Il the trust is satisfied
they.
Whipped the Foreign Buyers
The Maryland Tobacco Growers Associa-
| ton was formed principally to fight the
| foreign buyers. In France Spain. Austria
monopoly. Each OF these governments has
its representative here to buy up what 1t
needs Of the American crop. and the Amer
lean crop Is the chief source OF supply
There are only half dozen of these buy
ers. and II has been very easy for them %
get together and agree the price that
they would pay for tobacco and calmly re-
fuse to raise The bid. 1t case of self
at their price not sell at all. and there
were few OF the planters who could afford
AsNIs l,z.- 20
the next TIL better price could be exacted
The foreign monopolies have waxed very
rich on the tobacco business, and France
last year declared dividend OF over S7o.-
100000. The buyers got rich, too, and every
body was happy but the planter.
Then came the Idea of the growers as
ISOLATION. Some of the big planters ad-
vanced the money TO help the smaller
ones, and got financial backing from one
place and another. and when the foreign
buyers 10 put in their one bill it was laughed
at and both sides sat down TO wait. But the
buyers found they were up against a COM
bination that could go over a whole year.
or two years, II necessary. and they began
to sit up and take notice. The bids were
raised by fractions Of a cent, but the plant
ers stood pat The foreign stocks OF to-
bacco were getting low, and the bids were
rais,5d again and again. Finally most OF
the crop was sold at an average OF IL cents.
where 1t had been bringing 6.
Ttas year the growers association IN
Maryland is stronger than before. and
there is every prospect that they will be
able to exact living prices from the buyers
trSsht along.
Southern Organization.
The same thing happened down In the
Kentucky and Tennessee districts This
is where the light hurley tobacco comes
from, and the gkowers formed an associa-
tion covering the two states named and
parts Of Virginia and North Carolina Tns
first year that the association was In ex-
istence 1t tried to sell the tobacco to
small party of It's strongest men. who In
turn held II for better prices and sold II
to the consumers in New York. But this
did not work very well.
There We're suspicious OF graft In con-
nection with the sales. and the planters,
after they had sold to the local committee
OF sellers. paid their wages and the traV-
cling expenses to New York and that sort
OF thing. found that they were not much
better off than they were before, when
selling direct to the trust.
So the selling committee was disbanded,
and the association decided to hold Its own
tobacco and sell ii direct. The result has
been to force up the price fully as much as
in the jurisdiction of the Maryland associa-
tion There has been some increase IN
acreage, owing to the fact that tobacco -
again bringing living prices. And that Is
what the trust Is counting on TO break
down the association and force the indi-
vidual planter back TO taking Whatever ne
can get for his crop.
1t is believed. however that the officers
of the tobacco associations Will be able 10
hold their members and that they VIII De
able to prevent abnormal increase IN
spite of the better prices. SO that tobacco
growing again become what II Lor-
merly was-a living occupation. and nor
sink as the cotton industry did for years
to the point where the planter barely got
enough out of it TO pay up his bill at the
grocery store, and mortgage the next years
crop before It was put in the ground