The farmer and mechanic., 1907-04-23

amounting TO s61,I11.537.51. or an av-
| eraSe Of *lt.65 per hundred: and that
curing me fifteen years since, the total
| sdieS amounted 70 626, ,367,027 pounds
on Whlcn the farmer realized only
| $43,2Zl l,833-50, an average Of but 81
50 per hundred pounds In other
words one hundred million NOR
| pounds brought about twelve miIIiOr
| ltWer dollars To the producer who sold
his tobacco on that market 10 put
it differently, the farmer lost exactly
| $3.50 per hundred pounds, therefore
| IN the last fifteen years those farmers
| who have sold their tobacco on the
| IN North CaTolinal lost, as compared
| with the y'@aIS under competitive mar
| l<ets the enormous sum of $23820.-
IJ4tO2. 1t IS admitted hat prices; else
| where are practically the same and
| hence the losses elsewhere are relative
| ~ the same. 1t is Il conservative cS-
| innate 70 say that the American TObac-
| 60 Compnny has robbed nc Eortn Car
DINA farmers of $G0,600,O00 dEring lie
| last fifteen years. She State raises
| about 100, 10000 pounds q year ANA
| the reader can make his own calcn-
| latlon. Let us suppose that half Of
/ this sum is the correct amount TO
| charge un u it. what thanks are due 10
| its stockholders for the pittance they
| have returned IL the form of philan-
! thropy? it these figures are correct.
| isn't it a pity that IL found defenders
| in the legislature one can excuse
/ those mon from the east Who have
! never known better prices than they
| receive from the trust one can cx-
| cuSc those warehouses;, men ana towns
| who for fear Of loss OF trade are
| ready 10 cry out Great is DIANA Of the
| EpheSianS, bat those who represented
the trust ridden farmers of other parts
of the state must have had access u
| some information denied to the rest Of
| US, to and reasons for Il vote admitted
| ly in favor of the American Tobacco
Company.
Decline in the Face Of Prosperity.
In view of this, l cannot see WIZ
| Col. Webb did not answer my first
| question no" without circumlOcu-
| ton. Let it be remembered, too, that
for ten years of this last period, there
| has been such a marvellous era OF
prosperity as has never before been
| known in human history, ana most
| other products Of the farm have risen
| in price 80 per cent or 40 per cent,
| while tobacco has declined 81 per cent.
| At the same time it has cost more
| and more each year to produce the
| crop, till at present the small farmer
! in the piedmont belt cannot afford 10
| raise tobacco with hircu labor at all
/ 1t is necessary to coin the sweat and
blood of his wife and children, thereby
| depriVing the children OF their OppOr-
| tunity TO get an education ana to have
| such other opportunities as their Sit
| uation and condition in this country
| ought to entitle them to. The great
body of poor men who rent land on
| which to make their crops, have very
little left after paying rents and mort
| cages for fertilizer bills. The 81 extra
per hundred pounds would have been
| through all these years a GOd-Send
to them. 1t was practically their pro-
| fit and has never reached their pock-
| cts. Mr.. j. NJ. Barker, of ANton, Va,
| said to be the largest tobacco raiser
| in Virginia, writes me that up 10
! twelve years ago my (hlS) average
| sales were $3.50; for the last twelve
| years they have been about s9.5o'
| Mr.. Barker raises a quality of tnbac-
| co above the average. He is one OF
| the Commissioners in Agriculture IN
| Virginia. is q careful metnodlcIl man
| preserving records OF his farm pro
| ducts, and his testimony bears out the
| Danville fignrcs that the loss TO the
| grower under the trust regime has
been about s4 per hundred
$24,0O0. 600 scattered among the
farmers around one market, whether
| that be Danville, Winston, GreenVllle
! Durham, Oxford. OF Henderson would
do much 10 help those farmers to
educate their children and TO secure Tor
| themselves taste Of those
! luxuries which are common
in the every day liIe OF
II
! because d man says these things ne
| is denounced as Il Populist. They tell
| me that since the Legislature peSall
| to agitate these things prices nave
! been better and there is pfOpnecy'
| which | trust will be borne out, that
| for the next two years at least, the
| tobacco farmer will find prices ruling
higher The tobacco trust Will scarcely
! desire to face another Legislature
without having done something mean
| W hile to bolster itself up with tEe
| farmers 1t Will pay it better than to
| maintain again such = lobby as 1t had
| sixty days in Raleigh the past winter
! q lobby which its friends are report
! ed to have said cost il over hait
| million dollars.
Independents Erozc Out.
| Colonel Webb practically admits in
his answer to my second question that
the trust has run his independent to-
t bacco manufacturer out Of business
| He could hardly have said less living
| il. a county that formerly had fifty or
| sixty factories and now has only five
| or six There are no longer any IN
! dependent manufacturers who care
to be really independent. They are
| afraid to offend the trust. nave II
direct from some Of the largest, that
| they lie awake ut night studying now
to keep UP their business against such
| odds without offence. | have letters
from warehouse men who say that the
| trust has their hands tied. TOWNS
! are in fear that it will desert them;
! politicians are afraid; all are afraid
! of the power it has in reserve. Those
! who have given me Information have
| requested in many instances that their
| names be not mentioned, because they
| "haVe dealings With the American To-
baccO Company.
| Tobacco Trust in Politics.
| The statement was openly made IN
the Senate this winter that the trust
defeated Hon c. T. Watson for Uni
| ted States Senator on account oil the
! part he took in the trial in the suit