The Washington herald., 1908-01-16

The Kentucky might rider" is a de-
velopment Of our present-day industrial
life, who is both a menace and warn
Ing 20 the American people. The newly
elected governor of Kentucky, Augustus
he. Wilson, IN his message to the legis-
latuTe q few days ago vigorously de-
nounced the crimes which have been CON-
.mitted by the mobs OF might riders" in
the tobacco war. A portion Of the State
is practically under martial law, and
troops guard private property The re-
cent effort Of the governor to bring about
peace by arbitration was barren OF re-
suits and the depredations have been re-
peated IN new places. The newspapers
nearly every day record some new clash
between the hostile parties.
The cause Of this tobacco war is 10 be
found in popular condemnation Of the
methods employed by the tobacco trust
IN It's efforts TO crush out competition in
buying tobacco from the grower. Against
the trust are arrayed the associations of
growers. who have seen fit TO fight cne
devil with Ere. They are trying by might
and main 20 crush out competition in
selling the tobacco they grow. Some
where between the trust on the one hand
and the growers associations on the
other may be found the might rider.
The might rider" is denounced by the
trust, which says that the might riders
and the members OF the farmers asso-
Citations are identical The might rider
is also denounced by the associations
which say that the night riders are
the paid agents Of the trust itself. Some
where between these two statements IS
70 be- found the truth. Whoever the
might rider may be, he Is guilty OF de-
stroying property worth millions and mil
lions Of dollars. he has resorted to Vio-
Ience Of all kinds. and he has turned the
peace Of an orderly agricultural COM
munity into the discord Of anarchy
The BLACK Patch" is the local name
given TO a section embracing thirty coun-
ties I'm Kentucky and twenty-one in Ten
nessee on account Of the very dark
heavy tobacco which # produces. This
black tobacco is too strong for the Amer
lean or English stomach, but is in great
demand In all Of the countries Of South
ern Europe. Until a few years ago tn,
tobacco markets I'm Hopkinsville. Padu-
cab. MayheId. and other Kentucky towns
and In Gainesville and Nashville, Tenn.
were crowded with buyers there 20 rep
resent Italy. France. Spain. Austr0-Hun
gary. and the merchants OF the free city
Of Hamburg. Buying was done at th'
warehouses in open bidding. Prices were
high and the growers prosperous.
Then came the Reggie contract. The
word "Regiz" is derived from the LatiT
rex" king A Reggie contract IS
contract for the sale Of tobacco to tn
King Of Italy The other European Ia
tions joined in, and the Reggie takes th'
larger part Of the product Of the "Blael
Patch Then came the organization OF
the tobacco trust. which invaded the for
eign field. The Imperial Tobacco Com
pany Of England was the branch OF II,
trust which undertook 10 control th'
market and the Reggie contracts. Buyers
became fewer and fewer Prices wen
down and down. Finally the tobacct
growers awoke 10 the fact that the 10
bsceo which they had sold for years a
SIS could not be sold for more than s.
and that there was but one person OF
earth 20 whom they might sell. Tha
one buyer fixed the price. That one Duyel
was the tobacco trust. The territor!
was divided up between individual buyers
and they dared not step over the line
One grower had two tobacco barns. The
line OF division between the territories Of
two trust buyers ran between his barns
He could sell the tobacco in one barr
10 one man. that in the other 10 another
man Neither buyer could even offer Z
price for both barns.
The price Of tobacco finally went fal
below the cost OF production In 1904 tn.
growers organized the Dark Tobacco,
Planters Protective Association. The as
ISOLATION managed 10 borrow enough
money 10 build its own warehouses. store
the crop, and wait until a buyer came
who would offer the right price. In Tins
the European governments had to have
tobacco. and the price was raised agar
until it reached about Si2 for the sam,
grade which had once been SIS and haC
been hammered down to S.
But the association was only partially
successful Not all OF the growers Joined
and some who had Joined and pledged
their tobacco violated their obligation!
and sold their crop to the trust Tn,
trust declined to buy from the associa
ton, but & would pay a premium owe
the market price fixed by the association
70 any outsider, or 70 any member VIII,
would break his pledge and sell. Tit
name hill billy was conferred upoI
these growers who refused to stand b,
the association. The "hill billy occupies
the same relative position in this tobacco
war that "scab' occupies in a strike
The hill billy" sold HIS tobacco at tn.
forced Il. and then jingled his money in
the hearing of the association men. Thel
were waiting. living on borrowed money
Then came the might riders. The!
gathered at night wearing masks in mi
tstion Of the old-time 'Ku Klux Khan
and rode forth to the home OF an OF
Tending "hill billy" There they scrapet
his plant beds. and made it impossible
for him to have a crop OF tobacco tina
year. The tobacco grower starts hi
plants IN beds. from which they are late
transplanted 10 the fields "Scraping'
means dragging a heavy object over tht