The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-04

manager. It fs said autnorftativeiy that he must have spent fully eio.0oe out of his own pockets to put the As- socfAtion on it's feet and on q fighting basis to meet the trusts. This he did with no more security or assurance than that right should in the end pre- vaiL The system of raising revenue is very sinnp'e. All the expenses and the surplus come From a fixed assessment of one per cent Of the gross sales. The schedule of minimum prices is fixed annuaiiy/by the executive com fnittee of the Association.
 All the tobacco that goes into the Association pool is sprized" by scores of prizers, high salaried Nkn and bonded officers scattered over the dis trfct. Every official and Nnploye or the Association is amply bonded.
 Prising the tobacco is the verracular for packing the weed. which has been the bone of contention between the Association methods and some of the buyers. especially the English firm. the Imperial Tobacco Company. The leaves are put up by the Association In large "hands" whereas the English buyers want 1t prized to suit the peculiar needs of their immense plant here, built at a cost Of si25.OJU. These consumers claim they are forced to rehandle what tobacco they buy from the Association. Therefore. the Imperial people say they nave every inducement to buy from the grower direct In loose leaf" form and prize the tobacco according to their own and alleged less expensive process
 Opponents of Association.
 The Association supporters claim chat this is pretense. subterfuge, nsed to( edge in on the independent grower and try to create disloyaIty to the Association. The loose ieat houses are the main opponents of the Association for the reasons described. The growers in the Association say they recall the not distant time when the buyer did the buying and grading and there was little or no appeal from the grading and classification imposed upon them. So prizing and grading were made one of the functions of the Association.
 At headquarters in Guthrie the grad inE is done by three competent-Grad- srs The grading is based upon the types" furnished by the prizers ai the various prizing stations. one pi which types Is furnished the graders one Is kent bx the rrizers and one Is sent to the. salesman who markets the particduar hoEsheed 1t represents All is system. The prizers and graders are subject to traveiing inspectors.
 The Association men will tell you rhat there should nor be any kick com. ing from the buyer of Association tobecco. The organization furnishes the buyer with a sample which cor. responds with the stuff he buys and if there is complaint about it not com. ing up to the grade ordered he notffi es the Association. It puts It's specia committee in action to adjust the com plaint. This. 1t is claimed, furnishes security to the buyer.
 How competsnt the graders reaII, gre may be judged by the fact that ii, handling the dark tobacco of this dis. triet there are from forty-four to for. ty-efgft different grades. This is slightly more than the Erades of cot. {. ton. Tn this connection might 1t not we'll De asked. How many of the cotton. growing states have the system of the farmers doing their own grading Of cotton. How many counties In any State? Finally. doas the grading oi cotton fall to the fortune Of the growsl in any instancef The answer, we be. lieve, is to give the credit to the buyer
 / Withdrayss Insurance.
 One of the troublss that now threat. ems the association is the withdrawal of Ire insurance companies from to. baeeo rislA. It is said on good auth or. ity that several contracts Of insurance on tobacco In this region have been cancelled since the raids on Hopkins vile. This included policies owned b5 thA association as well as by the com bipationa such as the American Tobac. GO Company, the Italian Regie Com, pany. the AT1efiean Snuff Company. and the imperial Tobacco Company.
 The association officials say they have replaced with other companies the con. tracts which had been cahcsied