The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-10
THE FIRST FRUITS OF FAILURE
TO KEEP TRUST ON THE RACK.

paying them starvation prices for
their tobacco. They have no redress
and most of them must sell at the
During the last two or three years
the trust has paid more for tobacco
than in the preceding years. There
were two reasons:
/. The North Carolina Legislature
Of 1907 scared h trust with the Ay-
cock and Reid bills. The fight
was so warm hat the trusts
thought the people of North Car
Dina intended really to throw la
full rocks instead of tufts of earth at
the tobacco trust. Tha fear was
heightened when III Democratic
State platform made the sweeping
declaration that private monopoly
should be destroyed" The trust I'M
derstood that to mean that laws would
be passed to destroy the tobacco trust
If it continued to rob the farmers.
That threat caused the trust to a
several cents On the pound more than
would have been paid if the people
had not decreed effective laws.
2. The second reason for the better
prices was the prosecution in the Fed
eral courts and the declaratiOn-so
far only a fulmination-that the to-
bacco trust is IAN unlawful combina-
ton in restraint Of trade"
The tobacco trust said to itself:
1.-The only way to soften the prosecu-.
tons and get a longer lease on life is.
to pay better prices for tobacco and
then make the farmers afraid for us
to be troubled for fear we will ruin
them" That is why the farmers got
better prices for their tobacco in 100.
Since then, what has happened? In
the Federal administration Mr.. Taft
has been elected chief executive.
He has called four trust lawyers
his cabinet, and the impress
sion prevails. hat he is not 60
ing to prosecute trusts in any genu-
or serious way, but will pursue the
mild course in trust prosecution he
has pursued in letting the trusts write
tariff law to suit their greed. II
State administration, instead Of
vigorous and effective laws, the Leg
islature merely added a pink tea
amendment to the innocuous law Of
1907, thus failing to carry out the
solemn pledge in the Democratic plat
form at Charlotte. Six months have
passed and nothing has been done I'M
with which the General Assembly
has numbered the statute books. If
law is good, the tobacco trust and
others are deceived. They believe it
enacted merely in an attempt to
keep the letter Of one platform declar-
alton that would not destroy any pri-
vate monopoly.
The reason the tobacco trust is pay
starvation prices for the obacco
feels that it has nothing to fear
either Federal or State laws. The
only hope the farmers have to get bet
ter prices is to find some way to make
the trust feel that the farmers can
get a Big Stick. In Kentucky the
after trying ~peaceable meth
DDS in vain, adopted Night Riding
lawlessness, and got twenty cents for
their tobacco. 1t is better for the
North Carolina farmers to abandon
The cultivation of bacc than to be-
as lawless as the tobacco trust.
must fight in d legal and orderly
manner with such as God
md nature have given them. If they
still and make no vigorous protest.
he starvation prices will continue dur-
.ng the season.
The farmers must act and all good
citizens must help them unless we are
ready to became the Vassals Of the
Of Durham.
The tobacco trust took the first to-