The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1909-06-18
New Pledge Held Back.

New Pledge Held Back.
Just what the proposed pledge for
the Burley tobacco growers for 1909
contains has never been given out by
the board of directors of the society,
but It became known at Frankfort
wednesday says a special that one fea-
ture Of the pledge provides for d reten-
tlon by the society of 10 per cent. of
the money received for the sale of all
the 1909 crop. This money is to be
used Tor the purpose of financing a
private corporation, and the pledge
does not state what is the purpose Of
this corporation.
This withholding of 10 per cent. Of
| the proceeds of the sale OF the 1909
/ crop is to be the bone Of contention
among the tobacco growers in the Bur-
ley district this year, and it is said
that this section OF the pledge will
keep out hundreds and hundreds of the
farmers, who will refuse to tie up 10
per cent. Of the money received from
the sale of the 1909 crop of tobacco in
the BuIley district would be about
81, 800, 600 and it is proposed that this
amount shall be used to finance the
new corporation. In an effort to ex-
plain this and other features of the
pledge for this year, Miss Alice Lloyd
is now engaged in the work Of prepar-
ing q treatise on the pledge, which
Will be used by canVassers in their
work Of obtaining pledges. Miss Lloyd
is said to realize that the pledge is 60
ing to be hard proposition to explain
to the farmers, and for that reason she
IS preparing a series of questions that
may be asked and answers to them, so
that when the canvassers are met with
questions they will nave ready answers
at hand.
The canvassers are to be coached by
Miss Lloyd and by her book on just
what to say to any farmers who offer
objections to joining the pool. Miss
Lloyd's book will be a sort of textbook
for the Burley Society agents, and she
hopes to have everything so clearly
explained that the canvassers can
teach the doctrine of a pool in the
present summer. The book, on which
Miss Lloyd has been working since the
pledge was agreed upon by the direct
ors Of the Burley Society, is near com
pletion, and will be printed by the
thousand for distribution among the
planters in The Burnley district.
That the directors of the Burley So
ciety realize that the new pledge is not
going to be popular one, and that in
organizing the 1909 pool they are GO
ing to meet with difficulties is shown
by the fact that the pledge has not
been given out and that it is being
withheld until Miss Lloyd can prepare
her explanation. 1t is said that some
of the details of the pledge have be-
come known in Winchester and Clark
county, and that many of the farmers
who pooled in 1908 have expressed
themselves as opposed to the pool un-
der the terms suggested in the new
pledge. Several farmers have said in
Winchester, after hearing about the
pledge, that they would not go into
the pool this year.
While the pledge does not state for
what the 10 per cent. reserve is to be
used. it is privately stated that the
money is to be used to finance a cor
pOration which will insure the tobacco
of the growers and will handle their
crops for them on the cooperative
plan, the idea being that the money
will all go back to the farmers in divi-
OCnOoS anu IAlclI IL VIII llOI NC lOSJ III
any sense Of the word The corpora
ton is to be joint stock company,
and the ten per cent. that is reserved
from the amount which should go to
each grower is to be used to purchase
stock in the corporation. Each farmer
will get stock to the value of the
money ne puts in.
Full details of this corporation has
-s-1-
probable that there will be rnure work
on the plans before anything is Official
ly given out by the Burley Society. 1t
is claimed by those who framed the
pledge and promulgated the plan for
the new corporation that the farmers
and growers will be greatly benefited
by the scheme. and that there expenses
will be greatly reduced.