The Breckenridge news., 1910-10-05
THE BURLEY TOBACCO;
POOL MUST NOT FAIL.

1--WE have no tobacco and therefore have
no direct personal interest in the failure
OF success of the pooling movement. But,
in common with every other individual
or corporation whose property is in the
Burley belt, we have an interest in every
thing that tends TO the general pros
perity of the community and the state
and for that reason we have an intense
interest in the pooling movement, be-
lieving, as we do, that upon its success
hinges the prosperity, not for this year
only, but for many years to come, of a
large section of this State including the
counties whose interests, in a business
way, are identical with those of Fayette.
"If the farmers, after their successful
fight for living prices in l9OS, are able
this year to stand together and pool an
amount of the 1910 crop sufficient to tie
up to any extent the source of the trusts
supply. their battle would be won.
at is hard to understand the mental
property on the selling price of which
the welfare of himself and his wife and
children depends, and the oportunity to
fix the price he shall receive for that
property, deliberately chooses to allow
the purchaser to fix the price instead OF
himself There is no room for argument
on the proposition that if the farmers
stand together the trust must pay
their price. That is an absolutely ac-
curate statement of self-evident fact.
And the farmer who refuses to join the
pool this year, for one reason or another,
is putting himself in the position of be-
ing able TO fix a price on his product
himself and preferring to allow some one
else to fix the price for him. He has an
undoubted legal and moral right to do
that, if he so desires, regardless of the
fact that by ~ doing he prevents others,
who are willing to protect themselves,
from fixing a price on their crops.
1--WE do not know what may be the
effect of the failure to pool the crop of
1910. We do not know whether the
predictions OF widespread financial dis
aster to the hurley growing counties are
well founded. But we do know one
thing-and every man and woman in the
hurley belt knows that same thing to be
true-that if the tobacco growers pool
the 1910 crop of hurley tobacco they will
not only be able to fix price upon that
crop, but they will also be able to fix
price on the crop OF 1909. In other
words those who have heretofore stayed
out of the pool have the opportunity
by united action, not only to get abso-
lutely their own price for their 1910
crops, but to help the growers of 1903,
who have helped them make a profitable
return on their former crops, as well as
on that for 1910, to sell the 1909 crop
at the figure set by the farmer himself
and not at the price fixed by the trust.
"The tobacco growers of Kentucky have
at least their own prosperity, if not the
prosperity of their community and of
their State, in their own hands. They
may do with it as they will. But let
them not fail to take whatever action
they do take with their eyes open. We
believe that for a time the trust will net
permit tobacco to go back to the old
slavery figures before the farmers put
their heads together and made their own
price But, at the same time, it is our
honest conviction that with the pooling
movement destroyed as it undoubtedly
will be if the 1910 crop is not pooled.
it will be but short time until the to-
bacco grower is forced back into the old
condition when an insolent trust buyer
drove up TO his barn with the old, "TllI
give you five cents a pound, no mere.
You can take it or not, but that's all
you'll get" And that is the inevitable
situation that confronts the man who re-
fuses to protect himself this year of
grace, 1910.
VIC bNiANfN Aiob ~ III hiNhi AiiN &c
turn to the tobacco fields of children
who have been in school; we believe
it means the return to the patch of wom-
en- who have been able to enjoy a little
leisure and 10 devote a little time to the
beautifying of their homes and their sur
roundings; that it means the loss of mil
lions of dollars to the State and to the
hurley belt. And the time in which the
farmers, who alone can prevent these con
ditons, may act is short. If they value
the advice of The Herald they will take
steps to pool their crops before these con
dtions have materaliZed With the
present hurley movement broken down,
because of dislike, distrust or enmity to
the leadership, or for any other reason,
it would be foolish man indeed who
would attempt the leadership of any sim
liar movement.
"If the growers in the pool, ma
jority of them, or of those who get
into the pool want another leader |