The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1910-01-14
MOTE BOOK SKETCHES


The year just closed must be record
ed as being one of the lean ones to the
tobacco trade generally. Regaining
business after the panic year has prov
zen al slow and tedious proposition.
Packers of old tobaccos have had a
long, tiresome wait, many of whom are
still nursing the hope that better tiEles
are ahead. The 1908 crop has been the
only live seller of the year and the de-
mand for this has been mainly for
shorts or filler grades which comprised
a very large proportion of the crop.
There still remains in the state more of
the 1906 crop than of all the later
years growth seeking a market. Of
the binder leaf of other years few
thousand cases are about all that can
be found in packers hands. Were it
all taken up at asking figures it could
hardly compensate for the losses in the
unfortunate 'O6 crop. The year has
proven much more profitable one to
the growers who have already disposed
of rs to 80 per cent of the '09 crop at
prices that yield very fair returns
where the tobacco has cured satisfac-
torily. Having found ready sale the
future condition of the market has but
little concern for him. It is the dealer
who must sell again before the balance
sheet is made and who is the party to
figure up the profit or loss account.
~
The governments case against the
big tobacco trust is now before the su-
preme court, the testimony and argu-
ments having been submitted, and the
public awaits the finding of our highest
tribunal. The decision in this case will
have good deal of bearing upon other
actions which the government has un-
dertaken in trust busting as it is the
first opportunity the supreme court has
had to pass upon the validity of the
Sherman law. So we await the result
with more than ordinary interest.
*s*
1t is matter of more than ordinary
pride that two of the largest cigar
manufacturing concerns in the country
outside of the trust maintain their state
headquarters in Edgerton. We refer
to the United Cigar Manufacturers
Co, twenty million dollar corporation
controlling over score OF factories
that produce something like 400, 100000
cigars annually Their "Owl 5 cent
cigar" is reported to be the widest dis
tributed cigar in the world, while their
3sTom Moore" and Robert Burns" 10
cent cigars are familiar brands In nearly
every leading stand in the United
States. The Otto Eisenlohr & Bro. con-
Germ Of Philadelphia is generally con-
ceded to possess the cleanest and most
profitable cigar manufacturing business
in the country. Their trade has con-
tinually increased during the recent
dull years and the ten factories con-
,trolled by them are still unable to keep
abreast of the orders. Their "Cinco'
brand is known everywhere that cigars
are sold.
-
It is with a cheerful front that the
trade sets out to meet fortunes offer
ings for 1910, says the u. S. Tobacco
Journal. True, three clouds hang over
the horizon but through their dwindling
fringes shines the sunlight of returned
prosperity. There is no longer doubt
that the general tendency OF large in
dustrial operations is constructive, and
while money is temporarily tight there
is nothing to show that this is anything
but passing effect of big speculative
plans as yet unmatched. The prophe-
cies of the Wall street oracles are all
pitched in the key of confidence. The
first of the three clouds-one mo big
ger than mans hand"-i the uncer
tainty as to the immediate consequences
of the decision shortly to be pronounced
by the United States supreme court In
the case of the Federal Government
against the American Tobacco Co. and
its offshoots, and of 1trust-bustlng
administrative action generally. While
independent manufacturers, taken as
whole, still pine for some federal check
on interstate cooperative mergers they
desire to make haste slowly, realizing
that the trade cannot face another
financial temblor- the cure would be
worse than the disease because how
many could hope to live through anoth-
er industrial famine? The desired PAN
acea has not yet been found However,
this cloud is mo bigger than mans
hand in the general reckoning and it
will soon disintegrate and leave to
those in the field more azure sky. A
more threatening shadow is the unrest
of organized labor, the forebodings
that crisis is at hand which will call
for every reserve of caution and cool
ness. Here, again, it is hoped that
equitable compromise will prevail and
that the outcome will mark the dawn,
of new and better era in the relations
between employers and employed. The
third cloud is an ofshoot of the generic
factors in the first 1t is one which
will be felt sorely by the small pro-
ducers. There is going to be mighty
wrestling matchs for old and new ac-
counts. The outlook for the indepen-
dent jobber is much better than it has