The central record., 1912-10-18
Organization Formed In Ken
lucky To Increase Price
Of Tobacco
APPEAL To OTHER STATES
To Cooperate With Growers of Ken.
lucky in Their Effort to Obtain Liv.
irq Prices for the Product of their
Land and Labor.

Phoenix Hotel, Lexington, KY, a small
band of farmers from less than a
dozen counties. They met for the pur-
pose of discussing a cut out of the
1913 tobacco crop.
On account of the busy season many
large producing counties were not rep
| resented, but several of them sent
encouraging messages. After due de-
liberation it was agreed to organize
the "Burly Protective Society" and to
push the cut out movement for all it is
worth.
Mass conventions were advised for
the various counties on Saturday, DC,
| tober II, and a general convention of
the growers at Lexington, KY, was Or
dered for Wednesday, October 10th.
| The county mass conventions are to
| select delegates to represent them at
| the general convention on the 10Th.
A committee, composed of repre-
sentatives from Bath, Franklin, Scott
and Owen counties, was selected for
the purpose Of preparing "An Appeal
| to growers, and the following is the
| result of their labors:
An Appeal To Farmers.
Never since the tobacco question be.
came an acute issue has the situation
presented a more serious or menac-
ing front to growers than the one they
| are now facing. For the first time
i since 1906 the farmers are wholly un-
| organized. A pool, for the present, is
out of the question. Single handed
and alone they must face the enemy,
| combined, tactful and greedy, and Ii
| censed by the highest law of the land
to continue their game Of wolf while
| dressed in the garb of lambs.
There is no protection for the farmer
| other than that which he himself pro-
vides. Although he is numbered by
| the tens of thousands, and the buyers
| can be numbered by the fingers Oh
| one hand, yet this mighty host must
bow in humble submission before the
naughty obligarchy, and accept the
crumbs from it's hands.
If the market were free and com
| petitive, if the law of supply and de
| mand had not been suspended by the
trust arbitrarily fixing prices, the grow
| ers could have some reasonable as
| surance of fair dealing and living
| prices. But there is no such market
and the law of supply and demand i:
nothing but shadow.
Let us look the facts squarely In
the face. Here are just few:
The 1905 crop averaged less thar
Z cents.
In 1906 first pool organized
In 1907, over $4,000, 900 pounds added
to first pool.
In 1908, crop practically cut out.
In November, 1908, Burley Tobacco
Society sells its entire holdings a
IL cents. Mind you. this was aftel
the cut out of that year.
In 1909, over 100000 pounds pooled
more than both pools of 1906
and 1907.
In 1910 and 1911, two crops grown
and neither pooled. Average ne
price to growers in 1909, ~
cents; in 1910, cents; in 1911
about 7R cents.
In 1910, when the pooling movemen
was hanging in the balances, repre-
sentatives of the trust and warehouses
killed it dead as mackerel by payin.
q to IA cents to certain large grow
ers and wealthy land owners scattered
throughout the Blue Grass section.
| Immediately following the failure o
the 1910 pool, the American Tobacco,
company publicly proclaimed its deter
mination to buy the crop at cents
History shows that it made its wort
good, with an extra cent added t,
the profit side of its ledger. In tn
suit of the Eshelby Tobacco compan
against the Burley Tobacco Society
it alleges that hurley tobacco is onl
worth cents pound, and in that sui
it asked that the society be compelle
to refund the difference between
cents and IL cents. These declare
tions on the part of the manufacturer
show clearly their purpose and deter
mination to make s cents the max
mum figure. They are willing to pa
the growers, but certain amount @
business acumen (aided possibly b
innate bashfulness) has so far pre-
vented them from naming a minimum
price they are willing to pay, an
which they frequently pay, for thi
same tobacco.
There is not an intelligent, well-tt
do farmer in this state who is willin
to grow tobacco at such prices, an
under such conditions as above sc
out. 1t costs more to grow it now tina
it did ten years ago. Lands, labor an
all material that figure in the growt
OF tobacco have advanced during tina
period from so to 100 per cent. TIL
price of everything we eat and wea
has increased in like proportions.
z and cents were living prices te
! years ago land they were not) the
IA to Ii cents is not too much to d.
mand now. Farmers must get som.
thing like this If they expect to pro
per.
But the one thing which this con
mittee desires to impress on the grow
ers is the Importance of organization
However plain the facts, nothing ca
be accomplished without it. In ou
judgment, the only thing for us to d
now is to urge a cut out of the nez
crop. We know positively that it wa
the cut out of 1908 that saved the figt
!. of the growers against the trust. W
/. knew it was the cut out that mad
US a price II cents, and we know ther
is a vast difference between z cen
fohoono opd 1T rant fOhapr0 w