The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1913-02-14


new Wisconsin leaf has already reached
the market, beating the new Connecti-
cut valley crop by few laps. 1t is
known that quite little of Wisconsin
leaf is sent to the sweat rooms as soon
as packed this year. The unusual
scarcity of binder leaf has prompted
dealers to try and meet the demand
without having to wait until Septem-
Der for the natural sweat tobacco to
reach the trade.
The southern tobacco planters see
trouble ahead for them in the supreme
court cotton corner decision and ask
congress to pass a law exemptlng
farmers pools from the provisions OF
the Sherman antitrust law. 1t is well
known that the attorney general con-
siders the pooling societies of Kentucky
to be in violation of the Sherman law
where they do an interstate business
and his opinion is shared in by very
many lawyers. The Kentuckians hope
that the next attorney general may en-
tertain different views on the subject.
Just an even half dozen men could
put an end to the practice of early
field buying of the tobacco crop in this
state if they so elect, without recourse
to state laws or farmers organizations.
If the representatives of the six larg-
est manufacturing concerns of the
country would meet in New York and
soIemnly agree not to buy pound OF
Wisconsin tobacco until the crop was
grown, harvested and cured, there
wouldn't be any field buying started
and no subsequent trouble about dock
ing or receiving the crop later. Every
one of the six firms would tell you, too,
that they are opposed to field contract
ing if the question were put up to them.
The final report Of the bureau of sta
tistics of the department of agriculture
on the 1912 tobacco crop, prepared by
special agents, has the following refer
ence to the Wisconsin crop: Planting,
about the usual time, was followed by
forcing weather; the result was the
best growth in several years. Although
appreciable injury was done by hail in
some counties, on the whole it was
much less than usual. The damage by
insects or disease was negligible, and
the crop went into the sheds in better
condition than any recent crop. The
unusually fine curing season resulted
in one of the soundest crops ever pro-
duced in the state. The cured leaf, of
good size, color, body and texture, will
yield large per cent of binders and is
remark ably free from pole burn, stem
rot, or frozen tobacco. The average
yield per acre is 1890 pounds and the
average price II cents per pound, both
higher than for several years.
-
The senate last week passed the
Peters bill providing for free smokes
for cigarmakers. The bill re-enacts
the present provisions of Section 1892
of the Revised Statutes, regarding ci-
gars. and the free smokes privilege is
embodied in the following provision,
which is the only new language added:
THAT each employe of manufacturer
of cigars shall be permitted to use for
personal consumption and for expert
mental purposes not to exceed q cigars
per week without the manufacturer of
cigars being required to pack the same
in boxes or to stamp or to pay any in
ternal revenue tax thereon, such ex-
emption to be allowed under such rules
and regulations as the Secretary of the
Treasury may prescribe. This COM
pletes the passage of the bill through
both houses, and the bill will be en-
crossed and signed by the speaker of
the house and vice president of the
senate and sent to the president for his
approval. If the president signs the
bill it will take effect Immediately.
The passage of the bill marks the close
of long struggle by the clgarmakers
with Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Cabell, who revoked the free smokes
privilege.
Interviews with number of promi-
nent tobacco men who attended the
tariff hearings at Washington, indicate
that nothing radical is likely to be found
in the new tariff measures which will
be enacted during the Wilson admins
tration. Some stand-patters have even
gone so far as to remark that they
would welcome an increase in internal
revenue rather than areduction in the
tariff on wrapper tobacco "a stand
which seems utterly inconsistent, as
far as the interests of the cigar manu-
facturer are concerned. The interests
of those who are contending for lower
wrapper duty were very forcibly rep
resented, and whether they have sue
ceeded in persuading the tariff makers
to their way of thinking remains to be
seen. Out of the maze of uncertainty
affecting the tariff revision, the only
thing that appears to be definite at this
stage is the fact that there will likely
be revision of the wording of the to-
bacco schedule, affecting the classified
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