The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1916-05-19
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


Last season the United Cigar Manu-
/ facturers Co. of New York, which is
among the largest consumers of Wis
consin tobacco, inaugurated series OF
experiments with a balanced tobacco
| fertilizer after formula prepared by
DR.. Wheeler of the Agricultural
Chemical Co.. and used largely in New
England Growers were secured in
different localities of the tobacco dis
| tricts to take charge of the expert
| ments, the fertilizers being furnished
by the United Co. Unfortunately, how
ever, nearly every farm selected was
visited by hail last season and the re-
suits obtained so unsatisfactory as to
be of little value as test of the ex-
pertinent. The apparent failure year
ago has not destroyed the faith of the
New York manufacturers that the
quality of Wisconsin leaf might be
greatly improved by the use of scien-
tifcally compounded fertilizer. This
company has therefore again this sea-
son contracted with number of grow
ers to continue the experiment, hoping
for results that will bear out their con-
tention. If it can be demonstrated
that the quality of our leaf can be ma
terially impoved by special tobacco
fertilizer there will be a strong incen-
tive for it's more general use. 1t at
least deserves fair trial and the New
York concern is willing to stand the
expense of the fertilizer to see it
through the experimental stages.
But the main object of those who ad-
vocate the ad valorem system of tax
ing tobacco products seems to be to
impose additional taxes upon the to-
bacco industry and realizing that the
cheaper grades of products are already
taxed to the limit, they have conceived
the idea that additional revenue can be
raised by adopting the ad valorem sys-
tenn and thus raising the revenue on
higher priced goods, overlooking the
essential fact as already pointed out,
that the higher priced goods already
bear much more than proportionate
share of taxation. There is indeed
much to be said in regard to the inn
practicability of graduated internal
revenue tax; not only because it will
involve complicated accounting and
bookkeeping but because it will open
the way to fraudulent practices, both
on the part of those who may desire to
defraud the government by placing
low-priced revenue stamps on high
priced goods as we'll as those who may
desire to deceive and mislead the pub
lie by attaching high-priced stamps to
low grade goods. A graduated tax
was tried in 1862 in connection with
plug and that was soon found imprac-
ticable and dropped. And so gradu-
ated tax was tried or cigars in the
early times and that was soon abol-
ished Again in 1901 graduated tax
was imposed on cigarettes by fixing a
| 54-cent tax on cigarettes retailing at So
or less and $1.08 on cigarettes retail
| ing above 81. Our memory is still
| fresh with the fraudulent practices in
dulged in while that law was in force,
not only by old cigarette manufacture
ers, but by great many new concerns
which had sprung into existence for
the very purpose and with the very
idea to take advantage of the oppor-
| tunity to cheat the government out OF
81 cents on every thousand cigarettes.
-.
| All tobacco men will experience much
qualification in reading report from
Washington, printed in another column,
to the effect that Col. Osborn, Com
missioner of Internal Revenue, pro-
poses to institute a general revision of
| the Internal Revenue regulations gov
| erning the taxation on leaf tobacco,
manufactured tobacco, snuff, cigars
| and cis aretts and the special taxes on
the tobacco industry. Fortunately for
the tobacco industry, we now have a
commissioner of Internal Revenue who
| is at the same time practical tobacco
man. Col. Osborn, and his father be-
fore him, were engaged in the tobacco
business. None, other than practical
| tobacco merchant or manufacturer,
| could ever have fully realized how COM
| pletely enmeshed in restrictive regula-
| tions the tobacco trade is. 1t is con-
ceded that an industry that is taxed to
the extent of 500, 900, 900 annually re-
quires more or less elaborate system
| of laws and rulings to safeguard the
full payment of the Governments dues.
ssT. d. is a governmental abbrevia-
tion for Treasury Decision, and for
many years, with each succeeding re-
gime of Treasury Department incum-