The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1918-05-17

enue.
When the first Census Bureau report
of the amount of tobacco on hand came
out, there was gasp of astonishment
from the trade, for it indicated that
there was great deal more tobacco
held by the manufacturers and packers
than any one had any idea of. The
quantities reported indicated that there
was a two years supply of tobacco on
hand all the time. Not even the best
tobacco, and considerable doubt was
expressed as to the correctness of the
report. An analysis of the report,
however, showed that it was not based
upon trade terminology. For instance,
the low grades grown in any cigar leaf
growing state were credited to that
state-in spite of the fact that low
grades are not cigar leaf tobacco at all,
but are used by manufacturers of
smoking or chewing tobacco, and really
have no more bearing upon the cigar
leaf situation than Burley or Virginia
tobacco does. Since that time some
changes have been made that help to
make the figures more Ineligible, but
the matter referred to above has not
been changed. Therefore, when the
Census Bureaus report showed that
the quantity of cigar leaf on hand April
had increased by 100000 pounds in
the preceding twelve months, it was
enough to make the uninitiated wonder
if this talk of tobacco shortage had
any basis upon fact or not. According
to the report, the quantity of Connec-
ticut Havana Seed jumped from % mil
lion pounds to "a million pounds. Now
everyone knows that the Havana seed
crop was so badly cut to pieces by hail
and wind storms that whole lot of it
had to be sold to the stemming COM
panies, and that the quantity of Ha-
vana seed binders produced in 1917 was
not sufficient to replace those Havana
seed binders that were consumed that
year by the factories. But there is
nothing in the report to show that.
Nearly all the 1917 Wisconsin went to
the stemmers. The amount of binders
produced in that state last year is less
than one third of the Wisconsin binders
consumed. Yet there is nothing in the
report to show that Wisconsin tobac-
CO is reported simply as Wisconsin.
Until the Census Bureau segregates
| the tobacco into types, its reports will
not really mean anything to the trade.
If accurate reports could be had, show,
| ing the quantity of each type on hand,
they would be very valuable.-N. Y.
Leaf.
***
The news of the drastic increases ir
the excise duties and import duties en-
acted by the Canadian government last
week was not very agreeable to those
| leaf tobacco merchants who have Can
adian !. business. The duty upon un-
stemmed leaf was raised from 28 cents
to 40. The duty upon stemmed was
raised from AZ cents to SO cents per
pound. An excise duty of 5 cents per
pound was placed upon Canadian grown
leaf, excepting on quantity sufficient
for the growers own use. The last
named tax was imposed undoubtedly
for two reasons-first for revenue, and
second, to discourage the planting OF
other than food crops. Those Ameri-
can tobacco growers who became sc
excited when the food administration
of Connecticut suggested that there be
no increase in tobacco acreage-ln the
sections in which munitions of war are
produced-will doubtless reflect upon
the advantages that the citizens Of this
country have over any other.
-
From government records it is shown
| that only 18 per cent Of the cigars con-
sumed in this country are ten-cent
cigars or better; and that Is per cent
| of American smokers do not smoke ci-
gars at all, but confine themselves to
the cheaper forms of tobacco-little
cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco
and cigarettes. Verify, those who re-
gard tobacco as a luxury must perforce
admit that it is the luxury not only OF
| the rich but Of the common people as
well, and, indeed, the only luxury that
the poor man has ever known.