Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1919-09-26
The birth Of the FIRST Trust


The Birth Of the First Trust
The same active brains that
had progressed thus far soon saw
the advantage of organizing all
their members into one great body,
owned and operated under one
head, and il due time the busy old
stork brought a lusty baby to the
home of Commerce, and it was
named TRUST. ] will never for
get my first introduction to him.
A pleasant faced, smooth talking
man came into my store one day
and offered a full pound plug of
clean hurley tobacco for fifteen
cents a pound. 1t looked like a
skin game, but as there was no
advance demanded, and nothing to
sign that might sting q green
country merchant, a trade was
soon made on small quantity.
At that time Peach Pie" was
popular seller with me. 1t ran.
FIVE plug to the pound. sold at ten
cents a plug, and cost about thirty.
FIVE cents. This was a pretty nice
profit, but here was something
just as good that it was suggested
should be sold at thirty cents a
plug, just a nice hundred per cent
profit. This looked boggish, so
we sold it for twenty-five cent. 1t
| is needless to say that my other
brands were soon shelved in favor
| of "Battld Axe. When a new
supply was needed it had advanced
to IL IL cents, I frowned a little,
but continued to buy and push it,
as there was still a good margin of
profit in it. 1t continued to ad-
vance to 30 and 224 cents, at
which price | refused 20 buy. |
was at once shown that while the
plug was as large as ever, it
not was pressed SO hard and only
weighed II ounces, so | continued
to buy and push it.
This course was pursued till it
reached a cost OF 3Sc, yielding less
profit than anything | had formerly
handled; but they had the good
sense to hold the quality up, and
my customers insisted on having
it, SO it had to be carried in stock.
have never had the pleasure of
meeting this Captain of Industry,
but | take off my hat to him. l
had claimed to have fair sense, but
he had me working for him,
steadily introducing his tobacco,
and was not even offering to pay
me for it.
That is one end of the story, but
listen to how this Captain worked
his competitor in obtaining his
supply of leaf tobacco. ! can not
youch for the truth of the story,
neither do / remember its author,
but | do remember an advance in
hurley tobacco of about 200 per
cent almost overnight, for | was a
dealer in leaf tobacco at the time.
La those days it was the custom
for local buyers to buy of the
farmer and pack it in hogsheads,
shipping it to some commission
house, Louisville. KY, being the
chief market of the world. Cut
ting down expenses is one of the
long suits of the Captain Of Indus
try, so of course it was not long
till way was found to do away
with the commission man. Compe-
tent men were placed in the coun-
try to buy from first hands and
ship direct to the factory. (The
farmers Tobacco Association we'll
remembers how competition was
crushed in this way and the result
tant low prices. When the big
Captain had obtained practically
all he needed of the best hurley
leaf to be had, meeting of his
directors was called in Louisville,
and from that meeting it leaked
out Cd that there was a great
shortage IN hurley tobacco. The
next day tobacco that had been
selling at five cents was bringing
fifteen cents. Naturally, this
scared the small manufacturer.
If they bought no leaf tobacco they
could sell no manufactured, so they
arose as one man and went bin
from one to two cents better and
bought about 80 per cent of what
was offered When the season was
over it was learned there was
plenty of tobacco and to spare,
but the trust could make prices