Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1919-10-17
70 he robaseo erewsrs o. MaryIand.

A. the request of members Of tn
State Board ofAgriculture and others
am making the following Statement
Of the State Tobacco Warehouse stu
alton, both as to financial and bust
ness side and as TO the much talked o.
embargo F;
In March, 1919, took charge Of The
State Warehouses, and will say, thai
no one was more surprised than my.
self when my appointment was made
known to me, as was mot an appli-
cant for the position, as the Governor
will attest
1t IL needless for me 10 20 over tho
condition the warehouses were In when
I took charge OF them. That is we'll
known to the farmers as we'll as the
dealers. / receipted for SAT- hogs
heads of tobacco and there had accu-
INFLATED 1854. 50 in the four years of
my predecessor This, under the law,
had to be turned over to the Comptrol-
Ter, leaving no funds on hand; so
borrowed to pay the first payroll, and
also to paw from S2000.00 TO $500. 90
that should have been paid by the pre-
ceding Administration On December
30, 1915, l paid the last motto In the
B ank and started a surplus On March
Is, 1919, deposited 1000 90 on a
savings account at 4 per cent, and on
June 30, the end Of the fiscal year, |
had a checking account together with
the SIT 600 % and interest| of A7.0l5 :
Ol, which | turned over to the Comp
troller of the state October $, 1919.
On July 2, had 1853 hogsheads of
tobacco in the warehouses and felt
that we would be able to handle the
1918 crop without an embargo. II will
be remembered that the month OF July
was wet one and tobacco came to
Baltimore in unheard of quantities,
this and the strike of the sailors tying
up all outward shipments, making II
necessary to put a partial embargo on
the boats and railroads for about two
weeks. When | went to the Railroad
Administration to get the embargo
raised, they claimed they needed the
space for perishable goods. Last week
went TO them and appealed to them
TO raise the embargo entirely; this,
they refused to do, saying again they
needed the space for perishable freight.
Certainly thewarehouses should not be
blamed for this action of the Railroad
Administration. The same case ex-
listed in 1918. The railroad placed an
embargo because their force had the
Flu, the Warehouse being blamed for
this. when the fact was the warehouse
embargo was of short duration. |
want to say that everything that could
be done to serve the farmer has been
done.
In 1914 there we're only 1857 hogs
heads of tobacco received, and in 1915
there we're 1859 hogsheads received,
and at no time were there over II, 500
hogsheads in stock. Contrast that
with %, 500 hogsheads last week and
and our numbers are now $1,000 for
this year and may reach 10000 hogs |
heads, and in 1918, out of crop of
q, 900 hogsheads, we handled p, 900
with scarcely any foreign shipments,
and it must be remembered that the |
States is practically the only ware
house open to the Maryland farmer,
whereas, in 1914 and 1915 the Balti- |
more & Ohio Railroad Warehouse was
handling Maryland tobacco.
1t is needless for me to tell any one
of the difficulty of handling labor in
1918, and even now.
| cannot see why this Institution |
should be made political issue, as
the State Board of Agriculture is q
non-political Board and every farmer
mas had the same treatment here, re-
CARELESS of politics. Business ability
and attention TO duty have been the in
lluencc that retained the warehouse
force in their respective positions. AS
farmer, l have given the best that
was in me to the interest of the farmer,
and | think l am safe in saying the
standard of Maryland tobacco has
been raised a good many cents per
pound.
| want to say in conclusion, /, too,
hope there will be no more embargoesl
sincerely hope so, and maybe there
will not be, for we all hope that times
will be normal again before long. and
that no one will ever see World War
again with all its troubles and hor-
rors. But l do say, that if Mr.. Nice or
Mr.. Richie, either, had been Cover
nor in 1918 and 1913, they could not
nave done any more than was done,
and if il is the desire of Mr.. Nice to
make my Administration an issue in
the campaign, II hope it is not) l am
perfectly willing to meet him or any of
his friends and advisers and discuss
the subject with them and draw com
PARSONS with the past and present
conditions.
WIN. ] FRERE,
State Tobacco Inspector.