Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1920-08-27
REGULAR CROPS
ARE. ADVOCATED
Tobacco, Situation As Explained
By Madison Producer-Wants
Price Protection

taken an active part in. the n1ovemen
looking towards the organization il
this county,:
Editor Daily Register:
What position is Madison count!
taking in this tobacco STRUGGLED Il
Madison county going to isolate her
self from this gigantic struggle? Thi.
matter, which is so vital that. il
touches every atom of our fabric
makes up our industry and. welfare
of our every day life, social, economic
and financial. Are we going to shirl
this great duty of protection
Will we not organize. ourselves with
our sister counties who are calling us
to their aid for self-protection and
self-defense, in order to protect ou1
chief industry, which is tobacco, and
which brings in untold millions and
millions of dollars?
Are we going to sit down and take
what the trust company is willing to
| give us?
! There is no doubt that every we'll
read citizen of our county is well
aware of the fact of what is now 60
| ing on in regard to lettering the con-
! tiitions of the tobacco growers in. the
white hurley district. They have no
doubt heard of the Burley Tobacco
Growers Association, which is now
trying to get it's charter for the or
ganization of growers, whose purpose
is to get together in such way that
we may be able to get a fair price
for our tobacco.
We have often been approached with
the argument to let the law of supply
and demand settle the price of our
tobacco. / say there is no law which
governs the price of tobacco, except
one law, and that law is the law of
greed and selfishness.
Does it not appeal to you that that
day has dawned upon the farmer
when he must awaken to the fact that
he, to, must organize and protect him
self from the onslaught of the tobac-
co buyer?
Every industry is organized but the
farmer, who is left to the mercy of
greed and pillage.
The "scare idea"' has been advanc-
ed upon us by some "geod citizens"
Who knows what their motive is
in declaring the organization of to-
bacco growers will bring back the
night riders, bed scrapers, barn
burners, ETC.?
That scarecrow idea has nothing
more to do with this organization
than a southern blind mule would
have to do with crippled jack rab
bit of the noreh. The fact is and al
ways has been that as long as the
farmer is unorganized he will always
have to take what is given, not what
his products are actually worth.
The fact before US now is that we
have, 5O0,0O0,0OO pounds of tobacco,
nearly two years crops, and the Car
ohnas selling at 6 per cent less than
lthey got to start with last year. "A
good crop, which, according to good
authority, is being eaten up with rust
and wildfire seems to be sufficient
reason for the cry for protection, and
yet with all this before us some gen
tlemen want to know what this scare
is about, and what we want to pro-
toct ourselves for, since we have been
treated so kindly by the buyers, es-
pecially the American Tobacco COM
pany. 1t stands to reason that with
crop twice as large as that of last
year and with what seems to be al
damaged one, what can happen but a
sharp decline in the prices of tobacco,
especially when we are unorganized?
Let US take warning and prepare for
the worst.
If organization brings on lawless-
ness, as some suggest, then we as al
whole must be very unlawful people.
l say let the people organize for
self-protection and demand fair
price for their labor. The writer has
nothing more in view than he hopes
to see the day. come when the tobac-
co grower will mark his price on ev-
cry basket. he has to sell and be able
to make the buyer pay it. In standing
for the farmers organization and CO.
operation, L wish to make it known
that am, positively against cutting
out the 1921 crop o tobacco, or the
crop of any other year. There are
two reasons why am against cut
ing out the entire crop. The first is
that it would not help the cause, for
when we raise the 1922 crop, we still
get just what the buyer wants to
pay. The second reason is that should
we cut out the 1921 crop, it will Gre
ate financial distress among. our. peo-
pie, and yet not, help the cause"
What seems the only solution and
- IL