The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1920-09-03
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


| ably never time in the worlds his
drive home to the consciousness of the
| people these facts. The high wages
that have been paid to workers, begin
ming with the rapid production of war
materials, and che fortunes accumulat-
ed rapidly by some individuals and the
tremendous earnings of the large cor
porations, have all contributed to pro-
duce in the minds of the average man
or woman the feeling that the neces-
sity of saving and hard work has
passed. In the demands of the labor
| unions, continually calling for more
money without regard to the ability of
the employer to market goods so pro-
duced, the same feeling is displayed.
1t has been reckless and hectic per-
iod, and the American public, usually
so sane and level headed, seems to have
lost its bearings.
Commissioner Paul F. Meyers has
handed down rule according to which
dividends on stocks are taxable. The
| ruling distinguishes between stock held
| by the stockholder and stock held for
profit. While stock dividends are held
not taxable to the stockholder, any
profit derived from the sale of stock
received as dividend does constitute
taxable income.
While no definite announcement has
been made that the French tobacco
monopoly is to be owned by American
and British tobacco interests, the ru-
NOR persists that George J. Whelan
and Thomas F. Ryan of New York have
the deal between their fingers. Mr..
Whelan is again in this country, but
only for short time, and the impress
sion in the east is that these wizards of
finance have found way,
***
z June and July of this year showed a
sreater number of business failures,
especially in manufacturing lines, than
any previous period since 1916, accord
ing to the Dunn Review. July alone
had 681 failures carrying liabilities of
| nearly $22, 900, 600. The U. S. Tobacco
Journal calls attention to the fact that
very few of these failures have oc-
Cured in the tobacco industry, and ac-
counts for it in the following manner:
Fortunately for the tobacco trade, bus
mess IN that line has been done, as
general thing, conservatively. Prices
did not begin to advance until three
years after other commodities had
started upward, and such price ad-
vances as have been made have been
moderate and not more than enough to
meet the advanced cost of doing busi-
ness. In all probability cigar, cigar
cite and tobacco manufacturers would
have made larger profits if they had
been less conservative in this matter.
but they would not be in so sound po-
sition, commercially, as they are at
present. The various branches of the
| tobacco industry have contributed very
slightly toward the mortality statistics
of the commercial world, and in that
particular they are reaping the reward
of their conservatism.
***
Virginia has 246,0 acres planted in
| tobacco this year, the largest acreage
| ever recorded in the history of the
state, according to estimates just COM
pleted by Henry M. Taylor, of the Bu-
reau of Crop Estimates in Virginia.
**:*
AS to what constitutes success or
| failure in crop of tobacco, the Tobac-
| CO Leaf gives the following paragraph,
| which is at least worthy of thoughtful
| reading: From the standpoint of the
grower, crop of tobacco is failure
| if it does not produce percentage of
good tobacco sufficient to cover the cost
| of production, plus at least modicum
| of profit. From the standpoint of the
manufacturer, the crop is not a failure
| If it produces enough serviceable to-
bacco to supply the normal demand,
| and to sell at prices which will permit
it to be profitabiy used by the cigar
| manufacturer. So the word failure
can mean rything or it can mean
nothing. Unfortunately, tobacco, like
fruit, cereals and garden vegetables,
is an uncertain commodity from the
seed bed to the harvesting. The high
er up we go in the scale of cultivation,
the more speculative the business be-
comes. With the gradual elimination
| of the cheap cigar, the cultivation of
| tobacco necessarily takes on more re-
| finement; and the leaf tobacco business
is bound to require profounder study,
| and more careful manipulation. In
these times when we are striving to
produce leaves of the thinness of tissue
paper and the lustre of silk, the way of
| the tobacco man is beset with doubt
and uncertainty. While science has
! triumphed in the quality of the product,
| it has failed to achieve independence of
sun, rain and frost The wrapper sup
ply is sure to be problem with cigar
| manufacturers for the next twelve
month The situation calls for close