The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1921-01-14
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES


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The scenes enacted upon the tobacco
sales flnors at Lexington and other
places IN Kentucky, as reported by the
anything but businesslike. The buyers
offered from ST 90 to $4,000 per 100
pounds. The sales were few, and the
price was,not acceptable TO the grow
ers who proceeded to close the market.
Feeling ran high, and there was talk of
| violence. Tobacco that sold last year
from 25 to 35 cents did not bring better
offers than to cents. The southern
tobacco situation is anything but en-
couraging.
s'As the new year dawns, it finds the
tobacco industry in an unusually ex-
pectant frame of mind. Probably there
has been no new year during the last
decade which has been characterized by
so much uncertainty as to the future or
such important problems awaiting solu-
tion While this is true as applied to
nearly all industries, it is particularly
so in it's application to the tobacco
trade. This is because the tobacco
trade, being the last of the industries
to follow the upward trend of advanc-
ing prices, now finds itself in the posi-
tion of being the last of the industries
in its contemplation of return to the
normal. Tobacco Leaf.
The above quotation from thought
ful review of the situation in the to-
bacco industry strikes the keynote of
the utterances upon this matter in the
tobacco press of the country. The tone
of optimism that has sounded so cheer
fully from every quarter during the
past year is now somewhat muffied.
The manufacturer, the broker, the
packer, the grower who has not sold,
and the consumer all have during the
last weeks fallen under the spell of the
general business depression which has
cast its pail upon the country and the
world ''The tobacco industry has had
periods of depression in the past, but
these have never followed so quickly
upon a period of extreme activity"
says the u. S. Tobacco Journal. While
these are facts that we can not get
away from, it may not be amiss to
remember some of the brighter and
more hopeful phases Of the situation,
The past year was in nearly all branches
1T the industry one Of great activity.
Excepting the last couple months Of
the gear goods moved freely, and in
the matter of the best types of cigars
there was no recession in demand up to
the end of the year The export bust
ness has been at low ebb, but domestic
consumption during the year was most
excellent considering the prices that
had to be charged. Again, the attitude
of labor improved during the year as
compared with 1919; wages may not
have fallen apprecia5ly during the
year, but the Improvement in the serv
ice was noticeable. Another gain to
the industry, especially the retail end
of it, is the greater discrimination
shown in the attitude toward the quail
ity of the products handled The deal
ers pulled themselves together and de
cided that quality had to follow the
price, and the manufacturer who kept
up the high standard of his product
found that it paid to do so, and the re-
taller found the same in his dealings
with the consumers. While these ad-
vantages may not at first show up IN
the bulk that the business may gain
during the coming year, it will count in
the stability and security of the indus
try as a whole, and serve as a founda-
ton upon which honest business will
again build itself up to normal pros
perity. This hopeful view is not want
ing in the tobacco press which reflects
the present conditions. The Tobacco
Leaf says:
I'm consequence, manufacturers have
not experienced the usual pre- holiday
activity to which they are accustomed,
but they have the satisfaction of know
ing that the advent of the new year
finds practically no old goods in the
hands of dealers. With consumption
fguratively hanging to the coat-tails of
production, and with the market well
cleared of unstable merchandise, re-
tailers, jobbers and manufacturers may
face the future with clear vision, at
least so far as demand and supply are
concerned. Indeed, there seems no
possibility of serious lull in business.
The problem, therefore, is not one of
activity, but rather one of profits. The
question is not so much, Can manu-
facturer find market for his goods
but how can he reconcile his cost of
production to the maximum price which
the public will pay? The cigar leaf in
dustrv faces the new year with the
comforting knowledge that there is no
visible surplus of any type of tobacco
available for use during 1921, and upon
this knowledge bases its assumption
that there will be no material recession
in prices of any desirable type of old
leaf It's holdings of the new crop are
no larger than justified by existing cir
cumstances. 1t does not face. the un-
comfortable necessity confronting some
industries of giving back in tremendous
losses the legitimate gains of the past
few years. 1t is solvent and solid, and
views the outlook with confidence
There has haan nj uniuSfifl2bIQ inf1a-