Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1921-03-04
TOBACCO SITUATION.

The large attendance OF tObac-
co growers at the meeting held
here Saturday is a source Of
qualification and pride and, we
Nelieve, shows that the majority
farmers in this county are
roughly alive to the fact that
future of TOBACCO as a chief
de crop depends upon the
ess Of the Association, which
ssscess can only be attained by
organization and co operation.
We understand that the key
/. note of Senator Harding's inau-
gural address, today, will be CO.
operation. If the head of our
government recognizes and real
Lies that the success of his ad-
! ministration depends upon the
cooperation of those in the va
rious departments of the great
y organization the government,
then, it rc.ast be equally plain
to the people of the county that
the success of the Tobacco Grow
ers Association depends upon
the cooperation Of farmers. We
believe that the meeting Satur-
day demonstrated that the mem
bers Of the Association will CO.
operate.
The success of the Association
means to the farmer a stable
market for tobacco; it means
that, like the merchant, he will
be able to put his goods upon the
market at a fixed price, and OBJ
tain that price. Itmeans that he
xiii no longer have to take what
ever the buyer chooses to give
him. Tobacco growers have for
many years been at the mercy of
the buyers. If these conditions
were 20 continue, the farmers
would have to abandon further
production Of the crop. or 20
INTO bankruptcy.
Cooperation among the far
mers to bring about success,
means more than merely Joining
the Association. 1t means that
we must back up in every way
the directors and manager of the
Association. No business cor
poration ever made a success
unless those interested financial
ly co-operated with the officers
thereof: and this is equally true
of the Tobacco Growers Asso
citation. We must cooperate
with the officials in order to make
the organization a success a
means of providing better and
more stable tobacco market. In
the Tobacco Growers Associa-
ton, as in every other business
enterprise, we must place conf
dence and dependency in its Off
GERS; otherwise, disaster will
surely follow.
There are some farmers who,
for one reason or another, have
not joined the Association.
These farmers are helping those
who would destroy it. They are
aiding the tobacco buyers who,
like any other business men, buy
as cheaply as possible. They
are helping to bring about condi-
tions whereby the farmers must
throw their tobacco upon the
market and take what they can
get forit These farmers are not
true lovers of their county and
their people. They ara obstruc-
tionists and stand in the way of
the future happiness and pros
prerity of our people.
One of the most heard of rea-
sons why these farmers have not
joined the Association used to be
and perhaps still is Il am
obligated financially to my Com
mission Merchant" This can
no longer be plausible reason,
because the Association can and
will advance the farmer as
much money on his tobacco as
any commission merchant can.
We feel sometimes, since nearly
90per cent of the farmers of this
county have joined the Associa-
ton and are cooperating to bet
ter conditions, that those who
hold aloof, thus hindering the
work of the Association, should
be subjected to some sort of os-
tracism, as they are menaee.to
the well-being Of their fellow
man.
The condition which confronts
us today, however, can be sum |
med up in the fact that either
the Association must be made
success, or the farmers have got
to stop raising tobacco, for IN.
der present conditions of labor
and materials, no farmer can
raise tobacco and sell it under
the old prices of A to IL cents
pound and make Al living, much |
less educate his children.
We are interested in the Asso- |
citation because we realize and |
know that upon its success de-
ponds the future Of tobacco as a
staple crop. We are interested
IN its success, just as every far
mer in the county who wants
better prices for his tobacco. |
We are not connected with the |,
Association in any capacity, other
than an ordinary member; hence
our zealousness for its success
and our appeals to every farmer
to join, are actuated only by the
same feeling that every sensible
business man and farmer has to
obtain a fair and reasonable price
for one of OIlr chief commodities