The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1921-03-18
NOTE BOOK SKETCHES

V~S9V~S <>S-s>~ 49, O~S<SS = 40 ~@~%-
The publication of the earnings dur
ing 1920 of the large tobacco concerns
is of interest to the tobacco industry as
a whole. The success financially of the
large companies that manufacture and
distribute the tobacco products to the
consumer gives promise of continued
activity in the future. 1t is the ready
movement of the goods from the grow
er to the consumer, and living margin
to all classes who are engaged in the
industry which make for sound and
continued prosperity for the whole in
dustry. A chain is as strong as it's
weakest link, is an old saying, and it
holds good also in the tobacco business
taken as an institution for permanency
of success. The reports of the earnings
of The large corporations indicate that
1920 was a very good business year.
Most of them report larger profits than
in 1919 Tobacco stock is looked upon
as good investment in the stock mar
ket
**a
It is sad thing, and not entirely
without foundation, that there exists
within the toba eco industry feeling
that somewhere along the line some
body is always watching for chance
to get the best of the other fellow.
There is at any rate enough of evi-
.dence of this sort of thing to feed the
suspicious with new suspicious. Dur
ing the war with high demand for
goods and not facilities enough to pro-
duce as fast as the demand required,
dishonest men broke into the game and
produced goods which were not up to
the standard advertised. The consumer
was fooled. the retailer suffered and
the whole trade felt the influence as
one of unfair competition. But the
ones to suffer in the end are not the
consumer, nor the retailer, nor honest
business in general = the reaction has
set in, honest goods are demanded The
public may be fooled some time, but it
will not be fooled all the time, and the
one who attempts it finally has to bear
the consequences of his own dishonesty.
This is recent history in the cigar busi-
ness, and rather impressive In the les
son it administers.
***
The temptation to dishonesty and
sharp dealings by which loss is inflicted
upon one part of the industry to the
gain and unfair advantage of the other
is always there, and some fall for it all
the time But the success of such
practices is always short lived. A
combination of the manufacturers on
the one hand to force down the price of
raw tobacco below the normal value it
should have, based on the demand that
there is for it and the price the con-
sumer is able and willing to pay for it,
will never succeed in the long run. The
other end of the industry will resor. to
measures of self protection, even to
matters of retaliation, that ultimately
bring losses to the unfair combine that
will eat up the unfairly collected prof
it's. The same is true of any combina-
tion entered into at the producing end
of the raw material. Any combination
which has III it elements that tend to
injure by illegitimate means any other
branch of the industry is in its results
self-destructive There is only one
way which keeps the industry sound
and successful in the long run, and
that is scrupulous honesty and consid-
GRAFTON one of the other. This policy
has never failed of ultimate and per-
manent success Altruistic considera-
tions eliminated, and self interest con-
sidered, the law of live and let live
| is inexorable, imposing failure on its
transgressor. but success to him who
observes it.
The export of American tobacco fell
off more largely in the number of
pounds sold than in the total income
from the sale when the 1919 and 1920
trade is compared, according to an edi-
torial on this topic in the q. S. To-
bacco Journal We sold to other coun-
tries 700 million pounds of tobacco for
| $260000,000. In 1920 we sold 468 mil
| lion pounds and collected on this $245,-
100000.
! In the matter of imports the U. S.
imported 100000 pounds of leaf in
1919, for which we paid S75,0OO,00O; ;
| and in 1920 we took 82,500,000 pounds OF
leaf, but paid nearly $82,000,000 Our
imports Of cigars and manufactured
| tobacco products rose S11,O00000 in
| 1919, to $17,000,00O in 1920. These fig
ures throw some light on the causes OF
/ the present low cost on export goods.
The foreign nations are not able to take
| our goods Still we are giving them
long chance by taking so large an
amount of the goods there are in the
market to SELL
The U. S. Tobacco Journal says ed
itorially: 1t is believed that the sever
est part of the readjustment period has
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