Evening star., 1936-03-15
Anglo-American
Tobacco Trade
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.

they did find a commodity more valu-
able than gold in the golden tobacco leaf.
And today 1t is a notable fact that after
80 many years, American exports Of to-
bacco to Great Britain form an !mpor.
tant item of the trade between the coul-
tries. The United States furnishes
Great Britain with more leaf tobacco
than all other countries, including those
Of the British Empire, combined.
In these days, If the King of England
or the Prince of Wales wears certain
kind Of lapel, the whole English-speak-
ing world and much Of the rest of it
takes the cue and follows that fashion.
Even in the last century when the Prince
Consort, Albert Edward, the spouse Of
Queen Victoria, donned a certain type
of coat, that garment covered the world,
and the Prince Albert coat became sar-
torial item indispensable to the well
dressed man, especially II he had po-
itical or social ambitions.
n Il n !
Aforetime 1t was different. Tobacco
first came to England in the reign Of the
good Queen Elizabeth. Men were amazed
at seeing returned travellers from far
shores inhaling fire and breathing forth
smoke like any dragon, and many
mariner attained a reputation for ne
cromancy because he could perform such
a feat and take no harm. Moreover.
some claimed that the tobacco smoke
was both food and drink to them.
But tobacco was somewhat slow In
taking hold in Great Britain. For one
thing, it was tremendously expensive,
and for another, it was too new an in
diligence for so conservative people to
adopt. But the tobacco habit grew until
the leaf attained value so great that,
in the Virginias, it became currency.
One can scarcely forget the manner in
which Sir Edwyn Sandys' doves, the
young women who were sent out by the
Virginia Company to marry the planters
Of Jamestown, were purchased, each one
for a hundred and twenty pounds of to-
bacco. When the planters bought goods
from England they paid In leaf because
there was scarcely any currency in the
then wild land of Virginia.
u " X
So the tobacco trade waxed In i'm
portance in spite Of the prejudice which
King James entertained against it. 1t
was he who felt so bitterly on the SUBJ
ject that he wrote book about it. He
referred to tobacco as that Stygian
weed" and, by inference, condemned all
who were so benighted as to make use
of it. He saw in the practice of inhaling
smoke and breathing forth again FORE
shadowing of the hell fires which most
Of his generation felt certain we're await.
ing the unregenerate. Nevertheless,
hardy rogues continued to inhale the
pipe smoke and leaned rather to the doc.
trine that pipe was a pipe of peace
rather than one of doom. Differences
Of opinion have existed on this count
ever since, but, meantime, the tobacco
trade has grown.
II X X
It is a trade in leaf tobacco rather
than in the manufactured products Of
tobacco. The kingdoms Of big business
are past the layman's finding out, but
1t is matter of fairly common knowl.
edge that British and American manu-
tacturerS OF tobacco do not infringe
upon each others territory. II the Amer
lean prove skeptical of this, let him try
to buy a Waverley cigarette or some
Players plug cut. He will ask at his
tobacconist's in vain, and, II of the
opinion that his retailer lacks enter
prise, he may address some great Amer.
lean wholesaler or even manufacturer.
He will receive somewhat vague replies
to the effect that the item in request
is not carried. 1t never is
The same holds true on the other side.
1t is difficult in the extreme to come
by an American cigarette in England.
Each nation has staked out its own ter
ritory, or rather the manufacturers and
dealers of each nation have done so. But
these same manufacturers must have
the raw material, and so the trade in
the leaf is tremendous trade. All the
ships Sir Walter Raleigh ever sailed
and, indeed, all the ships of the Virginia
| Co. could not carry a single years
supply of American leaf tobacco to Eng.
land. The cargo would sink them out
of hand.
The trade varies from year to year as
1t does IN other items. For last year it
amounted to about 203, 100000 pounds.
When one weighs a cigarette or even a
cigar and realizes how trif1ingly light it
is one can gain some idea of what
203 100000 pounds of leaf tobacco is.
Total imports Of leaf tobacco into the
United Kingdom last year amounted to
$4,000, 900 pounds, SO when the imports
from America, amounting to 203,000,0o0
pounds, are considered it will be seen
how tremendously important the Ameri-
can trade has become.
Were the same sort of trade going on
now that did in the days Of the Virginia
Co. and the same price of 120 pounds of
leaf for girl fresh from Devon OBJ.
tanned, that single years shipment to
the United Kingdom would buy no less
than l,69l $50 girls. That is about the
total OF all the girls, imported or domes-
tic, who existed here at the time of the
American Revolution. Now, of course,
matters and girls are different.
X X X \
With all the widespread dominions Of
the British Empire, one might think
that enough leaf tobacco could be found
without coming back to the old colonies
Of America. But no. England took to
American tobacco in the days when the
King James Version Of the Bible was
being translated by the masters and
scholars of Oxford, and has never re-
covered. It is curious thing that, in
American newspaper and magazine ad.
vertisements, one seldom sees any ref
erence to Virginia in connection with
tobacco. BY contrast, in England the
hoardings scream forth the merits Of
Virginia-not the Commonwealth, but
the tobacco.
Empire countries are supplying less
leaf tobacco to the mother country each
year. They do not appear to be able
successfully to compete with the Ameri.
can product. Were the value of all the