The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-24
Example Of Tobacco Loss

| Mechanically and eXactly LkoIeu ~4
loss in Onslow county alone in ls4S IRON
the reduction in tobacco acreage Will D
s837,S53.
That is well over three-quarters OF nsll
,;or dollars. Translate $837,853 into shoes
clothing, groceries, radios, electric stoves
rugs and other retail goods and you can see
Immediately what loss of $837'S93 means
to the retail stores in this one county
More important still, translate $837,853 into
the things farm family in 1948 cannot at
ford, into the things it must do without
| Note that this is a loss sustained In one
year solely by the tobacco growers In one
county. It does not include the loss in 194s
by the many people in Onslow county whe
do not grow tobacco.
! Figuring mathematically and exactly with
other crops, the l948 loss in farm income ir
Onslow county during 1948 will be 1858 pei
cent.
0tAte II Ol11SIcAt4ys III 401o tAAS AGA AAAASAe VI
onslow county will lose more than one
fourth of their 1947 farm income. The farm.
srs of Onslow county in 1948 must get along
with less than three fourths Of what they had
in 1a47.
Multiply these figures by the number Of
counties in Southeastern North Carolina, re-
membering that some of the counties pro-
duce more tobacco than does Onslow county.
If you multiply $837,s5s by ten, and that
is insufficient, you have $s,378,53o
All of Southeastern North Carolina is in
side the Wilmington trade territory.
What will it mean to the retail stores OF
Wilmington to have the farmers alone, in
their trade area, lose $8,378,53o. That is
sizeable amount to subtract in one year
from the retail trade volume o. Wilmington.
It is said by farn, experts that the tobacco
growers in Southeastern North Carolina can
produce just as much tobacco on the reduced
acreage as they produced in 1947, if they
give better attention to production.
If that were done, there would be no loss
unless the price of tobacco in 1948 should be
less than in 1947.
Practically speaking it is difficult sud-
denly to increase the know-how of tobacco
nsrrLA iS
to increase the know-how of any person that
much in short period of time.
We are writing this editorial to say that
business men need to be just as much in
terested as the tobacco growers in this 1948
loss of income.
1t is impossible in one year to subtract
S8,378530 from the farm income of South
eastern North Carolina without changing
the entire economy of the section.
The solution of the problem of how to
make up the 1948 loss from tobacco ought
not to be left solely to the tobacco growers.
The business men Of Southeastern North
Carolina ought to unite their brains with
those of the tobacco growers.
Without exaggeration, this is business
problem even more than it is a farm prob
lem
The extreme optimists claim the tobacco
loss will kick the farmers into better bal
anced farming just as did the boil weevil.
That is a callous attitude. It is statement
worthy of expression only after the prob
lem has been worked out satisfactorily.
1t is said that any problem can be solved
by lot of people thinking about the prob
lem at the same time. That is careless think
ing A lot of people think about the same
thing at the same time in a period Of de-
preston, but never yet has that worked out
an immediate solution to depression.
However, all the minds of Southeastern
North Carolina, agricultural, legal, medical,
retail, wholesale, journalistic, pedagogic,
ought to be concentrated and stay concen-
trated on this problem of making up the to-
bacco loss until the loss actually is made up.
Indeed, that is a minimum requirement.
Is the problem already urgent?
The answer to that is that farm credit in
many instances already is being curtailed
and in some instances is being denied alto
gether.
We cite one final viewpoint.
It is natural that the farm viewpoint of
this loss be fearful, agitated, emotional.
Perhaps a consideration of the same prob
lem by business men can be steadier. calm