Newspapers / The Farmville Enterprise (Farmville, … / March 30, 1934, edition 1 / Page 6
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Cigarette Tax Change WoiddHdp Farmers, Workers, Retailers and Government, ^4n Expert Explains Bj W. B. KELLEY As told to Frank Wilder More than fifty years ago, when tobacco growing in central Kentucky tr<w in the experimental stage, Ben L. Kelley of Garrard County, began its culture tcith a view to producing a finer smoking to bacco. To this work he gave his full attention and after years of patient labor and study succeeded?by applying the principles of cross breeding successfully used by the famed Luther Burbank?dn producing what is known everywhere among barley men as "Kelley Tobacco." Today, W. R. Kelley is now the head of the firm of B. L. Kelley &? Sons. He has grown up in the business, knows its marry angles intimately, and has shared with burley growers their fat and lean years for decades. Mr. Kelley has joined officials of'the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation and the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, in endorsing the plea of southern tobacco farmers to Congress to replace the presen I federal flat-rate tax on cigarettes with a graduated tax based on the retail price of the package. In this statement Mr. Kelley tells why he favors this change which is held so im portant to the prosperity of the tobacco growing and cigarette making industries. EDITOR. Stating the Case Why do I favor a federal graduated tax on cigarettes, proportioned to the price of the package, in place of the present flat-rate of 6 cents a package regardless of the priceof the package? Because it will do much to stabilize the market for the cigarette tobacco grower and assure him a much better average price for his crop than he has been able to get for a number of years past. Became It will help much to main tain or increase the government's rev enues derived from cigarette taxes at a time when the government must have the greatest tax revenues with the least possible hardship on the mass of the people. ? Because it will enable the manu facturers of the so-called 10-cent cig- j arettes to continue making this qual ity of product on an increasing scale, thus providing steady employment for additional thousands of tobacco factory workers at fair wages. Because it will provide a healthy competition among the various manu facturers, with benefits to all con cerned?manufacturer, retail dealer, farmer, government, smoker and worker?and harm to nobody. Let us look at the proposition in de tail. Our company has been in business more than fifty years, and growing up with It I have had an unusual op portunity to study the tobacco in-1 dustry from all viewpoints. Effect Of Taxes I have long since learned that there are very few?If any?taxes which do not affect the farmer in some way, for he is both a primary producer and a consumer. So at this time of agri cultural distress, the proposed ad justment of the cigarette tax is of great importance to him. The manufacturers of ID-cent cig arettes are having their worries, too. They never have made much profit because there Isn't much room for profit when you sell a cigarette at 10 cents. But their costs have been in creasing and they say the of profit is so small it may be impossible for them to continue to make 10-cent cigarettes unless one thing happens. That <me thing is this?tax adjust ment. As you know the federal tax on all kinds of cigarettes amounts to 9 cents a package. It doesn't matter how much cigarettes sell for, the tax is the same. So the manufacturers of 10-cent cigarette.* have asked Congress to re duce the tax on that price smoke by three-fifths of a cent; to leave the tax on 15-cent cigarettes at 6 cents and to raise the tax on more expensive cigarettes by three-flf ths of a cent. The Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives has studied the proposalforseveral weeks snd a special hearing will soon be given by a sub-committee, of which Representative Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky is chairman. Importance To Growers It would be hard to over-estimate the importance of the 10-cent cigar ette manufacturers to burley growers. It was only about two years ago that a few manufacturers started making 10-cent cigarettes. Up to that time four big companies had 95 per cent of the cigarette business. During ten years manufacturers' profits had been going higher and higher and farmers' profits on tobacco had been falling lower and lower. "It was in 1931 tnat tne price 01 Dur ley dropped from 15.59 cents to 8.63 cents. Cigarette consumption had been decreasing and the fanner was getting the worst of the deal. To make matters worse, there was no competition between the buyers on the tobacco market. The next year the 10-cent cigarette came along. It was just what the poor man needed and cigarette consump [ tion began to increase again. "Buyers for these independent makers of low-price cigarettes put some competition into the loose leaf market. Of course fanners aren't get ting what they should for their tobac co now, but it is hard to tell what might have happened if the 10-cent cigarette hadn't been put on the mar ket. As I understand it, the makers of this sort of cigarette, have been able to sell the cigarette at such a low price because they don't go In for extravagant, ballyhoo advertising, because they don't use so much ex pensive foreign tobacco as is used in the more expensive cigarettes and because they are satisfied with a modest profit. Before the big manufacturers had to cut prices to meet competition of the ten-centers, it is estimated they were making 100 per cent gross profit on the cost.of their products before tax. Invisible Profits The increased costs of labor under the N. E. A., increased costs of ma terials and equipment and the pro cessing tax have cut profits on 10-cent c: garettes down to less than two mills a package. In business survival depends en tirely on profits, and the manufac turers of 10-cent cigarettes say that the graduated tax is absolutely neces sary to their continued operation on the present basis. The thing they are asking Congress to do seems reasonable enough. The tax on cigars is in proportion to the selling price. Practically all taxes are graduated in this way. The reason there has not been a graduated tax on cigarettes is that there never was any need lor one un til the 10-cent cigarettes were put on the market. Practically all cigarettes sold at 15 cents a-package, or higher. Before the World War, the cigarette tax was only $1.25 a thousand. In 1917 it was raised to $2.06 and in 1919 to $3.00, ox 6 cents a padfttge. It never has been changed since then. Probably there Is no commodity In general use that is taxed se; heavily. The smoker pays about tgi a year in cigarette taxes to.the government. But Congress hasn't been asked to make a reduction in the revenues^ from cigarette tax. The proposal Is only for an adjustment to do away with the present unfair and dlscrlml-: natlng tax on these low-priced ciga rettes. ? Disappearance of the 10-cent ciga rette would permit the big manufao-' turers to discontinue their price cut-i ting. Smokers would start using an1 increased amount of "rol^-your-own": tobacco, which is taxed only 18 cents: a pound in comparison with the tax of about 81 a pound paid on cigarettes Termers Should Help If we farmers do our part to keep1 the 10-cent cigarette on the market, - consumption undoubtedly will con tinue to increase as it has in the past two years. This means more revenues not only for the government but also : for the farmers. An Interesting element which is not ordinarily considered, is that one rea son the manufacturers of 10-cent cig arettes can sell their cigarettes at such a low price is that they use much less Turkish and other costly import ed tobaccos than are used In more expensive cigarettes. - J -?-V 1 J this imported roDaccu uoesu \> juoiu any profit to the American farmer. It is the wide use of American tobacco that helps agriculture and, Incident ally, the 10-cent cigarette manufac turers, so far as I know, have been paying Just about as much to the farmer for his tobacco as anyone else and they will continue to. They say the farmer receives substantially the same amount of the consumer's dol lar through the 10-cent cigarette as he does through the 15-cent cigarette. Approximately 400,000 farmers and hundreds of thousands of laborers in the United States are engaged In growing tobacco. Their Interests are of primary importance. Theproblem of the 10-cent cigarette I is the poor man's problem. Thep oor man produces the tobacco and the poor man smokes the 10-cent oigar ette. Huge Saving to Smokers By providing a low-prloed high quality cigarette and by foroing the big- manufacturers to keep their prices down, it is estimated that the independent manufacturers have saved smokers as much as '100,000,000 a year. Labor has benefited from the 10 cent cigarette also. The biggest fac tories In which these cigarettes are produced are union plants. That is more than can be said for certain of the larger factories. - ? ? -A ?. Lewis Evans, president or tne t Tobacco Workers International | Union, recently said that unless the cigarette tax Is graduated thousands of factory workers will lose their Jobs and that farmers will lose the market for a large proportion of their tobac co crop. ? When you consider It from the standpoint of the farmer, the worker, the smoker and the manufacturer, the request for revision of the tax Is fair." This proposal for an equitable graduated tax has received the ap proval of the American Farm Bureau ; Federation and the Kentucky and Tennessee federations without reser vations. When this question comes before our representatives In Congress for a final decision they must be aware of the fact that revision of the clgar ette tax is a matter of great public in terest* and national Importance. No farmer will make air mistake in writing to his Congressman and urg ing a favorable vote on the tax revision plea. Will you do it?and do it now? - Better Fertilizer 3 For Better T^mes 1 ________ i Of all the field crops, tobacco is the most interesting because it is so 1 responsive. Changes in varieties, i weather conditions, and methods of : fertilisation, setting, cultivation, top- 1 ping, curing and handling produce I very definite effects. Yon cant stay i on the fence With tobacco drop, be- < cause everything poo do to it is eith- 1 er riguv or wrong. "Something else" 1 will not do just as well. Take t oop of cotton, for butane* < for conditions to getr right but not- i _ , *4-V> -f n V, r? ? (pl>A 'aaA^ABI 1 so wiiBt xooacoo. i ne growings -mbmi i forward owbackward. The crop pays 1 ixcelient dividends for thought, study < rnd attention- It has been called, 1 ?The White Man's Crop." ; i Tobacco lands vary greatly, some- 1 times within a four acre field- High , returns per acre generally come from : fields which are relatively uniform < from one end to the other. Light to- < ?acco on one side of the field, med ium in tite center, and heavy on the < jther side ? all cured in the same i am ? never bringB maximum re- ( turns. And, what shall we do about j it? Maybe we can very the number i yt plants per acre, -the fertilisation j md tfae-toppiny so "a* tctgiyc&fe of < i portion isf the inequalities in our 1 and. i In wcearyeaA^reai^ptogress hasfj - ' ' ' J been made in the production and use of better fertilizers for tobacco. The market is demanding cigarette types and color is of first consideration. Tobacco with a bright lemon color and good texture tops the market. Parmers are changing their methods of fertilization and handling of the crop to -meet "these new demands. The figures show that- the farmers who have tile largest net returns per acre and produce t'-bacco at the low est cost <per pound generally have large yields. The production of rea sonably large yields of superior qual ify leaf caHS 'for-improved methods yt fertilization on most soils. . The United States Department of Agri culture and the experiment stations kto recommending 8% nitrogen, 8 to li ?'? 1 WW ?" ? ? 10% phosphoric acid, and 6 to 10% potash for1 Bright tobacco. The greatest change which has oc curred in Bright tobacco fertilisation in recent/years has been in potash* since this element is of first import ance both as to quality and yields. The 8-8-8 analysis for tobacco is call ed "a better ' fertiliser - for better times." Leading fertiliser cam panics are producing it this year. W. A. James of Morganton, route 3, harvested 3,000 pounds of Korean lespedesa seed from a five acre field; Lespedeza is steadily taking the place of coarpaas sifter wheat for soil im provement in Burke county.' ' Bertie county fanners are enthusi astic over the corn-hog reduction con tracts. Doctors Fight To Save Life of Boy Turning Into Bone Wilkes-Barre, Pa., March 28.?The body of seven-year-old Benjamin Hendrick of Larksville is slowly turn ing into bone. The boy's plight was revealed by physicians who have been fighting a losing battle at the WiBces-Bajre General Hospital to save him from apparently inevitable death. Physicians from all sections of the State have examined the boy, but none have been able to halt the ossi fication of his body, now almost im mobile. Physicians said adults have been known to fall victims of this rare dis-I ease, hut records do not show any cases -whera children were Afflicted with it The first evidence that Benjamin was suffering' from this so-colled "petrification of the" "body" was a noticeable' stiffening1 of the joints; : Mrs. Theresa Hendrick, Benja min's mother, attributed his condi tion to a fall vhen he was a year old. A brother repotted the boy's back became stiff and hard when he was two years old. When he was three, he fell at play, and afterwards his leg became stiff, causing him to limp. Physicians safd Benjamin's legs and arms were not yet compeltely ossified, although the bony condition was marked in his back and limbs. DIZZINESS relieved by Black-Draught "I decided to take Thedford's Black-Draught, as I had bees hav ing bilious spells," writes Mr. Charles E. Stevens, of Columbus, Ind. "When I get bilious, I feel sleepy and tired and do not feel like doing my work. It la hard to tell how I feel, but I do not feel good. I get awfully dizzy. I know - ' then that I had better take some thing. After I found how good Black-Draught is, that is what I have used. I guess it rids me of the bile, for I feel better?don't feel like -I am dropping off to sleep every time I sit down. That, to me, is a very bad feeling." Now you can get Black-Draught in the form of a BYBVP, for Chxlduh. ?r !, '? ? ' ?????I1IIM.I Ml . >?*? "profits jump in a hurry" "My tobacco has received about 70 pounds of pure potash per acre while the average for my section is around 25 pounds. I feel that an increase in potash in tobacco fertilizers will pay the average grower of this section. When you increase both yields and quality with extra potash, profits jump ing hurry. ' "I find for my conditions that close spacing, high topping and good ridge cultivation are just as important as the right kind of fertilizer.'! says W. CHRIS TAYLOR of Wilson, N.C. J. HENRY VAUGHN of Elm City, N. C., says ?'Without exception the highest priced crops of tobacco in my section are grown with fertilizers containing relatively high amounts of potash. Four main points are involved in the successful production of tobacco: 1?proper seasons, 2?the right (kind of land, 3?a good man, 4?well-balanced fertilizers. Leave out any one of these and you are short of the best. "My two brothers and I find it profitable to use more than twice as much potash as the average fertilizer contains. We use extra potash on tobacco, cotton, corn and sweet potatoes. It Fays!" This u/lkL . *r?er?. a better FERTILIZER for better times ? ? ? .... . . . . CHEMICAL analysis proves that 1,000 , pohnds of tobacco removes from the soil 80 pounds of pare potash. This is the exact amount of pure potash that 1,000 pounds of 3-8-8 fertiliser contains. Tobacco ? ' removes from the soil more potashf than both nitrogen and phosphoric add combined. It doesn't always pay to buy fertiliser on brand name alone. Check up on the analysis! Make surd your fertilizer -contains the proper -v amounts of the proper ingredients to pay you best. Your fertilizer man knows about the out-, standing results obtained by many leading farmers through the use of high-potash.ier tilizers or extra potash in addition to the average fertiliser. That is why he is featuring 3-8-8 fertilizer this season. By using- 3-8-8 fertilizer you can give your ; tobacco the ^necessary extra potash in your regular fertilizer application at planting. Re member that300 pounds of 3-8-8 usually costs less than 1,000 pounds of 3-8-3, yet 800 pounds of 3-8-8 contains more actual plant food and is a much better balanced fertilizer. Tell your fertilizer man you want 3-8-8 TOBACCO FERTILIZER for your tobacco crop and the regular 3-8-8 for cotton. Use these bettSr fertillzers this season. They will help you to get your full share Of better times! . I ~ ? -v ?;>< fORCOTTMIe To txlp four oottoa pm?> mt, ?otrol wilt qioMnii ntizBR. .i/tm w/
The Farmville Enterprise (Farmville, N.C.)
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March 30, 1934, edition 1
6
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