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VOL XXXI HOPKINSVILLE KENTUCKY TUESDAY FEBRUARY 16 1909 No 20
J
BiaKER AND
y ARKER TALK
1
f TOBACCO
10
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1Great Gathering of Farmers
1and Longview Agreement
f lI11tIs Read
4MEETING
MEETING QUICKLY OVER
f
And a General Mass Meeting
Is Held and Chas E Bar
> 1
y ker Addresses It
ItK
Itf
the meeting following the Hop
> kinyille conference which met at
dg court house Saturday found it
elf with but little to do
Dr John P Bell called the meet
ing to order and asked that the
agreement entered into be read
which was done He further stated
that the Longview conferees had
agreed with Manager Ewing that
there would be no discussion of the
k
agreement
Dr J L Barker county chairman
was nominated for chairman but de
clined to serve and Dr Bell continu
ed to act as chairman without objec
tion
A call was made upon Mr Chas
E Barker to speak and Mr Barker
came forward and said that since an
agreement had been made that no
speeches would be made to the
meeting called he would submit to
then agreement and not make a
vsp t
i Thereupon the meeting adjourned
The large audience which packed
the court room to its full capacity
was clearly not satisfied as the
agreement which had been read was
not construed by all alike and the
farmers were anxious to hear it dis
cussed
The people retained their seats
rind there were renewed calls for
Mr Barker to address the mass
meeting that followed close upon the
tobacco meeting
Mr Barker finally responded to
the call and took the ground that
the Longview agreement could af
ford only temporary relief since the
system itself was wrong and did not
protect all members alike He said
he intended to be entirely respectful
to his nephew Chairman Barker
and to General Manager Ewing and
to loyally submit as a member of the
association to its orders while he
w s a member even to the extent
ofrolling his tobacco into the river
if ordered to do so His crop of
1908 would go the regular course
but he had a right as an interested
party to criticise the system that
was ruining the people
The resolution at Longview which
had been published represented his
views He did not want to destroy
the association but to reform it
He said personal charges of graft
idrruption against him publish
ed irtlan infamous sheet would
not be noticed He was satisfied
that neither Dr Barker nor Mr
Ewing had anything to do with this
mudslinging
mudslingingThe
The article from the Farmers
Home Journal severely criticising
the associations management writ
ten by Mr Barker was read which
is published in part herewith
Conditions in Black Pato h
In 190905 and 06 we cut out a
crap We had an advance in price
as the law of supply and demand ac
cords In 1907 though we professed
to be restricting acreage we grew a
full crop of poor tobacco Then our
officials went wildand while night
riding in its most hideous hellish
ness was in the saddle booted and
spurred and winked at by many of
our best citizens condoling threats
dynamiting arson murder assassin
ationthe executive committee
made a price list of the 1907 crop of
tobacco commencing at 7 for trash
lugs and going to 25 for fancy
wrappers and swore and bedamned
that the trust should pay it Well
we boys in the furrows thought
that the millennium had surely come
that we would beat that Trust Bus
ter at Washington and you can im
agine our chagrin when we found
out that the whole face of the earth
was planting tobacco They had
heard about our cutting out a crop
that lugs were to sell for 7 to 11
cents ahd that they could get into
the game and without being handi
capped by any association The re
sult was that they competed with us
so thick and fast that Spain who
usually takes 20000 hogsheads of
our lowest grades on account of
these prohibitive priceswent around
us to the Island of Java and bought
11000 hogsheads and left us with the
bag to hold Bremen who is one of
our most desirable customers and
really the only open European mar
ket we have was very shy about
buying at these high prices but be
ing doubly assured by the associa
tion that the list of prices should not
be varied from came in and bought
freely at from 9 to 14 cents When I
she had been pretty well loaded up
our association saw we had still too
large a stock on hand that the year
was passing rapidly andour farmers
were getting more and mose insist
ent to sell That something had to
be done they had said the prices
should not be cut then the only
ye
thing they could do was to lower the
grades Now you see it and now
you dont six of one and half doz
en of the other So down went the
grades and now a few competitors
of Bremen and Italy who had bought
te
very sparingly up to this time came
in The association looks over the
regrading sell tobacco that had cost
Bremen from 9 to 14 at an average
of 825 She throws out hundreds
of hogsheads that she accepted in
1905 at 885 and it is regraded and
sold to the American Snuff Co at
725 Splendid good tobacco Amer
icpn Snuff Co sees tis time for her
to come in and last week she took
over 350 hogsheads half leaf and half
lugs and this tobacco to be deliver
ed from Hopkinsville and my little
town Pembroke at 575 breaking
the camels back and putting out of
business the old has been who al
ways harks back to 1903
Never since there has been a to
bacco market in the Black Patch
have the monopolies Trust and Re
gie contractors bought tobacco as
cheap or as satisfactorily as they
are now doing from the Dark To
bacco Growers Association This
private system of selling tobacco is
the most pernicious that could be
adopted Why should a man furnish
the labor and money to produce a
crop and turn it over to anybody to
sell without his knowledge as to
time price or its condition Why
put the temptation before any man
to take out the bargains from a lot
of samples and turn them over to a
confederate Why selecta lot of
farmers to grade tobacco who do
not know anything about types or
markets or demands Why make a
poor man borrow money in order
that a rich one may have an associa
tion Why have the poor man deny
his family the necessities of life his
children an education this is being
L IRST NATIONAL BANK
HOPKINSVILLE KENTUCKY
° UNITED STATES DEPOSITARY
Qnfy National Bank In This Community
V 1 rani uu750 00 00
Surplus V 2500000
StockholderBUability 7500000
HAS A REGULAR SAVINGS DEPARTMENT
1hr Par Cent Interest Paid on Savings and Time Deposit
F f Ij I I >
done in 25 per cent of this commu
nity and any social advantages
that we may have a 100000 per year I
executive committee on a system
that it itself does not understand
Why make the tenant renter and
small landowner cut down his crop
that every adjoining and distant
community or territory may grow
tobacco to compete with us in a
market that we inherited from our
forefathersI
I am aot opposed to pooling or as
sociations among farmers On the
contrary ram more and more iv
pressed with the necessity for con
cert of action but let that be done
by sensible practical men who have
the best interest of the producer at
heart regardless of prizing houses
warehouses committee or salaried
officials <
officialsTurning
Turning next to the conference
agreement the speaker said it was a
makeshift to hoodwink the farmers
and keep the same system He
construed the agreement to mean
that a buyer must be found for each
pool of 500000 pounds the associa
tion to grade it and fix the price and
take 12 per cent Mr Ewing claims
tie present system and he is wel
come to it It robs the farmer of any
voice in his own affairs Let the
farmer say whether or not he will
take the price offered for his own
tobacco Great applluse Give the
farmer a square deal Because we
can make a private agreement why
leave the poor and weaker members
to their fate He declared that he
was opposed to private deals and op
posed to paying 12 per cent tribute
to Mr Ewing Loud applause
But the agreement has been made
and I am bound by it Will you
walk into my parjor said the spider
to the fly and they walked Why i
cannot farmers manage their own
association They have their own
institutes Why not let the institute
work all be done at Guthrie
Dr J L Barker was then called
but declined to make a speech say
ing he was only disappointed that
there should be any lack of complete
harmony in the meeting That the
agreement had been accepted as
satisfactory by everybody conceded
excepting his uncle
There were calls for other speakers
but none responded and the second
meeting adjourned with no action
of any kind having been taken to ap
prove or disapprove the agreement
The agreement is susceptible of
more than one construction but the
concensus of opinion which is con
curred in by several lawyers includ
ing Judge W T Fowler the associ
ations legal adviser is that any buy
er who agrees to buy 500000 pounds
of tobacco is a qualified buyer and a
grader will be furnished and he can
buy any and all association tobacco
of the several types named in the
agreement practically all classes ex
cept some low grades
The following buyers have al
ready bought 500000 pounds or
more of association tobacco this
season and are therefore qualified
buyers of crops when graded
Imperial Tobacco Co
Thomas Hodge Co
W S Matthews Co
W W Bradley for Gallagher
C D Campbell Louisville
Head Co Madisonville
Nosworthy Argue Henderson
Arthur Jarvis Henderson
Vaughan Co Owensboro
American Snuff Co
Regie Company
The last two are temporarily dis
qualified under the proviso that to
bacco cannot be bought that comes
in contact with the old crop on hand
This construction makes Hopkins
ville practically an open markeb for
the sale of association tobacco in
loose leaf from the wagon
Cut His Wife
Cleveland Cowherd cut his wife
on the arm with a knife Saturday
night and will have his examining
trial before Judge Brasher this
morning at 10 oclock
Own a Home
DONT PAY RENT v
For sale at a bargain A beauti
ful new home on one of the best
corner lots in the city Also a mod
ern upto date house on East Ninth
street Call on Planters Bank andI
Trust Co
jt
LETTER FROM EGYPT
Written By a Former Citizen
of Christian County Now
in Alexandria
Mr Geo V Donnell formerly of
this county is now in business in
Alexandria Egypt apd wrote the
fojlowing letter Christmas to the
Lebanon Tenn Democrat at which
place his family noW resides
Perhaps a description of a Christ
mae irt Egypt as it appears to one
who his never known anything ex
cept American Christmases may
prove Of interest to some of your
readersIn
In the first place there is no regard
paid to the orthodox Christmas
weather as viewed from the stand
point of a Middle Tennessee boy
Snow is a thing unknown and ice is
only to be had of a dealer
In the fields cabbage onion
squash radishes beans etc are
growing while the public parks and
private gardens present a most gor
geous display of beautiful flowers in
full bloom
Pecember 25 except for a dis I
agreeable drizzling rain in the early
morning was an ideal spring day
An American Santa Claus would
experience no difficulty in filling his
pack from the shops of Alexandria
merchants though some of the ar
ticles + would differ slightly from
those of his native land owing to the
fact that many of the toys are made
by hand
handSome
Some things he would not find at
all for there is something else be
sides a dearth of snow and ice that
would make the Alexandria Christ
mas a failure for the Tennessee boy
the complete absence of fire works
of every description No cannon
crackers ro torpedoes no ppp
sticks no Roman candles no toy
pistois no accidents
Think of it a Christmas without
those familiar noisesI
There is scarcely any effort made
by the native Egyptian parent to
provide entertainment for his chil
dren Being a supremely selfish in
dividual he attends to his own
amusement and leaves the children
to do likewise
With rare exceptions Santa Claus
only visits the children of the Eng
lish and Americans the exception
being the native Christian
lilt is sad to know that this land
so intimately associated with the
early history of the Israelites and so
near to the birthplace of the Christ
child that the anniversary of his
birththe giving of the greatest
gift to manis not universally ob
served In a way the day was quite
generally observed as a holiday
but not as a time of good cheer as
in America it was simply a cessa
tion from labor
The stores of Alexandria present
much the same attractions for pro o
pective present buyers as those of
the United States and the night be
fore Christmas they were over run
with good natured shoppers elbowing
through the crowd to see the display
or perchance make a purchase
The unfortunates are remembered
here as in America and charity
reaches out a helping hand to light
en the burdens of the afflicted The
children at the school for the blind
were made to forget for a time the
darkness of their long night in the
enjoyment ofn bountiful dinner
furnished by come of the good la
dies of the city
Let us hope that the day is not far
distant when the Islam children will
join the great throng of Christian
children in commemorating the
great eventthe birth of Christ
GV D
Alexandria Egypt Dec 27 1908
Rev C B Waller
Rev C B Waller of Chattanoo
ga will visit the city this week and
will preach at the prayer meeting
service at the Baptist church tomor
row night
nightFine
Fine Harness Horse
J M Carter sold a fine harness
horse to Arthur B Lander of New
stead one day last week The price
f S4 O
>
i < < < +
f A t Cost
All Woolen Dress Goods
cAll at New York Cost
Reductions on All a +
k Muslin Underwear
I
Come arid Get Choice fW
kC
T M Jones wjMfii
1 Main Street Hopkinsville Ky j a M
ai
Hints to Farmers i I I f
I
Now is the time that you
realize ctiiyoW seasons 1
work v
i 1
As you sell your tobacco
stock or produce place your J
money on open account with
a reliable bank
Pay your bills by check
I which makes the best kind
of a receipt and avoid the j
worry and danger attending
the carrying of large sums
of money
moneyOur
Our offices are always at
the disposal of our custo J
mers and country friends
Bank of Hopkinsville
E D LONG President JNO D TBICE Vicepresident
W T rANDY Cashier
CITY BANK
Capital 6000000 i
7500000
Surplus or 4
> l
This Bank ranks among the first in the state of Ken
tucky in proportion of surplus to capItai
In Surplus there is Strength
We invite your account as a safe depository forJ
your funds Deposit your valuable papers in our
vaultsafe from fire and burglars
3 PER CENT INTEREST ON TIME DEPOSITS
c
J F aAHETETX Pros A H ECKIiES Cashier
T J MoEEYNOLDS V pt r W DABOTIY V Pt
PLANTERS BANK TRUST CO
I CAPITAL 10000000
SURPLUS AND PROFSTS S2OOOOOO I
Thoroughly equipped lor Banking and Trustee Business
Open an account and let us show youyM
Loans and Investments made yM
Acts as Admr Extr Trustee Guardian Agent Receiver etc
Buys and sells Real Estate and Manages Properly
Salo Fire and Burglar proof vaults
3 Per Cent Interest on Time dertlflcate51I
t
i mim
J
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