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Letter to Editor
November 7, 1905
Daily Public Ledger
Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky
What is this article about?
A Mason County tobacco grower defends the decision at a recent meeting to contract not to plant tobacco in 1906, arguing it allows tenants to sell their 1905 crop at better prices, avoid low markets, and find alternative work or crops, countering the editor's pessimistic view on tenants' futures.
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Full Text
THE TOBACCO QUESTION
Mason County, October 31st. 1905.
To the Editor of The Ledger: I notice in your paper of today the publication of the meeting of a few of the tobacco growers of Mason county, I being there myself. Think it very kind of you for publishing the object of the meeting. but do not think your ideas are right in regard to the future of the tenant.
In the first place, every tenant depends on a crop of tobacco for most of his living. and now every tenant has his tobacco in his own hands (that is, under his control:) and if the land owners and tenants sign a contract not to plant any tobacco for 1906, with the 1905 crop in his possession, he does not sign a contract "to stay out in the cold" if he has not been prosperous and saved some money, but signs a contract to save one year's toil and sell the crop he has on hands for as many dollars as he would get for this crop and the one he intends to grow in 1906. But if he refuses to sign, he is satisfied with the price, which will be very low- not over an average of $7 per hundred pounds -and would rather do a year's work in another crop than to sell the one he has on hands for $14, which is a very low estimate with one crop short.
You are wrong again about the tenant having to live in idleness if he should plant no crop for 1906. Every land owner for the past four or five years has been short of laborers, has had to neglect his farm on that account, so the tenant will have plenty to do, if he wants to work, at good wages, and besides there are plenty of crops he can plant to help support him-corn, potatoes, wheat, raise a good garden, plenty of poultry, sell butter and eggs, and eat what he can't sell. That's the way many a man has gotten rich, but all this you don't know; you are not a farmer. Help the man who helps you; don't try to pull him down.
SUBSCRIBER To THE LEDGER.
Mason County, October 31st. 1905.
To the Editor of The Ledger: I notice in your paper of today the publication of the meeting of a few of the tobacco growers of Mason county, I being there myself. Think it very kind of you for publishing the object of the meeting. but do not think your ideas are right in regard to the future of the tenant.
In the first place, every tenant depends on a crop of tobacco for most of his living. and now every tenant has his tobacco in his own hands (that is, under his control:) and if the land owners and tenants sign a contract not to plant any tobacco for 1906, with the 1905 crop in his possession, he does not sign a contract "to stay out in the cold" if he has not been prosperous and saved some money, but signs a contract to save one year's toil and sell the crop he has on hands for as many dollars as he would get for this crop and the one he intends to grow in 1906. But if he refuses to sign, he is satisfied with the price, which will be very low- not over an average of $7 per hundred pounds -and would rather do a year's work in another crop than to sell the one he has on hands for $14, which is a very low estimate with one crop short.
You are wrong again about the tenant having to live in idleness if he should plant no crop for 1906. Every land owner for the past four or five years has been short of laborers, has had to neglect his farm on that account, so the tenant will have plenty to do, if he wants to work, at good wages, and besides there are plenty of crops he can plant to help support him-corn, potatoes, wheat, raise a good garden, plenty of poultry, sell butter and eggs, and eat what he can't sell. That's the way many a man has gotten rich, but all this you don't know; you are not a farmer. Help the man who helps you; don't try to pull him down.
SUBSCRIBER To THE LEDGER.
What sub-type of article is it?
Persuasive
Informative
What themes does it cover?
Agriculture
Commerce Trade
What keywords are associated?
Tobacco Growers
Mason County
Tenant Farmers
1906 Contract
Crop Prices
Agricultural Labor
Alternative Crops
What entities or persons were involved?
Subscriber To The Ledger
To The Editor Of The Ledger
Letter to Editor Details
Author
Subscriber To The Ledger
Recipient
To The Editor Of The Ledger
Main Argument
tenants should sign the contract not to plant tobacco in 1906 to sell their current crop at higher prices, avoid low market rates, and pursue alternative work or crops, rather than risking unprofitable labor as the editor suggests.
Notable Details
Mason County Meeting Of Tobacco Growers
Contract Not To Plant Tobacco For 1906
Estimated Prices: $7 Per Hundred Pounds If Planting, $14 If Not
Alternative Income: Corn, Potatoes, Wheat, Garden, Poultry, Butter, Eggs
Landowners Short Of Laborers For Past 4 5 Years