wholesale value of $100 million. Important to the total 

 picture in the state is the production of automatic mer- 

 chandising devices. St. Louis now leads the country in 

 the manufacture of cigarette- vending machines. 



The direct state tax on cigarettes alone, between 1956 

 when the levy was established and June 30, 1959, has 

 brought more than $35 million to Missouri's treasury. 

 Additional to income from this source is the yield from 

 the current sales tax applied to cigarettes sold at retail. 



The consumer demand for tobacco gives employment 

 to many people in Missouri. Among them are the farmers 

 and helpers on more than 4,000 farms whose tobacco 

 produce brought growers about $2,250,000 in 1958. A 

 census of that part of Missouri's working population 

 whose income in whole or in part derives from the 

 tobacco trade would make an impressive total. 



That the trade is not entirely intrastate is shown by the 

 most recent figure for goods shipped out: $11,843,218. 

 The value of raw materials ( some of which are of local 

 origin) required by tobacco manufacturers of the state 

 totaled about $7,400,000. Part of the cost of conducting 

 this business came to $1,348,208 for rent, taxes and insur- 

 ance. Production workers and other employees earned 

 $1,840,000 in wages, salaries and commissions. 



The facts and figures briefly reported give some indi- 

 cation of the economic value of tobacco to Missouri. Its 

 fiscal value has taken visible form in new roads, new 

 schools and other constructions important to the general 

 community. For many years Missouri has been a con- 

 siderable taxpayer on manufactured tobacco products. 

 In the decade from 1872, for instance, its yield to the 

 federal treasury totaled over $18 million. (This was in a 



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