TOBACCO INSPECTION LAWS. 



surdity. They are accustomed to let men use their own judgment as to whether 

 coats shall be of woolen cloth, or of satinet, and whether they shall have long 

 or short tails ; and to determine for themselves whether tlTey will wear shoes 

 whose stitches are hardly " within hail of each other," and that will give way 

 on the first wearing, or others honestly made, that will wear for months and then 

 bear patching. They see that the general interest is best consulted by never un- 

 dertaking to regulate by law what may be better adjusted by individual arrange- 

 ments, and that it is easy to have too ?mich Government. Nevertheless, they see 

 nothing absurd in State inspections of tobacco, or of flour, deemed absolutely ne- 

 cessary to prevent frauds, as if the purchasers and sellers of commodities could 

 tind no way of coming to an understanding as to the real value of those in market, 

 without the intervention of an officer appointed by Government, who may or may 

 not, as it happens, possess any of the qualities necessary to constitute him a 

 judge of the articles he is called up to inspect. To us, the whole system of 

 State inspection appears an absurdity, involving no small amount of taxation, 

 and we are happy to see that is gradually going out. The flour inspection, 

 and we think various others, have been abolished in New- York, and we doubt 

 not that of tobacco in Maryland will speedily follow. Nevertheless, there are 

 some of our own readers who have such faith m the system that they believe 

 it capable of producing the effect of diminishing the cultivation of tobacco in 

 Ohio and Kentucky, provided the inspection be rendered local instead of gen- 

 eral ; and that the people of the West, producers of that commodity, on the 

 one hand, and the merchants of Baltimore, purchasers of it, on the other, can 

 thus be deprived of the intervention of an officer, appointed by Government, 

 who, nevertheless, would be found perfectly willing to serve any private asso- 

 ciation of merchants on better terms than those upon which he now serves them 

 at the instance of the State. In order that we may see how the local system 

 would work, we must first inquire what is the object of inspection, and what 

 it is that gives value to the marks the Inspector sees fit to put upon the 

 packages that he inspects. 



Tobacco diff'ers in color and taste, and probably in other qualities. Some 

 colors and tastes are more esteemed than others, and less abundant, and those 

 who desire them are willing to pay higher prices for them than they would for 

 others. In every parcel brought to market various qualities are found, and it 

 requires nice discrimination to determine which should rank as No. 1 — which No. 

 2, 3 or 4. The merchant wishes to purchase a number of hogsheads, but he 

 possesses neither the leisure nor the knowledge necessary to enable him to satis- 

 fy himself as to the qualities of each, and therefore he is desirous that some one 

 should examine it for him, and is ready to pay him for his trouble. The seller 

 would be willing to have it examined by any one, but he would not permit its qual- 

 ity to be marked on the package, unless he had some control over the clioice of 

 the examiner. Both agree upon a referee, and are ready to abide by his deci- 

 sion ; and here we have the Inspector. The qualities required in such a man 

 are : 1. A perfect knowledge of the standard that is established and in general 

 use, that he may put upon it such marks as will enable the purchaser in Bremen 

 or Hamburg to know what he is buying, without a necessity for farther inspec- 

 tion. 2. An entire freedom from any influences that might tend to induce him 



is prescribed, " they are to wenr when at work a frock which is to reach below the calf of the leg, without 

 any slit or opening, and a waistcoat closely buttoned, which may be without sleeves. They are not in any 

 case to show themselves in the streets without pantaloons and a waistcoat with sleeves." 

 (55) 



