ANALYSIS OF TOBACCO GROWERS* ASSOCIATION 45 



of the members displayed an appalling lack of interest in the affairs 

 of the association, which they soon came to look upon as an organi- 

 zation apart from themselves. 



A comprehensive plan of organization and program of work for 

 the field-service department was submitted to the board of directors 

 by the field-service department in August, 1922, but the plan, al- 

 though favorably commented upon, was never put into action, largely 

 because of expense and because the board did not then realize the 

 necessity of a strong field-service department. The field-service de- 

 partment was at no time given enough assistance or power by the 

 board to perform its functions in such a way as to be of the needed 

 value to the association. 



In 1925, as a result of recommendations by the agricultural inves- 

 tigation committee, the department was considerably strengthened, 

 but it was then too late. The members generally had become sus- 

 picious of the field-service men because they feared that the field men 

 were in most instances attempting to secure information in regard 

 to contract violators and violations with the intention of using this 

 information in prosecutions. This suspicion, even during the earlier 

 3 r ears of the operation of the association, prevented the field-service 

 work from being as effective as it might otherwise have been, espe- 

 cially in the more disloyal districts. 



An important function of the field-service department was the pub- 

 lication of the monthly official organ, the Tri-State Tobacco Grower. 

 This journal, a copy of which was sent to every member, was pub- 

 lished to convey to members the news of the activities of their asso- 

 ciation. Unfortunately much space was devoted to material which 

 may be described as propaganda, and to articles denouncing the 

 tactics of the opposition. Reference was seldom made to the com- 

 plexity or difficulty of the problems encountered by the association. 

 It is doubtful, however, whether this would have done much good, as 

 a large proportion of the farmers did not have the necessary training 

 and experience to enable them to appreciate the significance of the 

 principles involved (5, p. 95). It was found that a large number 

 of members failed to read the official house organ, 16 just as they failed 

 to attend the meetings of the local units. The official organ was 

 supplemented by a weekly news letter, which was sent to all locals 

 to be read at their meetings. But as these locals frequently had only 

 a small attendance, the usefulness of the news letter was limited to 

 comparatively few members and, for the most part, to the interested 

 and more intelligent and loyal members. 



LEGAL STATUS OF THE ASSOCIATION . 



According to the membership agreement the Tobacco Growers' 

 Cooperative Association was to be organized under the laws of the 

 State of North Carolina if by July 1, 1921, the appropriate legisla- 

 tion had been there enacted — otherwise under the laws of the State 

 of Tennessee — and if by this date signatures of tobacco growers or 

 persons eligible to membership, covering at least one-half of the 

 aggregate production of tobacco in North Carolina, Virginia, and 

 South Carolina in 1920, had been secured. The required quantity of 



16 Report of the agricultural investigation committee section on membership department 



