ANALYSIS OF TOBACCO GROWEKS' ASSOCIATION 



63 



Secrecy of the association in regard to salaries created wild 

 rumors and aroused suspicion regarding the supposedly excessive 

 salaries of directors, officials, and employees. No doubt persons 

 opposed to the farmers' organization were the source of many of 

 these rumors and exaggerations. 



Unquestionably the publishing of individual salaries of the em- 

 ployees would result in some jealousy and discontent among those 

 employed. This could have been avoided and all suspicion could 

 have been allayed by making public, from time to time, the salaries 

 of each of the higher officials, but only the average salaries of 

 groups of employees as graders, warehouse managers, and clerks. 



OWNEKSHIP OF WAREHOUSE PROPERTY 



In marketing tobacco the receiving warehouse is the place of 

 assembly. As soon as the marketing season began it was necessary 

 for the association subsidiaries to open warehouses in each of the 

 districts. It would have been better if the association could have 

 operated these warehouses. This, however, was impossible because it 

 was necessary to create other corporate bodies in order that ware- 

 house receipts could be issued and used as collateral for loans. To 

 effect this, the tri-State tobacco area was divided into five districts, 

 and five warehousing corporations were formed. (Fig. 10.) 



The marketing contract of the Tobacco Growers' Cooperative 

 Association provided that a warehousing or other corporation might 

 be organized in any district or community where at least 100 mem- 

 bers signed a petition for the formation of such an organization. The 

 business to be conducted by this corporation was to receive and store 

 agricultural products as a public warehouseman; to lease, acquire, 

 purchase, or construct receiving plants, warehouses, drying plants, 

 or other buildings necessary or convenient for the purpose of re- 

 ceiving, drying, curing, processing, conditioning, preserving, grad- 

 ing, packing, storing, manufacturing, and handling tobacco, or any 

 of these, and to carry on any of such activities. 30 



These corporations were to run on a nonprofit basis and were to 

 be financed by deductions from the marketing proceeds of the mem- 

 bers' tobacco within the respective districts in which the warehouses 

 were operated. If, however, any central plants were purchased, 

 leased, or constructed, or operated for the general benefit of several 

 or all districts, such deductions would be made from the proceeds 

 of all districts benefited. Table 26 shows the deductions made from 

 the marketing proceeds and applied to the purchase of warehouse 

 property. 



Table 26. — Deductions from marketing proceeds applied to the purchase of 

 warelwuse property, by warehousing corporations 



Warehousing corporation 



1922 



1923 



1924 



3 crops ° 





Dollars 



25, 564. 10 

 108,230.63 

 102, 452. 02 

 219, 599. 23 



87, 639. 64 



Dollars 

 19, 257. 17 

 72, 876. 37 

 63, 353. 86 

 247, 818. 38 

 100, 271. 49 



Dollars 

 13, 428. 95 

 52, 151. 71 

 46, 828. 85 

 14, 683. 54 

 8, 526. 05 



Dollars 

 58, 250. 22 





233, 258. 71 





212, 634. 73 





482,101.15 





196, 437. 18 







Total 



543, 485. 62 



503, 577. 27 



135, 619. 10 



1, 182, 681. 99 







■ No deductions were made from the 1925 crop. 



80 Declaration of charter and articles of incorporation of warehousing corporation. 



