119 



officiating as directors or officials of a large cooperative business. 

 Cooperative marketing of any commodity was comparatively a new 

 principle in this area and the cooperative marketing of tobacco had 

 not been fully tested here or elsewhere. The management was ex- 

 travagant in purchasing and operating warehouses and in employing 

 personnel. The many attempts to enforce contracts by legal proce- 

 dure aroused the active enmity of many members who were finan- 

 cially unable to live up to the marketing agreement. Secrecy as to 

 some of the affairs of the association, the changing of grades on some 

 markets, lack of closer contact with the members, and especially 

 the policy of selling only redried tobacco to certain buyers and the 

 policy of redrying by officials of the association were among the 

 factors which contributed to the failure through loss of confidence 

 and support of the members and the public. 



The buying of the tobacco of the tri-State area is centered in the 

 hands of a few large tobacco companies. The cooperative associa- 

 tion, having failed to secure the good will of these companies, had 

 difficulty in selling its tobacco. Thus it was impossible for the 

 association to make frequent or large payments to its members, many 

 of whom were entirely dependent upon the returns from their tobacco 

 for a livelihood. The auction-floor system of selling ' was firmly 

 intrenched in Virginia and the Carolinas. There was much opposi- 

 tion to the association from those who would be injured financially 

 if the association were successful. This opposition came from leaf 

 dealers, warehousemen, buyers for the large companies, merchants, 

 bankers, and other business men in some of the larger and more 

 important markets. Paying high prices for split-crop tobacco ; pre- 

 dicting the failure of the association ; spreading propaganda in regard 

 to salaries paid, extravagance of the officials, honesty and integrity 

 of the management ; using as propaganda every misstep of the asso- 

 ciation, were among the methods reported as being used to break 

 down the association. Many of the bankers and time merchants 

 helped to prevent delivery to the cooperative by encouraging or 

 forcing members to break their contracts. All of this unfriendliness, 

 competition, and opposition was an important factor in causing 

 dissatisfaction on the part of the members and gave rise to some of 

 the difficulties of the receiving and the selling of the members' 

 tobacco. 



RESULTS OF THE ASSOCIATION 

 BENEFITS DERIVED FROM OPERATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 



The Tobacco Growers' Cooperative Association, in spite of its fail- 

 ure, has to its credit many accomplishments, some of which will have 

 a lasting and beneficial influence upon the conditions and future of 

 the tobacco farmers in Virginia and the Carolinas. Some of the 

 benefits are enumerated below : 



At least a basic grading system for sun-cured, dark-fired, and flue-cured to- 

 baccos was promulgated. It proved that tobacco grading and sale by sample 

 is feasible and desirable. Better sorting, grading, and handling of tobacco 

 has resulted on many farms and has continued especially in South Carolina. 



Growers have a better knowledge of the relative values of the different quali- 

 ties of tobacco, and the production of a better quality has resulted in many 

 instances because of this better realization of the quality factor. 



