p. 16 | Tyrant Tobacco

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 1, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 13.

Tyrant Tobacco

Leslie's Magazine for March has an article on the “Tobacco War,” which is of interest in showing how money has been piled up in the tobacco trust. The article says:—

The trust has gone into the manufacture of cigars. It has been in business less than two years, and, during the past twelve months, it produced about a billion cigars. As the total production of the country is approximately seven billions, this represents a very fair amount of business for an infant concern.

The enormous extent of the tobacco business in America may be realized from the fact that seven billion cigars, three billion cigarettes, and two hundred and eighty million pounds of manufactured tobacco, and fifteen million pounds of snuff are produced every year. The retail value of all the smoking and chewing tobacco, in its various forms, approaches $500,000,000 annually.

It is for this business, in all its fulness, the trust is fighting. On one brand of plug tobacco $4,000,000 was spent in advertising, but since that $12,000,000 profits have been made from that brand.