AMERICAN TOBACCO CO, AND IMPERIAL TOBACCO CO. 85 
The committee believes that the Board should have announced this redrying 
policy at the time it was adopted and should have given to the membership a 
complete statement of the reasons for adopting the policy. Had this information 
seen given full publicity, we believe that much of the criticism which has developed 
would never have arisen. 
The statement of the investiga is committee quoted above shows 
that the apprehension of the members of the Association with re- 
spect to its officials being financially interested in redrying plants 
was a cause of defection in the membership. 
It does not show, however, that cooperative officials other than 
those connected with the Edmondson Tobacco Co. were financially 
interested in plants engaged to redry association tobacco, and it rep- 
resents that Tucker C. Watkins and other officials who joined the 
Edmondson concern did so in 1923. The facts are that Messrs. 
Patterson, general manager, and Watkins, director of warehouses, 
made their private arrangements to redry association tobacco through 
the Edmondson Tobacco Co., prior to the delivery of the 1922 crop, 
and did redry cooperative tobacco of the 1922 crop in exactly the 
same way they were represented to have begun in 1923. Further- 
more, at least 15 other officials were privately interested m 11 
other redrying concerns which redried association tobacco of the 1922 
crop. No new firms with which important officers were connected 
began redrying this cooperative’s tobacco in 1923. Of the total 
volume Ew by the association in 1922 and 1923, a larger pro- 
portion, or 48 per cent, was redried in 1922 in plants in which officials 
were interested than was redried in such plants in 1923 when the 
proportion was 44 per cent. These facts are shown in the table 
ollowing: