The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-22 00:00:00

THE PAPER TRADE.

The impending abolition of the Paper Duty has
produced one of the most interesting controversies
ever raised in this country upon a question of a -
n fa ctur e or trade. We have been so accustomed
to hear from all professions in turn their peculiar
claims to protection or encouragement that we can
no longer listen without suspicion to pleas of this
kind ; but it must, we think, be confessed that the
papermakers have done as much to establish the
exceptional character of their calling as could be
done by any:manufacturers in a country like ours.
That we actually share all their misgivings in the
matter is more than we can say, but probably few
persons ever dreamt of the anomalies which the
break-up of the old system would disclose.
The Excise duty on paper has been a nuisance,
as all such duties must be. It was also indirectly
a tax upon knowledge, for it was a tax upon the
vehicle by which knowledge is conveyed. So far,
therefore, the arguments against its retention were
well-founded, but it does not appear that the duty
operated to the discouragement of the manufacture,
or to the annoyance of the trade. The Commissioners
of Inland Revenue, who recently felt themselves
called upon to publish their views of the case, as-
serted distinctly that the actual production of paper
was in no degree impeded by the Excise regulations,
which, in this single instance, were enforced with
the slightest possible inconvenience to the manu-
facturer. The duty represented, in fact, a tax upon
the public which the manufacturers collected, and it
is now alleged that they derived a certain positive
advantage from the transaction. In making their
payments to the Exchequer they were allowed what
was virtually 13 weeks' credit, and this credit
was equivalent to a certain proportion of capital
available for their business. We have seen it
stated, indeed, that the system offered a direct in-
ducement to people of moderate means to embark
in a trade so conveniently regulated, and that even
the supply of paper itself was increased by the
effect of the same arrangements. As the manufac-
turer, at the expiration of his term of credit, could
often only provide for his engagements to the Ex-
cise-officer by producing more paper on which a
fresh credit could be obtained, he was constantly
stimulated to the work of production, even irrespec-
tively of the market demand ; and as the paper-
dealers, again, were fully cognizant of these periods
of pressure, they availed themselves of the oppor-
tunity to put the screw on the paper-makers, and
get the article at a low price for distribution to the
consumer. Such are some of the secrets of the
trade as now revealed, but the actual conditions of
the manufacture are more curious still.

In the case of all other articles there is a recipro-
city of interest between the producer and the manu-
facturer of the raw material which acts as an infal-
lible guarantee against any failure of supply. If
more calico, for instance, is wanted, more cotton is
grown ; if more bread is consumed, more land is
planted with wheat; but the raw material of paper
is not " produced" in any such fashion. Rags can
neither be grown nor sown; they can only be col-
lected, and the supply in this single instance is not
only not governed by the demand, but is utterly and
totally unconnected with it. If the manufacture of
paper were suddenly to cease to-morrow morning,
there would be just as many rags forthcoming as
before ; the only difference would be that, as they
would not be saleable, it would be worth nobody's
while to collect them. In the same way, if file de-
mand for paper were suddenly doubled, the supply
of rags would not be increased except by such a
margin as the extraordinary zeal of the collectors
might create. The " production," in short, of the
raw material is in this case involuntary. To a cer-
tain extent it cannot be avoided, and beyond a cer-
tain extent it cannot be increased. It will not
answer anybody's purpose to make rags ; for,
though they are worth something, they are not
worth so much as the material out of which they
are made. When a piece of linen or cotton is worn
out it will do to make paper with, but, as it will
serve a still better purpose in its original state,people
naturally endeavour to make it wear as long
as possible, or, in other words, to retard the period
at which it becomes a rag and is available for the
papermill. The production of rags, therefore, can-
not be stimulated, nor can it be increased by any
measure except the prevention of waste.
But cannot some other material be found ? Un-
luckily, the conditions of the case are almost as dif-
ficult at this point as at that last described. Any
raw material possessing the quality of fibre requisite
for the manufacture of good paper would be avail-
able also for the manufacture of those articles out
of which good paper is now made, and the latter, as
a matter of eourse, would be the more profitable ap-
plication of the two. The other day, for instance,
a plant was found nearly as fit for these purposes
as hemp itself. It would make good paper, but it
would also make good ropes, and so it was turned
into ropes, and will not come to the papermill till
it has served another purpose first. Again, if the
desired material could be discovered, it would have
to compete in the market with rags--a material
equivalent, as we have shown, to a mere refuse,
produced insensibly and without any expense what-
ever.
From these curious conditions it will be easy to
comprehend the arguments now cu, a certainrrentandsuthpe-
negotiations now pending. Every country pos-
sesses, in its natural supply of rags
ply of the raw material of paper. The amount of
the supply depends on the number and habits of the
population ; the demand for it is governed by the
intelligence of the community, the freedom of the
press, and other circumstances connected with the
diffusion of knowledge. In this country and the
United States the demand has long overtaken the
supply ; in many States of the Continent the sup-
ply is more than equal to the demand. There,
accordingly, rags are cheap, while they are dear
in England, and still:dearer in America. Ame-
rica, therefore, comes to England to buy them,
but England cannot resort for the same
purpose to the Continent, inasmuch as the
ports of the Continent are closed against such
exports. Hence arise the arguments of our paper-
makers, as expressed by one of the most eminent
of them in another portion of our columns. The
natural wish of all nations is to retain the office of
manufacturing, or, in other words, to obtain cheap
supplies of the raw material and the largest pos-
sible field for trade in the finished article. France
would be only too glad to send us paper, but not to
send us rags; and if she sent us rags and paper to-
gether she would still, says Mr. Wrigley, be under.
sold in our markets by other countries, which, re-
taining all their own rags, and therefore getting a
cheaper material, could supply us with paper
cheaper than France. The upshot of the whole de-
mand is, that import duties upon paper and export
duties
upon rags should be made to balance each
other ; otherwise the privilege and profit of manu-
facturing paper for the world's market will belong