Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1864-12-21

uI6IWH Z. Jsssssl II Csanssss. De.
.Is4Av5 leehI a. 81 y
1nGa -. aaDociatsd In syssybody's
81 ~ With squalor and meanness, have
ssssS tss 3 l2Jksjs1 A. rssds vscan.
n - 1n0hroneneot of cotton The world
o.. 80 arc recognized - sustaining N
inncrtant feIationsbjp 10 the INTEREST," u
1900. Mors than this, they are found
- g. IN peculiar sense identified with tho
pssgFsss q litseature and popular enlight-
en4snk N iunde4uato s1pply of - ex-
osajtant Price d1oct1y tendesto deprive the
mo6oss Il tho people 81 their accustomed
nsVepaosr. and children Of their books. A
tsmporsry dsarth Of rags has therefore stir.
ri m a1ively agitation. both in the United
that Cuogress shall permit no delay in re-
sealing tie duties on paper and in Europe
thses Q : disposition on the part Of several
az the continental powers TO remove from
nm ~ pgehibitive export duties. BY new
convention between France and Switzerland,
IN ~ boueflN Of which England will share,
by virtue Of the "most favored nation"
clause. the French export duty will be re-
ducsd from twelve to four francs per 100
kiloerammes and Belgium 10 said to con-
template reducing the export duty to two
francs. Thus there is . prospect that event.
ually rich harvest Of rags will be gathered
on The eousinent, from which the United
States may profit, If We use appropriate
means. The enormously increased con-
sumption Of papsr in England, and the di.
minutioa Of The raw material in the United
States, have been attended with the same
eject. in The embarrassment Of consumers.
In 1880 the whole circulation of newspapers
in England was only some 3O,0OO,0OO
sheet, but, according to recent calculations,
the annual circulation Of newspapers in
London alone 10 nearly 2O5, 1000, 900 to say
nothing sbout millions Of pages Of month
~ and weekly publications. The attempt
to relieve the rag market BY establishing .
systematic collection Of rags under the d.
rsction Of the London ragged school and
through the operations fthe chi6onnisr in
stitution Of France, made no apprcciablc diff
ference in the amount Of stock. Results in
some degree commensurate with the crisis
have been accomplished by the use Of fibre
from straw, wood, bark, waste, etc., but no
complete substitute is yet found for prime
white ra8s from cotton or linen.
American publishers seek to relieve them
selves from the dilemma in which they are
placed, by . reduction or abolition Of the
duty On paper, that the supply may adjust
itself TO the demand, ct the great centres of
consumption. Accordingly committee
propose to visit Washington Immediately, in
furtherance Of this object The have already
tried the experiment Of reducing the size
and quality Of their sheets, but an advance
Of subscription rates to correspond with the
advance in cost is found to be impractical
bic. Quite number Of newspapers have
already persisted, and the worst is yet to
come. A leading western journal, noticing
the fact that paper has advanced Fl ON solo
cents per pound before the war to 24@27
cents now, declares that the business Of
newspaper publishing is threatened with
actual ruin, and says furthermore:
I'VE state . fact which can be corrobora-
ted BY oil our brethren Of the press, when
We say that the entire profits Of the news
paper business Of this country have been
sacrifi1ed the present year to reluctance
to advance the price Of their wares with the
advance Of the raw material. We do not
mean by this that none have made profit,
but that the profits Of the few have been
moro than balanced by tho losses Of the
many"
Al the general government is deriving no
revenue from the 20 per cent. gold duty. no
paper being imported under this restriction,
the question is narrowed down to this: Shall
. tax On knowledge BE- imposed any long,
Or for the benefit Of small class of manu-.
facturersl Shall the cause Of popular edu.
cation be hasarded, the beneficent influence
Of our common school system be neutralized
and the blessings Of free press he th-c---
AwAy.-fnr ~eAh:.-e.
a Singular History.