Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-08-16
NOW A PAPER TRUST.
COMBINATION TO RAISE THE PRICE
OF WOOD PULP. NEWS FIBER.

n the scheme Works, Newspapers VIII
Have To Raise Prices to subscribers-No
So Easy. However, TO Corner the Mar
kst--Many Meetings Held.
A great trust Is In process OF organiza
tion, q trust that will have capital oi
over $35, 900, 900, and that Is intended &c
have absolute control OF the enormous busi
ness of making paper, the kind almost ev'
cry newspaper Is printed on.
The big eastern manufacturers back on
this scheme believe IL they succeed they
will be able to fix at their pleasure the
price paid for an average daily output OF
over /, 200 tons of this news paper.
They further believe II they succeed In
tho great game they have In hand they
will be able to absorb such OF the large
news paper manufacturing mills OF the
country as they desire to operate and can
then force scores OF smaller mills out OF
existence.
II they succeed, and fortunately there Ia
reason to accentuate that III, +" IL Is certain
that by increasing the cost of news paper
they will force percentage of the 30, OOO
newspapers published In this country tc
either stop publication OF to raise the price
of the papers to their subscribers.
On the success or nonsuccess OF this mo-
nopoly hang the existence OF very large
number of news paper manufacturing
mills and Of newspapers employing vast
army of workers and the question whether
newspapers can be sold to the paNFde at a
cheap price, as they now are, or whether
the weaker ones must return to the high
prices they abandoned with the discovery
of the process of manufacturing wood pulp
paper.
The manufacturers back Of the trust de.
clare their object In entering into 1t Is to
cheaper the cost of production and not to
increase the price to the consumer. That
has been the song sung by the organizers
of every trust under which the people have
In the past and are now struggling.
For several months the manufacturers
In whose minds the plan TO make a mo-
nopoly Of the news paper manufacturing
industry originated have been holding
meetings, and they have about perfected
their plans. Their meetings have been
held In New York and at Niagara Falls,
and there has been one or more meetings
every week.
AS matters stand now they do not pro-
pose to form tho $685. 000, 900 corporation
until the close Of this year, for the reason
that most Of them have big contracts run
ming until then. But they are satisfied
everything Is ripe for them to go ahead
when the time comes Even now they are
demanding q slightly increased price as a
sort Of appetizer for the great feast of prof
Its which they anticipate will come to
them.
Il is not intended TO tako the whole
country into the trust, but only the large
manufacturers Of the central and northern
states from the Atlantic to the Mississippi.
The list OF the mills 10 be included In the
trust cannot be secured, and, IN fact, Is not
completed yet, the promoters not having
determined just what properties they must
control
But 1t can be stated positively that many
Of the mills producing largo quantity Of
news paper have agreed TO the trust ar
rangement. ~
In spite of the fact that this trust Ia to
represent such an immense money power
and such a producing capacity as to make
1t very dangerous creation to every con-
sumner Of news paper, including the read
ers Of newspapers, who are the final con-
sumers, there are many ways in which Its
game may be blocked.
Men with level heads In the paper trade
declare that II IL attempts to raise prices
and does SO to an extortionate degree 1t
must meet with defeat, and II 1t does not
raise prices 1t will go to pieces Of its own
weight
To control prices the trust must first
control the output. They may succeed IN
controlling the output Of all the big mills
now making nows naper There ara 1 OA
Of these in the United States.
II the trust could control them all, it
would still have to face the fact that there
are In tho United States 97 mills which
make book paper. Any one Of these, which
arc not to bo considered in the trust at all,
could by the investment Of less than $50,
600 buy sufficient machinery to turn out q
daily product Of news paper equal to the
demands of great daily publication.
New York World