New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-02
THE CURSE OF CHEAP PAPER
MOST BOOKS MADE NOW WILL NOT OUT
LAST THEIR BINDING.
ONE CAUSES OF TIE DETERIORATION IN QUAIL
ITY-wOoD PULP PAPER is SAID TO DE
NOT NECESSARILY BAD. IF 1T
Is WELL. MADE.

The age OF The world which is now passing on
the wings of the trolley and the twin screw has
been called the age of paper. 1t appears, however,
that age does not necessarily imply longevity ms
shall be the text for second part OF the discourse
The point to he considered first is the vast amount
of paper requisite TO give name TO age of his
tory and the runous rates at which IL can be dis
penscd TO the people. Most kinds OF paper are
cheaper In this country to-day than they ever were
before. and great deal cheaper than they were
only few years ago. The kinds used for the
printing of newspapers, for instance. cost at the
end Of the war about Is cents a pound. and now
they cost from 2 TO 2is cents pound; writing
papers which cost then 20 or GO cents pound
cost now from 10 to IL cents pound and so on
You want to say" said one of the largest paper
dealers in New-York the other day, that this has
all been brought about by the tariff. The tariff
always stimulates domestic competition. The Tor
cign paper has been kept out and the home indus
try has been developed The process of making
papsr ont of wood pulp was invented in Germany
and perfected in this country. The changes in
prices have been brought about gradually. till they
are what they are now. They could never have
come If foreign papers had been admitted freely.
The largest papermaker in Germany said to me
not long ago that ne could send thousands of tons
of paper and cardboard here If II were not for the
tariff. On the other hand. could send thousands
Of tons OF paper to Germany if they did not have
tariff against As ii is send large quantities
1t is alone that the wood pulp paper itself IL
cheap Its competition has forced down the prices
Of rag paper til they are almost as low as those
of the wood paper. ana there are people who ought
10 know who say that nobody but expert can
tell a good pulp from rag paper. and 1t is doubt
full If he can. At the close of the war publishers
used 10 pay bout d cents a pound for book paper.
Now they pay from four 10 seven eight cents
for the general run of stock that they use. For
fine grades Of books they pay more. OF course. j. or
Is cents no, being uncommon. and the costly lin
tied editions running up the figures to a good deal
more than that But. the other hand. there are
thousands of cheap books made on paper which
costs no more than or cents a pound
WOODS USED FOR PULP PAPER.
There has been some alarm expressed about the
supply of wood for the paper pulp but this does
not seem 10 he a matter that need give any great
present anxiety. The forests that furnish the wood
for this purpose form pretty large belt across
the country They in Maine. in this State. in
the West and in Canada. great deal of the Amer
lean paper is just made from wood grown in
Canada. Spruce is the great staple wood for the
purpose. Poplar is much used. and so is pine. and
So 20 some extent. are aspen and birch. The quail
it. OF the paper depends upon the method by
which it is made and the expended upon it,
inst as the quality of anything else does. Sulphite
and soda are employed in the process and 1t is i'm
portant that they be used in the right proportions
and that they be got out afterward If they are
not used properly the paper Will be OF poor quail
y start with, and If they are not got out of it
in the end they will destroy the paper after ii Is
made small percentage Of is used for ex-
ira grades of paper and is of undoubed advantage
little clay is also used sometimes to secure
smoothness of surface, as. for instance In paper
TO be used for printing halftone pictures Clay is
used. moreover. sad 10 relate 10 make the paper
weigh more when 1t IS sold by the pound. 1t makes
bad paper and makers say that the trick is
f,,l A
clay is used in Germany. but American buyers are,
as rule TOO clever be taken in by overweighted
paper.
On the other hand, there is beautiful light
paper made in England from esparto grass. which
grows In Algiers The attempt has been made to
manufacture 1t here but never with much success.
The English paper costs here about Is cents a
pound but there is much paper in pound OF IL
as there is in two pounds of the ordinary Sort so
that ii is really not much more expensive than the
good American wood-pulp paper with few rags
mixed in There is q fine book paper made In this
country from rags brought from Egypt. Agents
are employed 70 collect them all over the delta OK
the Nile the finest harvesiground for rags In the
world perhaps. and they send them to Alexandra.
where they are cleaned and baled, and then they
shipped TO this country.
THE QUESTION OF QUALITY.
And now comes the note of despair. If the paper
of to-day IS cheaper than ever before, 1t appears
the librarian of the Mercantile Library, was asked
for his views about the paper used for the books of
the present day the sentence of inquiry was not
finished before Mr.. Peoples exclaimed: THE paper
Is cheaper than II was before, and worse than
IL ever was before! Why. the books that are made
now" he went on. will scarcely outwear their
bindings BY the time the binding of a book Is
worn out the book itself is worthless and II Is bet
ter TO get a new one than to try TO put new
cover on It, / don't know how the historians Of a
hundred years hence will be able TO find out any
thing about our times. for there will be scarcely
any Of our books that can be reid by that time
Even books that are left standing on the shelves
and seldom taken from the library seem to decay,
and they 60 all 10 pieces Almost all the books are
printed on wood-pulp paper. J am not prepared
TO say that good and durable wood-pulp paper
cannot be made but the most OF II is not good or
durable. The trouble goes back for perhaps twen-
ty-hvc years and through all that time 1t has been
growing worse We find that books printed
more than twenty-five years ago keep In better
condition and are wearing better now than those
printed since that time The German books are
worse than the American. The paper does not seem
to be made Of wood even. 1t seems TO be cray. In
a very short time it all crumbes away. The Eng
sb manor think is in general a little better than
ours There arc Il few publishers who make DOCKS
that are honorable exceptions to what nave salu
They use good paper and produce books that VIII
last, but the most of them, even me ieadihs pup
fishers. turning out such things as nave uc-
scribed."
When persons interested In other ways IN the
papcr trade are consulted about these points-pub-
fishers paper dealers. etc.they seem reluctant TO
admit the correctness Of the statements and are |
inclined 10 take refuge in the fact that just as
good paper is made ever. But when they |
are confronted with the clear assertion that the |
general run of book paper I'm use is poor as |
compared with that which used twenty years |
ago. they admit that the proposition is incontro- |
yertible. 1t IL the melancholy fact that whole |
libraries of tho books that are turned out now will
not last, with ordinary usage, for twenty years
isn't IL better that the most OF them should not |
last?'' Is the answer that has been made to the |
charge moro than once. Possibly, but that would |
be lust as good a reason for printing them at