The Portland daily press., 1900-04-05
PAPER
EXACTIONS OF PAPE
TRUST.
4 Demand That the Government with
draw Its Protecting Hand.

(Brnm the San granoisco AIaonAut.)
Throughout the length and breadth CT
the land the voice Of the newspaper press
has been RAISED against the action Of she
papsr trust In arbitrarily advancing the
price of printing paper. 1t has been
pointed out that suoh an advance In
price Is In reality tax upon the dlsssmi-
nation of information tc the people, In
many casss an absolute prohibition Of
such dissemination; tnat the increased
cost Of production Of cheap books, cheap
magazines. a1d newspapers will neosssi'
tats either an advance In prioe. thereby
reducing the number of readers they will
reaoh, or an absolute suspension Of pub
lication, II is evident that in the long
run the chief sufferers will be the general
uubIIc, yer many people have undoubted-
ly felt that the question WAS one that
did not come home to themselves; that
the newspaper or the magazine that they
found themselve able TO indulge in be-
cause Of its oheapness Is really luxury
5hat might be given up without extreme
sacrifice.
II there are any such, they are destined
to raalizs before long that they have
little cause for their complaosnce. Paper
is commodity that all people must use
in one form or anOther, and sll kinds Of
paper are subieot to this control Of the
paper trust and have shared In the ad-
vance in price. A circular issued BY a
printing firm In this oity Is calculated to
bring those into whose hands 1t falls to a
realization of the situation. 10 spresents
ths ad vance In price on ali papers. rang
| ing from 10 to 60 per can't. The most ex-
trsme advance IL In printing paper. but
other lines show Increases In price that
all purchasers Are certain to feel hefoTe
much time has elapsed. Ihus Manila
paper, which every shopKeeper.use daily,
has advanced more than ons-third In
price, cards will cost 25 per cent more
than they did formerly, bookpAper will
| cost one-half more than hereto
fore, the advance In writiag paper ranges
from Is 20 40 per cent. bend paper shows
an average advance Of 80 per cent, ledgers
and blank books will cost one-quarter
| more, lnnen papers average so Per cent.
increase, and envelopes from 20 10 40 per
| cent. The circular oloses with the an
nounoemsnt that the market is still on
the upward grade. As these increased
l. hardly = psrson in the Community tina,
will not feel their innueuce.
We're there any legitimate cause for
these advances III the deereassd supply or
Increased cost OF the raw material from
which paper is manufActnrsd, they would
be more easy to tear. But they are the
result purely of the greed Of powerful
and aggressive trust. Both the raw
material and the finished product are
| now protected by the tariff. Eor this
protsetion therP Is at present no excuse.
The industry IL perfectly able TO matp-
tain itself In competition with the for
eign produdct; the protective duty mere
ly snables the trust to demand and 20 ST.
cure exorbitant profits. Il is the duty OF
Congress TO Immediately deprive the
trust Of this advantage. 9he Republican
sheir party TO repeal thess duties. II
such action 10 not taken before the Preei-
dsntiAl election. the DeEnooFAts will be
furnished with . powerful weapon for