The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-02-05

NEW YORK Feb. l.-Mr. Hugh ].
Chisholm. the president of a company
which is one Of the largest manufac-
turerg Of paper In the world, was asked
to explain the recent rise in the,price Of
paper. he said:
"rhe lari1 on news paper Is practic-
ally the same as II has been for twenty
or twenty-five years. during which
period the price OF paper has gone
steadily downward up to within six
months, when prices began TO adj
vance. The tarlR on paper and pulp
under the Dingley bill, that went Into
effect in 1897. was practically the same
as that under the Wilson bill that went
into eject Ia 1880; therefore there has
been no change in the taTif which could
have contributed to The recent advance.
Duty on news paper valued at not
above two cents pound, is but three
tenths of one cent pound, or So a
ton. AS two cents pound Is the pres
emit price Of the bulk OF news paper used
In this country, II follows that the duty
of three-tenths OF one cent pound, or
Sc ton, is only Is per cent upon the
value Of the paper This is very much
lower than the average duties on other
manufactured products. whether iron.
Steel cotton or silk. The fact is that
the duty has always been low on paper,
and that the paper makers have been
satisfied that It should be low. The
duty on wood pulp ls fixed in the pres
ent tariff at one twelfth Of one cent a
pound, or 81 81 a ton. The duty upon
the normal value Of pulp is II per cent,
extremely low rate Of duty. In former
days. when revenue tariff was in ex-
istence. there was scarcely any duty
less than Is per cent ad valorem. The
simple fact is that the price Of paper
has advanced the same as almost every
other commodity In the last year, in
response to the economic law Of supply
and demand, which has operated in the
case Of articles admitted into this eoun'
try free. as wen as in the case OF pro-
tected articles. For example. the price
Of sulphur. on which there is no duty
and which is largely used in paper
making. has Increased greatly; also Of
rags and many similar varieties Of pa
per stock. which are imported. and
which come in free. The price Of pa
per. moreover, has advanced in other
countries quite as much % it has in the
Tinted states. and news paper Is to-
day selling at much higher prices in
London, Paris and other European cit
les than It'is In the United States In
England the interest in the South Afrl-
can war has created an unwonted de-
mand for paper. which the English
mills have been quite unable to meet,
and since there Is no surplus from any
other country TO relieve 1t there has
been almost q paper famine. There
was great .drouth in Norway and
sweden last summer, which seriously
affected the production Of pulp, and
since both France and England are de-
pendent almost wholly upon scandi-
navia for their pulp supply, the pro-
duetlon Of paper is necessarily curtail-
ed Al the same time that the demand
was Increasing. 1t would certainly,
therefore, not be strange II the price OF
paper advanced in the United States
simply on the strength Of conditions
prevailing in the European market. But
like conditions have prevailed in this
country. The demand has increased
and the unprecedented drouth which
started early in the summer has prac-
tIcally continued to the present time, so
that 1t is with great diHculty that the
demands for all kinds OF paper are be-
ing met. It is not news paper alone
that has gone up in price, but paper OF all
varieties. In wrapping and book papers
the advance has been even more mark
ed than in news paper. Could anyone
expect that the price OF paper would
stand still while all the materials which
enter into the construction and mainte-
nance OF the mills have increased in
value. and when the paper manufactur-
er has to pay more for all the ingre-
dents and for mill supplies, including
SULPHUR and coal. and also for the
transportation of his product Even
the cost of getting out his pulp wood
is affected by the Industrial expansion
since he has to pay for the labor en-
ployed in cutting the timber. The gen
eral level Of wages in paper mills Is
higher at this time than It has been for
twenty-five years and higher In the
United States than in any other coun-
tTy.