Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-05-27
Total

Thus the South has n practically in
eXhaustible supply of wood.
There are alread many paper mills in
the South, almost every State furnish
ing it's quota. Paper is being made out
of bagasse or sugar cane. in Texas, and
out of poplar and spruce wood in Vir-
ginia and West Virginia, and out of va
rlous other materials at many other
points.
The newspapers which are agitating
these matters no doubt have a double
motive, one being to secure cheaper pa
per and the other to build up their sec
tion of the country. seeing the enor-
nous benefit il would be to develop
this industry in their neighborhood.
The volume of the output of the paper
mills of this country is appreciated by
only those who have made n study of
the matter. The total annual output
Is approximately 1900. 900 tons. 1t may
aid to conception of what this figure
means to say that this Is 100000 tons
more than the annual production of
cotton in the United States; that it is
four times as much as the annual con-
sumption of cotton In the United States:
that IL is twice as much as the annual
consumption Of all fibres IN the United
States, including cotton. wool. jute.
flax, etc. that 1t is but 100000 tons less
than the worlds consumption of cotton
for 1897
CANADIAN COMPETITION.
The value of this great output is pro-
badly not less than 100000, 900. If the
South sees its opportunity and can Sc
cure n part of this industry 1t would be
of vast benefit to 1t. and do quite as
much to awaken it industrially as has
the starting of cotton spindles and the
iron furnaces on Southern soil. The
agitation, therefore, of this matter
throughout the South is not strange.
However, the South Is not alone in its
efforts to secure this great boon, since
the Canadians are doing their utmost
to encourage the building of paper and
pulp mills in their country. They have
recently passed laws which are intend
ed to prevent our securing raw mate
rial from Canada, and to compel us, If
we use Canadian wood at least to man.
ufacture ii Into pulp there. But their
real aim goes further than this. and is
to bring the United States to the posi-
ton where 1t will have to buy It's pa
per from Canadian mills. The section
OF the country that would suffer the
most IL the transfer of the paper indus
try to Canada were accomplished would
be the South since the paper would
have to be hauled so much further.
Moreover the Canadian mills have
formed an association whereby thew
arbitrarily control the prices at which
al their product is placed upon the
market, so our paper consumers would
be apt to fare poorly in the event of
their having to buy paper from Canada.
Fortunately. however, this is not likely
to come about. The tariff on paper ~.
pulp. which. although small compared
with that on most other manufactured
commodities. being but per cent. on
the present price of pulp and u per
cent. on the present price OF print pa
per, still has wholesome effect in de-
terring capital from being invested on
the Canadian side of the border and in
encouraging the growth of the Industry
In the United States. 1t is estimated
that the United States makes 20 ner
cen. or all the paper produced in the
world. and 1t Is not too much TO say
that 1t has the natural resources To
produce 1t all. Our exports of paper
are now between $5,000.0o0 and Sc 000. 900
worth, and are Increasing. With paper
mills along the South Atlantic seaboard
and In the Gulf States we should con-
troll the Central and South American
N httt en- al