The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-29
A PAPER WAR IN GERMANY.
The manufacturers Declare They
Fear American Competition.

Il ear american competition
Walter schumann, the United States
Consul at Mainz Germany. furnishes the
State Department with some interesting
information on the subject of the compe-
tition between the manufacturers of Ger
man and American paper. The demands
of the German paper manufacturers for
higher tariff" he says, have recently
become very loud. Not satisfied with
raising prices for printing paper % TO 20
per cent. forming trust. and making
! their selling. terms rather harsh, they
now also demand more protection.
At present. the customs tariff divides
Imported paper into three classes and i'm
poses duties thereon as follows: First. or
binary packing paper. Z3-8 cents per 20
pounds; second, printing and similar pa
per, H-43 per 22e pounds; third. fine pa
per, - IS per 30 pounds
1t IS the desire of the paper rnauufac-
( turers to have the tariff now in course of
preparation divide all imported paper
into two classes, of which the first class
IS to embrace all ordinary packing pa
per ut duty Of 50 cents in place of 23-S
cents per 20 pounds as heretofore. and
the second class to embrace all other
paper and be subject to a duty Of g. IS
per go pounds.
The manufacturers reason for de-
handing so high a tariff is. as they say.
their fear OF American competition. They
claim that If a high protective tariff is
not established, the United States will
ruin the German paper industry, as new
paper factories are beiEg constantly built
i'll the United States and before long that
Republic VIII simply food tbs German
paper market, especially as its manufact-
Urers have greater resources, as regards
raw material, than the Germans. and are
therefore able TO produce more chearly.
"A German journal, in reply to the
above assertions of the German paper
manufacturers, fails to comprehend their
terror with regard 20 American coEapeti-
ton. Granting the better facilities If
American manufacturers, this Journal
claims that the advantage is more than
balanced by the expenses Of freight and
the present import duty. The article
goes on TO say that even several
years ago, when paper prices were
exceedingly low IN the United States,
American manufacturers were not able
10 compete with the Germ an paper manu-
facturers. At that time American print
ing paper was sold at rs TO 49, cents
per % pounds c. l. (. Hamburg. Adding
the duty Of 1-43 cents per 2-2 pounds
brought the price Of American paper az
Hamburg up TO 5-T or SIS cents per p
pounds, or to 6.43 or SIS cents in the in
terror, whereas the German nanufaetur-
ers delivered throughout the country at
) to 5-24 cents per q pounds In the face
OF this, It cannot be contended that Arneri-
can competition forced prices down
Furthermore, the fact must be taken into
consideration that the above prices We're
the loWeSS that ever obtained IN the
United States and IL is extremely i'm
probable that they viii ever be repeated.
as both wages and cost of raw material
have increased there. Then again, the
bined TO guard their interests, and today
they do not furnish printing paper below
5-95 cents c l. f. Germany
The journal adds that If the demands
OF the German paper manufacturers were
acceded 70. il is obvious that the prices
for German paper would cost apprOXi-
mately, c. / L Hamburg, 5-S5 cents per
p pounds, plus 2 IS cents duty and / IA
cents freight to the interior, and expenses
would bring the price Of American paper
to 9-e4 cents
1t seems clear that the German manu-
facturers would profit by these conditions
and would raise their prices to such an
extent as to yield them an enormous
profit, although remaining low enough to
bar American competition
1t goes without saying that the Ger
man press, which would suffer most fro:l
such increase in the cost of paper, is wag-
ing a lively campaign against this meas
ure-
a year ago. printing paper in Ger
many cost from , to 5-4T cents per p
pounds, since then prices have increased
TO s SIS to ia cents The larger German
journals consume 1900 pounds OF paper
the average S523-60; today, however,
$3.50. %; and. should the tariff which the
paper manufacturers desire become law,
this cost would increase TO SSS960