The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1904-12-31
The Paper Trust

From Philadelphia Letger
The filing of a petition for an injunction
under the Federal antitrus, law against this
Western Paper Trust, the General Paper
Company. at the instigaiion Of the Aror
uey General Of the United States. promises
to Law hare some Of the illegal. Il no; Grim
NAL. practices Of one Of the most in@oleu'
aud Ju,>, rapaciou, combination, the world
has ever seen There will perhaps be some
surprise that action was taken against th,
General Paper Cpmpauy-who~e affiliated
companies are ia Wisconsin. Minnesota and
Michigan, aud whose operations are chiefly
IN the We, and Noryhwe>' instead q
against the international raper Company,
which operates in the East; Eai Wher
the facs- sppear Of rconui ii all probably
Be foand tina, the evidence j. clearer and
more foreible tor test ease against Oh,
Genera; Poser Company. aud the rcyrla
tious IN the suit against this company al,
probably show the existence oi such Illegal
agreements for the alio,meu; sc fcrritor,
and the Ike 10 the restrain, uf trade sud
competition a. "a constitute basis Tor th,
conviction 1T o;hers-
Ii she allegations made acain>; she IL
ternaIional Paper Company before q Coo
greSs committee last year b. true that
trus, ought not to te permitted 20 do ou.'
nes. ON American ~oil i, was changed
for instance, no, culy thar /, raised prices
and fixed them Al an exorblgant rake. and
dictated 10 the newspapers where tbey
should buy their paper and irum vhan
they must buy il. bu, actually presumed ca
prescribe the size Of PAPER the us,r should
buy, the width If the roll ami therefore,
the kind of presses be should use. The
charge has AlS1 been made that the zen
eral Paper Company combined wiih all
the other paper s-uiyanis-, to clss>e n,lis n
order TO euriail the supply aud haSIaE
chilled the marrows of the newspaper F4b-
fishers, sbo were throWa into pau.e bs a
shortage Of paper, Il ras>eyi the pf,o,s ise
yond reason, that the paper trusts haze
practically subdaei the iew rrr aiming IN
dependent paper manufacturers Co their
wiIlz. that they buy up al the uoSali
paper Of the smaller maker. corner the
market, and then shut dovu their owu
systematically, ia order to maintain uPpre-
siye prices, aud that they sell the pgodue;
which Is unsold in this country 81 thr con-
spiracy price to firms 10 Great Britain foT
what can be got for 1t, aud a, much
lower price than il l. sold for IN this cnnH-
try.
The Attorney Generals Office ha, moth
iag to do with legislation. bu, Il il secarc-
j conviction Of the General Paper Com
pany under the Sherman act on the ground
Of apIsJrtionmeut Of territory aud custom
ers, the arbitrary fixing Of prices and the
control Of the output for illegal purposes
the facts elected will serve A. couvcn-
len, guide and hint for action by Con.
gress The tariff duties on print paper
were raised from 50 to 90 a ton for the
sole benefit of the trusts. IN order that
they might have, under the shelter Of
the pingiey bill, an opportunity 10 hold
the American buyers by the throat, just
as they are charged with doing in the al
Legations made before the House commit
tee and in this petition hled by the AttoT
ney General at ~ Paul This tariff tax
Is not a revenue producer, but prqhibi-
tive device, framed for the purpose Of
permitting trusts to fay the consumer, and
when the Attorney General gets through
with the combination many people viii
have new light on the tariff problem.