Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-19
TARIFF TAX ON PAPER.
Republican Editors Are Hoisted by
Their Own Petard.

-
The p%roprietors of newspapers are
united in demanding that the tariff tax
on print paper and wood pulp be abol
ished, as the price of paper has ad
vanced so that it will compel an in
grease in the price of newspapers OF
the alternative of bankruptcy for SOM
of them. This is but another example
of how the so-called protective tariff
plumbers even its most ardent advo.
Gates. Those interests that are pro-
tected by the tariff object to free trade
in paper and wood pulp, because
tinkering with n schedule of the
tariff law will force discussion on all
schedules and publicity of the plum
dering the tariff allows the trusts and
protected interests to enjoy would re-
suit in the election of a tariff reform
congress.
1t so happens that the chief source
of paper stock is Canada, where wood
for making paper is plentiful, while
our supply is on the verge Of giving
out. What more natural, then, that
the wood for turning into pulp should
be imported by our paper manufacture
ers, which, by the way, are combined
into a new trust, although it is only a
few months ago that the old paper
trust was dissolved by the United
States court on the petition of our
t~rust-busting administration? But a
protective tariff here begets reprisals
of the same character by other coun-
tries, and Canada, to protect her in
FAINT paper industry, has imposed an
export duty on pulp and pulp logs, SO
as to compel the paper dealers of the
United States to buy Canadian paper.
But another obstacle then appears in
our tariff tax on paper. The result of
these tariff taxes imposed by both
countries is that while the paper
manufacturers + getting rich through
their tariff monopoly the newspaper
publishers are getting poorer by rea-
son of the high price of paper. A few
weeks ago the officials Of the Ameri-
can Newspaper Publishers association
requested President Roosevelt to rec
ommend to congress the repeal of the
tariff duty on printing paper and
wood pulp and all material entering
into the manufacture of printing pa
per-" The president promised to do
SO, but now it appears that the pro
tected interests have induced him to
qualify his recommendation to con-
gress by the proviso that Canada must
in return impose no export duty on
wood to be used for pulp. The New
York Herald thinks 1t Is plain that
Canada will do nothing of the Sort
because that country is building up
her own paper-maklng industry and
will not freely export the raw material
for her rivals in the United States. So
here we have a tariff On paper and
pulp to add to the price of paper,
whether it is imported from Canada
or whether it is manufactured by the
trust at home, for the trust can safely
add as extra profit what the tariff tax
would be on imported Canadian pa
per. In Canada they have a tariff on
paper to protect the Canadian paper
maker from the "pauper American la
borer," and an export duty on logs
which the United States admits free
of duty-so that the American paper
trust will not be able to get free raw
material at a price to compete with
one Of the infant industries Of Canada
This paper and pulp tariff is but an
example of She effect of the tariff on
all other manufactured products
whereby tie are pldndered
al the newspaper proprietors are
But the laughable thing about it is
that while the Republican newspapers
are demanding relief from the tariff
tax on paper they are urging that the
tariff tax on everything else guards
and develops our industries" and pro
lection lis a cardinal policy of the Re
publican party" Political necessity
has made these Republican editors in
consistent, and the funny part of it is
they don dare tell their readers why
they are demanding free trade in pa
per and protection for all else.