Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-08
PAY ROLL MONEY BORROWED

1 = AoAAA ~ 1SOyVS ~ SAAS ~~~O
Record Herald Believes Repeal
of Duty Will Lessen Price.
IA large number of publishers of news
pa pers in different sections Of the country
| were examined yesterday afternoon by
| the House special committee on wood
pulp and print paper. and they all told
the same story of a steady advance In the
price Of paper.
| c. l.. knight, publisher Of the Akron
fOhio) Beacon-Journal. informed the COM
| mittee that In 1900 he had contract for
paper at 81 per hundred pounds delivered
on the sidewalk in Akron His last con-
tract, he said was for $2.45 and was made
with Canadian paper company. Mr..
| knight described his experience in 1905.
when he was endeavoring to make new
contract He said he wrote to a large
number of mills asking for quotations.
| but was not able to get any from them.
Later on, when he did succeed in getting
quotations, they were of a prohibitive ma
ture. He finally succeeded in making the
| contract described.
| 'rhe effect of this increase" he said.
has been to reduce my business from a
highly profitable one to one that Is very
unsatisfactory. In other words. am
called upon to contribute to some one
about 5000 Of my profits"
| IF you had been required to pay $3.50
| for your paper. what would have been the
effect SO far as the profitable operation of
your paper is concerned?' asked Chair
man Mann.
.'The effect would have been to practi-
cally wipe out my profits replied the
/ fhrsNo
very small compared with that on some
other Ohio state papers,. he continued
81 happen to know one paper in OHIO
whose profits have been wiped out. and
! its proprietors have to borrow money TO
meet their pay rolls.
| Mr. knight was stopped by Chairman
Mann with the request for the names or
the papers referred to. These Mr.. Knight
| declined to give. saying that he had be-
come possessed of the information in such
a manner that he did not think 1t would
| be fair to the newspapers to place their
names in the record and thus advertise
them to the world as being practically
! bankrupt. He offered to give the names
| their managers could be summoned and
testify If they desired to do so.
Mann Insists on Names.
Mr.. Mann declined to receive the names
in this manner and a long argument en-
sued between the witness and members
over the matter
Mr.. Mann and Mr.. Miller took the posi-
ton that there should he no secret rec
ords in the investigation, but Mr.. Sims
thought that in view OF the confidential
ma nner in which Mr.. Knight had received
the information he should be allowed to
| tell in confidence what he knew The dis
cussion between Mr.. Mann and Mr.
knight became very animated. the for
inc hn treating
the committee fairly. This Mr.. Knight
denied. adding that he did not think he
had the right TO divulge the Information
asked for. MY brother publishers have
| to the world that they are bankrupt. he
| said. II can say this. though. OF my own
knowledge" he continued. that the In
crease in the cost Of paper has borne
very heavily upon publishers In Ohio
Many of them that formerly got their pa
per at cents a pound are now paying
as high as 3 and 81 cents for 1t. know
many Instances in which profits have
been absolutely wiped out"
Other Publishers Tell Of Increase.
Anthony d. Stanley. business manager
of the Sedalia (MoD Democrat-Sentinel.
testified that his 1907 contract called for
81 631. cents per 100 pounds. He said he
had been casting about to see what he
could get paper for the next year, and the
best he could do was $3.50.
II. J. Fisher. the general manager OF
the Crowell Publishing Company Of New
York and Springfield. Ohio the publish
ers Of the Womans Home Companion
and the Farm and Firesids. testified that
his company IL paying $2.43 for paper de-
livered in Springfield. This contract Is
with a Canadian company. Last year
they paid 81 "a to the International Paper
Company. but that company refused TO
furnish them with paper this year. The
rofa In pyfco for the he said had
cost his firm approximately $4,000. He
said that his present contract contained
clause providing that If the duty is re-
moved from paper the company Is to get
the benefit OF half of that duty during the
life Qf the contract. He also stated that
the advance on book paper was about 80
cents per 100 pounds.
W. R. Hastings of the Lynn (Mass.)
Item described the increase in the price of
paper to hls company and also the DIM
Guilty he had in securing contract for
this year. In $685. he said. he bought pa
l'per at $I.64i3. while HIS present contract
called for $3.50. Mr.. Hastings said that
from conversations with representatives
Of paper mills and the jobber through
whom he bought he gained the impress
sion that there was combination among
the pap makers to raise the price of
paper. some predicting that it would go
as high as cents a pound
w. J. Crawford. president OF the Com
mercial Publishing Company. which pub
fishes the Commercial-Appeala al Memphis.
Tenn. stated that he was paying 81 90 per
100 pounds for his paper. and that last
year he paid 81. This. he said. was an adj
vance OF $12 ton and would cost his
company between $4,000 and $4,000 He
said that owing to competition in Mem
phis he could not raise the subscription
or advertising rates of his paper. and that
the total loss would fail upon his COM
pany.
Charles F. Dodd. business manager Of
| the Newark (N.JD Evening News. gave
the committee statistics as to the in
crease of price in cotton-waste paper.
This went from &212lk in 1893 to S27j
last year. The company then began to
use wood pulp paper. and the present con-
tract calls for e 80 per 100 pounds.
Other Publishers Tell Of Increase.
Frank B. Noyes. president of the Asso-
ciated Press and editor and publisher of
the Chicago Record Herald. followed Mr..
Dodd. He stated that the only relation
the Associated Press had to the present
investigation was that 1t had voluntarily
transmitted the expressions Of a meeting
called for another purpose.
II AAI h4