The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-30
STILL PROBES
 PAPER TRUST MT. Norris Continues His Testimony. COMMITTEE IS IMPRESSED Questions Formed to Ask the
 Combination. Represensstsve ef PusIishsrs rur.ishes List of Witnesses whe Are ts ns
 sannesed Before Lawnsh-

ation Of paper manufacturers to fix the price of paper of news print paper In the United States was adduced tadaX before the special committee of the Ject of duty on wood pulp and print paper as affecting the price in the United States.
 John Norris of The New York Times and representing, the paper comrnittee of the American Newspaper Rnblishsr3 Association continued hsss testimony and presented numerous letters and documents to bear out his conxentian.
 Apparently the commiftee was dcep4 iy impressed with the annual state~ ment of the international Paper C0ra~ pany for the fiscal year ended June 30s 1907. showing an increased cost of production of sixty cents q ton aa against the raise in. price of paper 0k si2. a ton Chairman Mann, appreriaf ating the importance of this tee4fe mony. announced that he would mo tn the bottom 10 ascertain the cau1e oG so large an increase in the price rf paper.
 During the day Mir. Norris fersauiat- ed a number of questions which h@ wished the committees to propouud aE once to the international Paper Cout@ names of a dozen persons identified with the paper business whom he de2 sired eubpoenaed.
 Norris Supplies unsa.
 Upon resuminK his tastimcny todn@ before the select committee Of tho House on wood pulp and print paptks Mfr. Norris furnished the Committees Company controlled the output Of ssvs en independent mills. M
 Until these mills were combined ins 10 one selling agency. Mr. Norris nald there was no concentration of centF0E of news print paper miils.
 from Chairman Mann. Mr, Norrin natd that the malis controiled by Craig and companx did not undertake to naka sales Independently
 .'Is 1t your claim" bff. Mann asked. 'that all these mills agree upon priea which H. c craig ana Company carry out or after conferences. that they de- eide upon the price which they carry out. so that there Is no variation In price--no competition7''
 "rhe claim of the pubiishersf ths witness replied. "is that in some way either by direction of Craig and Com pany or by arrangement with themA q common price is agreed on among M N mills" MJl
 Several original letters from MfIl fishers were put in evidence gtvinGff% | dications of the existence of trust" One of these was wfitts@ 4 ;.ss November, 1907. by V. S. McCiNtefNs publisher of The Evening Bee. Aacxaz mento. Cal. who spoke of a contrn% he had with the williamette mill fH paper at 92.60 per hundred but whfea price was raised to t2s0 at the expirzk lion of the contract At the same time Mir. McClatchy said he had Did from F. Leadbetter on behalf Of the CoiNnz bIa River Paper Company for 22.15 Q. b. Portland, which would mean v2.6o at Sacramento. but that prior to sths operation of the mill it was provides that the paper would be fnrnished bT the Crown Columbia mtiis.
 From the Crown n-columbia millN Mir. McClatchy wrote. I've had at times heen supplied with paper under the willamette contract. as there We4 some sort of working arrangement oes tween the two A...N
 The result was, he said, that the Wtlg Iiamette people objected and MT. Lsae% better asked permission to III ms ooe- tract from Eastern mills Wnlen Was granted.
 As part of the formulation of tn@ testimony with respect to combinattonA of the various groups of paper maksEN Mir. Norris at this point put m evs~ dence q list of officers and by-laws ok the new SuIphite Pulp Assogiexiou which were published November 2d. 1907. These bylaws provided for the tabulation of a monthly confidential report on tonnage agreed prices, nanaa# of buyers terms of contract. etc.
 The association, he said, haa peenMa the habit of holding meetings at hs Hotel Astor, New York at which prices were fixed.
 a,rhese new bylaws" said Mfr. Norr ris were devised, so we charge and expect to prove. immediately following the complaints of the publishers ana in order that this association mi8hk come within the Federal statutes.
 RespondinR to question Of Af& Mann. Mir. Norris said he did not know in what proportion sulphite paper was made by news print paper mRnufacLuss CTS for tn emselves. He thought. hows ever, that most of the news print man ufacturers did make their own auiphisa pulp.
 the extent that the Sulphite Pulp Ass sociation fixed the price for the mars kAt 1t did affect the cost of material entering into news print paper"
 When at 11:30 o'clock three bells ap- nounced that there was no quorum Ia the house, Mir. Mann remarked: "Welk Mr Norris you may suspend We ara again interrupted in the midst of hear- ing by the demand in the House for the senseless roll call. We are re1 ouired to go over to the Capitol, all of us in order to make a quorum"
 recess thereupon was then talked until o'clock.
 At the afternoon session Mir. Norris |, read a letter fEcm G. H. Larke k4 one time engaged in the Marseilles. III, independent paper mill, but noW publisher of The St. Joseph (Mo.) Ga- zette.
 In 1900 or 1901 MT. Larke said he made an extensive investigation of the Northwestern pulp wood supply and in lesser degree into freight rates and general traffic conditions. In that period he travelled hundreds cf miles through the woods of Minnesota Wisconsin and Michigan. There waa plenty of wood left, he said, and tne conclusion inevitably to be reachsA was that the mill should 80 neafsg the wood.
 A large number of confidential istA