The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-05-29

TuFtncT inquiry
your committee proposes during the |
summer vacation TO continue its inves-
legations and expects to be able TO pre-
sent to the house next session of con-
gress definite recommendations. based
upon complete Information thoroughly
considered.
The decreased consumption of paper
consequent upon the general business
conditions of the country means a les
sened demand for pulp wood, and we
believe consequent return TO normal
prices"
Minority Report.
The minority report endorses the
Stevens bill in its entirety, and recon-
mends its passage. Discussing the is
sues between the publishers and the
paper manufacturers. the report states
that an acute situation which might
be termed ''Hade hysteria" was precipi-
tated in 1907 in news print paper man
ufacture when a group of sixteen Wis
oOnsin mills, known as the Wisconsin
Wood Pulp association. bought $4,000
cords of pulp wood in the province of
NQuebec Canada, which purchase en-
tailed a transportation of that ma
terial distance of 1,500 miles.
Market Demorallzed.
1t introduced a new and unlocked
for factor into what was more or less
of speculative operation" says the
report 1t demoralized the wood pulp
markets of the United States as well
as OF Canada, where nearly 100000
/ cords of pulp wood are bought for ex-
/ port to the United States.
! 1T started paper quotations upward
until one paper trade journal reported
| that the current prices for news print
paper on July l, 1907. ranged from $50
/ TO s62 per ton. This advance had been
fOretold by paper statesmen and others
nearly a year prior 10 a sO-ealled paper
famine"
Canadian Wood Pulp.
/ The report points out the fact that
more than one-half OF the produce
wood used in American mills for max
ing news print paper comes from Can
ada. and states that at the time the
( Wisconsin purchase of Quebec wood
caused the trade furry, the officials of
the International Paper company "a
combination producing about one-third
of the supply of news print paper man.
ufactured in the United States), COM
puted that the increased cost of their
/ labor by reason of shorter hours has
added $500 GOO per annum, or So cents
per ton, to their expenses, and that
their wood would cost 81 900 addi-
Z
produced, total of SO per ton upon
their entire output of about 500. 900 tons
for news. MANILA and other varieties
of paper.
The Burden Put On.
They also figured that of their news
print paper output only 55 per cent
could be taxed with these burdens, be-
I cause the other - per cent of their
news print production had been tied up
with lOw-priced contracts covering the
year. Accordingly they decided upon
$50 per ton delivered as their minimum
upon all future sales. which substan-
TALLY fixed that price for the entire
market. This figure carried with it an
advance of $40 per ton in a period of
two years. The action was too abrupt
/ II provoked trouble and resentment at
time when newspaper revenues were
shrinking because of depressed business
conditions. 1t brought TO the attention
of the country a situation that de-
mands rectifcatiOn.
High Prices In Glutted Market.
/ Immediately following the panic of
/ October. 1907, il is stated, newspaper
publishers sought to offset their losses
caused by diminished advertising rev.
. enues and by increased cost of. paper.
by reducing the number of pages of
their paper. resulting in a diminutiOn
of consumption. In consequence, the
paper mills which had been taxed TO
supply the market soon found their
stocks accommodating with a decreasing
demand for their product. The market
was soon glutted. Confronted with the
alternative of reducing their prices or
closing their mills and discharging THEFT
labor. the paper manufacturers, it is
stated, chose 10 maintain the high
prices. They kept their prices so far
above the normal level" says the re-
port, that Canadian mills We're able
TO pay the duty of Sc a ton and under
sell American mills in the American
market, doing this While paying wages
for labor that compared favorably with
the Wages paid by the American mills"
Harvest for Canadian Labor.
The maintenance Of high prices UNI
der such conditions, il is stated, brought
about the unlOoked-for result of giving
to Canadian labor some of that work
production which otherwise would have
gone to American labor.
Many cases of hardship among pub
fishers I'm consequence OF the notifiea-
ton OF a proposed increase in price are
cited. II is pointed out that these pa
pers were forced 10 the alternative of
contracting at the higher price or a
suspension OF publication.
Continuing, the report says:
These hardships and this inability TO
have their customers share the added
cost of paper present a case of urgency
that differentiates this request for tar
if removal from other pending propo-
sitions of similar character. The price
of a newspaper is like the price of a
postage stamp. Ii Is measure bly, fixed
II cannot be raised or lowered to meet
the constantly changing prices of raw
material. In this respect it is unique.
Evidence of Combination.
Evidence of concert of action on the
part of paper makers in obtaining high
Ell prices are furnished by reports from
any number of newspapers located in
every part of the country. though ac-
tual violation of the criminal statutes
has not been shown. However. the pa
per makers failed to explain the uni
formity of price or TO justify their ad-
vance in price.
The testimony also showed that the
reduction in the hours Of labor was not
general throughout the entire country,
though all mills raised their prices
upon the allegation that their labor cost
had thereby been increased. The claim
that pulp wood had increased in price
has more merit than the claim of in