Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-15
Herman Ridder Attacks the
0verbearing Trust
AT REFORM CLUB BANQUET
Says the Law Has Been Persistently
Violated.
HAS FAR-REACHING EFFECTS
Not Only Is Burdensome to the
Press, But Tends to Stifie Spread
of General Information.

NEW YORK. April 1.-THE Reform
Club gave dinner at the Hotel Astor
last night. at which Mr.. Herman Ridder.
head of the Staats-Zeitung and president
| of the American Newspaper Publishers
Association made an address on "A Tax
on Intelligence" He said. in part:
'Of the three potent agencies for the
advancement of general education and
culture among a civilized people. the
press, the pulpit and the stage. the first
named has in this country by far sur
passed in extent and influence the two
| others. The reasons therefor need not
here be discussed: 1t suffices to lay stress
upon the fact that the voice of the press
Is reaching larger audiences and is APP
pealing to far greater communities than
any other public exhOrter Or instructor.
And yet while others are left unimpeded
In the pursuit of their professional work
the renowned free press in this free coun-
try of ours is having thrown In the path
| of its material development obstacles in
the shape Of detrimental legislation by
the national government. Upon one of
| the Indispensable and most expensive ma
| terials used in the composition of a news
paper. print paper, an import duty is be-
! ing levied which is iniQuitous and OPP
pressive. while at the same time the cost
| of the domestic manufacture of paper is
greatly increased through the operation
of the duty on wood pulp.
| is tnere any necessity lot THESE LAKES.
Can they be reasonably justified? They
are simply present the American paper
makers have by lamentations, pretenses
and other means less fair than foul OBJ
| tanned from the government, At whose
expense? So.ely at the expense of the
most unprotected among all manufactur-
| ing industries in the United States-the
| printing and publishing industry. more
especially the newspapers. The latter in
| sist that the paper manufacturers, IN view
49, khn tod hnr aooin CT
competition from abroad. are at least I'M
! der so much obligation as to provide for
the demands of consumers In this coun-
| try. Have they lived up to the fulfillment
of this just expectation?
Has Violated the Law.
In May, 1906 the United States govern
| ment dissolved the General Paper Com
pany as an unlawful combination and
warned it's subsidiary corporations to
avoid certain forms of combination. These
prohibitions have been disobeyed in such
fragrant manner as to enable the
American Newspaper Publishers Asso-
citation to lay before the Attorney General
of the United States incontrovertible proof
of the efforts made by the seven groups
of the American Paper and Pulp Assoca-
tion-under which guise the paper trust
crease prices and to put an additional
burden amounting yearly to many mil
lions upon the printing and publishing in
terests of the country. One OF these
groups centers about the Information
Paper Company, which operates in the
eastern market 1t was organized nearly
ten years ago by a. consolidation of
thirty mills. most of them in bad cOndi
ton, with antiquated machinery, half of
which was no better than junk. During
the ten years since that consolidation was
made the old machinery has not i'm
proved with age. The company's capacity
to make paper is less today than it was
rated at the time of the consolidation.
Not one new machine has been added to
the equipment until within recent pc
riod while one or more of the original
plants have been dismantled and ADAM
doned. The international Paper Com
of business. 1t has remained stationary.
1t has squeezed out of the paper consum
ers all it could without developing manu-
facture, meanwhile pouring millions of
dollars into speculative Investments in
Canadian forests. although the company
previously held woodland that would pro-
duce forever a supply of spruce pulp
wood sufficient to make twice the quantity
of pulp 1T now uses.
Anomalous and Monstrous.
The printing business stands for the in
tel!ectual growth Of the country. and it is
helpful to good government in that it
promotes intelligence and raises the
standard of citizenship. If the combina-
ton of papermakers can succeed in its
course it will cripple the publishing bust
ness. it will tax intelligence, because the
newspaper and the periodical are the
peoples school and library Under any
government such tax would be oppress-
i've and proscriptfve. In a government
based, as ours is, upon the intelligence
and resultant virtues Of the people 1t is
anomalous and monstrous. In recognition
of this fact President Roosevelt, in his
recent special message to Congress, has
recommended the immediate repeal of the
duty on wood pulp with a corresponding
reduction of the duty upon paper made
from wood pulp.
The Reform Club will undoubtedly lend
its weighty and influential aid to the
President so that at least this one revi-
sion of the tariff may be accomplished
before the presidential election.