Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-06-29
Senator Aldrich's Grave Errors of Fact

house committee hearing on paper
and pulp (page 234). you will find
the testimony of General Felix Ag-
nus of the Baltimore American, in
which he says: Il have now con-
tract with the International Paper
company and | am paying them $3.50
per hundred" The Providence Jour-
nal in your state is and has been pay
ing $3.50 per hundred. Besides
these cases, you will find hundreds
of other instances in the same re-
port.
Again. on page 1862 of the con-
gressional record, you said: 1T is
true that the paper companies did
consider an advance which perhaps
was not justified, at one time in 1907
they talked about it. They put up
their prices, but never sold any pa
per at those prices The testimony
of every one of $500 daily newspa-
pers and of every man in the paper
trade will refute this extraordinary
misstatement. The house commit
tee reported (page 1870 that the
actual advance in price aggregated
$5,000,0O0 per annum up to May,
1908
Again you state (page 3549) that
wood for making print paper could
be found in every state of the union
from Maine to Texas The slightest
inquiry from any authoritative
source would have convinced you of
your error.
The same is true of your state
ment that mechanical ground wood
can be made from eight or 10 diff
ferent kinds of wood (page 3549,
congressional record.)
You said the pulp wood shipped
annually from Canada to the United
States, 100000 cords, is a neglible
quantity.
] Your retaliatory program against
| Canada cOntradicts your own state
| ment, or your are needlessly precip.
itating trade war with that country
| and imperilling business Interchange
| that amounts to $250,00O,0O0 pei
annum.
You also said (page $3.50 con.
| gressional record: IA large part OF
the print paper now being used in
| this country is made from sulphitt
pulp" If you will make any inves
tigation on the subject you will be
convinced that such is not the fact
| You also said (page 3549 congress
sional record): here is no POSSIBLE
ity of there being such a shortage Of
wood in this country as will prevent
our mills from making indefinitely
all the print paper that can be used
Then why did the paper companie.
buy $4,000 square miles of spruc,
land in Canada? Was it for specu
lation at our expense? Foreste
Pinchot has fixed a range of from
eight and half years in New Yorl
STATE to 2S1a years in Maine as tn,
limit, on basis of present consump
ton.
You said (page 3549 congressional
recordD; There are mills engage,
at this moment in making pape
(meaning news print paper) in Wiz
ginia, North Carolina and in severa
other southern states" We are no
able to trace a mill in any southern
state that is making news print pa
PEI.
III You said (page 3545. compression
al recOrd) 81 asked the census bu
reau if they had ever made an inves
tigation of this kind (wood) an,
they saN they had not" The under
signed was present in your Office Of
April "a, when you telephoned t
DR.. North. Your inquiry related no
70 wood, but to entirely differen
phase of the paper industry
Your statement. (page 3545, con
gressional record) that there ha,
been no investigation of the pull
fwoOd by the census bureau, you Ger
tainly do not want to stand upon, Il
the light of the fact that such inves
LEGATIONS have been printed by tn
census bureau and forestry servic
II jointly and are easily accessible t.
any one. Senator Brown of Nebraska
standing at your side, and touching
elbows with you at that time, shove,
to you the government imprint upol
those reports.
You said: "The class (of newspa
pers) who can only see an additions
cost of perhaps 50 ton in the pa
per in the discussion and disposition
of great question like this are s.
unimportant that they should no
be considered here" (page 1882 con
gressional record). This astounding
HI statement, in the light of the fac
that the daily press of the Unite,
States. including over $500 dali.
newspapers, stands practically as