Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1916-08-11
THE PAPER MANUFACTURERS
DENY THAT A COMBINE
WAS FORMED.
PROOF MAY BE SUBMITTED
Publishers View Situation With Gen
uine Alarm-Newspapers Face
Failure Unless Increases
Checked Early.

NNUllEltl y Idl ENh mat Ah' piiN'
of news print paper has been forced
exorbitantly by a combination of man
u%faCturers were made by publishers
and denied by representatives OF the
manufacturers at a hearing which con
Cluded an exhaustive inquiry into the
subject by the Federal Trade Commits
sion.
Frank =. Glass, of Birmingham, Vice
president Of the American Ncwsba
per Publishers Association, told the
commission he was morally con
WINGED there was collision among the
manufacturers and expected to be able
by October to present legal proof
of It.
=. r Dodge, president Of the Inter
national Paper Company, declared high
prices were due TO an enormous IN
crease in demand, and insisted that
the manufacturers were not making a
fair return on their capital.
The commission undertook the in
vestigation under direction of a con
gressional resolution and viii begin
work Immediately drafting a report TO
be submitted at the earliest possible
moment.
Other witnesses at the hearing in.
Cluded J. II. Xerbey. chairman Of the
white paper committee Of the National
Editorial Association, and representa-
tives OF the Pennsylvania Associated
Dailics, L. II. Stoll. manager Of the
Pittsburg Publishers Association, G..
n. Andrews of the Easton, Pa, Free
Press, W, l.. Washington OF the Cam
den, n. J.. Courier, Charles b. Spatz
of the B%Oyertown, Pa. Weekly, and
George +. Steele, secretary, and Tim
othy A. Ansberry, counsel for the
News Print Manufacturers Associa-
tion.
Mr.. Glass said his associates viewed
the situation with extreme alarm and
had recommended retrenChment in
consumption by smaller editions, abol-
fishing returns and circulation activity,
Increases of 25 to IS per cen on
contracts and sometimes 100 per cent
on emergency orders, he declared, had
destroyed the profits of most newspa-
pers, and already had driven som to
the wall.
One western paper, he said, reported
an increased paper cost Of $3.50 900 an.
possible for. a publisher to get quota
tions except from the mill he usually
dealt with.
Mr.. Zerbey charged favoritism In
the sale Of paper, and declared pres
ent prices vary widely according to
the within of the manufacturer, the dis
crepancy running from two to six
cents a pound. He added that while
son publishers can hardly buy paper
for cash even at exorbitant rates, 9th.
ers have made two and three-year con.
tracts at favored terms.
He thought It apparent that manu-
Iactlrers had united to force publish.
nrs to deal only with the mill they
were accustomed to patronize, and
that any further increase beyond FIVE
per cent would force many of the
smaller papers under 10000 circula.
lion into bankruptcy,
In defense Of the manufacturers, Mr..
Dodge explained that 81. 000, 900 worth
of paper was held In stock by his
company as a necessary safeguard for
contracts In hand, but said the reserve
had been depleted from $1,000 tons to
1900 in order to AFFORD relief and that
all new orders, including contracts for
nearly 100, eco tons from abroad, had
been refused,
The great difficulty, he said, was
that a very sudden and unexpected de
mand, increasing the Country's paper
consumption over 20 per cent In the
past year, had entirely outrun the
available supply,
Moreover, nearly every item of eX
pense in manufacture had been in
creased, and the import Of timber
bought In Canada for manufacture haC
been forbidden by Canadian authori
Ties shortly after the American duty
on Canadian paper was removed,
No new mills had been built in tn,
past year, he said, as it was impossi
bic to make a fair return on capital.