The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1916-11-10
he social room Of the church.

n the social room of the church.
/ L. 5. Pickett, called "The Calling
Gun Of Kentucky" on the temperance
y question, spoke in favor of the Third
Amendment on Tuesday evening at
It Z O'Clock, to good-sized audience,
who probably would not have heard
t, him at any church. He is certainly
S a rapid-fire speaker, and put forth
strong arguments in a strong way
80 to 60 per cent to the cost Of paper
To the newspaper publishers. The
country newspaper that has been pay
mo $4,000 a year for paper Will mere
after pay $4,000 and more. Inc
metropolitan paper which has peen
having $1,000,000 will pay $l,5oo,VOo
and upwards.
This sudden and unexpected advance
in the cost of the newspapers raw
material is a matter of very great I'M
nortance. not merely to the newspa-
pers, but to the public. scores OF
newspapers are likely to be put gu.
of business. The others must hnu
drastic means for increasing tneir
revenues or they must cut down thelr
service. In either case the punhc'
of course, must finally foot the bill.
For that reason it seems necessary
to inform the public Of the develop
, ments of situation which under or
. binary circumstances would be re-
! garded as merely the incidental pri-
A yate trouble of the publishers.
| The paper manufacturers have con-,
e tended that the abnormal situation
= was due to increased demand and TO
higher cost of production. But the
e gravity of the condition confronting
n the newspaper business was such as
/ to impel Congress to direct an IN
y ouiry by the Federal Trade Commits
i sion to discover whether these factors
were sufficient to warrant the tremen-
It dous advance in price. :,
/ The hope that this inquiry would
h get anywhere must be rellnqplsheu
IS All that the commission apparently
t. can find to do is to recommend tna'
re the size of newspapers be cut down
ID This finding has been widely resented
The feeling evoked may be inferred
. from letter sent by the Philadelphii
ce North American to the Federal Trad
ca Commission in reply to Suggestion
he from the commission about reduclnI
as the size Oh tnS Dulluay SNANiN'
y North American says:
I'm Publishers confidently and reason
re ably looked to the commission TO re
Dis veal whether there was shortage
err wood pulp, occasioned by cessation
as imports; lack of shipping facilities Z
diversion of labor to other industrle
he on account of war business. They e.
ose pected the commission TO enllghte
md them as to increased costs OF produ
err tion. the reasons therefor and the
the relation to prices demanded; as
ms whether prices are uniform, ana as
whether there is, or has been Tor
ons wear. real competition in the sale
;ec- paper. They awaited information
,rld to whether the paper-making indu
que trv of this continent is controlled,
zeal has been intimated, by small boa
of Canadians and Americans, viii
| to regulates output and prices, a
the thereby exercise the power OF /
t is and death over many publishing emu
ac nrises. But instead they
the ceive a letter which excludes the pl
,een fishers side of the controversy fr'
nav consideration and puts the author
onal of your commission behind an eX pa
finding for the manufacturers.
.ium That this is the effect of your
ence traordinary action is shown by
the course of the stock market. Twen
for four hours before your letter reacl
rna- us its contents were carried by
this news agencies of the country,
the quotations for paper company sto
g of took sensational rise; one comm
ition stock which has never paid DIVIDE
the Jumped ten points, and is still sire
the Your letter added millions to
the stock market value of paper
rs of porations' securities.
lego- Until there is thorough invest
which ton by the trade commission or 81
ted a other authoritative body the resi-
Id of sibility for print paper conditions
a en- not be placed. But the results of
other situation must be faced by the nc
the papers as best they can.-Kansas
, the Times.