Arizona republican., 1916-07-21
The Alarming Paper Situation

The print situation which has long been a ous one to publishers has now become most alarm ing It is threatening to pass from the merely embarrassing phase of unprecedentedly high prices the phase of famine The filling of orders is being delayed by the mills and there is assurance that the delays will not be indefinite and will end in failure fill all. Nearly all of those papers which have been issuing huge Sunday supplements tailng them and may expect see them abandoned altogether. Most papers are beginning to reduce the number of their pages. The process of "cutting to the bone" is beginning.
 The news print situation is a result of the Long previous the the end of the timber supply from which wood pulp is made though not at hand in this country, Our mills were, therefore, hand ling Canadian wood pulp and vast supplies of it brought from northern Europe. Canada has pressing business than that of making wood pulp and transportation facilities have been reduced only valuable cargoes than wood pulp be carried The present transportation rates pro hibitive of the shipment of wood pulp Our paper mills have therefore been thrown upon their and have result paper at nearly double the prices of a year ago. The mills declining to quote prices for present future delivery, indicating that they sold that their contracts call for their output for months to come. There is no pros pect of lower prices within The old prices will probably never be restored
 As concrete illustration of the effect these prices on publishers may point that the cost to The Republican of white paper alone is between $500 and $1000 month than it a year We ex- pect that item of cost to be further increased. We might retrench in other directions bear this additional expense and more if could be assured of getting white paper the present any other prices but there is the trouble not in this plant alone but in thousands of newspaper plants all over the land.
 Hence the need-the urgent necessity of conser- vation the putting of newspapers into smaller bulk the of smaller type when that is possible. and the advertising for all the other of a growing newspaper increase from inde- pendent of increase of the prices of white paper.
 There is, though promise of relief from this sit uation, not immediate but ultimate, and one which would be benefit to the state rather than lief the newspapers and other consumers of paper stocks There is in northern Arizona the largest forest in the United States It contains large tracts of spruce, of the few kinds of wood from which wood pulp is made. A great paper mill established at of the towns along the Santa Fe Pacific say, Williams Flagstaff would be near to an nexhaustbe supply of water power in the Grand Can yon and water power is an essential in paper making A paper mill there would have transportation facil- that would enable it reach vast natural ter ritory, comprising Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico Texas Colorado and Utah. The advantage to this state alone would be almost incalculable. In Phoenix alone there is spent annually for white per $5OO0O $35 900 wrapping paper and paper bags
 This is a matter that should be brought to the at tention of every board trade and chamber of in the for it is that directly all merchants all business men, and less directly it concerns every man and in the state for all would be benefited by the establishment of such a mammoth industry.