The Sentinel=record., 1916-12-30
PAPER MAKERS ARE UNWILLING TO TALK
INVESTIGATION COMES TO AN END WHEN MANUFACTURERS
 ARE CALLED TO STAND,
lnreasonaoeness of the Price of Pa per Had Been Discussed oy Others But Makers Dodged the Issue.

opened here today by the federal
 trade commission in is news prnj raper investigation same to a sudden end when paper manu tJcturers refus- ed to discuss the reasonab,eness of
 news rht paper prices Bota pub
 fishers and iobbers had been heard The manufacturers declared they had Iot had time t1 study tables p@e- pared by the commissions investiga- | tors purport.ng to show huge profi,s. Members of the trade commission m nounced that despite an apparent ul- Willingness by the manufacturers to keep in the investigation, the com miSsi 1's report woI.d be issued pro bably in about 10 days and that sucl recommendations to congress would be made as were thought necessary At the same time it was said th2
 commission would be in osition pro bably by tomorr W night to announce whether it's consideration of q paper distribution plan sGowed an actual paper sho tdge and q need for distri- button under sJparv v,sion of the com mission,
 It was strongly intmated during the day that fac's uncovered by the com mission would be turned over 10 the
 department cf justice. It was an. nounced that if the commission failed to relieve conditions, some other gov e.nmental agency might be able 10 help. T.e report to congress. it is understood, will scCre manufacturers for raising prices to the extent Of fore
 ing many small publishers out Of bus mess.
 anofacturers iroposed the distri- tution plan at hearing two weeks ago. Today's hearing was lesump- tioa of that proceeding. interrupted to study the plan and give the manufae- turers time to go over the eommis- sion S cost of production figures.
 Publishers testifying today blamed both manufacturers and jcbbers for prevailing conditions il the newspa- per world. It was declared that job bers had taken advantage of the last two weeks to try t9 frighten publish CTS into aying high prices by claim ing a shortage existed which would prevent many publishers filling their needs during the coming year. More testimony was brought out also con Cerning alleged refusals to sell to pub fishers and regarding different prices quoted by the same manulact tjrers. 't was cha ged that an eff1rt was being made to discourage buying associA- tions through which publishers hope to purchase their paper more cheap ly.
 Publishers, it was said during the day, a.e going ahead rapidly with their lans for constructing paper making plants of their own. By the middle of 1918, said A. J. Mcintyre, paper expert of the Newspaper Pub fishers Association. the publishers will be virtually independent of the paper makers.
 A statement given out tonight by Frank r. Glass, chairman of the eX- ecutiye committee of the committee paper Publishers Association, said in part:
 This investigation has been going on for over five months. having been initiated by a request of the News Print Manufacturers Association for such an investigation, the manufac- turers claiming that an investigation would show that they had been con- ducting their business in the proper way. The federal trade commission has apparently pursued the investiga- tion more seriously and has gone fur ther than the manufacturers anticipat ed when they made this request.
 "The practical result is precisely that which l predicted in my state ment to the commission on December l2. There has been a delay of 1T days and nothing beneficial to the suffering newspapers has followed so far In the meantime many contracts for tonnage for 1917 have been closed at the prevalent high prices resulting from the fright of publishers over the
 belief that a dangerous paper famine exists and this notwithstanding the trade commission earnestly requested the manufacturers to suspend making contracts until the hearings were fin ished
 "I hope and believe that the com
 mission will make such a thorough re- port on conditions and so distinctly fasten the chief responsibility for con ditions and so distinctly fasten the chief responsibility for conditions upon those manufacturers concerned that either the department of justice or congress or both arms of the gov ernment may be able to devise sub stantial relief at an early day. If
 that is done. the price of paper will softetn materially in the next few
 months. bringing il to point in req sonable relation to cost of production, which is not the case today, in the
 judgment of the large majority of publishers"