The Colorado statesman., 1917-04-14
Sufficient to Meet Paper Require
ments of Country, Says Sec
retary Houston.
GOVERNMENT MILLS POSSIBLE
official Declares This May Be Neces-
sary to Build Up Output to Point
Where 1t Will Meet Demands
of the Nation.

Uncle Sans own forests contain |
enough pulp wood to supply the ma
ion with paper for all time, If it is
properly conserved, declared Secretary
IF Agriculture Houston in a statement
concerning the print paper situation,
which he declared had constituted one
Of the most serious of the country's
domestic problems during the past
year.
The statement shows that, although
newspapers have suffered severely and
small publishers of books have been
brought to the verge of ruin, the situ-
alton is by no means hopeless. Prop
erly handled, the paper pulp supply
may be made adequate for all time.
At present there is almost an equal
balance between the supply and the
demand. The report shows a use of
5000 tons of newsprint daily in 1914,
and present use of 5000 tons. News
print alone requires annually about
100000 cords of pulp wood; all 9th
er purposes an additional 100000
cords.
One-third of our supply is derived
from Canada. This is a dangerous
condition, the secretary asserts, and
one which should be remedied at once,
as "changes in Canadian policy might
At any time cut off our newspapers
yom this source of supply or make 1t
available at excessive cost"
We need not be dependent upon Can
ada, he declares, since "our own for
asst resources are ample to meet all
the paper requirements of the coun-
try." The publicly owned national for
ests alone contain enough pulp wood
to supply the entire paper needs of
the United States for the next eighty
years. This, "cut inteligently, con-
stitutes virtually an iI-exhaustible sup
ply for all time"
Big Supply of Pulp Wood.
The pulp wood supply in the ma
tional forests is estimated by the fed
eral forest service at over 60O,OOO,-
DOO cords. There are also large sup
plies of pulp wood in privately owned
western lands.
Since much capital is tied up in East
ern plants, considerable portion of
the Western pulp is not available for
Eastern use. Nevertheless, huge
supply in the section west of the Cas-
rade mountains on the Pacific coast is
close enough to tidewater to enable 1t
to be shipped cheaply, and this, to-
gether with the supply afforded by
Alaskan national forests-estimated at
7O,OOO,OOO,00O feet of spruce and hem
lock-is readily available to the East
ern and Central states. The report as
serts that the Alaskan wealth in pa
per woods will be found ultimately
to exceed in value all of Alaska's enor-
nous resources in coal, minerals or
fisheries.
Another valuable timber belt extends
Through the northern Rocky noun
tains from the Canadian line into Colo
RADIO and Utah." This, shut off from
water transportation, is not practical
as a source of supply for the East, but
Is a logical storehouse of raw mate
rails for the paper requirements OF the
Mississippi valley, it is declared.
Tests have shown that there are sew
eral new woods suitable to paper
making. These include Englemann
spruce. lodge pole pine, white fir and
nine other cheap and abundant confer
Gus woods of the Western states, the
report states.
New Mills Proposed.
That these immense natural re-
sources may be readily available, the
report recommends increased sales OF
raw materials to manufacturers and
the erection of mills in Alaska, the
Puget Sound country or the Rocky
mountain region, "under agreements
with the government for long-term
supply of raw material, guaranteed un-
der an equitable adjustment of prices
from time to time"
Expert estimates show the pracd-
cability of manufacturing newsprlnt
in Alaska and delivering in New YORK.
through the Panama canal, at a cost
of not more than S35 per ton, as
against recent prices of over $50 per
ton.
The waste in the manufacture of
government might itself erect mills
in the West, especially to supply pa
per for government needs, and, II pri-
yate enterprise fails, to build up the
paper supply to point adequate with
the nations requirements, 1T may
we'll he that the federal government
should enter the industry as direct
method of controlling the situation.
The waste in the manufacture OF
lumber. estimated at over 6O,OOO,OOo
cords annually, contains at least 4o,-
100000 cords of coniferous WOODS
adapted to papermaking, and much OF
this can be utilized.
But the ultimate solution OF the
problem is the practice of forestry to
keep up a continuous production OF
pulp wood" the report concludes. This
is easier than might appear, and 1t is
recommended that we follow the exam