Arizona republican., 1917-03-30
The Print Paner Situation

The paper trust which has always been pretty
well protected in congress in tariff revsions and
against adverse regulatory legislation has at last
yielded the pressure applied through the Federal
Trade Commission by the publishers of the country,
whom necessity had driven to better organization
than they had ever had before
The claims Of the manufacturers of print paper
that the prohbitive prices they charging had
been forced upon them known not to be true,
though there apparent basis for them grow
ing out a condition the manufacturers themselves
had created-a panic among publishers, resulting in
their placing extravagant against print
famine.
The manufacturers had led the publishers sup
pose the countrys supply of pulp wood had been
reduced almost the point of exhaustion. The
steady advance in the price print paper TO a level
which was prohbitive for many publications made
that notion persuasive. Most people had be-
leve that unless science could find substitute
for pulp wood only few of the strongest institutions
could survive the disaster which must upon the
publishing business.
But forestry service of department of agri-
culture has been busy gathering the facts with
spec the existing and prospective supply of woods
from which pulp S made A summary the report
given in a statement issued a few days ago by
Secretary Houston.
facturers was painted with materials supplied by
fancy rather than fact is shown by the secreary's
statement There has been an exhaustion of pulp
woods, but only those forests convenient to the
paper mills According to the report, of which the
secretarys statement is abstract, the annual
sumption of wood used in making pulp for papers
of all kinds is 1000 600 cords. He follows this up by
saying that there 60O0OOOOO cords of pulp woods
in the national forests alone quantity sufficient to
supply the demand at the present rate for eighty
years. The greater part this immense supply is
found ION the slope of the Cascade mountains in
Oregon and Washington including vast trbu-
tary Puget Sound ana running along the seaboard
in southwestery Alaska"
There are seventy billion feet spruce and hem
lock the national forest of Alaska alone and 'n
many respects, its conditions to abundant forests
of paper making woods power and direct tide
transportation duplicate those of Norway the
leading country of the world in the industry"
Secretary Houston goes so far express the
opinion that lin the last analysis the value of Alaska
the United States a of paper will be
found to exceed in value her resources of
coal, mineral and fisheries"
The Republican less than q year ago called
tenton the forests of the northern part of
this state. where pulp making woods abound, sit
uated conveniently to the Grand Canyon. with its
limtess possibilities for the development of water
power Another large supply of pulp woods
toned in the report is the national forests in the
Rocky mountains, running from the Canadian line
into Colorado and Utah. In addition there large
of privately owned forests in the region
And in estimating the probable supply of the future,
large allowance be made for reforestation
we'll economies in the and management Of the
forests Heretofore have been guilty of profligacy
in this respect.
Secretary Houston's statement make it
evident that need only manage wisely the
resources still left assure ourselves permanently
abundant supply of the materials of paper. 1t will
be necessary for the mills be moved sources
of supply although, before this done to any
great extent some policy will have adopted for
permitting the of materials to be found in the
national forests.