Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-12-09
SAVING PAPER.

Discussing the greatly increased cost of news print paper ana the threatened famine of paper, the Mount Clemens, (Mich.) Monitor, calls attention to a waste of paper to which the Graphic frequently has referred. This is the use of tons and tons of paper by various bureaux of the government, and publicity departments of organi- cations and industrial enterprises. All this paper is used in the ef- fort to "mooch" from newspapers advertising that should be sent out as paid matter. Infrequently is there anything in this "press agent" dope of news or informa- tive value, and it promptly finds it's way to the waste basket. In one mail the Graphic received IF en- velopes each containing from two to five sheets of 8 Ia inches by 13 inches, filled with typewriter matter. Besides being waste of paper, this is a waste of labor.
 and puts an undue burden on MT.
 BurlesonS postal system. ' til
 Discussing the situation under
 the heading of "The Paper Eat
 ers,' the Michigan paper says:
 Four years ago print paper
 was selling for 3 cents a pound.
 approximately. Today print pa
 per is s 1-2 cents a pound. It is
 likely to be 10 cents early in the
 new year. All other kinds of
 paper have risen proportionately. We have now an actual paper famine, and the outlook is blue, indeed.
 "So it is that we listen to full minations against waste of paper. The National Association of 5 Newspaper Publishers declares for economy, and similar association out West does likewise. All
 around there is a swelling chorus and a pretty general demand for conservation of paper. The Chi scago Tribune, for example, curs its daily issue down to 32 pages!
 "The paper famine is actual, not imaginary, and there is a certain hopelessness in the situation. The
 bottom and permanently controll- ing factor is the constantly dimin.
 ishing source of supply. You can
 and have it left. Some great newspapers in this country-g1e eat not cut off 100 acres of pulp wood in point of avoirdupois, at least
 -use the product of 100 acres or more every week How can such consumption go on with no re- placement? A remedy might be found in new and different source of supply, possibly in an annual crop of some sort, and here is the greatest opportunity of the day for American investigators and scientists. Who discovers a new source of paper, verify his name will go laundering down the the corridors of time.
 However, new supply is not the only remedy. Were it not for the foolshness and selfishness of men another remedy could be applied at once. That remedy would be conservation of the SUD- plies we have. The real and re- lative waste of paper is astuoni- ing.
 "On our desk is the annual re- port of the labor commissioner of Michigan. It is a volume of TOO pages, mass of worthless and un- read details, that could be reduced to 50 or 100 pages. This thing is typical of the scandalous waste of paper that the federal and state governments are guilty of. Thous- ands of tons of paper are annually wasted in such foolishness and moral criminality. Furthermore the mails ahe literally ('litterallv'l would. be better spelling) bur dened with hstrasli issued by, a lot ofs scfaslks who tell us show to be | saved in government, < politics and religion. These nuisances should be 3bated. II might be well to