The Cordova daily times., 1920-06-10
EXPENSIVE LESSON FOR NEWS
 PAPERS

PAPERS
 The present condition of the print paper market in the United States offers an excellent illustration of the natural effect of withdrawal from an American industry of the fiscal policy which is based upon the theory that the first duty of America is to Amer jeans; that the nation owes protec- tion to the men and institutions which protect it in time of war and upbuild it in time of peace.
 Under the Taft administration the newspapers of the country, under the leadership of a group of influential publishers, of whom the late Herman Ridder was perhaps the most conspic uous, demanded of congress the re- moval of the tariff on print paper i'm ported from Canada. Congress, al- though at that time a protectionist body, could not resist the pressure, and it scaled the news print tariff to the vanishing point.
 At that time paper was selling in the United States at about oue-thIrd the present average contract, and about one-fifth the open market price. There was considerable importation. of news print from Canada, offered in competition with the domestic pro- duct. The theory of the free print paper advocates was that the eli1ni. nation of the paper tariff would cause huge influx of paper from Canada and drive down the price from a fig ure that was even then very profit able to the American producers.
 Up to the time of the removal of the print paper tariff, the news print industry of the United States kept pace in growth with the rapid devel- Opment of the American publishing trade. With the removal of the tariff the growth of the newsprint industry in this country ceased Many mills were dismantled and put out of com mission. Some were diverted to the production of the higher grades of paper. The erection of mills in Can ada began. CuriOusly enough no de crease in the price of print paper fol- lowed. The Canadian mills continued to charge what the market would bear Being able to produce more cheaply than the American mills be- cause of lower labor costs, cheaper power and more abundant raw mater ial, they thrived nightly. But they did not keep pace with the growth of the American publishing industry
 American producers of paper bought large tracts of timber land in Canada as sources of raw material. The gov ernment of Canada proceeded to put an export tax on pulp wood, in order to conserve this timber supply and enforce the manufacture of paper in Canada rather than in the United States.
 When the war came the demand for newsprint in the United States fn- creased rapidly. Much of the Cana dian supply was diverted to Europe where it commanded war prices. The American industry, long crippled by exposure to competition of cheaper alien production, was not in a posi- ton to rise to the situation, and was too uncertain of future considerations to justify rapid increase of facilities for paper manufacture Prices be- gan to mount. American paper com panfes which for years had been pass ing dividends began to take advan- tage of their opportunities to make up for lost time. It was not strange, under the circumstances, that they were not as sympathetic as they might have been with the publishers who had been bowling for free trade in paper as means of hamstringing the home producer. But for govern ment interference the paper situation in the United States would have bankrupted half the publications of the country.
 But for free trade in print paper the beginning of the war would have