Evening star., 1921-12-21
u. s. PAPERMAKERS
URGE PROTECTION
Tariff Vital to Maintain Lead
in World, Brief to Sen
ators SAYS.

| America has become the leading pa
per manufacturing country of the
| world and to maintain that place the
| industry must have protection against
I cheap foreign labor and deprecated
foreign currency, Henry W. Stokes of
Philadelphia. chairman OF the tarifI
committee OF the American Paper and
| Pulp Association. said in q brief filed
today with the Senate finance COM
mittee.
! The American paper.making indus
try is now billion-dollar one. Mr..
Stokes declared. with SIS paper and
322 pulp mills. During tho business
depression Of the past year there was
! II considerable falling off of the
amount of paper manufactured. ne
| added. Some grades are now BACK 10
IS per cent of normal. but many are
| still below 80 per cent OF normal pro-
duction.
| Competition Is Felt
! NO small part Of the difficulties of
! the American manufacturers he con-
| tinued. els the competition OF the
| Scandinavian and German manufac-
t turers. who. with deprecated curren-
| cy. low wage conditions and low
standards of living. are able to make
/, paper at Il rate which American man
| ufacturers cannot approach. This,
with the low freight charges from Eu-
! rope to our shorcs-for it costs less
; to ship ton Of newsprint. for exam
! pie. from Europe to New York state
| thau to ship a ton across the state OF
| New York-has made the situation of
. the American manufacturer precari-
Gus in the extreme. Big machines are
shut down because their market has
| been taken from them by European
competition, and this in the face OF
i the fact that America has the fastest
Largest. most modern paper machinery
: in the world
New Uses Arise.
During the past ten Years the con
sumption of paper has steadil!
grown. New uses. paIer containers
paper rugs. paper furniture and the
| Ike. being found by the public. are
calling for q constantly increasing
production OF paper. In 1920 the pro
duction of the United States mills was
1.334.6l4 tons. Board led with 2.3l3..
i49 tens, and newSprint was SeconC
with 1,511.96S.
The increasing imports of paper
into this country are shown by the
report of the bureau of foreign ant
domestic commerce for the ter
months ending last October 81. show
| ing tOlal value OF paper imports ol
s1S.624.101. For the same ten months
VI period of 1920. when the value of pa
per per pound was higher than in 1921
the value of the imports was S65..
| >16,5SS. and the imports for the cor
spending ten months of 1919 wer.
SAB 34S5.125.'
Feedmakcrs Appear.
Representatives of feed manufac.
turers appearing yesterday before the
committee protested against chang
! ing the basis for assessing tariff du-
ties on black strap molasses as pro-
posed in the Fordney bill and also
against the rate of one-fourth A cen,
a gallon. They said the industry had
been built upon low-price molasses
; and that comparatively low tariff
j had always been placed against this
commodity.
! An increased duty, they argued
. would be the equivalent of another
+! advance in freight rates, and would
put the finishing touches on their in
| dustry. which, they said, now was
| struggling to keep going until con-
| ditions improved. Even now. with
lmolasSes selling at the seaboard at the
! lowest price ever known. they added
/ the entire molasses feed manufactur-
! ing industry was in the throes of de-
! spair.