The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-07-27
Expand Production
Only Remedy To
Relieve Shortage

Washington (LPA)-The way to
break the newsprint shortage and
cut the price is to expand produc-
ton. So Sam Eubanks told the
House subcommittee investigating
monopoly July 20. Newsprint is
the stock daily papers are printed
on.
Eubanks, executive vice-pres-
ident of the American Newspaper
Guild, flatly declared the supply
and price of newsprint are control
led by international cartel agree
ments. Relief from the shortage
can't be obtained through anti
trust suits, he said. Judicial decis-
ions, he said, don't produce news
print.
Relief won't come from private
capital, Eubank insisted. Only
source of private backing is institu-
tions "already linked with the
newsprint combine" who won't
build new plants to compete with
existing installations, he added.
Accordingly, Eubanks said, 'it
seems clear that public funds
should be used to the extent nee
essary to greatly enlarge the news
print industry (at least double pre-
sent capacity in the United
States" He suggested development
of forest resources in southeastern
Alaska as previously recommended
by the US Forest Service.
Eubanks presented a list of 26
daily newspapers which have ceas-
ed publication since mid-1945.
Among them were such bi-city
dailies as the New York Sun, Phil
adelphia Record, and Chicago
Times. He told Rep. Emanuel Gel
Ter Cd, N.Y., chairman of both
Judiciary committee and the sub
committee, the cost of newsprint
was zone prime factor" in all the
suspensions and "a major factor"
in some.
AS a result of newspaper sus-
pensions, 1000 American newspap-
er workers already have lost jobs
in 1850, Eubanks said. Another
20,000-one in every 12-face loss
of jobs in the next five years at
the present rate of suspensions, he
said.
Eubanks told Celler the mono
poly control of newsprint is of
more than economic Importance.
He pointed out that the supply of
newsprint is of profound" social
and political significance, espec-
tally in those nations which have al
free press. There is no substitute
for newsprint, he emphasized, in
dicating that if a publisher cant
get plenty of stock at price he
can afford, he can't publish.
Eubanks followed Alex Pagel of|
the Pagel, Horton Co. of New
York. Page | said he was Ameri-
can agent for three Swedish wood |
pulp firms and one Norwegian
newsprint manufacturer.
He insisted he knew nothing ofI
collusive international attempts tol
fix prices or control supply. When
the attorney for the subcommittee
introduced extensive correspond
ence indicating he was party to
) h practices, Pagel suavely
shrugged them off. In effect, he
said he was a merchant and that
merchants use double-talk that
doesn't mean what it seems to
mean.
Before Pagel, j. ID. Zellerbach of
San Francisco, president of the
Crown Zellerbach Corporation,
spent two days on the stand. Zell-
.rbach, who was flanked by threel
lides including an attorney, de-
lied any knowledge of domestic orI
price-fixing. How
,ver, he spent some uncomfortable
minutes when confronted with
documentary evidence. Certain in
ernational arrangements in which,
lis companies participated were,
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