extraordinary and unexplained reason the International Paper Company is allowing that virgin timber to remain uncut. A virgin forest never grows. Every dictate of good forestry would suggest the propriety of cutting out the mature timber and thereby gaining 4 or 5 per cent per annum from the growth of that which is allowed to remain. The policy of the International Paper Company in these matters is beyond explanation. Certainly, the users of paper are made to suffer by reason of the withdrawal of these vast areas from the market and the inevitable increase in the cost of stumpage. The officers of the paper company comfort themselves with the reflection that lands which were reported to be worth $10 per acre ten years ago are now worth $27.50 to $30 per acre, but those valuations are purely fanciful and are the results of the artificial stimulation which pulp manufacturers have given to values. Eight or ten paper makers own over 1,140 square miles of spruce forests in the Adirondacks. The International Paper Company has 400 square miles; Finch, Pruyn & Co. (affiliated with the International Paper Company), 220; Gould Paper Company, 170; St. Regis Paper Company, 100; Racquette River Company, 140; Schroon River Paper Company, 16; J. & J. Rogers Paper Company, 47; Dexter Sulphite Company, 47; hunting preserves for individuals, 1,500; New York State Forest Reserve, 2,700; a total of 4,340. It is obvious that the prohibition of the export of pulp wood from Canada would mean the prompt destruction, not of 2 or 3 per cent of our forests, as paper makers would have us believe, but of 25 per cent, or 1,100 square miles, of the Adirondacks. Mr. Pinchot estimates that the available supply of pulp-wood timber in the United States will last as follows: New York, eight and one-half years; Pennsylvania, nine years; Minnesota, nine years; Vermont, eleven years; New Hampshire, twenty-five years; Maine, twenty-eight and one-half years. I am not authorized to say what the Mann committee found when it undertook to ascertain the possibilities of reforestization. I know it went to the West, where the supply from Ontario had already been stopped and where sawmills had been abandoned because owners found the Ontario law made relocation necessary on the north side of the Georgian Bay. Practically all spruce in Wisconsin has been cut out. In Minnesota the spruce was found to be exceedingly small in size and requiring from one hundred to one hundred and twentyfive years to reach maturity and a diameter of 10 inches, whereas in the State of Maine the pulp men say they do not cut anything less than 14 inches. A visit to paper mills in Wisconsin and Minnesota disclosed a ridiculous aspect to their pulp supply. In many cases they are adjuncts of lumbering operations, as shown by Mr. Weyerhauser's investment at Cloquet and the Walker-Nelson investment at Little Falls. Disks cut from pulp wood in Minnesota mills showed that the 6-inch pulp wood counted 65 rings. Much of the wood was less than that diameter, and Mr. Mann brought back from Cloquet a specimen piece of pulp wood no larger than a baseball bat, which had been prepared for the pulp grinder. To reach bodies of spruce that would average 10 inches the committee passed through miles upon miles of burned forests, some burned in the spring of 1908, some in the fall of 1907, and some in the spring of 1907. It was admitted by the lumber cruisers who accompanied the committee that the fire in the spring of 1907 had been started by the lumber men to burn up their slashings and had become too much for them. When Mr. Weyerhauser, of St. Paul, the largest lumber operator in the country, was asked about the possibilities of reforestization, he said that it was impossible for individuals because of the constantly recurring forest fires and because of the time required to mature the trees, and because of the taxes on standing timber which would eat up the principal before the new growth could reach maturity. Forester Pinchot submitted to the Mann committee tables based on actual measurements of timber in different parts of the United States to establish the fact that from twenty-five to forty years must elapse before a second crop of spruce timber could be obtained, and that period was dependent upon the observance of forestry conditions and a restriction of cutting to 10 inches minimum. To obtain spruce from seeds planted in the forests would require between seventy-five and one hundred years. Mr. Pinchot stated that the cutting of pulp wood in the United States was destructive rather than conservative because large and small timber is taken and little is left for a future crop. Testimony given to the Mann committee showed that in the West lumbermen cut everything clean, leaving nothing to grow for the second crop. Many States are putting a premium upon the destruction of their forests by taxing the standing timber. In Montana, it was stated the Government had adopted regulations which promoted this butchery. It will be necessary to move paper mills across the border or to the Pacific coast where there are supplies of spruce, if policies advocated by paper men inviting the prohibition of pulp wood from Canada are adopted. In estimating the Canadian supply upon admittedly indefinite data of the two countries, Mr. Pinchot calculated that Canada had from two to three times the amount of spruce pulp wood that we have in this country (p. 1357). Canadian pulp-wood estimates vary. Broadly speaking, it has been claimed that there are spruce forests extending from Cape Hamilton, in Labrador, to the Yukon, and from the St. Lawrence north to Hudson Bay; that if the United States did not cut another stick of pulp wood for 200 years, and the Canadian trees should stop growing and remain in their present condition, there would be enough pulp wood available to keep us going for more than 200 years. Dr. Robert Bell, of the geological survey of Canada, says the forest areas of Canada measure 2,600,000 square miles, of which half are in pulp wood. This area computed on the basis of four cords of pulp wood to an acre would yield six and onehalf billion cords, which would be enough to last the United States for 1,500 years on the basis of present consumption. R. H. Campbell, superintendent of forestry of the Dominion government, calculated the forest area of the Dominion at 840,000 square miles, divided as follows: British Columbia.. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and unorganized territories. Ontario Quebec... New Brunswick. Nova Scotia Acres. 182, 000, 000 180, 000, 000 40, 000, 000 120, 000, 000 7, 500, 000 5, 000, 000 Consul Worman, of Three Rivers, said there were 745,000,000 cords of pulp wood in the Province of Quebec alone. Americans were the first to organize milling companies to build sawmills in that consular district. Their operations have continued to this day, and with three exceptions, the lumber industry of Three Rivers may be said to be in the hands of Americans or controlled by American capital. Besides the mills in Three Rivers, there are ten or more large mills along the north and south shores, many of which are controlled by American capital, and exporting their products to the United States principally. American paper companies own more than 12,000 square miles in the Province of Quebec and in the list may be included the following: International Paper Company (in one of four land offices) Union Bag and Paper Company. W. & M. J. Clarke, of New York. Square miles. 2, 597 2, 462 2, 200 762 407 475 In addition to timber holdings, Americans are interested in water powers on the Miramichi, Jacques Cartier, and St. Maurice rivers. Consul Smith, of Victoria, says American syndicates seem to be successful in securing the bulk of the standing timber in British Columbia in spite of the keen rivalry of eastern Canadians. He said: "It is noteworthy that most of the large investments by Americans in British Columbia timber lands have been made by wealthy lumber men who now own or have made their money in large manufacturing enterprises in the Eastern and Middle States. They have literally poured their money into British Columbia, because, as several have declared to the writer, they regard the timber lands in this Province as the last that can be secured at nominal rates on this continent. As Wisconsin and Michigan forests were forty years ago so are the timber lands of British Columbia to-day." There is an item in the Daily Consular and Trade Reports, issued by the Bureau of Manufactures, for Monday, September 9, 1907, headed "Lumber in British Columbia," which seems to me incredible, because of the vast area to which it refers. It states on the authority of Consul L. E. Dudley, of Vancouver, British Columbia, that "a St. Paul, Minn., company (presumably Weyerhaeuser) purchased 261,000 square miles of timber lands, partly on Vancouver Island, the remainder upon the mainland, paying about $5,000,000 for the same, and proposes building six large sawmills at once. One American is said to have realized more than $1,000,000 profit upon his holdings acquired in the last few years. The provincial lands are not sold, and all logs cut upon such lands must be manufactured within the Province. The lands now changing hands by sale and purchase came into private hands before the enactment of the law now in force." Consul Shott, of the Sault Ste. Marie district, reported that nine of eleven large sawmills in his district were owned by Americans and that fully 85 per cent of all the forest product of that district was manufactured by Americans. At the annual convention of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association held in September, its president, Hon. J. D. Rolland, affirmed the accuracy of the estimates of the Dominion superintendent of forestry and said the total was enough to keep Canadian mills going three hundred and eighty-one years. He said that if the United States were compelled to build mills in Canada or to buy paper there, it would represent over $500,000,000 additional capital in Canada. At that meeting the following resolution was adopted by the association: The pulp and paper section of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association beg to report that at the various meetings of this section held since last autumn the members have been unanimous in the opinion that the government of Canada be requested to preserve the forests and conserve the pulp wood of this country by prohibiting the exportation from Canada of pulp wood, and they ask the earnest assistance of the association in their behalf. The data here given covering comparisons of timber supply and the menace to American interests should impel the American Congress, solely upon considerations of enlightened self-interest, to arrange promptly with Canada for terms that would be mutually advantageous. I now come to the section devoted to the tariff. TARIFE. The paper makers and Congress have publicly declared that the Dingley law did not increase the duty on paper. I propose to show that the duty on paper was increased in 1897, the date of the passage of the Dingley bill, from $4.11 per ton on a basis of 15 per cent ad valorem, to $6 per ton specific, an increase of $1.89 per ton, or 46 per cent, and that the duty in the year 1907 would have been $5.40 on the ad valorem basis if the previous law had prevailed, an increase of 54 cents per ton, or 12 per cent. Also that the duty on mechanically ground wood was increased from an ad valorem basis of 10 per cent, or $1.15 per ton, to a specific duty of $1.67 per ton, or 45 per cent increase. Unbleached pulp was increased from 10 per cent ad valorem to $3.33 per ton specific; bleached pulp was changed from 10 per cent ad valorem to $5 specific. The paper makers had failed to point out to you that the duty was based, not upon the price of the paper delivered at destination, but upon the selling price at point of shipment. When Mr. William A. Russell appeared before your committee on December 31, 1896, the price of news-print paper was $35 per ton delivered in New York, or $30.40 per ton f. o. b. mill, which at 15 per cent ad valorem would then have fixed a duty of $4.56 per ton. The paper makers then asked you to raise it to a specific duty of $6 per ton. I will repeat that for the benefit of the Chairman, merely because it may recall a personal experience. When Mr. William A. Russell appeared before your committee on December 31, 1896, the price of news-print paper was $35 per ton delivered in New York, or $30.40 per ton f. o. b. mill, which, at 15 per cent ad valorem, would then have fixed a duty of $4.56 per ton. The paper makers then asked you to raise it to a specific duty of $6 per ton. In July, 1897, within a few days of the date of the passage of the law, I bought 3,000 tons of news-print paper from the Hudson River mill at a price of $32 per ton, delivered in New York, or $27.40 f. o. b. mill, which at 15 per cent ad valorem would have required a duty of $4.11 per ton, and you fixed a specific duty of $6 per ton, an increase of $1.89 per ton, or 46 per cent. I understand that no one denies that the duty on mechanically ground wood or unbleached pulp was raised. However, it might be well to refer to the report of the Treasury Department, which proves. that the mechanically ground wood imported in 1897 was valued at $11.55 per ton, thereby establishing the point that the ad valorem duty at 10 per cent in 1897 was $1.15, and that it was raised at that time to a specific duty of $1.67 per ton. The duty on print paper did not produce any material revenue to the Government, the average collection of duties on news-print paper for ten years, since the passage of the Dingley bill, having been $9,365 per annum. The importations for each year were (see p. 880) as follows: 1898, no paper imported; 1899, no paper imported; 1900, 86 tons; 1901, 18 tons; 1902, 49 tons; 1903, 20 tons; 1904, 1,890 tons; 1905, 3.316 tons; 1906, 1,788 tons; 1907, 8,733 tons. In six of the ten years it may fairly be claimed that news-print paper was not imported; and it is obvious that under such circumstances the duty on news print can not be regarded as a revenue tax. Practically no news-print paper has been imported into the United States except on emergency consignments. Mechanically ground wood for the five years reported by the Treasury Department (p. 866) averaged 67,846 tons per annum, yielding an average revenue of $117,508 per annum. Chemically bleached pulp was not imported (see p. 866). The importations of unbleached pulp for five of the ten years of which the Treasury Department furnishes a record averaged 31,000 tons, yielding an average revenue of $108.000 per annum. This importation of unbleached pulp carries with it a startling story of tariff demoralization. Every result that was aimed at in the paper and pulp schedule, so far as it applies to the news-print business, has been reversed. The importations of mechanical pulp at the end of ten years are seven times as great as they were in 1898 (see p. 866), and our exports of news-print paper have diminished. The table furnished by the head of the export department of the International Paper Company (p. 1165) reveals a complete collapse of its foreign business because of conditions it had fostered at home. When you considered this paper schedule in December, 1896, Mr. Warner Miller told your committee that the primary purpose of any consolidation would be the exploitation of foreign trade. Subsequently, when the International Paper Company was formally organized, in January, 1898, Mr. Hugh J. Chisholm painted for the American Paper and Pulp Association a beautiful word picture of a proposed invasion of the world's markets. He counted $61,000,000 worth of paper business awaiting the American touch. He pictured the genius of our manufacturers, and he proposed to tap the golden hoard; but we find to-day that the International Paper Company has abandoned all the trade which years of effort had accumulated, and we are no nearer the foreign goal to-day on news-print paper than we were ten years ago. Our export trade of wood pulp has dwindled to half of what it was ten years ago; and a great part of that news-print paper export which now appears in the Treasury records represents, not a business based on the sound |