Mr. CLARK. Is there any connection between this book-paper business and the news-paper business? Mr. SULLIVAN. No, sir. Mr. CLARK. You do not make the same sort of paper? Mr. SULLIVAN. No, sir. Mr. GAINES. The so-called trust is the International Paper Company, is it not? Mr. SULLIVAN. Indeed I do not know just what you call a trust. The International Paper Company is an organization, so far as my knowledge goes, that only makes about 40 per cent of the production of news paper. Mr. GAINES. In the first place, have you any connection with the International Paper Company? Mr. SULLIVAN. None whatever; no, sir. Mr. GAINES. What proportion of the product that it deals in or manufactures is made by the International Paper Company, do your know? Mr. SULLIVAN. They have their representatives here, and those gentlemen will be able to give you the accurate information. What I have is only hearsay. Mr. GAINES. Very well, we will get it from them. BRIEF OF GEORGE SULLIVAN, PHILADELPHIA, RELATIVE TO BOOK MANUFACTURING AND MATERIALS USED. WASHINGTON, D. C., November 21, 1908. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: From the figures given by the Bureau of Census in Bulletin 80 of the Department of Commerce and Labor, which are assumed to be correct, it would appear that the production of book papers in the year 1900 amounted to 282.093 tons. This was equivalent to an average daily production of 940 tons calculated on the basis of 300 actual working days to the year. In 1905, according to the same authority, the amount of book papers manufactured was 434,500 tons, which is equal to an average daily product of 1,448 tons when calculated on the same daily basis as above, viz, 300 working days to the year. This increase in 1905 in the production of book papers is particularly impressive, representing, as it does, an increase of 504 tons per day, or an enlargement from a daily average of 940 tons in the year 1900 to a daily average of 1,448 tons in the year 1905. Hence the percentage of increase during this five-year period (from 1900 to 1905) is equal to about 54 per cent in the production of book papers alone. The present estimated average daily productive capacity of all the mills in the United States engaged in the manufacture of book papers and similar grade is calculated to be about 2,328 tons, or, say, approximately 2,330 tons. Attached hereto is a detailed statement containing the names and post-office addresses of all companies pro 61318-SCHED M--09- -29 ducing the grades of paper in question, each representing a distinct, separate, and independent enterprise, and from which it will be ob served that there are at present 46 concerns engaged therein. Names and post-office addresses of companies engaged in the manufacture of book paper and similar grades. Unfortunately, statistics covering the production of book paper and similar grades for the current calendar year are unavailable, the year 1908 being still incomplete and having some fifty-odd working days (the months of November and December) still to hear from. But estimating the production for the year 1908 of all mills engaged in manufacturing book paper and similar grades at about 90 per cent of the normal productive capacity we would have an estimated average daily production of about 2,100 tons, this being an increase of 652 tons per day over and above the production for the year 1905, such increase amounting to about 45 per cent. While the increase of 54 per cent in the production of 1905 over the year 1900 seems marvelous, the increase in the production for the shorter period (from 1905 to 1908), a growth estimated at about 45 per cent, is none the less striking. Comparisons of the average daily production of book papers for the year 1900 and the estimated average daily production for the year 1908 show that the increase and growth in production amounted to approximately 123.4 per cent within the period constituting the last eight years. The marvelous growth and progress manifested in this one particular branch of the paper-making industry during the eight-year period indicated proves, if anything can, that its wonderful development became possible by virtue of the benign influences of our protective tariff, from the effects of which it has materially benefited. The great increase in production of book papers and similar grades is largely attributable to the protective-tariff system. It is mainly responsible for the erection of all the new book-paper mills which have been constructed during the past eight years, likewise for additions and enlargements to older plants for the purpose of increasing their capacities, thus providing abundant opportunity for employment to the American wage-earner at a wage scale considerably higher than obtains in any other country. A brief résumé of the rates of wages paid to employees in paper mills of this country, as compared with the rates of wages paid in paper mills of other countries, will undoubtedly interest your committee, and data of this character is hereto appended, together with the present tariff duties in force and covering the various materials and supplies used in the operation and conduct of paper and pulp mills in the United States. Scotch mill as compared with Mechanicsville mills. [Average of various companies in Scotland-Pay per two weeks (12 days).] Rates of wages paid per day of twelve hours in the United States as compared with other countries. Scale of wages paid at Duncan mills, Mechanicsville, N. Y., 1893-1908. [Wages shown for 1893 are those paid in the month of May, which was prior to a general reduction of 10 per cent. Said reduction remained in effect until after May, 1898.] |