CINCINNATI, OHIO, November 20, 1908. COMMITTEE OF WOOD PULP IMPORTERS. GENTLEMEN: Replying to your favor of the 14th instant, would say that we are opposed to any increase of duty on wood pulp for two reasons. The first is that wood pulp enters very largely into the manufacture of paper which is used for printing, and to make it more costly would simply mean that the cost of printed matter would be increased. It is a question whether or not the public is willing to pay higher prices for its daily papers, its books, and its literature generally. We think that it is not willing, and we believe that anything tending to increase the cost of these almost necessaries of life will be very strongly resented by the people of this country. Another reason which we think should appeal to the congressional committee having this matter in charge is that of the preservation of our forests. If it is made difficult or impossible to bring wood pulp here from foreign countries we shall have to rely upon native sources of supply, and they, as you are undoubtedly aware, have been seriously depleted of late years. Anything tending to further the destruction of these forests will, we think, be equally resented by our people. Yours, truly, THE KNERR BOARD AND PAPER Co., W. J. HALDEMAN, Treasurer. MT. VERNON, IND., November 19, 1908. COMMITTEE OF WOOD PULP IMPORTERS, New York City. GENTLEMEN: Your circular letter in relation to agitation in regard to revision of tariff on wood pulp, print paper, etc., received. We are not users of wood pulp, but we are in sympathy with all those who are engaged in the manufacture of material entering into paper of whatsoever kind, as well as the paper manufacturer, and think there should not be any duties taken off by Congress which would allow the free entrance into the United States of paper or material entering into the manufacture of paper, realizing as we do that our own industries should be preferred first, last, and all the time; also knowing that the profits on our manufactured goods are not excessive, and many concerns are realizing but little from their investments. Trusting that our Representatives will not bother with the present duties, we are. Very truly, yours, MT. VERNON STRAWBOARD Co., THE MONADNOCK PAPER MILLS, BOSTON, THINKS THERE SHOULD BE NO INCREASE IN DUTY ON PULP. BOSTON, November 20, 1908. CHAIRMAN WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, Washington, D. C: DEAR SIR: We understand that the American Pulp and Paper Association is advocating and is going to present to you on the 21st instant its views as to raising the duty on imported pulps from Europe to 100 per cent. We are members of the above association, but we wish to go on record as being strongly opposed to any such change in the tariff. We are not manufacturers of pulp and are obliged to buy all of our pulp for the manufacture of our paper, and while we buy more or less of it made in this country as well as in Canada we still buy a large quantity from Germany and Sweden, for the reason that the quality of our paper demands in some instances a better grade of pulp than can be made in this country. We have never yet seen pulp made here of as good quality as that made abroad, and while there are a few mills here that if they exerted themselves could manufacture this quality, they would not make enough to supply the demand for this grade, and if the duty were raised 100 per cent on the foreign pulp they could make their prices exorbitant. Many of the mills in this country make their own pulp and their own paper together, and have some pulp for sale, and a raise in the duty to this figure would benefit them very materially, but it would be a distinct detriment to the mills like ourselves who are obliged to buy pulp in the foreign market, and a large proportion of the paper so made in this country is made by mills situated in similar circumstances as ourselves. We trust that no change will be made in the way of an increase of duty on European pulps. Yours, very truly, MONADNOCK PAPER MILLS, THE TILESTON AND HOLLINGSWORTH COMPANY, OF BOSTON, OPPOSES INCREASE OF DUTY ON WOOD PULP. Hon. SERENO E. PAYNE, M. C., BOSTON, November 20, 1908. Chairman Ways and Means Committee, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: This company is opposed to any increase of duty on wood pulp for the following reasons: Our mill is situated near this city and produces about 30 tons of high-grade paper per day. We buy all of our wood fiber, not being able to manufacture it, owing to the location of our mill. The low grades are almost entirely of domestic production, but many of the higher grades of foreign sulphite fiber are of superior quality to any made in this country, and for that reason we are compelled to use them in order to obtain certain desired traits in our papers. We are content with the present duty on wood pulp, and believe that it is probably necessary for the protection of the American pulp manufacturers. We protest, however, against any increase in the said duty. The majority of paper mills in the United States make their own pulp, manufacture the larger part of their pulp into paper, and sell any surplus which they may have. An examination into the cost of paper making and into the price at which these mills sell their paper will very quickly show at what value they take their own pulp when put to their own uses, and tend to confirm our belief that they already have ample protection. Very respectfully, yours, TILESTON AND HOLLINGSWORTH COMPANY, FINCH, PRUYN & CO., GLENS FALLS, N. Y., STATE THAT PRESENT PULP AND PAPER SCHEDULE IS SATISFACTORY. WASHINGTON, D. C., November 21, 1908. COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS, Washington, D. C. GENTLEMEN: I represent Finch, Pruyn & Co. (Incorporated), a domestic corporation of New York State engaged in the manufacture of paper and lumber at Glens Falls, N. Y. The production in paper, which is all news print, is approximately 18,000 tons per annum. It saws into lumber from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 feet per annum. The company employs approximately 500 men in its manufacturing departments and in its woodland operations. The city of Glens Falls has a population of about 20,000, and its staple industry is paper making, there being a mill of the International Paper Company located there. I am manager of the woodland department of the Finch, Pruyn & Co., and, because of the fact that the corporation is next to the International Paper Company, the largest owner of New York State woodland, and is annually cutting a supply of wood from these lands, I am able to supply the committee with accurate figures on the cost of production of pulp wood in New York State, and perhaps in addition to provide an illustration of what the effect of the tariff may be upon woodlands in our section. Our company owns 160,000 acres of Adirondack forest land. The experts say that the annual growth of spruce and hemlock upon these lands is something like 60 feet to the acre. If we exclude 10,000 acres for burns and waste land, it leaves 150,000 acres and, assuming that the figures on annual yield given by the experts is correct, our forest would produce something like 15,000 cords of wood per year. The capacity of our present ground-wood mill is about 18,000 tons per year. Each cord of rough pulp wood produces 1,800 pounds of mechanically ground wood, so that our present use of pulp wood for ground-wood purposes is approximately 20,000 cords per year. Because of the fact that our woodlands would not supply sufficient wood for a sulphite mill to supply our sulphite, we have in the past purchased our sulphite in the open market. The difference between our consumption of pulp wood and the yield from our own lands we purchase in the open market, mainly from Canada. In the year 1907 we purchased 691 cords of rough, 8,028 of peeled, and 1,341 cords of rossed Canadian pulp wood. In the same season we cut from our own lands in New York State 31,397 cords of pulp wood and logs, the total cost of which, for removal from the stump to the nearest water for floating and driving to our mill, was $141,115.60. To drive this wood to our mill we expended $28,001.94, and there was chargeable against it for sundries, office salaries, etc., $8,708.25, making the total cost of getting this wood from the stump to our mill $177,824.79, or $5.66 plus per cord. The stumpage value of this wood it is somewhat difficult to fix, as the rapid increase in the value of stumpage of Adirondack land for various purposes is well understood. However, the generally accepted value of stumpage for pulp wood purposes is from $2 to $2.50 per cord and, assuming this stumpage to have an average value of $2.25 per cord, we get a total cost per cord at our mill of $7.91 for the wood delivered in 13-foot logs. In making comparisons with the cost of Canadian wood, it should be borne in mind that the Canadian wood is cut into 4-foot lengths, while the New York State wood, from which I have given figures, comes to the mill in the log. The Canadian wood purchased by this company, as stated above, is bought in the open market at points on the Grand Trunk Railway east of Quebec at $7 per cord for hand-peeled 4-foot wood, and the rough wood was bought in the same section at $5.50 to $6 per cord and the rossed was bought delivered at Glens Falls at $11 per cord. The estimated cost of delivering 4-foot rough pulp wood at Montmagny and St. Catherine, Quebec, by the sea-coast lumber company, one of the venders of the wood above referred to, was $2.90 per cord for Montmagny and $3.30 per cord for St. Catherine. These figures were made up of the items of $2 per cord for the labor of laying the wood at these points, plus 50 cents per cord in the case of Montmagny and $1 per cord in the case of St. Catherine for driving, booming, and sorting and 40 cents per cord in each case for stumpage. We are supplied with figures upon the cost of delivering pulp wood to us at the mouth of the Jacques Cartier River, about 20 miles west of Quebec on the St. Lawrence. The items are $2 per cord for labor from the stump to the driving water; driving, loss of measurement, rossing, and loading, $1; total cost of wood per cord, $3. No account of stumpage value is included in the above figures. To protect our New York State forest lands and provide for an annual yield, which shall be permanent, we have asked the United States forestry department to supply us with a working plan for cutting our wood and the department is now at work upon such a plan. So long as we are able to make up the deficiency between our consumption and the annual growth of our own wood, at anything like the present prices for Canadian wood, we shall lumber, under the plan proposed by the United States Department. Should an export duty bar us from the Canadian market, we would be forced to increase the cutting upon our own land, and should the present tariff schedule on news print be reduced so that we would be forced to compete with the Canadian mills, having the chief source of wood supply above referred to, it would be necessary to look to our own wood land for our entire supply of pulp wood, which would mean that in not to exceed twenty-five years the land would be denuded. Were it not for the rapid increase in value of our New York State wood land, it might be that there would be a greater profit in denuding the property and keeping out of the Canadian wood market than under the present plan of operating. The present tariff schedule is satisfactory to this company, and to reduce it means to compel us to seek our source of supply of raw stock in northern New York; and, while it may mean that we shall be able for some years to compete with the Canadian mills, it plainly means that this can be done only through a sacrifice of the future forest growth in our section. The only way to prevent this effect of any substantial tariff reduction would be for the State of New York to condemn the forest land and pay its present value. In conclusion I desire to express, on behalf of our company, our approval of the conclusions expressed by Mr. Lyman on behalf of the International Paper Company. Respectfully submitted. FINCH, PRUYN & Co. (INC.), By GEO. N. OSTRANDER, Manager Woodlands. THE ST. REGIS PAPER CO., WATERTOWN, N. Y., WRITES RELATIVE TO STATEMENT MADE OF PRICE OF PRINT PAPER. Hon. S. E. PAYNE, M. C., WATERTOWN, N. Y., November 23, 1908. Chairman Ways and Means Committee, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: I desire to call your attention to a statement made by John Norris in his brief presented to your committee on Saturday, November 21, which is untrue, together with evidence thereof. The following appears in the first paragraph of Mr. Norris's brief: This curtailment of production has been availed of by paper makers generally to mark up the price of news print paper this week to $55 per ton New York, or $20 per ton in excess of the price which prevailed when the Ways and Means Committee considered this schedule twelve years ago, and $15 per ton in excess of the price which would prevail under normal conditions. I inclose herewith a copy of a letter written by me to Mr. Norris on November 13, in which we quote him paper at the rate of $42 per ton for an annual contract of 3,000 tons or more f. o. b. mill. The rate of freight to New York from the mill is $2.60 per ton, making our quotation $44.60 per ton New York instead of $55 per ton New York. Our quotation to Mr. Norris of November 13 has not been withdrawn; indeed, the quotation was confirmed to Mr. Herman Ridder, president of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, during the week, and as late as Saturday, November 21. I also inclose quotations published by the New York Journal of Commerce and the Commercial Bulletin in their edition printed Saturday morning, November 21, confirmatory of my own quotations, and representing, from their own investigations, current prices. Yours, very truly, 75941-H. Doc. 1505, 60-2-Vol 6-19 ST: REGIS PAPER COMPANY, |