THE PAPER FAMINE.

Gisborne Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5542, 26 July 1920, Page 6

THE PAPER FAMINE.

IS on in NEW ZEALAND.

“NOT A VERY PROPER PRO- v POSAL.” WELLINGTON, July 23. Another opportunity came in the way of Air Holland to-day in the House to refer to his plan for getting paper for government prmting by taking it from . newspapers. Ho declared that it would be remembered that there were stocks of paper hoarded by newspapers in the Dominion and that the government should give attention to. the waste of paper in display advertising and commandeer some of the stocks. The Minister in charge of the Government printing house at the present moment is Air Anderson, himself a printer, who has all his life had something to do. with newspaper production and in his reply to the demand of the leader of the Labor Party lie said that tne Government had no intention of doing what Air Holland suggested. Air Holland repeated hi s demand yesterday, saying that ho had! no idea of attacking the necessary stocks, but only the hoarded stocks of paper, and saying also that the big advertising space in the newspapers should be cut down. Air A. AlcNicol said that tlie scheme that Air Holland had proposed would not help the Government printing office because the paper held by the newspapers would not be suitable for the printing of Hansard or other Government publications! . The paper was made for use on a particular kind of machine andi could not be used for any other efficiently. He admitted that stocks of paper were held by some newspapers, but the prospects for newspapers would he poor indeed if some stocks were not held and a poor look out also for the employees of newspapers. As to the proposal to cut down advertising space if Air Holland’s plan wore to be l followed it must result in loss of employment to many worthy working people, because, with the present high cost of production and the present scale of wages at which ho took no exception, it would not he possible for newspapers to carry on. If their revenue was to be reduced by such drastic methods as hacl been proposed very manv honest and hard worthing people- would he thrown out of employment if Air Holland had his way—and this was surely not a very proper proposal to be made by the leader of a so-called Labor Party..— Special Correspondent.