AMERICAN PAPER TRADE

Hokitika Guardian, 13 June 1925, Page 4

AMERICAN PAPER TRADE

(Inc of the most striking instances ol territorial shifting of industry to meet changed conditions is shown in the print paper tiade between the l nited States and Canada. L'ntil within a few years ago the United States irauulaeittivtl the greater part uf it- paper, with Canada a gradually increasing - mice of supply. Now the psidm*liou i, shifting rapidly north, and Canadian mills are making up the tleiicieiieies ( aiiseil by tin* exhaustion of American pulpwood. In fact it is conceded that so far as mint impel* is concerned, the i ran*.Cr of a large nail of the Aimrii*.lll industry to the Dominion is already in progress. (Inly a lew *la.\s ago announcement was made by the International Paper Company oi iiuaie iug involving .* '. nie $27.030.(100. to be used in acquiring enormous pulp oreserves in Quebec, ami Du* creation ol an iii*niense mill on the Gatim-au Itnvr. a iew miles above Ottawa. I lie company at the same time i- taking over oilier producing Quebec and Ontario properties, with the idea of expanding its Canadian product ion ulliinat'dy b> one thousand tons ol paper per day. Practically all this paper will tied its market in Ihe United Stales, which now is ah.orbing 07

pi *r cent of ('a uadin ii on I put. What will become of the Ameriian mills; P Leading authorities agree that there is a future for them, or nl least lor those either finorably equipped er situated to make dili'erenl grades of paper. Some of the i Uternat ional's own mills are being (banged to niamifaelui'e book or bond papers. Olliers will not feel iho force of conipetit inn as long as pulpwood -applies arc to lie obtained. An interesting report is becoming current Hint chemistry has u last discovered a metlmil of utilising hard woods for paper manufacture, the soft wood up to this time

having been the sole source of supply. M If this proves true, the question oi piil[i\vf!tid i-.diu list ion. now so impor- |(, taut, will lose it' interest, lint htlioratory experiments are often sue- ]_ t t-ssl'ul from the teelinieal point of view, when commercially they are a v failure. Thai set-ins to In- tin opinion ( | of paper experts in (unmu-nting on ~ the hard wood pulp as a substitute ,1 for the raw material now in use. [ There has been a growing agitation !_ in Canada for an embargo against i lie export of pulpwootl, this on the I henry that- the Dominion is losing f | permanently a valuable raw material. .. without the advantage of manufac--1 lure. The trend of the news print s , industry northward is not in response i | to a feeling that the source of supply - | may he shut nil'. It is seeking a new ) liome, as President Grausteiu of the - | Internal ional Company explains, he- - i cause of economic factors. These, os- , ! peciallv cheaper wood and power, are enough in themselves to insure to ! . Canada substantially all the future (growth of the industry in the eastern j part of the continent. The vastncss of the news print itt- | tlustry. in the matter of pulpwood re- | serve, may he judged when it is stat- ( ed that the new timber lands acquirj ed by the International have an area j larger than the States ol Massaehu- , setts. Connect ieiit and Rhode Island ! combined. Through those reserves run I rivers that roach from the Height oi ■ hand to the St. Lawrence, their prej cipitious decline furnishing water . ]lower sites measuring in some cases | nearly one hundred thousand horse | power. In fact, there are falls in i Mime of these rivers that the outside i world knows nothing about, hut which ! were they accessible. would he visited on account of their scenic beauty | alone. ! The menace which the news print 'and i lie lumber industry alike most tear is the forest tire. Hundreds of millions r.f dollars worth ol valuable wealth have disappeared through tilts rau-e, lull to-day the industry mmpreheinls its respunsihility ami '-rotet live mea-ut' s at-- rigidly ami •x----peii'ively enforcetl. I'ir*' jiaire.s reaching far into the wilderness are maintained, while every modem improvement anil invention, such ns . W airplane and the wireless, are impressed into the service.