AN ALLEGED BIBLE TRUST.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXI, Issue 12188, 8 June 1907, Page 7

AN ALLEGED BIBLE TRUST.

The Xcw Yoik correspondent of the Ciuaiduui, .i religious jouru.il. under date March 25th, announces that the American Il'blc Society, the Biitish and Foreign I'ibJe Society, Jiud the National Bible .Society ol Scotland ha\e toniu'd thcm>ol\cu into a trust with the intention oi stiffing competition in Bjljlcs, and niisinjj their piice.-> to the pubic and to local Bible Soci.tics. Mr L. M. HutclmiHon, of Melbourne, who deals largely in Bible 1 ;, explains that some years ag-o the Bihlc-pub-linhing business \tas mainly in the hands ot' Blackie and Sou.->, Edinburgh, the Oxlovd Press aud Messrs Eyre aud Spottiswooed, of Londow, besides certain Ameiican publishers, but things have changed, and more recently other linns have gone largely into Bible production, with the consequence that the prices of Bibles have been reduced to very low figures, just aa the puces of secular books have been reduced. Bibles have even been sold in Melbourne by drapers as cheap lines, as people in the same trade have 6old low priced editions of Dickeus's and Lytton's works. The tendency of the alleged combine would be. of course, to raise prices. Mr F. Q. Barley. Melbourne agent tor the British and Foreign Bible Society, j,tate« that he has hoard of the formation of the trust, but has not been aware of details. Mr Fox, of the Sunday School Union, jlelbpurue, mentiones that about two months a2"o the British and Foreign Bible Society informed him that the retail price of "Penny Testaments" would in future have to be twopence in the colonies, and Mr itutchinwm has received the same intimation fiom the National Bible Society of Scotland, of which he is agent. Mr Fox adds that in raising the price of the "Penny testaments" to twopence the British and Foreign Bible Society informed him that it did not pay to produce it for sale at one pe>nny. A deficiency had regularly to be made up out of subscriptions to the Society, and it was resolved tt raise the price merely to make the work pay for itself. The inVrcjM' was not appar. ntly a tru,t manoeuvre t-> make undue profits.