The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order.

When we discontinued yesterday on account of the call of the House, Mr. Ticoulat was in the witness chair. Mr. Beckworth has a few questions. He was asking questions yesterday. He, therefore, is entitled to proceed further with his questions.

STATEMENT OF GABRIEL TICOULAT-Resumed

Mr. BECKWORTH. Mr. Ticoulat, you were talking about sulfur as being one of the important items and as being in short supply at this time. As a matter of fact, I think you indicated that it might be the most critical ncessity at the moment.

Mr. TICOULAT. That is right.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Does that 20 percent proposed restrictive cut you mentioned apply with reference to Canadian manufacturers as well as manufacturers in this country?

Mr. TICOULAT. So I understand; yes.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Of course, that would be a very material drop in supply of sulfur, would it not?

Mr. TICOULAT. That is right.

Mr. BECKWORTH. As a matter of fact, it would have the effect of throwing out of order many of the programs, circulation programs, which newspapers in the country recently have carried on, and they might not be able to carry on their present circulation schedules. Mr. TICOULAT. That is right.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Of course, one of the important items is steel.
Mr. TICOULAT. Yes, sir.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Is your Division currently undertaking to see that ample steel is made available for those who manufacture parts for newsprint machines, to see that enough is made available to take care of what they need?

Mr. TICOULAT. There is in process now a regulation similar to MRO regulation of WPB days which will take care of that situation, and I feel confident that that will be worked out satisfactorily for the newsprint industry as well as other industries, mainly for maintenance, repairs, and operating supplies.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Something was said-I believe Mr. Hale alluded to it—about the almost impossibility of new newspapers coming into being, that is, those that have not been in existence, getting into existence. Has any thought been given to setting up a reserve of some kind whereby those who have hardship cases and those who are trying to enter the publishing business for the first time could do so?

Mr. TICOULAT. Well, it seems that would be a matter for consideration between the publishers division and the pulp and paper division. I do not feel that it is a function or a matter that the pulp and paper division should attempt to determine alone.

Mr. BECKWORTH. Well, irrespective of where the responsibility might be lodged, has any discussion been given to that which you know about?

Mr. TICOULAT. There has been no discussion that I know of.

Mr. BECKWORTH. I believe that is all, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Any further questions?

Mr. HALE. Mr. Chairman?

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Hale.

Mr. HALE. Would there be any good in me talking with any of the representatives of your organization about getting newsprint for newspapers?

Mr. TICOULAT. Well, in my present capacity here as a Government official, I am hardly qualified to answer that.

Are you talking about the NPA or are you talking about my previous connection?

Mr. HALE. I am talking about

Mr. TICOULAT. I may have misunderstood your question.

Mr. HALE. Let me put the question this way: I am trying to get newsprint, and in attempting to get newsprint I took the matter up with specific concerns. Of course, I did not take the matter up with every newsprint manufacturer in the country. What I am getting at is: is there any over-all agency that you can go to in this country and say, "I want newsprint, I do not care where it comes from. I just want some newsprint."

Is there any organization like that?

Mr. TICOULAT. Well, NPA, of course, would probably be the one to go to, but as of the moment, I know nothing that we can do other than use persuasion with the manufacturers if the case seems to be of a nature that requires that.

Mr. HALE. Well, I would like to discuss the point with you. I will not take the time of the committee now, but I would like to discuss the matter with you later.

Mr. TICOULAT. I would be very glad to.

Mr. HALE. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further questions by any of the members of the committee? If not, we thank you very kindly for your interesting statement, Mr. Ticoulat.

Mr. TICOULAT. Thank you.

(The following information requested by Mr. Hale was supplied by Mr. Ticoulat:)

Newsprint production in the United States by year

The CHAIRMAN. The next witness then will be Mr. Cranston Williams, representing the American Newspaper Publishers Association.

STATEMENT OF CRANSTON WILLIAMS, GENERAL MANAGER, AMERICAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION, NEW YORK, N. Y.

Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: My name is Cranston Williams. I am general manager of the American Newspaper Publishers Association. I have a short statement

that may have two or three things in it which Mr. Ticoulat has already testified to, but it will take only a few minutes to read it.

United States newsprint consumption by all users in 1950 was 5,936,941 tons. Supply from all sources-United States, Canadian, and overseas mills-was 5,905,224 tons. The difference of 31,717 tons between consumption and supply came out of publishers' stocks.

An estimate of supply for United States consumers in 1951, made in a recent pamphlet of Newsprint Association of Canada, is 5,920,000 tons. That is 16,941 tons less than actual consumption in 1950.

Publishers getting as much newsprint in 1951 as in 1950 will be fortunate. Several mills have advised customers of cuts in 1951 shipments.

Consumption each month in 1950 showed a substantial increase over the same month in 1949. For the year 1950, consumption was 7.4 percent over 1949 by all users. There are no signs of a substantial Îet-up in demand. Production is not keeping pace with use. Additional supply up to now has been available principally because of Canadian shipments, formerly going to overseas markets, coming to the United States. That trend is now reversed and more shipments from Canada to overseas markets can now be expected.

Estimated total publishers' stocks were 608,807 tons at the end of December 1949 and on December 31, 1950, they were down to 577,090 tons. Publishers cannot safely continue to cut into their reserve stocks.

There are a number of projects for new mills, but newsprint from any one, if construction were started now and priorities obtained, could not be expected before early 1953. The only mill under way is the Elk Falls Co., Duncan Bay, British Columbia, financed in part by Crown-Zellerbach Corp., which is expected to produce 75,000 tons a year starting in 1953.

Mr. Ticoulat yesterday said they hoped and expected that it would be in 1952.

The spot market has few offerings at prices far above the contract price and this is evidence of little tonnage actually available outside of contracts. Several recent offerings were at $230 a ton.

Every interruption in the flow of newsprint from mill to consumer-like the rail strike in Canada last summer, the United States rail strike now and the present boxcar shortage causes immediate distress to many publishers. There is no margin between supply and demand. Stocks in the hand of publishers are too low.

The United States in 1950 received 80 percent of its newsprint supply from Canada, 17 percent from United States mills and 3 percent from European mills, principally in Finland. In tons, Canada supplied 4,742,000 tons; 991,000 tons came from the United States; and 172,000 tons came from Europe.

Canadian production is expected to show an increase of about 125,000 tons in 1951. The increase in 1950 over 1949 was 102,000 tons which shows a steady rise over a period of years.

Some of the increase in 1951 is planned to go to the United States but Canadian overseas markets are expected to take a share of the increase.

Canada wants to supply her overseas markets. During the 5 years preceding World War II, these exports averaged 735,000 tons per

year. In 1950, they were 207,803 tons. In 1951, they have been estimated at 275,000 tons.

The ANPA understands that Britain has made contracts for 97,440 short tons from Canada in 1951. In 1950 Canada shipped 28,000 tons to Britain. Dollars again seem to be available in larger amounts in Britain and elsewhere in the world for the purchase of Canadian newsprint-such as in Australia, South Africa, and South America. Although United States mills represent only 17 percent of total United States supply, the increase from United States mills to United States users in 1950 of 104,000 tons compared with 1949 has been most helpful. That increase was due in large measure to the Coosa River mill in Alabama which started production January 18, 1950. Production in the United States in 1950 was 1,003,597 tons-the first time since 1940 that United States production passed the 1,000,000-ton mark.

United States imports from overseas-mainly from Finland in 1950-were estimated at 172,000 tons. In 1949 they were 225,000 tons. In 1951 it is estimated that the United States will receive about 150,000 tons from European mills.

I gave that as a summary as at present, thinking that possibly the committee would want to ask some questions rather than for me to give a great amount of details.

Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Chairman?

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Underwood.

Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Williams, in the first place I would like to say for the benefit of the committee that having tried to run a newspaperin fact, I did run a newspaper for some 7 years-that there is no man in the United States that knows any more about the newspaper situation or the difficulty of newspapers, or is more helpful to all of them than Cranston Williams.

Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you, Mr. Underwood.

Mr. PRIEST. With the gentleman pield to permit also a former newspaperman to concur in that viewpoint?

Mr. UNDERWOOD. Well, I think that you will find that every newspaperman in the country will concur in it.

The CHAIRMAN. This seems to be a newspaper publishers gathering. Mr. UNDERWOOD. What I would like to ask, though, of course I asked Mr. Ticoulat yesterday whether there is anything planned in the way of controlling newsprint, by way of allocations. Has a newspaper industry committee been set up at this time as it was in World War II? Mr. WILLIAMS. It is my understanding that the National Production Authority has recently set up a printing and publishing division which is similar to what we had in the WPB and they are now working on appointing an advisory committee which would come from the newspaper business.

Mr. UNDERWOOD. Do you think it would be helpful to have any kind of price control or allocations or anything like that?

Mr. WILLIAMS. Well, they are separate things.

Mr. UNDERWOOD. They are; yes.

Mr. WILLIAMS. First, in the matter of price, it is my understanding that all prices of paper are subject to the present price control and the present order, and that, as Mr. Ticoulat mentioned yesterday, is separate from the question of rationing its use.

We do feel in the use of newsprint, when it comes to supply, that we are in a different position from all other paper users in the United States. I am referring to magazines and all types of uses.

In round figures we consumed 6,000,000 tons in the past yearthat is all users, commercial printers; everybody. Approximately four-fifths of that comes from Canada, outside of the United States, and therefore, the problem of rationing and controls, if any arises, is a thing that has got to be worked out with Canada.

The orders that controlled rationing in the last war, and I would think would be the same thing to apply now, run against the user. In other words, the user of newsprint cannot use more than a certain

amount.

Now, if all of the newsprint was in the United States you could go further with control. And the same thing applies as to the matter of price. In other words, the order says that you cannot pay more than a certain amount.

Mr. UNDERWOOD. Let me ask you one thing that came up in regard to other discussions. That is, there were a good many questions asked at different times about the amount of newsprint on hand by papers. Of course, you have that analyzed in your bulletin here, but a newspaper, when it takes subscriptions, gets the money in advance and incurs a liability, so that it must deliver the paper for a year, in

some cases.

How much do you think that a newspaper safely should have on hand or in sight to continue operations?

Mr. WILLIAMS. Let me answer it first by saying that at the end of December-we do not have January consumption figures until next week for they are obtained usually about the end of the following month. But at the end of December 1950, there was on hand an average of 33 days' supply. Now, that is deceptive, if you do not understand it. That is over-all of all newspapers.

For instance, there are some newspapers which bring in their newsprint from Canada when the season of navigation is open, store it in warehouses and use it during the winter. In other words, when the St. Lawrence freezes in November until it opens up in April you

cannot move.

These stocks on hand of 33 days' supply include that. It follows naturally that the publisher that is dependent on freight-car movement of his newsprint must be lower in stocks than this because he does not have it.

Therefore, we would say generally that it depends on where you are located. In other words, if you are north of the Ohio and Potomac Rivers, and going on out into Nebraska, before you get to the Rockies, you do not have to keep as much under normal conditions, as much newsprint on hand in the publisher's city as you would have if you were down in Tennessee or further south, particularly in the Southwest, because you get more by railroad.

So these stocks do not tell the whole story. As a matter of fact, on Monday a paper in Ohio had to eliminate all advertising and come out only with news, because he had six cars of newsprint in transit. Due to this railroad strike, they did not know where it was, or where It is now, and they do not know when they will get it.

So, it varies, depending upon location.