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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0624.PDF
that the price of paper does not interest them, and in any case that it has nothing to do with aviation. We submit, however, that it has a great deal to do with everyone and that as an example of how Trusts are initiated it is of intense interest to the whole community. Now, the present position is that there is a high protective duty on imported paper, but no counter vailing excise tax on the British product, with the consequence that paper still sells at an inordinately high price. That means, as a matter of course, that the consumer has to pay more for smaller books and smaller newspapers than he was used in the days before the War. If the British paper manufacturer had been the victim of foreign dump ing there would be nothing to be said against pro tecting him in the future, but he has not, since the annual output of British mills of paper for printing and posters was over 850,000 tons, of which 90,000 tons were exported. Imports of foreign paper were 180,000 tons, which does not argue any great de pression in the British trade. The paper-maker is crying for Protection for his trade, but he wants the pulp which is the basis of his business imported free of duty because it is a raw material. But he seems to ignore the fact that paper is to a far greater extent a raw material than pulp. According to reliable figures, papermakers, at the time of the 1911 census, numbered less than 25,000. The total number of persons employed in general work in connection with " paper, prints, books and stationery" was 340,000 or fourteen times the number engaged in paper-making. It is surely sufficiently obvious that the interests of the paper manufacturer in cheap pulp are inferior to those of the 340,000 to whom paper is the raw material of their business. Yet this relatively small industry is able to influence the Government to the detriment not only of the vast printing trade, but of the public at large which has rightly come to regard cheap publications as a necessary of life. The Eyming Standard puts the case excellently well when it sayis that if an import duty on paper is considered necessary, the taxpayer has a right to a guarantee that what he pays in extra price shall go into the Exchequer. Without a countervailing excise duty on home-made paper or, alternatively, a duty on imported pulp, the simple effect would be to sub sidise an industry which has always shown a dis position to form a " corner " instead of relying on its own enterprise and energy. *The question we should like to see answered is : Who is it behind the scenes who has been able to bring such pressure on the Government, as to secure The Peace Treaty by Aeroplane IN order that the Peace Treaty could be in the hands of the German Government at the same time as the terms were formally presented to the German delegates, at Versailles on May 7, a copy was despatched by aeroplane on the previous day to a Rhine aerodrome whence another machine conveyed it to Weimar. Paris to Copenhagen ON a French military machine, the Danish Lieut. Pauli Krause, accompanied by Lieut. Sabouret, on May 10 flew from Villacoublay to Copenhagen in 8 hours, carrying a copy of the Peace Treaty to the Scandinavian Governments. Lord Milner Flies to Paris HAVING been summoned to Paris to discuss the question of Belgium's claim to a portion of what was German East Africa, Lord Milner, the Colonial Secretary, on May 10 chose the aerial way. This is said to have been Lord Milner's first trip in the air. favoured treatment for the British paper manu facturer ? And what is the nature of the influence that has been brought to bear to set up a condition of things which is nothing more or less than an out rage on the general public. It is very much to be hoped that a full discussion will take place in Parlia ment, else we shall have all sorts of similar hole-and- corner arrangements concluded by the " controls; and the end will be that the country will not listen to protection of any kind, even in the case of industries which are really " keys." The Committee on Trusts, appointed The Control by the M mster Qf Reconstruction in Trusts February of last year to consider what action may be necessary to safeguard the public interest in view of the probable extension of trade organisations and combinations, has now completed its sittings and prepared its Report. It is understood that its recommendations are quite moderate, and chiefly take the form of recommending that the Board of Trade should establish in the United Kingdom tribunals which should be used for the investigation of the operations of monopolies, com bines and trusts. The idea would be that the tribunals should consist of some six members, presided over by a permanent chairman with legal qualifications. They should have power to obtain the fullest informa tion as to the activities of trade associations, so that public complaints arising out of their operations could be the subject of effective enquiry. Should the tribunals find that the existence of grievances is established, the Board of Trade would then indicate to the Government what action might be necessary to remedy any abuse. It is suggested, therefore, that a Trusts and Combinations Department of the Board of Trade should be entrusted with the task of drawing up a programme to secure the community against " the evils of monopoly and to enable the public to obtain a larger share of the economic benefit which may result from the better organisation of industry." It all sounds very well, but we should very much prefer to know that trusts and combinations were definitely forbidden by Act of Parliament and that their formation, or even their active projection, was a pehal offence punishable by a long term of im prisonment. America has her anti-trust laws, and it seems reasonably clear that in the end we shall have to adopt them, so why not now as a part of the task of reconstruction ? A good deal of the present unrest may be traced to these trust arrangements, even if they are only at an " understanding " stage. <S> ® Germany Forbidden to Sell Aircraft WORD comes from Paris that Gen. Nudant, on behalf of the Allied Governments, has informed the German Armis tice Commission that all sales of German aeroplanes to foreigners are forbidden, and has demanded that immediate steps be taken to put a stop to su;ch sales. The Flight to Australia Prize IT is stated that the preliminary conditions of the Aus tralian Government's offer of <a^ £10,000 prize for the first Australian airman to fly from Gfeat Britain to the Common wealth have been arranged at- ft conference attended by re presentatives of Mr. Andrew Fisher (High Commissioner for Australia in London), the Royal Aero Club, and the Air Ministry. The prize, which must be won before December 31, 1920, is open only to Australians in seaplanes, flying-boats, or aeroplanes of all-British make. The distance, varying from 15,000 to 17,000 miles, according to the route, must be completed in 720 hours. 624
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