234 BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



Average Annual Imports 



in Tons of Shipping 1 



(1909-13). 



Timber ... ... ... ... 5,000,000 



Pulp ... ... ... ... 500,000 



Manufactured Wood 150,000 



Total 5,650,000 tons of shipping. 



The shipping required for this service represented 

 13.1 per cent of the total shipping entered; it is 

 slightly in excess of that required for our grain im- 

 ports, which was 12.1 per cent of the total shipping. 



Under these circumstances it is evident that if ton- 

 nage should be deflected elsewhere, or destroyed, the 

 timber and paper trades would be profoundly affected. 

 This is, of course, precisely what has happened, and, 

 so far as timber is concerned, we have been thrown on 

 our own scanty resources. Even were there enough 

 wood to spare for pulp-making, it would take much 

 labour and time to adapt the mills; for, depending as 

 they do on imported pulp, they are apart from a 

 small minority unprovided with the necessary boiling 

 and recovery plants. Moreover, they are not placed 

 at the proper spots for dealing with the problem 

 economically. 



The existing shortage of paper, which in May, 1918, 

 corresponded to a deficit of 75 per cent, is acutely felt 

 throughout the trade, and especially in the cheap 

 news prints. At the same time there is a greater 

 demand for newspapers than ever, whilst official re- 

 quirements are enormous. 



Roughly speaking, paper materials from abroad are 

 rationed to consumers on the basis of a proportion of 

 the pre-war consumption. The method, though undis- 

 criminating, and affecting equally the various users 

 of paper, appeals to the rough sense of fair play of 

 the community, and is probably administered with 



