ASIA: JAPAN. 



401 



take effect within the current year. Progressive Japanese declare 

 the duty upon news paper a tax upon knowledge. 



The leading sizes and weights of both Japanese and imported 

 machine-made papers are the following, rolled papers being of the 

 same weight: 



Present market prices for imported papers as above are from 4*^ 

 to 6 sen per pound for light-weight No. i quality, and 5 to 7^ sen 

 for No. 2 (i sen equals nearly half a cent). 



Terms of sale are not long, thirty to ninety days being the limit. 



The native production of machine-made paper has been thought 

 for a few years past to average about 50,000,000 pounds per year, a 

 quantity which, together with the paper imported, seems to have 

 proved insufficient to supply the demand, as evidenced by the fact 

 that several other mills are now in process of erection. These, 

 when completed, are expected to increase the value of output in 

 Japan to from 7,000,000 to 9,000,000 yen per year. 



IMPORTS. 



During 1898, there was imported into Japan machine-made print- 

 ing paper for newspaper, book, and periodical use to the declared 

 value of 2,283,208 yen ($1,137,038), being an excess of 1,426,251 yen 

 ($685,000) over the year 1897, or nearly three times the value of 

 1897 a most remarkable increase. 



The following tables show the value for the years stated of the 

 total printing-paper imports: 



S C R P 



26. 



