"Print paper ought to be as free as the air and water": American Newspapers, Canadian Newsprint, and the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, 1909-1913.

The 1909 Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act resulted in significant duties and taxes on imports of Canadian newsprint and wood pulp, a finished product and a commodity in constant demand in the United States. In response, American newspapers took up the cause of duty-free pulp and paper and positioned themselves in opposition to the "Paper Trust," a cabal of papermakers of which International Paper was chief. While there have been important studies of the history of American newsprint, no historian has yet analyzed the discourse and rhetoric employed by the papers themselves in opposition to the tariff. The repeal of the tariff in 1913 resulted in the fantastical growth of the Canadian newsprint industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]