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Show PUBLISHERS BEFORE SEMTEJJOMITTEE WASHINGTON, June 5. Public hearings on the Canadian reciprocity bill were concluded by the senate finance fi-nance committee roday, representatives representa-tives of tho American Newspaper Publishers' Pub-lishers' association and of the Associated Associ-ated Press being the last to appear before the committee. Secretary of State Knox, at tho request re-quest of Senator Bailey, has beon asked ask-ed to explain tomorrow whether the Root amendment to the paper section of tho bill, providing that it shall not be in force until the president is satisfied sat-isfied and Issues a proclamation to tho offoct that paper and wood pulp are being admitted free into all the provinces prov-inces of Canada, in full accord with tho agreement as understood by the commissioners from both countries who prepared that treaty. Wednesday Wednes-day tho committee will tako up tho bill In executive session to discuss committee action Both Herman Rld-der, Rld-der, until recently president of the American Newspaper Publishers' association, as-sociation, and Melville E. Stone, general gen-eral manager of the Associated Press, testified in anawor to queries from various sonators that, in their opinion, opin-ion, no effort has been mdno by the newspapers of tho country to present only ono side of the reciprocity agreement, agree-ment, to color their reports, or to suppress sup-press facts which wero of news value Bruco Haldemau, president of tho publishers' association, and Frank B. Noyes, president of tho Associated PreHS, also appeared. Tho chief interests which the nows-papors nows-papors or the country have in tho mattor, Mr Rldder told the committee. commit-tee. Is tho desire to free thomsclves from tho pnpor manufacturers' trust, which now, he added, has tho publishers pub-lishers at its mercy. Tho readers of the country will benefit by cheaper paper, as well as the publishers, he said, becauso tho money saved on a proper basis cannot fall to furnish .i larger and better nowa sorvico. The hearings wound up with a friendly verbal duel between Senators Smoot, La Folletto and Clark, on the one hand, and Mr Stono on tho other as to whether It would be better for the public if the newspapers gave moro of the serious, solid and instructive instruc-tive sort of nows and less of the sensational. sen-sational. oo |