The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1852-02-19
New Postage Law and Country
PHDPFS.

fapefSs
bill has been reported in the House of
Representatives by Mr.. Ods, from the Post
Office Committee, to amend the Postage Act of
1851. The provisions are as follows -
| Each newspaper, pamphlet periodical, md
magazine, book bound or unbound, circular,
catalogue, AMI every description Of printed
matter connected with any manuscript or
writing, and Of no greater weight than two and
a half ounces, shall be charged one cent postage,
and one cent TOR each additional ounce or frnc
ton Of an ounce, for any distance under two
thousand miles: over two thousand double
those rates All newspapers published regu-
larly an sent from the offi sc of publication
to actual subscribers and not weighing over
one ounce, shall be charg lble with one-half of
the foregoing rates. The postage upon all
printed mailable matter shall be pre- paid,
either Mt the Office wnere it is mailed, at the
office Of delivery: otherwise double the fore
going rates shall be chrrgei thereon All
transient printed matter shall be deemed un
paid unless paid Mt the Office where it is mailed.
Books bound or unbOunl not weighing over
four pounds, shail be deemed maillble matter,
md al printed mitter charg ihle by weight.
shall be weighed wi en- dry. The publishers Of
newspapers and periodicals may send to each
other, from their respective offices Of pullict-
sion, free Of postage. cne copy Of each publ'ca-
ton, and my also send to each tual sub
scril er, enclosed in their pubicat ons, bills and
recei, t. for the same, free of postage The
publishers of weekly newspapers may send to
each actual subscriber in the county where
their papers are printed and published. one
'opy thereof, free Of postage; and all laws and
parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions Of
this bill are repealed,
That, no doubt, woull be a very acceptable
law to the mammoth journals of New York and
Boston, which are many, and probably the
most Of them, made up of matter which has
been printed over two or three times, and then
thrown into mammoth sheet and circulated
through the country at price which will bare
~ pay for the paper and the presswork, which
is very often too much, as the paper in many
Instances would be worth more before it is
nrnted, than it is afterwards. on account Of
the demoraliz;ng tendency of the trash with
which they are file Ito the serious detrment
of the local journals which are gotten up with
\ vast deal more labor and expense. OF course
local jOurn Is would suffer from such compe-
tition even unler the most just postage laws.
from the fact that many people judge of a
newspaper on scale very much ike that hy
which the Irishman purchased the boots-he
wanted the largest pa + he could find, iu order
70 get as much leather as he could for his
money-so with many people who take a news
paper, their great OIL ject seems to be to get the
largest paper possible for t cir money, without
regard to the value, the fitness, or moral ten
'ency of the reading matter. But the advan.
age s not enough for those large journals,
they are now exerting their utmost powers to
have law similar to the above provision pass
ID which shall allow them to sweep the country
or two THOUSAND miles, to the great injury O.
local journals. The latter have not asked for
my spe ,ial favors from Congress, but they
have endeavored to prevent the National Leg
islature from doing them a gross injustice-or
from offering n bounty fer the circulation of
some distant newspapers over the field, ut the
expense of themselves. The local journals have
been much injured, and their customers annoy-
ID, by the continued changes of the law regu-
lnting newspaper postage. Publishers and
their subscribers are no sooner settled down
20 to work to make bad matter worse hy
enacting system entirely different. BY every
such change, newspaper subscribers are more
Or less disaffected, and publishers injured.
All will admit that tho present law is exbor.
bitant on newspapers transported to distance
indeed, it is almost prohibitory; and it may
be called quite so in respect to the send
ing of transient papers. But the proposed
amendment is greater injustice, from the fact
that it proposes TO give great advantages to
one class of publishers to the serious injury Of
another We see that in Maine a convention
of editors has been held, at which resolutions
we're passed opposing the proposed amendment,
and instructing the Senators and Representa-
tives of the state in Congress to vote against
| it. We think it about time that the publishers
! in other places take the matter upder consiJ
GRAFTON, and bestr themselves in the business,
or they will soon find themselves rode over,
rough shod.
Let the Government either transport all