The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-04-28
CIIEAp POSTAGE.
Two Cents for IL Iinif ounce or Three

Two Cents for ~ linif ounce or Thrco
IA Cents for M ounce Letter.
Congressman Anderson, OF Kansas, VINO
is q member OF the Committee on Post
Offices and Post Roads, ut washington, has
offered bill IN the llol&e i.Vorlhs Il
material reduction in letter postage-onc
that will be popular especially that
feature OF it which allows letter weighing
an ounce to 60 Tor three cents. Most per-
sons OF large correspondence are frequently
annoyed by slight over weights i'll the
present half.ounce schedule, especially
where m extra charge IS collected on the
letter at its destination. Persons VINO DO
not keep scale to weigh letters containing
enclosures are frequently mistaken Is to
the exact weight OF letter, and the law
demands that where there IS the slightest
almost inappreciable-excess OF weight
over n half ounce, m extra three cents
shall be collected.
MIR. Anderson thoroughly investigated
the effect OF the several reductions OF postal
i rate i'll this country. In 1913 the popula'
ton OF the United States was about .o,ooo,'
900, two-tiiths what it was in lSSo. The
postal revenues OF the year 1915 were 81
2S9,s+l. At that time the rates oil postage
established in lSlG, when the population
gof the United States was about 1,5OO,0Oo,
were still maintained. They we're: For a
Single sheet letter, under 80 miles, G
cents; over 10 and under 50 miles, ~ cents;
! over so and under 100 miles, II! cents;
over loo and under 400 miles, Is cents;
over 400 miles, % cents. Under this scale
a letter starting IRON New York would
bring 6 cents ut Newark, 10 cents at Prince
ton, 12! cents ut Philadelphia and % cents
Mt pit,sbnry
IN. Nh, . ,o,. A.,
py tlc "et VI Nl"rc'' o, 1919, Tue r"'e On
2 letter not exceeding 800 miles was re-
duced to 5 cents, and.o distances exceed
mo 3Oo miles IN N cents Mr. Ardorso,
20 ~ ,.n. " ~ ~ .,'l -' 'o.'
Hys II Is ailiic''it 10 estimate inc ilaehl-
tudc Of this sweeping reduction; but it was
enormous, and Mr.. Anderson estimates it
NJ 20 {ond nroh,b,v ,, nor co,t uo
49, 49, rJ -, ~ ~
thihSs that a reduction Oh letter rates Today
to one cent would not be relatively us
great. A large dimiuution of postal revc.
-, ,,.,s ;nor;to,,lo n,d.;u roa,rJ - ~,
! n'e' % .''o' ''''o'.' any, ~ ''s"'o ~ '''s
lWO UuSStlOuSNTt Ol lllteEcSL liz UpuTlTN OH
4 the proposition now made to reduce letter
postage ope.third, First was the decrease
/, IIrnno;r,. IN 10 s,,,o ,,r,,or,;on =, ,,,o
- ieee' III ','' '''u'e i'opo' t'o' "s '''c
cut'ln.rates! ana second, was 1t lasting, or
did the quality OF chcapncss so stimulate
c,orrcspondcnce as within reasonable
,au;oI - ,.,.o ,,,o dana;o,a.,,
P taal - '''''Ae up ''.o "ellc'e'cy
/; BY comparison Of postal revenues dur
ing a period Of seven years subsequent TO
the change, Mr.. Anderson found that II re-
3ductlon OF rates amounting TO more than 80
per cent caused the posta! revenues to fall
Oh only ~ per cent the first year and only
IS per cent the second year, While IN ISIS
the revenues were Si,3Il,0M or SSl ,2236
greater than ever before. The revenues
continued steadily to increase, being
S4,O5, l76 in 1919; in 1850, S5,552,97l; in
ISL, s6,127,SG7, and i'll 1867, seven years
after the great reduction, $6,025,97l, or
about IS per cent greater than in 1915. In
1851 another great reduction was made by
Z tue extension Of the 800 mile
limit to 5000 miles, the substitution
of the one-hali ounce standard for the
Single sheet" letter, and the reduc.
ation Of the rate TO 8 cents per
one-hall ounce, il prepaid and 5 cents ii
not prepaid, for any distance under 5000
miles. Mr.. Anderson says that this cut was
relatively rs great as that OF 1915. In regard
to the falling OIL OF the postal revenue, the
experience Of lSl6,,41 was repeated, nj