Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-02-03
THE POSTAL LAW.
How It's Original Meaning Has
Been Abused for Years.
Advertising Sheets Sent as
Legitimate Newspapers.

Library" Form Circulated at News
in Favor of WeekIies - PubIishers'
Grievances to BE Looked After.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3.-Congressman
Owen Scott of Illinois, has had series
of conferences with the postoffice de-
partment and with officials of the Ma
tional Editorial association within the
past few weeks, and as result of these
conferences has framed number of
bills designed to correct certain dis
ordinations complained of by news
paper publishers generally and ac-
knowledged by postoffice officials to ex-
ist in the present law.
These bills will soon be introduced in
the house, and in urging them upon
congress during the present session, Mr..
Scott will have the cooperation of a
committee specially appointed for this
purpose by the newspaper publishers Of
the United States. The most important
of these measures seeks to prohibit ad-
vertising sheets from being transmitted
at the rates for legitimate newspapers.
Great abuses are said to have grown up
under this law as it now stands, and the
| postoffice department seems powerless
to prevent them.
Advertising Sheets VS.. Newspapers.
Persons desiring to advertise some
nostrum or some speciality start a So
called newsf per, put in few columns
of ready print, patent plate matter,
make the l luisite affidavits, and get
the papers admitted at second-class rates
of postage. They publish nominal
subscription price and have but a small
list of merely nominal ."paid subscrib-
ers." Then he abuse goes step fur
ther. With list of one hundred, pos
sibly 500 subscribers claimed to be paid
for sample copies, oftentimes of many
thousands, are dumped on the mails
with each issue. This, Mr.. Scott insists,
is fraud on the postal service. His bill
seeks to prevent this by limiting the
number of sample copies to one-half the
number of actual paid subscribers, and
more fully describing and classifying
newspapers so as to exclude mere adver-
tising sheets
Would Exclude Libraries"
Another reform sought to be effected
is to prevent mere books and reprints of
books being circulated as second-class or
newspaper matter. There are, Mr..
Scott says, a great many firms engaged
in printing serial matter, which circu-
lates through the mails at one cent per
pound as newspapers. They are in no
sense newspapers and are no more ad-
missible at second-class postage rates
than bound books containing a much
higher grade of fiction. If this class Of
publications were required to pay post
= L.,,1 n1n ,.n,I
be greatly relieved of an unjust burden.
Causes Confusion.
There is also said to be great confusion
in adjusting the postage on publications
entitled to circulate free in the counties
where they are published. AS the law
now stands the residence of the sub
scriber determines whether the paper
goes free or not. Where postoffices are
located near county lines many difficult
ties are encountered. Postmasters at
county seats and other points remote
from the county line postofices
have no means of knowing whether sub
scribers live in the county of publication
or over the line in the other county. A
bill offered by Mr.. Scott proposes to
change the law SO that papers shall cir
culate free to all postoffices in the county
where the publication is made, regard
less of the residence of the subscriber.
This change would simplify matters for
both publishers and postal authorities
and make no material difference to any
one else.
Unjust Discrimination.
Another discrimination bears very
heavily on certain classes of publishers
or newspapers. At letter carrier offices
any paper other than a weekly is re-
quired to bear one cent stamp on each
copy delivered at the Office of pubnca-
ton. A daily, semi-weekly, tri-weekly
or monthly can be mailed to any Office
in the United States, carrier or other
wise, at pound rates, but at the Office
where it is published it costs one cent
on each copy to have it delivered to its
subscribers. A semi-monthly or month
ly paper published in Bloomington, Ills,
under the present law can be sent to
San Francisco or New York at one cent
per pound, but to mail to subscribers In
the city where published costs the ex-
orbitant rate of one cent per copy.
A weekly paper becomes prosperous
and wishes to become a semi-weekly.
The postal laws lay an embargo on this
enterprise and spread of intelligence by
requiring prohibitive postage. 1t
would cost 81 .04 per copy per year post
age to have paper published twice
a week, deliye cred in the town or city
where it is printed. This, Mr.. Scott
maintains, is unjust and discriminating
and should be changed. Mr.. Scott's BIZ
puts papers published daily, semi-week
ly, tri-weekly and monthly on the same
basis as weeklies, and makes the rate OF
postage uniform at all carrier offices at