The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-02-05
THE POSTAL Law.
How Its Original Meaning Has
Been Abused for Years.
Advertising Sheets Sent as
Legitimate Newspapers.

All the Cheap Literature Published in
Library Form Circulated at News
paper Rates-An Unjust Discrimination
in Favor of WeekIies Publishers
Grievances to Be Looked After.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2.-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 a result of these
| conferences has framed a number of
bills designed to correct certain dis
! examinations complained of by news
paper publishers generally and ac-
knowledged by postoffice officials to ex-
Ieist 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 adj
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
nostrun or some speciality start a so
called newspaper, put in a few columns
of ready print, patent plate matter.
make the requisite affidavits, and get
the papers admitted at second-class rates
of postage. They publish a nominal
subscription price and have but a small
list of merely nominal paid subscrib- |
ers," Then the abuse goes a step fur !
Their. With list of one hundred, pos
sibly 800 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 1
seeks to prevent this by limiting the 1
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 adyer- |
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, 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 adj
INVISIBLE at seCOnd-Class postage rates |
than bound books containing a much |
higher grade of fiction. Il this class of
publications were required to pay post
age at third-class rates the mails would |
be greatly relieved of an unjust burden. !
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 eT not. Where pOstoffices are
located near county lines rccpv difficult
ties are encountered. Postnasters at
county seats and other points remote
from the county line postofices |
have no means of knowing whether sub
scribers live inthe 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
whore 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 Determination,
Another discrimination bears very
heavily on certain classes of publishers
or newspapers. At letter carrier offices
any paper other than weekly is re-
quired to bear one cent stamp on each
copy delivered at the Office of publica-
ton. a daily, semi-weekly, tri-weekly |
or monthly can be mailed to any Office
in the United States, carrier 0r 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
a seni-mOnthly, or month";
ly paper published i'll Bloomington. His,
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 rat of one cent per copy.
A weekly paper becomes prosperous
and wishes to become a semi-weekry.
The postal laws lay an embargo on this
enterprise and spread of intelligence by !
requiring prohibitive postage, It
would cost 81 .O4 per copy per year post
age to have paper published twice
a week, delivered IN the town OF city
where It is printed. This, Mr.. Scott
is unjust and discriminative
and should be changed. Mr.. SCOTS bill
puts papers published daily, semi-week-
y, tri-weekly and monthly on the same
basis as weeklies, and makes the rate of
postage uniform at all carrier offices at
me cent per pound.