The record-union., 1896-03-14

purpose Of maintaining postal sys-
tenn is to afford all the people equal IA
| cilities to send to the most distant cor
ner of the Union a letter or paper at
the same rate as to a nearby point, to
encourage the diffusion of legitimate
and reputable literature in the interest
of education, the dissemination of infor-
nation and the unity of the people.
The Loud bill proposes for a seeming
but deceptive gain to the Postal Depart
ment to put a tax upon the people for
the privilege of informing themselves
of current events, Governmental pro-
ceedings, worlds news, the advances
| in discovery, art, science, literature,
sociology and mechanics.
The bill, which poses as an economic
measure, places no limitation whatever
upon the hundreds of thousands of tons
of free matter now carried, and the cost
OF which carriage is still to be paid by
all the people, who, that this may be
done, are to be curtailed of their privi-
leges in other directions. Government
Departments, Congressman and officials
may still load up the mails with enor-
nous tonnage of matter that pays not
one cent of the cost of maintaining the
Postal Department.
The Loud bill is towork the conferring
of distinct and open subsidy to the ex-
press companies. 1t might just as well
ness and financial gains of the private
carrier companies of the United States.
The Loud bill proposes to hamper the
circulation of news matter by requir-
ing publishers to separate their mail
matter into packages in sacks prior to
deposit in the Postofice, by States,
counties, cities and towns. Thus in
every newspaper Office a segregation
have to be set up and operated for
work that is now done in the distribut-
ing Postoffices more efficiently and
rapidly than can possibly be done in
publication Offices However, this is a
minor matter relating to detail, though
it will make the rapid issue and delivery
of the newspaper more difficult.
The whole tenor of the bill is to cut
down the circulation of newspapers.
This means the vastly less consump-
tion of white and wrapper paper, the
less setting of types, and consequently
the throwing out of profitable employ
ment of hundreds of thousands of oper-
atives, skilled workmen, men, women
and children in offices, factory and in
the mine and in the production Of raw
materials.
The stated reason for all this is the
annual deficiency in the Postal Depart
ment. But there is no suggestion of
the truth that this is largely chargeable,
as already stated, to the enormous
amount of free matter carried for Gov
ernment departments. Were the cost
of such carriage charged to each de-
partment, a very different showing
would be made, and no department
would in reporting the cost of it's ad-
ministration be sailing under false
colors, as at present every one Of them
does.
The bill proceeds upon the assump-
tion that letter postage, which is profit
able to the Government, will remain as
full in volume as now. But this is un-
warranted, since the Gripping of the
movement of printed matter as stated
will enormously cut down the usage of
the mails by letter writer's, and thus
shear down revenue of large profit
at this time.
So far as the bill proposes to prescribe
the use of the mails under the pound or
second-class rate by publishers of flash
novels, trash literature and the like is
sued under the guise of monthly and
weekly publications at a nominal sub
scription price, it strikes in a right di-
rection-otherwise it is a blow at the
newspaper press that it can ilI-afford
to receive, and which much less the peo-
pie at large can afford to consent to.