The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-05-28
ANOTHER GREAT SCHEME

WHICH GOES TO SHOW HOW LITTLE
SOUL SOME BIG CORPORA.
TI0NS HAVE.
The Postms.tsr-G General Charges . Rail.
road Company With "stumnr' the
Mails-so That Big Pay May lie Gotten
For Little Work.
WASHINGTON, May 49, Postmas-
ter General Wilson to-day author
lied the publication of the following
statement in regard to an alleged
attempt to overcharge the govern
ment for the conveyance of mails
through the Southern States:
Every four years the mail trans
ported over the various railways in
the United States is weighed for a
period Of thirty days, for one fourth
OF the country each year. Upon
the average weight obtained during
the thirty days the commission of
the railroad is adjusted, and re-
mains in force for four years. The
last weighing was conducted during
the month of March, 1896. One rail-
road company, the Seaboard Air
Line, whose main line extends from
Portsmouth, Va, to Atlanta, Ca,
attempted to take advantage of this
opportunity to swell the weighing of
mails carried over their system, dur
ing the weighing of the mails, by
very large shipments Of public docu-
ments. About three hundred sacks
of documents frauked by United
States Senator and q member of
Congress were sent to the various
station agents of this company in
Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Georgia. The sacks
weighed from 100 to 125 pounds
each. Two, three, four or even five
sacks were sent to one agent. Some
agents were furnished by railroad
officials with lists of addresses in
North Carolina and Virginia. The
division superintendent road mas
ters gave oral instructions to the
agents as 10 the pasting of tablets
or writing addresses on tho books
which were not previously address,
ed; but the tags of the sacks were
addressed "all for -" (namely, a
railroad agent at that point. The
books were then remailed and again
transported over the routes of this
company to be again weighed. A
few agents not understanding their
instructions, gave out the books for
public distribution before the frank
ed tablets were received.
Fifteen sacks were delivered at
Portsmouth, Va, addressed in bulk
to the General Superintendent. That
night the books were re-addressed in
the railroad building by his secre-
tary and a division superintendent
and remailed in the morning to va
rlous persons along the route. A
newspaper at Ellenboro, N. c., learn
ing of the transaction, published a
short article headed "a Mistake, !"
stating in substance, that a United
States Senator in mailing documents
to his constituents had by mistake
addressed them to station agents
along the Seaboard Air Line Rail
|way. A division superintendent,
learning of the article, proceeded to
the town and induced the editor to
cut the item out of every copy of his
paper on the ground that it would
hurt the road.
1.-The pasting" of the mails by this
company was Investigated by the
Postof6ce department and to pre-
vent this practice the department
ordered the weighing to be contin.
; ued for thirty days, during April
The railroad company then resorted
to a new scheme, by contracting
, with publishers of newspapers for .
large number Of papers to be sem
on their ine-to an address furnish
, ed by the company. At Portsmouth
Va, the general superintendent ar
ranged with q Portsmouth paper t.
send 6, 800 copies daily for ten days
and after that 2,40O copies daily, il
bundles Of twenty-five to each ad
: dress to parties In South Carolin.
and Georgia on the Seaboard All
Line Railroad. At Raleigh, N. C.
an official of the railroad arranged
to have 5000 copies the first weel
, and 5000 copies a week after
wards of a weekly paper, sen
in bundles Of forty-five over the Sea
board Air Line Railroad to station
| in Georgia, South Carolina and q few
in North Carolina.
At Atlanta, Ca, the private secre
{, tary of the division superintendent
t arranged with an Atlanta paper 70
1000 copies to be sent over the Sea
board Air Line to Norfolk and Ports
mouth, Va, one thousand copie
= addressed as to regular subscriber
. and the other thousand as sampl
r copies.
Arrangements were also mad
t with another Atlanta paper to sen,
5000 copies of the Sunday issue
Q weighing over half a pound each, t
;; addresses in Norfolk and Ports
Y mouth, Va. Norfolk and Ports
mouth city directories were furnish
= ed to the newspapers from which t
t print tablets for mailing papers +
8 parties in those cities. Several o
t those parties thus addressed ha
z moved from those cities, or ha1
q died. Had this weighing been &C
cepted by the department, the Sea
board Air Line Railroad would hav
received for the next four years
much larger compensation than j
d was entitled to. Some of the news
n paper publishers were indignap
\ when they found that they had bee
r made parties to such q scheme, an
. the publisher Of the paper at RAJ
It eigh, n. c., refused to send out th
II fourth shipment of his paper.