Evening star., 1896-12-09
F FREIGHT BY M ALL
Uncle Sam Loses Eight Millions Gar
rying the Mails.
SERGEANT CARRIERS SUGGESTED
Eighteen Cents a Pound for Car
rying Mail Matter.
n ~ ~ " m
MR.. LSON'S EPORI


The annual report of Postmaster General
Wilson shows that the department was run
at a loss of s., 127 Os3 last year. This is
better by $1,679,569 than for the year pre-
vious.
Mr.. Wilson says: There is no necessity
for this annual deficit. The department is
powerless to prevent it, but few lines of
amendment by Congress to the postal laws
will wipe it out and give in it's place
steady surplus 1t has it's chief source in
the tra1- smission at second-class rates of q
large and rapidly increasing volume of
matter never in the contemplation of the
law, which gives the nominal rate of /
cent pound on such matter, and assuredly
outside of the policy of the law as to news
papers and periodicals.
Free Freight Business.
The increase in the weight of second
class matter for the year was 37,OOO.OOO
pounds. as against 13,OOO.0OO pounds last
year. The mere cost of transportation of
this matter is estimated at cents pound
Ihe postage revenue received from 1t was
6l2 mills pound. Thus 349, ,O00, 600 pounds,
IN round numbers, at cents a pound for
transportation, cost $27 800, 600; postal rev.
966, 4o3, loss on transportation alone Of
nearly $25 5OO0O Oo0
But this does not cover the full loss to
the government on second-cass matter
Hetting S;e on pr the cost of mail service on pub
lic and Official matter, as above stated by
the use and rental of public buildings pro-
vided for the Post Office Department. we
nave as the gross weight Of all non-gov-
during the last fiscal year an aggregate of
ol209' ,323 pounds. The gross money ex-
pendltures of the department were as al
ready stated s9o,626 296.s4, and including
wit. 81 800, an expenditure of s92 1SG. :
ls6 TO handle this matter. 1t thus appears
that from two-thirds of the matter handled
the last fiscal year the revenue was less
than one-thirtieth of the cost of the mail
service.
Eighteen Cents Pound.
The average cost of receiving, trans
porting and delivering each pound of mail
matter of all classes was about 1S cents.
Matter of the third and fourth class nrob-
ably paid for its handling, with possibly a
slight profit on fourth-class matter. 1t is
clear that a the average postage revenue
oi 10 cents pound great profit accrues
10 the government on ffrst-class matter,
ana granting likewise that the cost of re-
ceiV1ng, transporting and delivering second
class matter is considerably less than this
average OF IL cents pound, 1t is equally
ciear that at the postage revenue of 81
mus pound there is a still greater loss
Oh Second-ciass matter, which not ONLY
swallows up all this profit, but throws a
heavy deficit on the general treasury"
.ar. wilson intimates that he would have
.akeh me responsibility to modify and re-
verse tne successive rulings through which
TINS 1nroad on the service has been effected
and to exclude from the benefit of second
class rates the serial libraries and other
rL.I pupheatiohs not IN the policy of the law.
imnncc1
profit at the public expense by existing
practices the necessity of seeking through
the courts or otherwise the restoration
OF their special privileges. He says up
to this time the combination that derives
profit from this unfair use Of the mails
has thwarted every effort to protect the
service from this waste of public money.
Penny Letter Postage.
Postmaster General Wilson discusses the
proposed 1-cent letter rate, the caeapest
postage In the world. He says 1t would
yield great profit, but it is idle TO talk
of such reduction while two-thirds of our
mail matter is handled at small fraction
of its cost, and the deficits of the DEPART
ment in consequence have aggregated in
eleven years since the act of March 3, 1896
Il cent a pound rate). the enormous sum
of s71.377, $50. This is made up from the
avails of general taxa tions, and there is
the further sum of $15,61O.!62. earned by
the Pacific railroads for transporting the
mails, which were certified to the Secre-
tary Of the Treasury for credit upon their
Indebtedness to the government-an ascer-
tained deficit of $S69SS, 4i2. This, in fact,
should be further increased by The unas-
certained overtime letter carrier claims
and the unliqu:dated indebtedness Of the
department for telegraph service left over
from the last administration. These would
make the actual deficit over $9O,OOO.OUJ.
He characteriZes the loss sustained hy
the franking privilege in transmitting Sc
rial libraries. &C.. as indefensible: shows
that of 342, 2,93S64S pounds of second-class
matter handled during the year, over 81
34sOOo pounds were county free ratter
and urges the adoption of the Loud bill
as the remedy. He says the passage Of
this bill will not only wipe out the postal
deficit and insure in ordinary years a sur
plus which may be used to cheaper post
age on letters or to increase the mail ia
cilties of the people, but will really carry
out the 1-cent-a-pound law of 1855
Estimates for Next Year.
The estimates for the current fiscal year
ard 1898 follow: Estimated revenue for 1897
1853 1897; expenditures, estimated, 1891
S.}o 81 JG422: deficiency for 1897 S547o =