The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1896-01-01
An OUTRAGE.

Il " " f1GE.
IHE REP has a very
large Subscri ntion list at Great Fl lis.
Montana. The postmaster there
thinks the United States are already
RusSanized. He is a little previous.
Some time since he notified us tha
our paper was not folded just right
We mace inquiry and found that the
Post Office Department at Washing
ton had prescri bed rules as to the
manner of folding newspapers. We
found this same Great Falls Office had
raised question as to another Min
neapolis paper, and the reply was that
nearly all newspapers, nowadays, are
folded by the same machine which
prints them; and to comply with the
regulations of the post Office the
newspapers would have to go back
to a hand-press, which would be
virtual denial 'of the postal facilities
to citizens of the United States. The
Post Office Department made inquiry
and suspended the rule in the case of
all newspapers folded by machinery
We referred this Great Falls Great
Dogberry TO this action, and we heard
nothing further from him. But last
week 200 new subscribers were added
to our list at Great Falls; and Mr. Dog
berry, could not stand it any longer,
and broke out in new place, and sent
the following letter:
GREAT FALLS, Mont. Dec. q, 1895.
The Manager of THE REPRESENTA-
TIVE,
Dear Sir:-I have wrote you some
time ago, in regard to folding your
paper. according to regulation, and
your paper has SO increased in num-
bers that, it will have to lay in the Of
fee till we get over the rush, as all
Western Offices are short of help.
Other papers in your town, have
come up to the rules, The Time and
Journal. Respe ctfully,
CHAs. WEYNN.
Pos tmaster
We print this rerbotim ct lueratim.
and we "have wrote" him (for we are
not going to be outdone in grotesque
grammer by any postmaster in the
United States), the following reply:
MINNEAPoLIs, Mimi, Dec. 80, 1895.
Dear Sir:-I have received your let
ter and shall forward it to the Post
master General. He has already sus-
pended the rule to which you refer, in
the case Of newspapers folded by ma
chinery, as ours is: and you have been
once before notified Of that action by
US. l see no reason why you should
give us any further trouble, unless it
be that you do not approve of the
teachings Of THE REPREsENTAT1vE:
but it is an unhappy fact that in this
unfortunate country any man is still
permitted to advocate any political
doctrine he pleases. We do not know
how long this will continue: but it is
still the law.
Permit me to add that / shall hold
you personally responsible in an ac-
ton at law for any damages The REP
REsENTATIvE may sustain by reason
of your threatened delays in forward
ing it to our Subscribers.
Respectfully yours,
IGNATIUS DONNELLY.
President REPRESENTATIVE Pub. Co.
We want our subscribers, in Great
Falls, to watch the actions OF this illit-
crate martinent closely, and report to
us,-and we will see whether a white
man has any rights left that an office
holder is bound TO respect; or whether
our paid servants are indeed our mas
terS.
This fellows animuS is very plain
They are short Of hands. he tells US,
in the Great Falls postoffice II the pa
pers are folded as the machines fold
them: but if they are not so folded
they are not short OF hands,! The old
hunter shot so as to hit it if it was a
deer and miss it ii it was calf. But
you couldn't shoot into the Grea t
Falls postotIicc without hitting the
calf every time.
1t takes no more time for a
clerk to hand out machine folded
paper than it does to hand out anv
other kind: and no more clerks are
necessary 10 the one case than in the
other.
1t is most astounding thing that
among all the 10000 postmasters in
the United States, Great Falls DOS
sesses the only one that raises such u
question on THE REPRESENTATIVE.
1t is pity Barnum is dead. But he
might Just as we'll attempt to brush
back Niagara Falls, with a broom,
as stop tie progress of this great pa
per by dirty little technicality.
If the Postmaster General reverses
his ruling, to hurt a Populist paper,
then we shall have the thing con-
sldered in congress; and if we are