The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-10-19
WE SAY AMEN.

an editorial protest against the putting
on of fast mail train between New
York and Washington. for no other
apparent purpose than to carry the
New York morning papers to the cap
ltal city. This train is to leave New
York at 2;10 a. m. and arrive in Balti-
more at $50 a. M, and at Washington
an hour later. 1t is evident, of course.
that train run on this time schedule
is not intended for the benefit of pas
senger traffic, and that it is simply an
addition to the facilities of the great
New York dailies for charging their
circulation lists and reaching a larger
number of readers. If they ran and
paid for these trains themselves, there
would be no hostile criticism. Since,
however, they have obtained this piece
of favoritism at the expense of the
whole people, since one effect of it is
necessarily to cut into the business of
the newspapers of Philadelphia, Bal
tlmore and Washington, to reduce their
circulation and impair their revenues.
they have a right to make a vigorous
protest.
The American says that, if the post
Office department gives this service in
one direction, it ought to in another.
If train runs in the early hours of the
morning from New York to Washing
ton to carry the wares offered by
private corporation to the public, then
train ought to run at the same hour
from Washington to New York for the
same purpose. The newspapers of all
the cities would then stand upon a.
common footing, as far as the postoffice
department is concerned, and, although
the governments expenditure might not
be justified the charge of discrimina-
ton and unfairness would not lie. The
Washington Post, commenting on this,
says that it is a perfectly fair and
reasonable proposition. It argues that
''the Washington and Baltimore news.
papers have as much claim upon the
consideration of the postal authorities
as have their contemporaries in New
York" And it concludes, forcefulIy
enough, that there should be no dis
elimination against Washington news
papers and their readers.
We take a certain. ungodly pleasure
in seeing the cities and newspapers of
the East, outside of New York,
squirming under the same in
justice that has been done to news
papers Of the Northwest. The people.
the press and the representatives in
congress of those cities and states
have stood idly and silently by for
years while the alleged fast mail SER
vice from Chicago to the West and
Northwest was being run for the bene-
fit of the Chicago morning papers, and
for nothing else in the world. Ever
since this service was originated the
departure of the trains from Chicago
has been such as would suit the con-
venience of those papers and catch the
earliest copies fresh from the presses.
The train has been held, unnecessarily
and unduly, after the arrival of the
Eastern mails, and all business inter-
ests west of Chicago supposed to be
benefited by a fast train service have
been interfered with and injured by
the subordination of postal needs to
the satisfying of these private corpora
tions. We have protested again and
again on this point. but to no avail
The influence of Chicago with the
postal authorities has fastened this in
cubus upon the country, and the peo-
pie are still paying large sums of
money every year that are just as
strictly used for private benefit as
| if the congress of the United States
made an annual appropriation to pay
the composition bills or the editorial
pay rolls of the Chicago press.
It is only human nature that the peo-
pie of one center. seeing those of an
other in the enjoyment Of such a
handsome perquisite, should start out
i &c secure it for themselves. The New
York newspapers have merely copied
successfully the scheme Of the Chicago
newspapers to secure a handsome sub
shy from the public purse. Inasmuch