The San Francisco call., 1899-12-11
POSTMASTER GENERALS REPORT.

! FROM the summary sent from Washington OF
the annual report OF the Postmaster General it
appears the public expectation OF a recommenda-
ton Tor the establishment OF domestic parcels post
system is to be disappointed In the summary there
no reference to the subject that OF postal
savings banks. he recommendations are, in fact,
extremely conservative and hardly go beyond what is
required in the way OF extending facilities to meet
the growing demands OF the country and for remedy
ing abuses which have developed under the existing
law
The Postmaster General commends the bill intro
duced by Mr.. Loud in the last Congress 70
put an end to the misuse OF the privilege
OF second class mail matter by persons who not
entitled to it The public is fairly familiar with the
facts OF the Congress designed TO give
papers and other periodicals rate OF postage which
would enable the people to obtain such educational
and news publications at a comparatively small cost
The publishers OF cheap novels and OF advertising cir
culars adopted the scheme OF issuing their pubica
tions as periodicals and by that means procured the
right OF mailing them as second class matter. The
suit has been that the Government has been carrying
tons OF that kind OF stuff at loss every year. and
consequence there has been an annual deficit in the
Postoffce Department
From this condition of affairs the Postmaster Gen
eral makes three deductions Frst-That more than
onefourth OF the entire volume and weight OF matter
carried through the mails is rated and pays as second
class matter when under the spirit and intent OF the
law. ought 10 be rated and TO pay as third class
matter. Second-That while this wrongly classed
matter amounts to more than one-quarter of the
whole volume OF mail transmitted It furnishes only
one-tity fifth part OF the postal revenue Third
hat the expense OF transportation being reckoned at
cents pound the carrying OF this matter costs
SI4, IoSI2o o4, while the from it was only
SI563.5I6 49, involving loss to the Government OF
SI2,3446I2 OF.
These abuses have been repeatedly pointed out, and
they would have been put end to long ago but for
the existence OF strong lobby interested in main
tanning them and for the widespread opinion that the
deficit in the Postofice Department is due less to the
carrying OF second class mail a loss than to the
excessive prices which are paid to railroads for car
rying ali classes of mail In the last Congress many
Representatives voted against the Loud bill on the
express ground that they believed postal economy
should begin by reducing the rates paid to the rail-
roads and not by depriving publishing houses and
advertisers OF the second class mail privileges
1t is gratifying that the Postmaster General
urges upon the attention of Congress the need OF all
immediate reorganization and reclasshcation of the
railway mail service The things in fact should
be undertaken together. In the last Congress the
effort TO put end to second class mail abuses was
defeated by men who said the railway abuses should
be remedied first and then when a bill to remedy
that evil introduced it defeated by members
who said the second class mail abuses ought to have
been first remeded. 1t is not worth while having
that farce repeated again. There is no use dealing
with the evil by piecemeal Let the whole postal law
be reconsidered and all the abuses and defects be
abolished at one reform