The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-12-04
DEFICIT SHOWN

By Report Of Postmastsr General,
Due to Abuses Of the Privilege o
the Mails In Sending Second Class
Matter,
WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec. s.-The
annual report Of Postmaster General
Charles Emory Smith was made public
to-nlght,t ne CHIEF feature Is plea for
congressional action TO stop the abuse
OF second-eiass mall privileges, which.
he saya5results in an annual waste OF
upwards OF SsOOOO,OOO The financial
exhibit Of the fiscal year shows total
expenditures Of S1O1 ,ss2.1sl and total re-
celpts of ss5,O2i,Ss4, the deficiency boz
ms S2,422,7l7 less than last year.
The postmaster general says:
''The most urgent need Of the postal
service 10 the rectlRcatlon Of the enor-
nous wrongs which have grown up In
the perYersion and abuse of the privl-
lege accorded by law to second class
matter There are many improvements
and advances waiting development and
applications. Opportunities for speed
Ter transmission and delivery; fields
for broadening the scope Of the mali
service and bringing It closer. home to
the people: possibilities Of reduced
postage; but above and beneath and
beyond all OF these measures Of post
age, which experience and Intelligence
are working out, is the redemption OF
the special concession which Congress-
granted for q distinct and 1ustlhable
public object from the fungus growths
and the fragrant evils that have fasten .
ed upon It.
"For this costly abuse, which draEs
on the department and weighs down
the service, tFanmels us power and
means OF effective advancement in ev-
cry direction, involves a sheer Wanton
waste Of S20,000,0O0 or upward o year
The postal deficit for the current year
is S6,61O,7T6. But for this wrongful
application Of the second class rate. In :
stead Of q deficit there would be clear
surplus OF many millions. It 10 not
now proposed to restrict the privileges
OF legitimate publications or to modify
the design OF the law, but only to
bring back It's application to lts erlgl-
nal and Just scope.
ut is believed that fully one-half Of
all the matter mailed as second class.
and paid for at the pound rate, Is not
properly aecond-class within thq intent
Of the law, and ought justly to Be paid
for at the third class rate. This gives
the enormous quantity OF 176.S6l,6l3
pounds, from which the department
derives only fraction Of the revenue
to which II Is fairly entitled. The de-
partmert actually derives revenue OF
14.15 cents u pound for the third-class
matter mailed last year, and on this
basis the department would have re-
ceived for this wrongly claSsed second
rate matter $26,011, 1858 instead Of 81, 76S,-
sic, which It actually received, and the
postal revenues would have been In
creased by the handsome sum OF $24,-
24S,347."
Mr., Smith concludes that over one
fourth OF the entire volume and Weight
OF the mails pays as second-class mat
ter, when It should pay third-class, and
that this furnishes only one flfty-htth
part Of the postal revenue, and It's car
ryinR, reckoning at eight cents a pound.
costs S14, Jos, 129, while revenue from It
was $1,763,5l6, thus causing n loss to
the government OF over twelve million
dollars,
'If there is to be a favored class, :"
Mr., Smith says. "let 1t embrace all the
people. With this class paying proper
ly, even penny postage. with reason
able limitations. could be applied to
letters without entalling deficit lar
ger than that OF the last few years,
and possibly with none at all.
Regarding our new possessions, the
postmaster general says:
1.-THE presence OF United States
troops in the new island possessions,
and Cuba in constant communication
with home, constrained the establish
ment OF mail facilities for their needs,
and the practical obliteratlon Of the
old local postal system with the extin-
punishment Of Spanish authority, COM
PEELED reconstruction Of the whole
service for the requirements Of the ma
tive population"