The Van Buren press., 1900-03-17
Revival Of the Second Class Mall
Matter Question.
From the Scientific American.

From the Scientific American.
1t is surprising with what persistenccy
fallacies of legislation, which we thought
had been forever laid to rest, will ever
and again rise from the dead and strut,
very much alive, through the halls OF
Congress. As between the orthodox
ghost and the shades that haunt the
assemblies in which the laws OF the
country are made, there Is this differ
epce; that whereas the former has
certain clearly defined characteristics
In the way of an elusive personality,
clinging cerements, and redolence OF
the vault and the mausoleum, these
legislative ghosts will vary in shape,
size and character according to the
idiosyncracies of the bill in which they
are clothed for presentation to Congress.
The latest resurrection of exploded
theories has taken place in the House OF
Representatives and under the personal
management Of Mr.. Loud, the chairman
of the Committee on Post Offices and
Post Roads. Mr.. Loud is a man with
an idea, who for several years past has
been trying to persuade Congress to
enact that idea into law. Mr., Loud
has several other ideas, subsidiary to
the central one, and they all relate to
the conveyance of second class matter
through the mails While some of them
are harmless, or mildly beneficial,
others are decidedly retrograde and
pernicious, and, if passed into law,
would seriously curtail the usefulness
of that splendid institution known as the
American Press.
The first provision of the bill, to pro-
hibit sending as sbcond-class matter
publications purporting to be issued
periodically and to subscribers, but
which are merely books or reprints of
books, - is, we think, a good one. 1t
is aimed at those publishers who, BY
splitting book into sections and mailing
these sections without binding and ap.
parently In second-class form, seek to
circumvent the law by mailing third
class rates.
Having said this much In favor Of Mr..
Louds bill, we find little else that Is
not earnestly to be deprecated both by
the publisher and public, In the first
place, 1t involves the vicious principle |
Of local disqualification, by establishing
o zone system of charges for carrying
under which the rate is to
be one cent pound for the first ZOO |
miles. This would involve local dis
in favor OF central cities
ike Chicago and st. Louis, most of |
whose mailing distances would be within
he zone, and against coast cities like
New York and San Fran.
cisco, a large portion of whose second
class matter, being sent beyond the
zone, would be charged double rates.
Apart from the question OF local in.
Justice, the bill is to be condemned as a
'eturn to an old system that was IN
rogue in the early days Of the Post
Office and was long ago abandoned for
he present system of one price for all
distances. We thought 1T WAS pretty |
veil understood that the introduction Of |
penny postage had proved to be the
most far.sighted and beneficial reform
n the history Of the Post Office, Mr..
4oud evidently does not think so, and in |
he unlikely event Of his zone system for
econd class matter becoming law,
ve might reasonably look for further
ill to include tirst-cass matter as well. |
II it is we'll TO tax distance on q news.
,aper, why not Gu u lettery
II is little wonder that the Post Office
Department, which surely should be
veil informed ~ to the value Of any
changes In It's laws, Is opposed
o the zone system rs being retrograde
n It's spirit and impracticable In Its
,peration. For the existence OF a zone
ystem implies that not merely the post
masters but practically every citizen
Who uses the mails must be aware OF
he distance from every Post Office In
he United States to every other Office, a
that Is as ridiculous as 1t Is
The author OF this perennial bill which
5 startlingly varied In It's present
by the addition OF q zone
ariff, Is surely little acquainted with
he mailing department of great daily
n weekly newspaper or he would never
,ave inserted clause requiring pub.
ishers before depositing sec
md class matter In the Post Office to
separate the same into United States
nail sacks or bundles by States, cities,
owns and counties, as the Postmaster
General may direct. F" II the public Is
20 perform one part (and no small part)
,f the duties Of the Post Office clerks,
why stop at the sorting, What about
,he cancelinu and dispatching2