Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-01-22
Why 1t Doesn't Pay.

In opposition to the argument for
governmental control OF public utilities,
the claim of the supporters of private
grabs" are sometimes heard to say that
"the postoffice department doesn't pay"
To this a bright Western exchange re-
plies:
The next time you run up against one
of those fellows just remark that the
public schools don't pay and see him
look like a sheep. But why don't the
postoflice pay? AT the time we reduced
the postage from three cents to two, the
department was paying an annual profit
of several millions dollars. For the
year ending 1898 there were 73,570 post
offices doing business. The total
revenue was $50, OLE, ,61S and the total
expenditure was sos, ,O33, ,523.
The largest item of expense was for
transportation, being $51, ,7s0, ,2s3, There
were 500 postal cars in use, for which
the government paid over SO, 500, 900 for
rent. The cost of these cars is less
than $2,OoO,Ooo, and they will last for
twenty years. The government pays
the New York Central Railroad $500 a
year for each postal car and they can
be built for $4,000. The government
pays in addition to this, for the trans
portation of the mails at the rate of one
cent a pound for each fifty-siX miles
carried or eight times as much as the
express companies pay, and fifty times
as much as shippers pay for the trans
portation of merchandise.
Thousands of tons of mail sent out
by the different government depart
ments are carried free, such as agricul
ture seeds, books, pamphlets, etc.
There are $4,000 copies of the Year
Book" on agriculture sent through the
mails every year. And there are mil
lions of other publications, There are
millions and millions OF letters sent by
the departments and by members of
congress free.
If the franking service was abolished,
in other words if the departments had
to pay the regular rates of postage, the
postal department would make an
annual profit even with the transporta-
tion robbery. The railroads rob Uncle
Sam of more than 10000, 900 annually
on the transportation of mail.
Some years ago congress passed law
giving county papers free transporta-
tion in the county where published.
This is really returned to the people in
cheaper subscription rates for county
papers. Yet, it costs Uncle Sam some
millions to give this free transportation.
If we charge to income the free list,
that alone gives a net profit to our post
offices department of nearly 100000,
and if to this we add the $4,000 900
annual robbery by the railroad we find
that our government postoifice could, by
correcting this evil, give us penny post
age, and make net profit of several
million dollars each year.
The British postoffice makes net
profit of SIG, ,OOO,0 900 year Nearly all
the postal systems of the world show a
profit; even those in sparsely settled
Australia. But in America, where we
are so wise, we present to the railroad
barons a present of $50, 900, 900 year.
A pleasing bit of news lately is that
Mr.. Rockefeller has embarked in the
banking business, applying the Stand
ard Oil methods to finance No meth
DDS are better. There are several
thousand bankers in the country who
will learn what this means before many
years. One Boston bank has felt it. If
these little fellows think that they are
going to get the cream or even ordinary
SKINNED milk out of the banking busi-
ness, they are mistaken. That is easier,
far easier, than the oil business to
monopolize. What they have will be
gradually scooped by the Rockefeller
interests and the owners will be merely
clerks to his imperial finance. The
country bankers are being used as cats
paws to control the public and they will
get taken in by the very system they
are helping to erect on the necks of the
nation. There are chickens that come
home to roost.
Judged by their promises the project
ors Of the new railroad from the an
thracite regions to the sea are estmable
people. They know what their region
wants; they have the means to supply