Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1901-10-10
NEW POSTAL REGULATIONS.
Postmaster-General Smiths Order
Now in Effect.
Radical Changes to Be Enforced by tn
Department Some OF the Provis-
sions News Agents Find
Privileges Curtailed.

October 1 marked the beginning of the
, enforcement of the rule promulgated IN
July by the PostmasterGeneral,f for the
restriction of the second-Class postage
rates to periodicals. honestly entitled to
them These rules group Themselves
broadly under three heads: First, a pro-
Eibtion upon the return of unSold copies
'oi periodicals at pound rates, either by
news-agcnts to publishers or by one news-
agent to another; second the exclusion
of anything which is properly book from
the privileges extended to periodicals, no
matter whether the book appears under
the guisc of serial publication or not:
and third, the exclusion of periodicals
hich depend for their subscription Lists,
not upon their merits as purveyors of
n"ws and literature, but upon the offer or
premiums.
/ The privilege Of neWS-agents to send I'M
sold copies to publishers and other news
agents at pound rates expired absolutely. In
the case or the books incorporating as per-
/ iodicals and OF the premium supported pub
( 1iCatiOrS tho process of exclusion VIII nc
rather more complex. For some months
rostmlsterS all over the country, under
instructions from the department. have
been sending In copies of publications
which in their opinion violated the new
rules: and as fast as the letters could he
writ ten, the publisher In each case has re-
ccived from the department an order to
i
charged the regular rates paid by the pub
lie. In any case where reasonable doubt
! exists as to the application of the new
rules, tho postma ster will he Instructed by
the department to apply &c the publisher
for permission for himself or an inspector
to examine the accounts of the concern.
If this examination proves that there is
no ground for exclusion, the publication
will be admitted to the mails under the
same terms as usual, but If not the priv
ilcge will be cut off; and If the publisher
refuses to open his accounts to inspection.
his publication will be excluded. and the
full burden thrown upon him OF proving
affirmatively that he had right to the
pound rate. The orders to show causc
have fixed oct ober 10. IL, and - as the
dates thus far; date will be fixed in each
instance. and the publisher who ignores
the order will he assumed to have con-
tossed that he is not entitled to the pound-
rate privilege.
What this change of rules will aCcom-
plish in the way of saving cannot now be
determined One postmaster in a large
city has estimated that # all the eXclud-
I'd periodicals and books suspend crcua-
tion through the mails, it will make diff
fcrcpce of more than quarter million
pounds in a year in his office alone. Some
will undoubtedly suspend, others-Chiefy
the books which now are disguised as per-
iodicals-may pay their eight cents n
lbullu as bpbhS. ana tnuS not renrNr t1'
weight of mails in general. The saving to
the department In the former case will
not appear until the new systc m has been
in operation some time, and the mails
have had at least one chance for re-
Weighing: in the latter case the benefit to
,hc department will take the form OF an
increased revenue for doing the same
work This in its turn. will require some
time to develop itself fully. as the figures
or poStofiice income do not reach the de-
rartmont Oftencr than quarterly In any
event, the reform will move rather slow
~. owing to the notice which it proposed
to serve in all cases of Importance. ana
the possibility that publisher here and
there may try to throw legal Instructions
In the track of the new arrangement
PUBLISHERS TO TEST RULING.
/ The objection which a number of pub
! fishers in New York AMI Chicago made
against the new ruling Of the postoftite
authorities in regard to seCond-casS mail
matter having proved to be unaVailinr,
4 even to tn" extent of obtaining "A slight
4 delay, it Is practically certain that the
question of the postmaster general
right to interpret tie law in THIS way will
b" tested very soon in the courts. W. H.
futile of Chicago, the lawyer who has
been put i'm charge of this case by the
National Publishers Bureau. is at pres
mt in New York comforting with the
members of the publishers committees
who recently went to Washington to na Ike
% protest against the new regulation. This
,omnittee was composed of q. &. Smith
If street 4 Smith, Patrick Farrelly of the
American News Company, and O. j. We
tor.
Last week n petition sigr cd by $50 pub
fishers from all parts of the country was
sent to Postmastcr-GelIeral Smith re-
QUeSting him either to resCind that part of
tn" new regulation which takes away