Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1901-12-05

viso that nothing in its terms "shal
be so construed as to admit to the
isecond-class rate regular publications
designed primarily for advertising
purposes or for free circulation or fol
ciculation at nominal rates"
These provisions taken together
plainly show the design of the law
Had they been strictly administered
from the beginning admissions to the
Isecond-class rate would have been re
stricted to legitimate publications
complying with the prescribed con,
ditions, and there would be no such
question as is now presented. But
the administration has been in many
hands. The applications for admis-
sion have gradually broadened
Every new case has made it's special
representation, and taken singly has
pleaded no harm and no burden. Lit
| tie by little the limitations have been
relaxed, and every transgression has
been made the preteXt and precedent
| for another. Many of the publications
once entered have changed their char
acter since admission, and, if at first
! entitled to the pound rate, have by
| this departure forfeited their original
right. In these various ways thou
sands of publications have come to en-
| joy the privilege which are not within
either the spirit or the letter of the
F.! law, and the volume of second class
mail has been immensely swollen by
vast and questionable mass of
! printed matter which was not intend
! ed or foreseen when congress, in the
educational interest of the people,
provided that the government should
practically pay the cost of transmits
sion.
inducements for Evasion.
The production of legitimate news
papers and periodicals involves costly
news service, large editorial stats, ex-
pensiye corps of contributors, and all
| the elaborate machinery of complete
intellectual and business organiza-
ton. But the manufacture of the
kind of papers and periodicals which
do not come within the terms of the
law costs very little. The chief items
are white paper and distribution. In
1885 the postage rate on second class
matter was reduced from 2 cents a
pound to l cent. The price of white
papera at that time was nearly 6 cents a
pound. Since then it has gradually
declined to 2 cents a pound or less,
and with this great and concurrent
reduction in the cost both of raw ma
terial and distribution, there is a direct
and immense premium on these lille
ultimate OutgroWths. The result is
the uprising Of thousands of so-called
periodicals which are established pri-
marily for advertising purposes. They
have few or no legitimate subscrib.
ers; they make up lists either by pro-
curing names and sending the papers
to them for nothing, or by offering
premiums substantially equal in value
TO the subscription price, and SO cir
cluate at a nominal rate, thus being
outside of the law at every point.
They obtain advertising on the basis
of this Legitimate circulation, and it
makes a profitable business, for the
chief cost to the publisher is the
white paper, and the chief expense of
the undertaking falls on the govern
ment.
The extent of the completely of the
government in these purely private
enterprises is not generally realized.
The statement will probably be sur
prising that in the case of hundreds
of such publications, wherever the
publisher spends $1,000 in his venture
the government spends not less than
$4,000 in carrying on that publishers
business, and wherever he puts
in 100000 into it's running
expenses the government puts
in not less than 100000.
easily made plain. AS alrea indi-
Gated, the kind of publication in ques-
ton involves very little of the cost
of the legitimate newspaper Or peri
odicaI 1t has no news service It's
editirial staff consists of a single hand
for scissors and paste pot. The com
position and presswork. reduced to a
single copy or pound are infinitesima.
| The only material expense is the cost
| Of white paper, which runs about 2
cents a pound. That is the pub
fishers side Of the account.
| The governments side comprises
two items The first is Transports
| ton The entire circulation Of these
papers Is through the mails, and the
government pays for carrying them
not less than cents pound, on
which it gets back l cent. The second
item is handling. 1t has already been
shown that this cost is at least cents
pound. It results then that for
every 8 cents the publisher pays to,
ward the cost Of the business the gov
eminent pays cents, and for every
81 900 contributed by the publisher
the government contributes not less
than $4,000 In other words, the gov
eminent is the senior partner on the
debit side Of the business. It fur
nishes the larger part of the capital
and while it pays about three-fourths
OF the expenses, all of the receipts sc
to the private partner.
| Growth of Second Class Matter
! Under this stimulus of cheap ma
tterial and government partnership
the volume of second-class matter has
grown to immense proportions. With
in ten years it has more than doubled
In 1890 the aggregate weight of mai
subject to the cent-a-pOund rate Of
postage was 1T4,O46,764 pounds. Last
year it reached 429,444,5-3 pounds. OF