Evening star., 1901-06-12
Post Office Departments View Re-
garding Certain Publications.
TO Be EXCLUDED FROM POUND RATES
1t is Believed That Such a Rule
Will Be Issued.
WHAT IT'S EFFECT WOULD BE

The Post Office Department will within
few days take final action on the PROPOSE
tion to exclude from the United States
mails as second-class matter those news
papers for which subscriptions are obtained
by premiums. Officials of the department
are practically unanimous in the belief that
the publications complained of should be
denied the pound rate privilege, and the
opinion among postal officials is quite gen.
eral that departmental rule against this
class of publications will be adopted. 1t is
said at the Post Office Department that a
rule like that recently suggested by Edwin
c. Madden third assistant postmaster gen.
eral, would work great good to the general
public in protecting credulous persons from
deceptive advertisements, would wipe out
the deficit in the postal revenues and would
render practicable a reduction in the rate
of letter postage. The only objection urged
against the rule is that 1t would operate
against few of those who are publishers
of legitimate newspapers and who try to in
troduce their publications into public favor
by the use of premiums.
There are said an official Of the Post
Office Department today, "a small number
of newspaper publishers who say, in effect:
The subscription price of my paper is Sc a
year. Now, as an inducement for you to
take 1t, and with the belief that you will
become permanent subscriber, I will
throw in a book that is worth one or two
dollars There would be-there is-nothing
wrong in this What the department in
tends to get rid of is the burden of carrying
at 1 cent pound so-called newspapers
which are nothing but advertising circulars
and which have no bona fide subscribers,
but whose publishers secure what may be
technically list of subscribers by saying.
IN erect: The subscription price Of our
puoacation is 70 cents year. Send in your
subscription and we will send you a tea set
worth So"
Action of Western POstmasters.
Mr.. Madden received today a set of res
olutions concerning the administration OF
his bureau. adopted by the Postmasters'
Association OF Minnesota at their annual
convention, held at St. Paul May 21 and e.
Ihat part Of the resolutions referring to
the pound rate follows:
Resolved, That this convention believes
that the abuse Of the pound rate privilege
is an evil unequaled in the postal system.
and demands for it's cure the earnest
courageous attention of Congress And
while the present law the subject is SO
oefect1ve, especially In the inexact defini-
ton OF its terms, we congratulate the Post
Office Department on the degree of i'm
provement recently made in curtailing and
eradicating abuses referred to. We recon-
mend as remedy for this evil that the
pound rate of postage be increased 2 cents
a pound
1t is said at the Post Office Department
siioh a VI advertising agencies have
united TO exert pressure upon the depart
ment. A circular letter has been sent to
thousands of publishers urging them to
write to the Postmaster General, write to
the third assistant postmaster general
write to your senator and write to the rep
resentative.' AS result Of this there
nave been received at the department let
ters from eighty-nine publishers. OF these
n!ty-tWo protest against the PRONUNCIATION
OF the proposed rule; thirty-seven write to
say they do not approve Of the action of
the advertising agencies, and favor the
adoption of the rule. Twenty-Five members
or Congress have been heard from-nine
senators and sixteen representatives These
merely make inquiries concerning the pro-
posed rule.
The Papers Aimed At.
The papers which the department would
bar from the mails at the pound rate are
those which do not come within the intent
OF the law, which Is that newspapers to be
entitled 20 the pound rate must be origi-
mated and published for the dissemination
of Information of public character, or de-
voted to literature the sciences. arts or
some special industry, and having a lee1ti-
mite list of subscribers"
1t Is said that tons of papers are sent
through the mails daily which contain
practically nothing but advertisements, and
these written and published with intent to
deceive. In these advertisements certain
persons offer to give sets of furniture
love powders, lucky charms, dinner sets of
25 pieces and whole libraries. The word
Tree is consp1cuously used, and the ad-
vertisement is written for the purpose of
starting correspondence with some fool
or unduly avaricious man who wants some
thing for nothing Some Of the papers
complained Of are literally filled with ad-
vertisements, of which the following are
fair samples: "A casket of rare jewels,
free; How to earn a salary of $1,000
without working" Five hundred dollars
in gold free"
Postmaster General Smith is anxious to
devise a plan for purging the mails of
these papers.