Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-12-08
DECISION UPHELD.
Maine Publishers Interested in Action
Of District Court.
Congress Only Can Make Changes in
Mail Classification.

The big publishers in Augusta, Water
vile and other Maine cities are interested
in the action OF the district court of an.
peals in Washington, D. c., which was
taken, last week, regarding the classsi6-
cation OF second-class mail matter For
seTeral months suits have been pending
IN the district courts which were brought
by publishers TO restrain the post Office
department from preventing them from
using the second-class mail privilege. The
rate of postage on this class of matter
is one cent a pound. The department
sought to exclude certain publishers in
Maine and elsewhere from taking adyan-
taSe of the cent-a pound rates and wish
ed to force them to pay the regular third
class rates, which would practically ruin
the publishers and cause them to sus-
pend their publications. 1t would work
sad havoc with the publishing business
in this city if it did not close it out al
together.
Several of the publishers banded to-
gether and brought suits in the district
court at Washington. The decision was
favorable to the publishers and the post
master general took the cases to the
court of appeals. This tribunal has Just
rendered three decisions which practical
ly involve the whole policy of the post
office department, so far as its recent
classification reforms are concerned. In
two of the cases the decisions are against
the post office department and in the
other the government is sustained All
three cases will be appealed to the Unit
final action the classification reform pol
icy under which many publications have
been excluded from the second-class priv
ileges probably will remain in suspen-
sion.
The two cases decided adversely to the
government are those of the National
Railway Publication Company and the
Railway List Company. The department
is upheld in the case of the Chicago Bus.
iress College. The lower court is sus-
tanned in each of the three cases
The courts opinion in the railway pub
LEGATIONS cases holds that Congress has
not committed to the postmaster general
or anyone else the determination of wha:
should be carried in the mails as second
class or third class matter, that power
being reserved exclusively to Congress,
which makes the classification. The court
says that it may be that the classical
ton is not as definite as it might DE, and
that the privilege is grossly abused, but
Congress itself, the court says. made the
ella ssification. and it is not competent for
the postmaster general to add anything
to the statute or to take anything from 1t.
a number OF similar cases are pending
in the lower court and probably now will
be pressed in view of the decision in the
railway publication cases. In the Chica-
go Business College case the court holds
that the publication involved is an adver-
Using medium for the business of its
publisher. setting forth the advantages
Of certain methods of instruction. 1t is
held that this college is not am 'institu
ton OF learning such as Congress con-
templated admitting TO the second class
rate
1t is Tot expected that the supreme
court of the United States will reverse
the decisions Of the district court and
the district court of appeals, and publish
ers are highly elated over the prospect
that arbitrary rulings against them will
not in the future he made.