Evening star., 1904-03-17
THE MAIL FOR TAHITI
Subsidy of S45,000 in Postal
Appropriation Bill.
RATE UF Sc 30 A POUND
SCHoONERS GLAD TO CARRY 1T
AT SIX CENTS A POUND.
Considerable Comment at the Depart
ment and the Capitol Over
the Estimate.

The present postal appropria ton bill car
RES an item of $4,000 for carrying the
service between San Francisc and Tahiti.
This item has given rise to considerable
quiet talk at the Post Office Department
and at the Capitol. The appropriation is in
the nature of ship subsidy to the Oceanic
Steamship Company.
The island called Tahiti, belonging to the
Oceanic group, lies in the Pacific ocean,
4,212 miles southwest of San Francisco.
The Oceanic Stear ship Company makes
ten trips a year to this interesting isle of
the southern seas, for which it receives
from the government the sum of one dollar
mile for carrying the United States mail
from this country to the isle. The ten
| trips year--one way-make a total of
42, 12O miles, and an equal number of dol
lars in the pockets of the company. Every
year the appropriation comes up in the
general estimate for the Post Office De-
partment.
Not Asked by the Department
Until two years ago it was not sent to
Congress by the Postmaster General for
the reason that the government had been
having its mails carried from San Fran
cisco to Tahiti for $3.50 year. and this
contract with schooners comprised twelve
| trips a year, instead of ten given by the
steamship company and was said to be a
very good service. although little longer
than by steam. Four years ago there was
| inserted In the general appropriation bill
for the Post Office Department an item of
$4,000 for carrying the mails from San
Francisco to Tahiti. 1t surprised the post
office authorities, but they let it 60 The
following year the item was again inserted
and again it went through although the
Post Office Department had not asked for
1t, and seemed perfectly satisfied with the
service that had been given by the sailing
vessels at $3.50 a year.
But this saving to the government of the
d1rerence between $3.50 and $45, 900 a year
did not seem to appeal with force to the
members of Congress who passed the ap-
preparation. So when it had gone on for
two years and the Post Office Department
had grown used to its insertion the depart
ment entered in the annual appropriation
estimate the item of $4,000 for this mail
carriage between San Francisco and Tahiti.
OF course 1t went through. 1t is up again
this session, and of course 1t will go
through.
Mail Carried to Tahiti.
For the fiscal year 1903 the weight of the
mails carried between San Francisco and
Tahiti was as follows:
Letters and cards, 423 pounds; other mail
matter. 5,9SS pounds. Total, 6,411 pounds
On this amount of mail the United States
collected inland and sea postage to the
amount or Sl15o-Sf. 1t paid the Oceanic
Steamship Company sf2, ,12O for carrying
this mail matter to Tahiti. The excess of
cost to the government was, therefore, s40,-
964. .16
In order to bring this, down to still palmer
hgures 1t is only necessary to show that in
paying the steamship company S42 100 for
the ten trips of the year, during which the
company transported a total of .6s411,
pounds of mail, the government paid for
that service at the rate of $3.50 pound.
The schooners which formerly had the job
We're loath to lose 1t at the small figure of
$3.50 year, which was less than cents per
pound. estimating the weight of the mails
at the figures given above for 1903