Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-08-27
OFFICES.

with reference to a question in Whie
all the people are directly intereste
and a. to which they would NATURAL
desire correct information. All tn
postofiees in the United States yield
ing a revenue Of more than $50 pc
annum, show a sO-called net revenu
on the face Of the books; that is +
say, the earnings Of each of these post
Offices more than ffty thousand il
number, exceed the expenditures TO
the salary Of ~postmasters and othe.
employees, rent (when any is paid)
and other local expenses. On the basil
Of this showing, the newspapers OF
large cities, where the surplus reyenu,
is greatest both relatively and aetu
ally, assume. with an air of superior
ity, that their towns, are really paying
the cost Of Improbable service else
where.
Questions Of profit and loss are
more or less metaphysical-a mer.
chant who owned his store building
stated, as one cause Of his bankruptcy,
the fact that he paid e~xorbitant rents
to himself. Fifty thousand postofiees
yield a surplus revenue; the aggregate
Of these surplus revenues would be
perhaps $6O,OOO,O0 o yet the system as
a whole showed a deficit last year of
more than 100000.
The f%allacy Of the claim that any
pOstofice yields a ''proft" is easily
seen from this simple statement. Net
revenue is a very different thing from
profit. There can be no profit at any
office so long as the aggregate bust.
ness Of the department is conducted at
a loss. Hence, the absurdity Of the
demand coming from large cities for
lavish expenditures in buildings, cler-
zeal salaries, free delivery service, etc..
based on the assertion that the profits
of the government in those Offices are
The revenues Of the pOstohice accrue
wholly from the sale of postage
stamps, stamped paper, etc, and the
collection, in money, Of postage on
newspapers and periodicals. The cash
these items il received, it is true.
by the local postoifice, but the money
is not really earned until the mail
for which these payments have
been made has been forwarded to its
destination and delivered to the ad.
%iressee, all expenses Of transportation
md delivery being paid out of the
money thus received at the point of
As in the aggregate, this
business is conducted at a loss, the
profit" disappears and a deficit
its place in the final roundup.
In New York City, for example, the
ross receipts for the fiscal wear 1908,
we're over $l3,OOO,OOO, and the total
Deal expenses $4,000 900. Here was
eft a so'ealled net revenue Of $s.4OO..
90, the per cent Of local expenses TO
ross receipts being 80. On the basis
I this showing, some New York pa.
ers ventured to claim that the gov
should build enormously ex.
ensive structures for the local post.
Hiee service, add largely to the cler.
al force and increase the already
lperhuous ten or twelve deliveries a
~ in the business districts 20 a
'actieally continuous stream of mail
down town Offices.
II the department should decide 10
pend all the revenue of the New
nrk office for the benefit Of it's local
.stal service, where would the money
from TO carry the immense vol.
Of daily out going mail TO its des.
The single item of second
'ss mail matter originating in New
'rk, which pays one cent a pound
d costs ON an average s cents for
'nsportation alone, would wipe out
Is alleged profit without considering
y other kind OF mail.
The same argument is used by other
les, and in all of them its rests on
same foundation OF sophistry and
apprehension. Because a large
punt of mail originates at a speci
city ofiee, entailing a correspond
~ large sale Of stamps, it does not
that the Office pays any real
nj on the transaction. Il cannot
ow' because there is no profit, as a
DE, ON the postal service.
railroad station will not he held
yield a ''proft" simply because
amount Of freight bills collected
passenger tickets sold at that sta.
exceeds the salaries OF its EN-.
The box ohiee at a theatre
ld not he credited with yielding a
ont simply because more money =
taken In there than was used 90
the salaries Of the ticket sellers !