The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-30

ing, under the franking system, an annual burden estimated at $l5,0oo.- 000 really belonging to the other de- partmeps of the government IS oI fact that the great mass Of mall mat ter for which publishers pay at the rate of one cent per pound Is the source or the inspiration of the great goyerument two cents an ounce or fraction thereof. This is especially the case win rnontly magazines weekly trade, agriculaural or other special punilcatiens. and a variety of other periodicals Embracing broad territory In their circulation and carrying ad- vertisements appealing to thousands or readers. Many of there periodicals nave incoming and outgoing mall pay ing first class rates that averages at least thousand letters each day. That means $Ze a day, or nearly $T,500 q year, paid to the Postofice Department Tor what may be regarded as the .pri- mary correspondence of a periodical concerned with its subscription, adver- Using and news departments But this direct payment Is as nothing compared with the amount of money spent upon hrst-class postage as a consequence ot advertisement. We have never attempt ed to secure an estimate of the number or letters received and written by each of the thousand advertisers iii The
 
 many lines of manufacturing and busi- ness In all parts of the. country called for by the publication of the adver- tisements. Such an. estimate would be an impossibility hi the case of any advertiser. inasmuch as tho maEs Of correspondents ,of advertising firms are inclined to give no heed to the cues or keys of one kind and another which some advertisers have been persuaded to, adopt in the vain hope or tracing the effects of their advertise nents. And, indeed, 1t is quite prob- able that the advertiser is quite as much benefited indirectly as directly by his advertisement. if not more so. No attempt has been made to trace the correspondence started by matter published in any of our news, deparl- tions of the far-reaching effects, in- cluding hundreds of dollars a week paid for first-class postage. of the pulp lication of fresh information in our Construction Department appealing di- rectly to manufacturers of machinery and its accessories, engineers, munich pal and Sate authorities, contractors of many kinds and supply men. At times we receive letters of good-natur- ed protest against the flood of mail which someone contemplating new manufacturing plant or a new building Is receiving in consequence of our publication of one-line fact. Here. too, the indirect effects match the df- rect effects as in the case of the ad- vertisement, and we believe we are within the bounds of conservatism fin estimating that the amount Of money spent for first-class postage annually as a consequence of the weekly circu lation of The Manufacturers Record is at least $100,000.
 This situation, we believe, is not diff ferent from that of other first-class periodicals of special or general char acter, and that fact, the fact that such publications contribute directly and the Postoffice Department from first class postage, should be given due weight by the joint congressional com mittee in seeking to equalize the bur dens of the department.