The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1906-12-30
CONGRESS TO
INVESTIGATE
ACTUAL WEIGHT OF MAIL CAR.
RlEO BY RAILROADS.
II is Claimed the Government Has in
the Past Twenty Years Paid Rail.
roads an Excess Of Forty
Million Dollars.

Washington, d. c. Dec. 29.-lt is I.
reasonably certain that Congress. az
the present session, will provide def.
mite legislation for a readjustment OF
the methods Of Weighing the mails
carried by the railways of the coun-
try. That the method of ascertainlng
the weight of the mails now is not
only obsolete, but inequitable. is the
conviction arrived at by impartial in
vestgators.
The average daily weight of mail
carried by given railroad is found
hy Weighing the mail for ninety sue.
ccssiyc working days As a matter
of fact the mail is weighed for lO5
successive days, including Sundays
but instead uf reaching the average
by dividing the total weight by 1o5,
1t is reached by dividing the total
weight by 9O that being the number
Of what the law terms working
days. Naturally such a division In
creased the average daily weight. on
which the payments by the govern.
ment are based.
The subject har Deen considered
by every postma ' general for a
quarter of century and opinior5
have been obtained from several at.
torneys general of the United States
as to the legality of the methods pur-
sued by the postonice department. In
every instance the present method
has been sustained by these twJ opin-
ions. Congress never has aean fit to
change the law and, consequently,
every postmaster general has follow.
ed the methods of his predecessors in
tn mail Weighing and payments.
Recently, Representatiye Murdocll
OF Kanass, a member of the Postohice
and Postroads Committee, delivered
speech in the house, in which he
asserted the government annually
was paying more money to the rail
roads FOR carrying the mails than they
were entitled to. In fact, he said that
in the past twenty years S4O,OO0,OOO
in excess of a rightful charge mad
been paid to the railroads.
The subject has ben discussed pret-
ty fully since the delivery of Mr..
MurdOcks speech, both among mem
bers Of congress and in the newspa-
pers. In congress a tentative, although
informal decision has been reached
TO change the wording of the present
law so that. after the act becomes
effective, the railroads will be paid
not for an average daily weight OF
mail struck in any sense at random,
but for an exact average, found by
dividing the total weight OF mail for
a period Of six months, for instance,
by the total number of days. ncmd-
ing Sundays, on which the mail is
weighed. This 1t is contended, VIII be
fair alike to the railroads and to the
government. OF course, it will reduce
the railway mail pay for some OF the
railroads. but II As maintained they
cannot complain reasonably, because
they will receive full pay for the ser
vice they render.
The agitation Of the question ut
railway mail pay has induced the
Postofiice Department to take up the
subject again. In fact it had been un-
der consideration by Postmaster Gen.
eral Cortelyou before Mr.. MurdOck de.
liyored his speech, lie called for
report on the question from Second
Assistant Postmaster General Shal.
lenbergor some time ago and now has
It under consideration.
It has been discovered by INQUIRIES
that few Of the big railroad sys-
tens, like the Pennsylvania and the
New York Central. are carrying the
great bulk of the mail west of New
York and east Of Chicago, while 9TH
er important lines apparently have
been Disseminated against. Why this
discrimination has been shown will be
made a subject of inquiry by the de-
partmcnt, and very likely, by con
gress. It is intimated that some very
interesting facts may be developed.
Election Notice.