The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-12-12
MAIL COST too HIGH
Congressman Declares Country
Pays Railroads Too Much
For Carriage.
SAYS TREASURY is LOOTED.
Ksrsas F. 7rasentatiye Asserts cop-
efnnsnt nas Overpaid $4o,ooo,ooo in
Ten Years Through False Weight.
lowered Fate en- Small Amount, but
NO Reoocs.on A0ovs 5000 Pounds.

LoWSFsc H0te en- >hoaH RHt0u2t, puh
No Reeoes.on Aaovs 5,ooo Pounds.
Tas4lngfon. TSc. taking the an
re ter .eneral Cor
te-sou .of a teNl pr sAtative Victor
Aiurdock electrified tfe house with q
carefully prepared >eech, showing ir-
regulari5ies amounting virtually, he de-
ciafe,l TO larceny Of tie g6gefllment
funds ls the railroads Of 5Ela country
in carrying the Euited States lnalls
Re showed that under the existing
contracts with the postoifice depart
nent the daily average weight OF the
RAILS Is found bg weighing the nasils
for sege4 days and tiiea dividing the
total not by seven, but By six. This
action IS excused en the ground that
the law contains the word working
before the word days"
Mr. Murdock's reckoning shows thas
in the instance Of the New York Cen
tral railroad alone the government
thus pays $3.50, ,0oo a gear more than il
should
@I believe" be said, 'thaf through
this false average Ills government III
the last ten years has ovsrpaid ap-
proxtmateig $4,000, 000 for the car
riage Of the mails. Were this average
corrected as it should be the system
os pay would still be antiqusted and
inequitable.
Wants Only 'sVsrking Days. ceunssd.
A1urlock introduced a bill striking
oHt the word working before the
word days in the postal mali law.
The mails are weighed once in four
years for ninety days, and the total IS
then divided, not By ninety, but BY
that number less the number Of SAT-
urdays in the three months period
Scandal has been whispered previous
ly in relation to the weighing Of the
railroad mails and the arnaunt paid
by the government. Murdoch appears
to have struck one vital, spot, in the
opinion of the many members who
heard his speech. He brought out that
while the railroads under the antieust-
ed law which regulates the mail con-
tracts accept a reduced rate on mail
in bulk from 200 pounds up to 5000
pounds no such reduction in rate Is
effective above 5000 pounds. Ee shows
that if the same reduction In bulk
AMOUNTS Of mail were enforced above
5000 pounds every additional LOCO
pounds of mail, for instance, would
cost nearly $500 less than it does nows
Advocates Speedy Changes.
beginning next February, before
this congress will adjourn" Mr.. Muir.
dock said, ''the mails will be weighed
in that section of the country comprisu
ing Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigans
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Mis-
souri,, and that weight will call per-
haps for an expenditure of $4,000 0Od
annually for four years. Twenty mfr
lion dollars is more than this servics
cost over the entire country in 1883
There are practices and methods which
should be changed before Feb. oA
1907.
"The basis Of most of our enormous
outlay for the railway carriage of mail
--$45, 100000 this year-is the average
daily weight Anticipated and faulty
as the system Of pay Is, still If we are
to retain it then the basis Of that pay
the average daily weight, ought to be
a true and not false average.
81 believe that through a false aver
aga this government in the last ten
years has overpaid somewhere IN the
region of $4o,ooo,0O0 for the carriage OF
the mails If the average is corrected
the system of pay is still antiquated
and ineQuitable and should be chang.
ed"