The Washington herald., 1906-12-03


The great trouble is" said Edward c
Madden, Third Assistant Postmastel
General, that the subject of mail mat
ter Of the second class. which is causing
the Post-ofice Department so much trou
bic, and which seems. on the part Of
certain class Of publishers, TO create i'll
feeling. is not properly understood. Pub.
fishers of periodicals and newspapers
seem TO think that the department Is at
lacking their business. This is not so.
1T is the law we are after-a law that 1:
Of difficult construction; that is hard tC
construe; a law which works a positive
injustice to worthy enterprises and ex-
tends unwarranted privileges to enter
prises that are not worthy; a law. under
the workings of which the people are
required to pay for special service to a
few and which costs the government an
enormous sum. As at present constituted
and construed, the second class consti-
tutes two-thirds Of the entire bulk of
all mail matter. In return IL yields
about one-twenty-fouTt Of the revenue"
For fifteen years there has been agita-
ton in the Post-ofice Department in an
effort 10 get this whole subject before
Congress so that the present laws could
be revised In 1889 Postmaster General
Wanamaker brought the question Of the
defect of the law regarding second-class
mail matter forward
He was the first to state that, owing
TO the low rate Of postage on this class
of matter, a fertility OF experiments had
been developed 10 evade the law for
third-class matter and secure the benefit
of the secOnd-class rate. The effect Of
this evasion was not only hurtful to pos
tai interests, but was opposed to legiti-
mate journalism. Congress did not act
In 1892 Mr.. Wanamaker again called at
tention &c the matter. dwelling especially
on the book abuse in the second-class
mails, and he dwelt specifically on the
sample copy abuse Again Congress did
not act
still Nothing Is Done.
Two years later. Postmaster General
Bissell referred 10 the matter as a scan
dal upon the postal service" He showed
that the increase Of second-class mat
ter was dispropOrtiOnately great: claimed
that the statutes were defective and
that some remedy was needed. Once
more nothing was done. In the report
for 1885 Postmaster General Wilson stated
that for years the attention Of Congress
had been called to this matter. He said
II was 'disheartening for the responsible
head Of d department TO see the waste
OF its earnings. and he declared that but
FOR the hope that Congress would enact
some remedy he would have taken the
responsibility to modify and reverse the
successive ruling through which this in
road into the second-cIass mails had been
made He proposed a bill which he
thought would meet the case. but once
more Congress declined to net.
In his report for 1897. Postmaster Cen
eral Gary took up the whole subject once
more. He reiterated the statements Of
his predecessors, and added that By the
existing statutes a privileged class had
Deen created. Nothing was done Post
master General Smith, in 1929 took IN
the cudgeis once more. and in his state
ment OF the case aYerred that the ahuse
OF the SecOnd-class mails involved a sheer
waste Of S20,o0000 or upward year. He
said II was deadly burden upon the
mails, and he declared that the publishers
OF legitimate newspapers and periodicals
had a direct interest in the extirpatioD Of
the wrongs upon the service which II
left uncorrected, would inevitably pro-
woke sweeping condemnation and war
fare involving alike those that are f1sf
~ and those that are unjustly included
Nothing was done.
Brought In Twice NJ,
Mr.. Smith brought up the matter again
II 1900, and again urged the necessity Of
remedial legislation. In the following
year he again took it up and he estimated
that during that year the secoDd-closs
matter constituted 60 per cent of the en-
tire mail of the country. and yet. while
the postal revenue for the fiscal year
was SILL 0O0O00, secOnd-class matter maid
only a little over $1,000 coo: that is. thar
While making three-ffths of the whole
mali, 1t furnished only one-twenty-eigbrb
part Of the revenue.
then IN 1865 Postmaster General Cor
teiyou took up the subject and added his
pronunciation of the bad laws.
But says Mr.. Madden. Third Assist
ant postmaster General. the only tangible
result OF this fifteen years of agitation of
subject which deals primarily with the
pubic good, has been the apnointn,ept
OF POSTAL Commission. before whom the
"hoie matter has just been presented and
Whlch now has II under consideration In
the meantime 1 have been unwilling 10
Jet Things driIt, and ] have found in the
present aWs-lnadequate as they ara
~ toI Fluulng the seCOnd-cfass of
a.
abuses we have already corrected Doad
matter, such OF it as is returned b,, III
TO publisher is no longer carried az a
cent a pound. No business college ~, $50
spondence school is allowed. anv r,ora
to distribute its advertising matte -.
the cost of the public treasury No ~
Usher is now allowed to conduct 49,
Using schemes by means of tho sarnrla
copy privilege. No books can now 90
through the mails masked as periodicaIs
The rulings in three of these cases bo,-a
been tested in the courts, and the de-
partment has been sustained
Where the Trouble Lies.
Now. the great trouble is" said Mr.
Madden, that the Post-ofice Depart-
ment should not be obliged at all to rule
on this or that class of matter, Read
the law under which publications are ad-
mitted to the second class;
Msilsble matter Of the second class shall embrace
all newspapers aud other periodical publications
which Issued at stated intervals and as freuept
y four times year. and within the conditions
named IN sections y and Il.
The conditions upon which a publication shall be
admitted 20 the second class are as follows:
l. It must regularly be issued az stated intervals
as frequently four times a year and bear a date
% issue and be numbered c0nsCc1tiToly.
2 1t must be issued from known office Of pub
hcatiOns