New-York tribune., 1906-08-12
4 BIG POSTAL LEAK.

The campaign Of the Postoffice Department
against those who abuse the second class post
age privilege is in the interest at once of the
general public and OF legitimate periodical pub
fishers. The pound rate was established many
years ago. on the theory that the people needed
newspapers and magazines, and that their cir
culatiOn should be encouraged. 1t would have
been practically impossible to spread informa-
ton by means of periodicals without such
concession. If the newspaper publishers had
been obliged to pay ordinary postage on their
papers, the cost would have been prohibitive to
a large body of their readers. 1t was good pub
lie policy TO make nominal rate, and ii placed
no unreasonable burden on the government to
carry practically everything appearing as a
periodical under oldtime conditions. In recent
years, however, the field Of the legitimate
periodical has been invaded by venders of mer-
chandise. To make the government bear the
expense of distributing their goods they have
issued reprints of classics at intervals, often
when the separate volumes had no relation to
one another except the arbitrary inclusion of
them all under a common name as library
Then advertisers fell into. the way Of issuing
their announcements and, catalogues With a. few
pieces Of reading matter, calling them maya
zines and making the pOstofice distribute them
in vast quantities.
A considerable part of this business has been
stopped. The government no longer acts as a
practically free express company for the book
publishers, and the advertising sheet prepared
frankly for distribution and not for sale has
been excluded. There are still, however, many
publications issued in periodical form, pro-
fessedy to subscribers, which are not to any
degree supported by their subscribers. Some Of
them mere tracts in disguise others mere
advertisements in disguise. and the publishers
accomplish their purpose if they can get them
distributed Tba Iic& Of 60
not of the names Of patrons of the publication
but of the names of all possible customers or
converts TO be heard Of 1t is against these
publications without a legitimate subscription
list that the department is now proceeding. 1t
must be plain to everybody that no public inter
est urges the government to pay for their trans
portation. The measure of public interest in the
circulation of a periodical is its paid subscrip-
tion list The advertiser or the agitatOr who
! seeks the public eye unsolicited and simply for
his own purposes should bear the expense Of the
enterprise. Advertisements of course also oc-
cupy a large space in legitimate periodicals. but
they are subordinate 20 the reading matter. It
may be said that the returns from them are
! greater than from subscription lists. and that
without them In many cases publication would
ne impossible; but their predominant news or
educational rather than business character is
| attested by the fact that readers are ready TO
pay Ior them. Perhaps the advertising papers
or magazines may be as good or better. The
paid subscription list must however. be the
test. 1t reveals a public demand, in the supply
of which the government may properly be inter
ested, while the circulation Of gratuitOus Dub-
lcatlOns responds TO no demand can he meas.
ured only by the publishers desire for publicity
and may involve the government in enormous
expense TO serve merely private interests.
|: How enormous that expense is may be seen
from the fact that in the last fiscal year only
$6,000O00 in round numbers, was received for
this class Of matter, which cost the government
$33,000O00. If the illegitimate periodicals can
be cut off. the POstofice Department can be
made almost self-sustaining. If they are not cut
off, there is danger that the rate itself may
some day have TO be raised and n tax placed on
the circulation Of that intelligence so necessary
to the formation Of enlightened public opinion