Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-12-30
It Runs behind $2S, 900, 000-Sec-
ond Glass Matter Is over
Double That.
DEFICIT OF OYER $17,OOO,o0O
Measures of Economy Adopted
but Not at the Cost Of Ell.
cheney, Says Postmaster &.
General Hitchcock.

/ tstration or the postotHce dcpartment be-
/ gan its operations. This was the largest
deficit in tho history Of the postal scrvlce.
/ So long rs the deficit in the department
aggregated only few millions of dollars
annually. little attention was paid to II;
/ but when. In The last few years +; leaned
to upward o' Sl0o0O,00) and fnalIy. in
1909 exceeded sl1,nOooO. Ordinary bust
ness prudence suggested that the causes
be definitely located"
4 These are statements In the annual re-
port Of Postmaster General Frank Fl.
Hitchcock. made public to-day. Con-
corning the results of inquiries into the
deficit, the postmaster-genern says:
Recent investigations have shown
that tho two great sources of loss to the
postal revenues are second class mail
matter and rural delivery.
THE loss on second class mail ma tier
has been Increasing for many years until
1t now amounts to &G4o0o.00.
The loss from rural delivery. n service
begun hardly a dozen years ago and Of
unprecedented growth reaches as high
as S2S 10000
In these two items alone the POSTAL
service now suffers an annual loss Of
more than the entire national deficit Of
We laSt hScal year.
DRAFTS AT BAD TINE.
simultaneously with the growing de-
B lei In the postal service, the nations in
come suffered last year serious de-
pietlon incident to the financial depres-
sion. Thus it happened that the depart
ments drafts on the treasury were heav-
lest at time when the public funds were
lowest. This has accentuated the i'm
portance of the postal deficit, making It
conspicuous among the losses TO he met
by the Presidents plan of reducing ex-
penditures in all executive departments
Since the opening OF the admnistra-
ton the postmaster general and his as
sistants have adopted measures in con-
formity with the Presidents policy OF
retrenchment, and these measures are
being put into effect with substantial re-
suits. as will be shown In this report
1T should be stated with emphasis
however. that economy is not to be en-
forced at the cost OF efficiency.
only such measures OF economy will
be adopted, therefore, can he made a
| consistent part OF a general program
having for Its chief object the improve
ment of the personnel. the form Of or
ganizaton, and the business methods Of
the postal establishment
Loss ON SECOND CLASS.
The most striking fact disclosed by
recent Investigations is the tremen-
dous loss on account of second class
mail While this class of mail pro-
vidcS revenue Of little more than
one cent Il pound. the cost to the gov
eminent for its handling and trans
portation averages 9.23 cents a pound
The annual loss thus incurred. as al
ready stated. is about s64 1000, 900. The
growth in the quantity Of second class
matter sent through the mails has
been extraordinary. Since the pass
age of the act Of 1879 prescribing CON
dtions under which publications may
| be mailed at second class rates, the
weight Of such matters has increased
more than 1900 per cent. Last year
| II amounted to ovcr
BY the Weighing of 1907. second class
matter was shown to constitute SO per
cent. of all domestic mail, and yet it
! Welded only about FIVE per cent OF
the postal revenues. The loss on sec
ond class matter was greater than the
profits on all classes Of mail combined.
1t exceeded the total amount paid the
railways for mail transportation.
| Magazines and other periodical
publications exclusive of daily news
papers comprise about 60 per cent. of
| the second class mail The magayne s
alone form about 20 per cent. Mag
azines proper. because Of the long av-
eraRe haul. show cost of more than
! Ave cents a pound for transportation
while in the case Of daily Newspapers
for which the average distance OF dis
| trihution IL much less the transporta-
tion cost IS under two cents u pound
THIRD CLASS LOSS, 100000
The annual loss on third class mil
Is something over three million dol
lars. The mail matter carried free
under congressional franks cost the
government annually about half mil
lion dollars. A greater loss. about
two and = quarter millions annually,
| results from the free handling of Of
! fetal mail for executive departments
other than tho postofce department
| Tho annual cost of handling the free
oficial mail Of tho postotice depart
ment is estimated at about $4,000 900
II the several branches OF tho federal
government were made to bear their
p'op''i u WIS tNptNSt ot
porting and handling official mail.
greater care would be taken no doubt
in the exercises OF the frankinS privi-
lege and some saving to the govern
ment would accordingly result. The
wisdom Of doing away entirely with
the franking privilege or official mail
has been suggested. but this Is mat
ter for Congress to determine Such
n plan would relieve the postoffice de-
partment Of a heavy expense It Is now
I.obliged 10 incur In the handling Of
free mail for other branches Of the
government establishment
RURAL DELIVERY.
| The rural delivery service has de-
veloped In twelve years from an ex-
pertinent requiring an appropriation
OF $4,000, to one Of the largest
| branches of the postal establishment.
| with an annual expenditure exceeding
| $S5, 100000. The postage on matter
mailed on rural routes Is estimated at
| about 100000. The importance Of
| this service to large number OF peo-
pie Is fully appreciated. II brings the
farms and villages into closer COM
munication with commercial and edu-
cational centers. II encourages the
| improvement OF country roads. Wy
making rural life more attractive It