The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-07-31
A HEAVY MAIL HAS UNCLE SAM.

Uncle Sam is the champion letter
writer of the world. If we were to
pay regular rates of postage on all the
mail handled by the postal service for
him, his postage bill would amount
to $50, ooo, 900 year. He is always
prone to refer to the postal service as
being operated at deficit. But as a
matter of fact, in spite of rural deliv-
cry and other improvements which
call for the expenditure of vast sums
of money, the people of the United
States pay more than it costs to han
die their mail. Deducting the amount
of free matter which was sent out
under franks and penalty envelopes.
it was found that the postal services
received $4, 600, 900 more for carrying
the paid mail than it cost to carry it.
In other words, had Uncle Sam paid
the ordinary postal rates for his
franked and penalty matter, there
would have been surplus of So, ooo,-
900 in the postal revenues instead of
a deficit of $40, 900, 900.
Heretofore there has been but a
vague idea of the amount of mail sent
out by the government every year.
But the recent report, whose prepar-
alton was called for by Congress, and
which is based on the weighing and
counting of all classes of mail for six
months, reveals some interesting data
about Uncle Sam as user of the mails.
The weighing and counting took place
during the last six months of 1907,
the dullest half of the dulIest year the
country has had in long period, as
measured by the quantity of free mat
ter going out. Congress was not in
session, and the free seeds and gov
eminent documents had been distrib-
1ted during the other half of the year.
Nor was there political campaign on
in which tons of franked speeches
would have been distributed through
the mails-yes, carloads of them.
Yet even in this dull half year there
were more than "a, 600, 900 pounds of
government mail turned loose on the
the nation, which was at the rate of
$4,000 tons year. 1t Is probable
that the average year would show
Uncle Sam sending out 40, 600 tons of
mail matter, with more than that in
election years.
The figures show that during the
six months there were handled 2 ,277,-
600 pounds of franked matter-origi-
mating with Congress; there was a.
663, 900 pounds of penalty matter
originating with the departments.
Anyone who knows what great vol
umes of mail Congress sends out in
the course of a year knows to cer-
tainty that it is vastly more that one
tenth as much as is sent out by the
departments. When one takes cogni-
zance of the vast amount of free seeds,
free horse books, free maps and free
everything else which Congress dis
tributes through the mails, including
the millions of free speeches sent out
for home consumption, it will be per-
fectly apparent that the national legis-
lature was not in its stride when this
test between franked and penalty mail
was made.
During seven days the postal SER
vice handled 4,44I 900 pieces of pen
atty mail, which is at the rate of 74I,-
900 pieces for every working day, or
22I ,ooo,oo pieces a year. Add to
this the quantity Congress sends out
during an average year, and it will
begin to appear what liberal patron
of the mails Uncle Sam really is. He
has every other nation completely sur
passed in this respect. Perhaps none
of the other nations sends half as much
governmental m natter through the
mails as the United States.
Washington is the great centre of
government mail distribution. While
Congress is in session there is more
franked stuff sent ont from the Capt.
toll than from all the rest of the coun-
try put together. When Congress
goes away, other places handle the
greater bulk of the franked mail.
With penalty mail it is different.
While seventy-seven per cent. of all
mail handled by the Washington post
Office is either for the government or
from the government, yet the vast
amount of penalty business, original
ing wherever there is government
business to be transacted, makes that
portion of it originating in Washing
ton seem like small quantity.
Although government mail travels
free and private mail has to pay its
way, government mail travels far
thest. The data gathered by the pos
tai service shows that the average
pound of government mail travels
about los miles further than the aver
age pound of paid matter. The latter
is carried go miles, while the average
pound of franked matter goes $50