Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-12-07

and other sources of information. call
| for a discussion and some suggestions
| as to amendments. These I prefer to
| embody in a special message instead
of including them in the present com
| munication, and / shall avail myself
| OF the first convenient opportunity to
| bring these subjects to the attention of
congress.
Second-class Mail Matter.
The deficit every year In the post
office department is largely caused by
the low rate Of postage of l cent
pound charged on second-class mail
matter, which includes not only news
papers but magazines and miscellan
eous periodicals. The actual loss
growing out of the transmission of
| this second-elass mail matter at cent
a pound amounts to about s63 900 900
a year. The average cost of the trans
| portation of this matter is more than
| cents pound.
l. 1t appears that the average distance
| over which newspapers are delivered
| to their customers is POI miles while
the average haul of magazines is 1,o49
and of miscellaneous periodicals 1928
| miles. Thus, the average haul Of the
magazine is three and one-half times
| and that of the miscellaneous period
ical nearly four times the haul OF the
daily newspaper yet all OF them pay
| pound. The statistics of 1907 show
/ that second-class mail matter consti-
| tuted 1891 per cent of the weight of
all the mail. and yielded only SIG per
| cent of the revenue.
The figures given are startling. and
show the payment by the government
of an enormous subsidy to the news
| papers. magazines and periodicals. and
! congress may we'll consider whether
| radical steps should not be taken to
reduce the deficit in the post office de-
partment caused by this discrepancy
between the actual cost of transporta-
ton and the compensation exacted
therefor.
A great saving might be made
| amounting to much more than half of
the loss, by imposing upon magazines
and periodically higher rate of post
age. They are much heavier than
/ newspapers, and contain much higher
proportion of advertising to reading
matter. and the average distance of
their transportation is three and half
times as great.
The total deficit for the last fiscal
year in the postoft1ce department
amounted to s17,5oo, 900. The branches
of it's business which 1t did at loss
were the second-class mail service, in
which the loss as already said was
s63,ooO,00O, and the free rural delivery in
which the loss was s2S.Ooo.Ooo. These
losses We're in part offset by the
other sources of income. 1t would
seem wise to reduce the loss upon
second-class mail matter, at least
to the extent of preventing deficit
in the total operations of the post
office.
I commend the whole subject to con-
gress not unmindful of the spread OF
yvh oh a cho fN~
carrying newspapers and periodicals
assists. very much doubt. however.
the wisdom of a policy which consti-
tutes so large a subsidy and requires
additional taxation to meet It,
Postal Savings Banks.
The second subject worthy of men,
ton in the postoffice department is the
real necessity and entire practicability
OF establishing postal savings banks.
The successful party at the last cleo
ton declared in favor of postal saw
ings banks. and although the PROPOSE
ton finds opponents in many parts of
the country. ! am convinced that the
people desire such banks, and am sure
that when the banks are furnished
they will be productive of the utmost
good. The postal savings banks are
not constituted FOX the purpose of Gre
ating competition with other banks
The rate of interest upon deposits to
which they would be limited would be
SO small as to prevent their drawing
deposits away from other banks.
believe them to be necessary in
order to offer proper inducement to
thrift and saving to a great many
people of, small means who do not
now have banking facilities. and to
whom such a system would offer an
opportunity for the. accumulation of
capital. They will furnish a satisfac-
tory substitute. based on sound prin-
ciple and actual successful trial in
nearly all thencountries of the world.
for the system Of government guar
anty of deposits now being adopted in
several western states, which with
Difference to those who advocate it
seems to me to have IN 1t the seeds OF
Generalization TO Conservative banking
and certain fin ,cial disaster.
Ship Subsidy.
Following the course of my distin.
guished predecessor / earnestly recon.
mend to congress the consideration
and passage Of a ship subsidy bill
looking to the establishment of lines
between our Atlantic seaboard and the
eastern coast of South America. al
7 we'll as lines from the west coast OF
the United States to South America
China. Japan and the Philippines The
profits on foreign mails are perhaps Z
SUFFICIENT measure Of the expenditure.
which might frst be tentatively ap.
piled to this method of inducing
American capital to undertake the es
adjustment of American lines o.
steamships in those directions in which
we now feel 1t most important that w,
should have means Of Transportation
controlled in the interest of the expan
sion of our trade. A bill OF this char
acter has once passed the house and
| fnor
/ hope that at this session a bill
framed on the same lines and with tn,
same purposes may become law.
The president recommends the ad
mission Of New Mexico and Arizons
as separate states, and strongly op
poses legislation looking to the cleo
ton of territorial legislature TO,
Alaska.
Conservation Of National Resources
In several departments there is present
ed the necessity for legislation looking t,
the further conservation of our nationa
resources, and the subject is one of sucl
Importance as to require a more detailed
and extended discussion than can be en-
tered upon in this communication. Fo
that reason i shall take an early oppor
tunity to send special message to con
gress on the subject Of the improvement
of our waterways. upon the reclamation
and irrigation of arid semi- arid. an,
swamp lands; upon the preservation o
our forests and the reforesting of suit
ablc areas; upon the Reconsideration O
the public domain with view of sep
aTatt.ls src::: agricultural! settlement :..!m
eral. coal. and phosphate lands and site
belonging to the government bordering Oh
streams suitable for the utilization o
water power.
The White Slave Trade,