New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-02-28
SECOND CLASS MAIL
DEPARTMENTS SIDE.
Giues Ont Reply to Statement
of Publishers.

Washington, Feb. Zl.-Ihe Poslohi'e
partment gave out reply to-day ~ NV
statement of the Periodical Publishers Az
ISOLATION of America regarding secohu cia99
mail rates. 1t declares that the contentious
of the publishers are erroneous or mis-
leading and that every important conc,u
sion reached by them is fallacious. 1t adds.
The pamphlet not only diseloses sur sur
prising ignorance of the postal service. oa ..s
what is still more unfortunate, 1T SHOWS
the lack of essential Information reaun ,
obtainable. So far as the asse..ioir ro,a nc,
In the pamphlet have been gwen Cleuel,Se
the people have been msied, ana tIle =
riodical Publishers Association o"e we , ~
the department, to the PUBIC ana ~ i'
to make proper correction
Discussing the length of haul. the depart
ment says:
The conclusion that there Is no more en
Pense to the government In CARRYING ma iias
zines average distance of l,94s hIiies
than in CARRYING newspapers 29f miles Is
palpably wrong as hardly 10 dfael
comment Mr.. Wllders argument IS pases !,
on the fact that the cost OF carrying :.
pound of mail is greater on certain sIoi
railroad routes. where the weights OF IlaiI
carried are small than on many longer
lines where the weights carried are greater
He asserts that "as the newspapers an, ai g
in the short haus, they are more t sn,.a
likely in the small weights. and therefore,
cost the government a higher rste pouaiu
than magazines" This involves the er-
roneous assumption that newspapers. pc
cause they hauled small average
distance, likely to be carried over tne
short, light weight routes instead OF the
main railroad lines AS a matter of fact
it is the main lines that enter large cities
where newspapers are published, Whlle the
short. light weight routes seldom touch
large cities The fallacy of the aSSoc1a-
TONS whole contention is conclusively
shown by the fact that the entire weight
of mail of all classes carried on these snort
light weight routes Is little more than ~
of the weight OF new dlOHc
carried all the railroads.
DEFICIT AND SURPLUS.
The publishers statement said ''W ith
proper allowance for rural delivery service,
there Is a surplus of over 100000 in all
the operations of the postoffice 10 TINS
the department replies:
The reason given for emitting rural de
livery service seems TO be that it is un-
profitable With equal force 1t might ne
said with proper allowance Tor second
class mail, there is a surplus or over sto,I
600 600 in all the operations of the postaI
service" Even if there were 10 oehc1t
the fact that the department IS conducting
one branch of its business at a loss OF
So, 600, 600 annually would demand attention
The contention that second class mail
should not be charged with its proportion
ate share of the cost Of rural delivery IS
most unreasonable, the department says,
adding:
Rural delivery is no more "a governmental
policy than city delivery. These TWO ser
vices perform similar functions, one max
ing delivery to the rural and me other 10
the city population. The department was
conservative in charging to second Grass
mail 40 % per cent of the cost of rural de.
livery. Statistics show that 40 ler cent Oh
the pieces of mali handled IN TINS seIelGe
consists of second class matter were III
not for the rural delivery service the CIR
culation of the magazines would pe ma
terially reduced.
In conclusion the department says:
A thorough analysis of the argument ad-
vanced by the Periodical Publishers Asso-
citation regarding the departments ngureS
discoses nothing to justify their modiHc inca
ton in any essential particular. me GOV,
eminent is losing over eight Genus pouiiIu
on second class matter sent through lne
mails the annual loss to the national reVe-
nues from this cause approxlmatIns
900 Under present conaito MS .iI rs
wear Surprising as it may SEEM there are
now about tWenty-seven thousand puDhca
class privilege. a large proportion OF Wnl 3
are magazines, and the number IS faPiolS
increasing.
The vast sum the taxpayers of the coun-
trv are annually eXpending in order TO per
nit the distribution of these perlodlcals
through the mails at rate OF postage ~ y
ne apDlied in other ways for the benent OF
the postal service with much greater ad-
vantage to the PUBIC StheidIiS- fol =
annie if the rate on second class mail
were made high enough to cover the entire
cost of transporting and handling 1t, which
has not been suggested. II WouId De pos
sibIe without creating a deficit, TO reduce
the postage on letters from two cents to
one cent Every time two-cent stamp Is
now placed on a letter it defrayS not only
the expense of handling and transporting
the letter, but helps TO pay in almost equal
measure the cost Of distributing through
the mails the periodical publications of the
country.