The Washington times., 1910-01-21
Publishers Declare Cost to
Reader Must Be Raised
If Change Is Made.
DELEGATION PLANS
TRIP TO CAPITAL
REPRESENTATIVES of Periodicals Viii
Lay Case Before Com
mittee In Congress.

NEW YORK. Jan 21--NIagazine own
ers throuEhout the country are aroused
over the effort Of the Post0fdce Depart
1nent at Washington 10 bring about an
increase in the postal rate for second
class mail matter, under which classih-
cation magazines come
A committee comprising d A. ATCKin-
ley, Of the American Magazine G y.
Lanier, Of the Review Of Reviews;
Harry J Fisher, Of the WOman's Home
Companion, and George w Wilder, OF
the Butterick Company. Of this city,
and Cyrus Curtis. OF the Ladies Home
Journal, Philadelphia, viii so 10 Wash
ingtoa next Wednesday and protest 10
the House Committee on Postofnces and
PostrOads, which has been holding
hearings as TO the ACCESSIBILITY OF chang
ing the present rate Of cent a pound
The committee, which was organized
by the Periodical Publishers Association
OF this city. will insist that the rate Of
1 cent is ample, and that any increase
would be detrimental 20 the interests OF
the magazine publishers and would ia
the end compel them 10 raise the price
Of their periodicals
Several magazine publishers here de
cIsred today that II would be impoSsi-
bic 10 print periodicals at q profit II
the advance In the postal rate as sug-
gested by Fourth Assistant Postmaster
General De Graw is voted by Congress
It was predicted that more than one
magazine In that event would have TO
cease publication
Largest Deficit
In his annual report Postmaster Cen
eraI Hitchcock said here was deficit
in the Post0nice Department last year
Of SI7.479,770, the largest in the histo-y
OF the department He put down TIE
Governments loss in handling second
class mail matter at S6f,e11.dao and SALT
that the magazines make up 60 per GEM
OF this class OF mail
Mr. Hitchcock estimated that il cost
the Government 90 cents a pound ID
handle and transport the second class
menr handled 7r1.16g.lFr pounds Of that
variety Of mail. and while So constituted
s. per cent of all the domestic mail, ne
said, Il brought IN Te-GlTu Of only >
per cent. 1fr. HitchCock-s idea was to
raise the rate for carrying magazines
10 a considerable extent the exact rate
10 be decided upon by Congress
The message ul PRESIDENT Ia1L
70 Congress referred To the loss to
the Government through the hand
ling of the second class mail and cited
eminent had 10 pay 9-23 cents "a pound
10 distribute matter which was paid for
% 4 l.
v1sec Congress 10 look into the situation
and see what could be done toward do
ing away with the deficit
Publishers Protest
Ever since the Presidents message the
House Committee has been holding an
inquiry, and protests have been sent TO
II from magazine men everywhere in
the country As the POsr0miCe Depart
ment has been active IN presenting in
formation TO the committee, the maya
zine men decided at O. hurriedIy called
meeting early this week to prepare
some data Of their own. and present
them along with vigorous argument
Mr. Wilder. who VIII 90 with the COM
ulittee 10 Washington. said yesterday
that there was q decidedly mistaken i'm
preston in Washington as 10 the real
cost OF handling magazines As presi-
dent of the ButteT1cH Company which
recently obtained control OF another
magazine. he has been gathering ma
terial which he VIII submit 10 the Cong
TeSSmen-
The committee VIII be prepared to
show said Mr. Wilder that lt does
not actually cost The Government any
magazines. Whoever got the idea into
his head that 1t cost &--5 cents a pound
was entirely wrong Magazines in the
frst place are handled Tor much longer
hauls than newspapers, which also had
The I-ceu- rate
There are fewer magazines 10 the
pound than newspapers and the maya
zines, once they are delivered into the
hands Of the postal authorize require
much less handling than newspapers. II
: q false argument % say that because
magazines are heavier than newspapers
they cost more to handle The reverse
IS true
Help Education
1T must be recalled that magazines
help IN the education of the public. and
as such the Government years ago de-
cided that thev. shculd have a rate that
would make II possible for the publish
eTs 10 charge comparatively low prices
and yet make "a profit The idea was
. encourage the reading Of ma gaines
Now If the rate IS raised il VIII be
necessary for the magazine publishers
10 advance the price 10 subscribers or
quit business II Is certain that 81 any
thing Ike the rate suggested bv some
OF the washington aurGor5t =es is nut Oh
the magazines some OF them viii fail
The average ma ga Inc weighs four
teen ounces, and Il can readily lie seen
what an advance 10 , cents pound for
postage would mean Would The public
want to stand the extra cGSC2 Il il Clio
not the publisher T. ouIT EnE himself
with magazines tha- could not be sold
We are preparf. 20 show that the
Government Is getting a fair postal "a 20
for magazines There IS plenty Of data
10 back II up-
:. =. Mcclure. Of 1IcCIure-s Machine.
said he understood that Clere was a dis
position In washington 10 raise the
magazine rate 20 8 or 5. cents a pound.
Any aCvancS- would mean an in
crease in the p-ice OF magazines 10 the
purchaser AIr Mcclure went on. The
distribution OF magazines is a complf-
Gated matter, and she publishers are
Put TO great expense Is i is ANY sIEgh-
Increase IN the cost for each pound 81
magazine matter would mean THAI the
price WoJid haze 10 be pat up.
The magazine business IS exactly l5za
any Other sort Of business. Just IN
DroDo-rfou To the expeusp-uf running a
business are prices dEed- II business
man has 10 paw 2 large freight rate to
Eet his goods, he has TO PIT that price
On the commodity when he offers ii ia
he market
Only Ordinary Profit.
Competition has made the magazine
business an ordinarily profitable one
The cost Of transportation % the naea-