Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-09
Mercantile Corporation Given
P. O. Department Work.
FOR PRINTING ENVELOPES
Matter Had Been Delayed Owing to
Strong Protests.
DECLARED TO BE MONOPOLY
MI. Hitchcock Delayed the Award
Until Matter Was Thrashed
Out in Congress.

Postmaster General Hitchcock today
signed the contract awarded to the Mer-
camille Corporation of New York, whose
plant is located at Dayton, Ohio. and of
which Myron c. Taylor of New DIRK city
is president. the printing for four years
from July l of the stamped and return
request envelopes for the Post Office De-
partrnent.
This is the contract which has been
fought by combination of allied trades
and manufacturers called the national
joint committee. of which r. p. Andrews
of this city was chairman, and byron S.
Adams member.
In literature which was widely circu-
lated during the last year it was charged
that the Postmaster General was rushing
the contract with undue haste. and that.
if awarded. hundreds OF printers and
others would be made to suffer. for the
contract virtually gives the Mercantile
Corporation monopoly of printing the
envelopes.
Objected to Printed Request.
The chief objection was against the
printed return request on the upper left
hand corner of the face of the envelope.
A bill was introduced in Congress. known
as the Tou Velle bill. which made it UNI
lawful to print anything but the name
of the town or city and state. This bill
passed the House June p, 1910, but it
failed of passage in the Senate 1t is
said there were 100000 protests from the
public against its passage, of which Ben
ator Penrose had at least $4,000.
The Postmaster General, 1t Is declared
at the Post Office Department, In n spirit
of fairness decided to postpone the
signing of the contract until the matter
could be thrashed out in Congress. The
bill having failed in the Senate, he
signed the contract today.
The contract provides for the printing
of one and a half billion stamped envel-
opes and about 400,OO0,Oo0 newspaper
Wrappers yearly, at cost OF approXi-
mately 81, 100000.
1t was said at the department today
that under the new contract the depart
ment will save about S3O0,OO0, for the
term. over the former contract.
Cost Of Work.
1t also was said that the commercial cost
of printing the return request upon the
stamped envelopes would amount to from
81 to 81 thousand, in addition to the
cost of the envelopes. The contract pro-
vides that the envelopes shall be fur
nished. embossed with the postage stamp
and the return request printed for 1916
cents thousand for the No. envelopes,
which form the basis of the contract.
Under the former contract the cost was
IS.6 cents a thousand envelopes.
Myron C. Taylor, president of the Mer-
camille Corporation. said today that it
was possible to furnish the envelopes and
do the required printing at the bid made
by his concern because of mechanical
economy in the manufacture of the en-
velope. The actual printing of the re-
turn request to the corporation, he said,
was about mills thousand.
Proposals for furnishing the envelopes
and doing the printing were opened last
October In response to the advertisement
of the Post Office Department, dated
August 16, 1910. 1t was then that the
charge was made that the department
face of the passage of the Tou Velle bill
by the House.