Bisbee daily review., 1911-02-19
POSTAGE READJUSTMENTS.

iefray the cost of their Uansprta- ton through the mails. In the ear Her days the argument was made anu accepted, that an annual deficit in the post office department was not an evil. because of the great benefit to the community arising from the cheap and convenient dissemination of newspapers and periodicals. If that argument was ever sound, which is doubtful, t is not so now, because
 he privilege long ago established has now ripened into an abuse of very considerable magnitude. The postage rate upon second class mat ter, which includes newspapers, peri odicals and magazines sent from the office of publication, is cent a pound. Postmaster General Hitch cock says that the governement is losing over s cents a pound OR sec ond class matter sent through the mails, the annual loss to the national
 avenues from this cause approx mating S64,O00,000 The postal de felt for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1909. these being the fguers upon which President Taft based his rec ommendation a year ago, was ST. 500.000 It is not unreasonable for the postmaster general to recon. mend such an increase of second class mail rate as would at leas, wipe out this deficit. If the increase were great enough to pay the ea- tire cost of second class mail trans portation. which is not proposed, Mir Hitchcock says that the department would be able to reduce the postage on letters from cents 10 I cent. As it is. every man who affixes a , cent stamp to a letter not only pays
 he cost of transporting the letter, but also part of the cost of transport ing second class matter.
 The carrying of second class mat ter at the unprofitable rate of I cent a pound commits the government to an undertaking ia aid of a certain class of private business, and this at the expense of the whole mass of tax payers. If we are not to adopt mu- nicipal trading as national policy, this practice cannot be justified. The bill providing remedy for the abuse would make the magazines pay a higher rate upon their magazine pages. which make up a great part of the bulk and weight of that class of mail matter. The magazines op- pose the change. They say that the extra postage charge would amount in the case of the very widely cir c:ilated popular magazines, to an enormous sum annually. We should say that this is their affair. not the governments. At any rate, when they point out that the offending bill would increase their postage by tens or hundreds of thousands ot dollars, they merely give the measure of how much the taxpayers are now contributing toward the cost or carry ing on their business Is it for then to determine whether they will beal this new expense. or whether the, will make postage charge to theii subscribers sufficient to meet the ad ded cost. It is the almost universa
 rule of business, and a sound rule
 that the consumer pays all costs
 We see no reason why the persons
 who buy and profit by newspapers
 magazines and periodicals shoul,
 not pay the cost of distribution, al
 well as the cost of production, to
 gether with that reasonable profit
 which is the policy of the party il
 power to guarantee to our industries
 The rule which holds good of maga
 zines is equally good in the case O
 newspapers. It has been pointe,
 out by President Taft and the post master general that, while the av