The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1911-02-17

Washington, FEB. l4.-Tne reply ol
the Periodical Publishers Association
to the statement which Postmaster
General Hitchcock issued last night
in support of his proposal to increase
the rate of postage on the advertis-
ing portions of large magazines, was
made tonight in the form of state
ment issued here by the postal COM
mittee of the publishers association
''Mr. Hitchcock entirely ignores"
the committee says "the fact that Sec
ond-lass mail is the chief producer
of the first-class postage, that finally
saves the deficit of the postoffice ba-
lance sheet. The publishers show ad-
vertisements on which the postoffice
department has made 144 per cent
profit from carrying magazine adver-
tisements.
$50 Mr.. Hitchcock goes to the ma
gazines, constituting, as he says,
only one.fifth of the second-class mail
and, owing to their small number of
pieces to the pound, much the least
costly class to the postoffice depart
ment, insisting that they pay the
whole deficit. The injustice is aggra-
waited by the fact that it Is peculiarly
magazine national mailorder adver-
tising that saves the pOstoffice bal
ance sheet by originating first-class
postage.
"Mr Hitchcock instances one maga-
perhaps the most profitable peri
odical in the country-to show that
this periodicals recent increase in ad-
vertising rate result in profit or
$917,106, or enough to pay its postage
bill. The absurdity of this sort OF
/ long-distance accounting is obvious
when it is explained that the Ameri-
can magazines cost to edit, manufac-
ture, deliver and administer nearly
twice as much as the publisher nets
! from subscriptions.
"The postal committee of the Peri
odical Publishers Association has OBJ
tained the exact figures from the
books of the account of the five stand
ard monthly magazines which carried
the most advertising in 1909. These
figures of profits are on file in the de-
partment of commerce and labor.
The aggregate final net profit of these
five magazines are less than one-tenth
of the aggregate advertising incomes.
"The reader gets the balance. This
operation of large advertising re
ceipts passed over to the reader in
the shane of a better magazine than
his subscription money will make
edit and deliver accounts for the
phenomenon of the low-priced, widely
read American periodicals.
"On Mr.. Hitchcock's own figures
in his statements showing that the
proposed postal change would mean
only two cents a pound postage on
the whole magaZine-though, as the
bill stands, it would mean more
it is easily calculated that the pro
posed increase would raise less than
S2,5O0,O00 for the postoffice depart
ment, from which must he subtracted
the great new expense of admins
tering this complex and discrimina
tory measure.
"On the other hand, 1t would en-
tirely wipe out the profits of many
periodicals, magazines, agricultural pa
pers, religious papers and trade jour
mails and seriously cripple the bal
ance. This has been made plain by
hundreds of publishers who have com
municated with their congressman
giving their exact profits"
The periodical publishers say the!
do not consider it necessary to dis
cuss Mr.. Hitchcock's attempt to ques
tion the official figures of the pub
fishers profit by this citation Of "th'
wild guesses of concern trying t.
sell stock to the public by mail.