Norwich bulletin., 1911-02-15
Publishers
 Come Back
PROFITS IN FIRST CLASS MAIL
 DUE TO SECOND GLASS.
ANSWER HITCHCOCK
Increased Postal Rate, They say,Would Wipe Out Profits of Many Periodicals and Raise Little for Governmsnt.

41 . - .vA, 7 eU. l4-1ue reply O1 the Periodical Publishers association 70 the statement which Postmaster General Hitchcock issued last night in support of his proposal to increase the rate Ot postage on the advertising por- 'tlons Of large magazines, was made tonlgnt III the form of statement issued here by the postal committee of the publishers association.
 tMr. Hitchcock entirely ignores the committee says, "the fact that sec ond class mail is the chief producer of the first class postage that finally sheet. The publishers show advertise ments on which the postoffice depart ment has made A per cent. profit from carrying magazine advertise mentS.
 Make Magazines Pay Whole Deficit.
 So MT. Hitchcock goes to the mag azlnes. 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, insisting thai they pay the whole deficit The in- justice is aggravated by the fact that it is. peculiarly the magazine national mail order advertising that saves the postof1ce balance sheet by originating first class postage.
 Such Reckoning is Absurd.
 MT. Hitchcock instances one maga- zlne-perhaps the most profitable pc riodlcal in the country-lto show that this periodicals recent increase in ad- vertising rate resulted in a profit oi S9l1,lO6, or enough to pay it's postage bill. The absurdity of this sort of long distance accounting is obvious when it is explained that the American mag azines cost to edit, manufacture, deliv- CT and administer nearly twice az much as the publishers net from sub- scriptions. The differences made up from advertisements is given the sub- scriber in his ability to purchase a much better article than his subs crip- tion price alone will produce. The pos tai committee of the Periodical Pub fishers association have obtained the exact figures from the books of ac- counts of the five standard monthly magazines which carried the most ad- vertising in 1909. These figures of profits are on file in the department of commerce and labor. The aggregate are less than one-tenth of the aggre- gate advertising income.
 Readers Benefit by Advertising.
 SsThe reader gets the balance. This operation of large advertising receipts passed over to the reader in the shape of better magazine than his sub- scription money will make, edit and de- liver accounts for the phenomenon Of the splendid low priced, widely read American periodicals.
 "On MT. Hitchcock's own figures, in his statement. showing that the pro- posed 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 proposed increase would raise less than $2, SOC, 900 for the arfy hi 1ct be subtracted the great new expense of administering this complex and dis criminatory measure.
 Wipe Out Profits of Many.
 "On the other hand, it would entirely wipe out the profits of many periodi- calls, magazines, agricultural papers. religious papers and trade Journals and seriously cripple the balance. ThiAhas been made plain by hundreds of pulp their congressman, giving their exact profits"
 The periodical publishers say they do not consider 1t necessary to discuss Mir. Hitchcock's attempt to question the official figures of the publishers guesses of the concern trying to sell stock to the public by mail.
 President Taft Favors Increase.
 Washington, Feb. 14-President Taft emphasized to visitors today his own position in favor of the magazine postage increase. He took occasion to deny published statements that he was opposed to magazines, either be- cause of the so-called muck raking'' propensities of some, or because of at- tacks made on him, on the yfepu blican party, or on anybody else. His sole object. according to his own declara- ton today, in favoring the increase of the rates in question, was his desire to save the postofiice department from being run as "a losing proposition