The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-24
EXHIBIT A Is the Deficit Due to Second Class Mail?

TT> HE Annual Reports of the Postmaster General
 the authority for the following figures: In the year 1870 there deficit in the opera ons of the United States Postoffce Department of 24
 passed the act put second-class matter popndpayment basis. An immediate increase in second-class matter began.
 In 1880 there deficit the Postoffce operations of only 9.6 per cent of it's business
 In 1885 passed the law that the for second-class matter cent pound which still further n creased second-class mail It trebed in the decade pre-
 In 1890 the the operations of the Postoffce Department S.8 per cent.
 The next decade brought much larger increase in secondclass matter than years 174 o5ae1o pounds in 1890 to 3s2,53s999 pounds 1900
 The deficit in the Postoffce operations in the year 1900 was 52 per cent of its business
 In the prosperous following 1900 the of secondclass matter stupendous; 3S2 53S,9s9 pounds in 1900 to 4SS2469O3 pounds in 19O2-only years.
 In 1901, nevertheless there was deficit Post office operations of only 35 cent of it's business And in 1902 deficit in the Postoffce operations 24 per cent smallest percentage of deficit in eighteen years, the smallest but two in fiftyseven years.
 But in this year seen, new important item of ex- s4 oO0 for rural delivery Our Government had wisely and benehcepty extended the service of the Postohce to farmers in isolated 0nn By tsao a Government was spending $3eoooooo TOT rural 1ree delivery, and losing $29O00,O0O e
 It will be clear these figures that beginning with the advent the secondcass pound-rae system, the deficit of the steadily declnedthe decrease being always concdent with the expansion of circula and advertising of periodicals-unt in 1902 there was substantial surplus which the Government wisely saw for purpose not related to the needs of magazines and periodicals.
 Since always been l operations of the Posoffce Department outside of the money the Government has fit to expend for rural delivery In the present 1910 the report of the Postmaster General shows surplus of over $23oooOoo The 1902 to 1910 have shown surplus in the Post profit loss account aggregating $74000000 outside the actual loss the rural free delivery system
 It should be borne in mind that the turning large deficits into actual surpuses which has coincidey with the expansion of secondcass mail, pushing, and of advertising, is in spite of expansion in Government ma carried free and Congress sonal mail franked.
 EXHIBIT
 The Injustice of Discriminating Against
 Magazines
 rYu pos+master General gives the following weight
 as 2o23 per cent of the whole second-class mail. Why concentrate all the increase on a 20 per cent classification?
 The Administration says (a) magazines carry more dersng than newspapers (b) they cost the Postofce nenartment more than newspapers because they are hauled farther.
 (a) It is not true that magazines carry more aqver- tsns than newspapers Newspapers by actual measure ,ant carry per advertising in proportion to reading matter. than do magazines.
 (b) The Postofhce Department states that owing to inc different average length of haul, 1t costs cents to of magazines and cents to transport pound of newspapers
 Besides the cost of transporting mai figured, of by weight length of haul there are three large factors of cost apportoned according to the number o pieces of mall The secondcass mail share or these cost items is given by Postmaster General Hitchcock as s39 800 By the Departments figures the maga- zines of this (proporoned to number of pieces is s2166O0O The newspapers share is $2S7S2,OOO. Wire or WIT: