Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1911-06-29
Origin OF Two Gent Postage

AS we walked along I observed that
Mr.. Hill was a much larger and heaV-
Ter man than he appeared TO be when
seen from the galleries of the house
Of representatives. He was clean
shaver and of large features, and had
especially clear and penetrating eyes.
1t was easy to see in the lines of his
face that patience and perseverance
were fundamental characteristics in
his nature, and as I studied him at
close range l began to realize how it
was that he, who in 1881 had intro
duced a bill which was almost
laughed at and generally deemed alb
surd-a bill which called for reduc-
ton of letter postage from three
cents to two cents-stuck to that
purpose until, at last, he persuaded a
majority of congress to agree with
him. 1 asked Mr.. Hill when and
how the idea Of tWo-cent letter post
age had occurred to him.
II think that the first suggestion of
two-cent letter postage came to me
while I was serving as postmaster in
my native town of BOOntOwn. n. J., d"
he replied. "One of my friends said
to me one day: Why can't we cut a
three-cent stamp in two, and then
with each half send an open letter.
At the moment I thought this remark
no more than a joke, but it set me to
thinking, and I speedily became per-
suaded that if the government should
issue blank cards, bearing a one-cent
stamp, they would be purchased in
enormous quantities, for they could
be used either for advertising or for
open letter-Writing purposes.
'The more l thought of that the
more persuaded 1 was that the idea
was a sound one. / determined to
take it up. I began to agitate what
is now called the postal card. At
first the idea did not take with mem
bers Of congress, but at last the com
mittee on postoffices and post roads
thought it was worth while to make
the experiment, and in that way we
got postal cards.
what followed made it clear to me
that if we were to reduce letter
postage from three cents to two
cents, there would be such an in
crease in the use of the mails for cor
respOndenCe as would more than
make good the loss of one cent.
decided to devote myself to this plan.
It was the only reason why l was
willing to stay in congress. I sacri-
feed everything else to it. I believe
that is the way to succeed in secur-
ing favorable action upon any meas
ure before congress-stick to one
thing.
Well, I stuck to two-cent letter
postage. | presume I bored my
friends, but at last I compelled the
committee to study my statistics. and
it was persuaded that my view was
correct. That, after all, was nothing
but the adaptation of ordinary bust
ness methods. The cheaper a thing,
the greater the sale. The cheaper
postage is, the larger will be the use
of the mails. If 1 were a younger man
l should begin agitation in favor of
universal one-cent postage for all let
tiers. It won't come in my day, but it
may in yours"
Having brought about two-cent let
ter postage, Mr., Hill gradually re-
turned to his peaceful life as a bank
er at Boontown, New Jersey, gratifed
that his name would be identified
with a sweeping reduction in the
price of letter postage to any part
of the United States.
Copyright, 1911, by E. J. Edwards. All
Rights Reserved.)