The Washington herald., 1912-08-12
FLAT RATE URGED
FOR POSTAL SYSTEM
Reasons Given in Open Letter to
Senator Bourne with Recon-
mendations for Change.

Hon. Jonathan Bourne. Jr.. United States
| Senate.
Dear Senator: You daIare the zone
system Of postal rates. at least as ap-
piled to merchandise. unjust, impractical
BILE, unreasonable; and yet you decline to
apply your zone principle to printed
| books. which are usually regarded as
merchandise. while you carefully apply
il TO blank books and other merchan-
| disc.
! We find, moreover. no provision in your
| bill as to our parcel post conventions.
! Under which Europeans enjoy n fat rate
| OF rather less than cents 4 pound on
| merchandise posted throughout the United
States. while We are taxed a fiat rate
| of u cents pound on our exports.
Won't you kindly let us know what is
| going to become of these parcel post
conventions? We should like to have our
export rates reduced to cents a pound
| fiat. and We respectfully pray that your
committee will request the President
and the Postmaster General to reduce
cur existing 12-ceut fat rate export to
S cents.
Really. my dear Senator. don't you
think it would be better for US to pre-
serve the fiat rate system of our modern
post-oftiCe inaugurated seventy odd years
ago by Rowland Hill in England, and in
this country in 1853 by President Lincoln
and extended in 1874 by President Grant
to general merchandise?
We respectfully suggest that you with
draw your zone parcel post rider and
substitute therefor the following:
That the third and fourth classes of
mall matter be and are hereby consoli-
dated with weight limit of II pounds
and with rates on parcels UP to ounces
cent: over ounces to ounces. .
cents: over ounces to L. ounces. 3 cents;
over L ounces to l pound. cents: on
larger parcels for each additional pound,
2 cents; on u-pound parcels p cents.
This consolidation of third and fourth
class mail matter would be in accord
with the long and persistent demand of
the Post-offce Department for the sim
plifying of our system of postal classi
f1cation and would greatly reduce the
cost of mailing and handling the mails
by the public and by the post office.
The making of the rate l cent for each
ounces would enable us to put up a
magazine or a newspaper, a blank book.
and a printed book in one package,
whereas under present conditions we are
obliged to put up these articles in three
different packages, greatly to our an
noyance and needless cost as we'll as
to that of the postal officials.
If the service failed to pay its way,
the public gain would far more than
counterbalance any possible postal loss.
and then 1t would be very easy to either
increase the rates and cut down the
weight limit or to further reduce the
rates and extend the weight limit ac-
cording to the public demand and
manifestly just in proportion as the rates
are reduced and the weight limit in
creased. in that proportion will our home
fair be open as a market for the sale
Of our products and the supply of our
wares and the cost of living be dimin-
ished. Why not try the experiment?
Respectfully yours,
JAMES r. COwLES
Sec.-Treas. Postal Progress League.
About 5000 stray dogs are gathered up
each month by the London police.