The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1912-04-12
TOO EXTRAVAGANT
IS HITCHCOCK
CBy Winfield Jones.1
Special to The Chieftain.

Washington, d. c.. April l2.-The
postoffiee department, under the man
agement of Postmaster General Hitch
cock, needs a thorough over-hauling.
What the department needs is busi-
ness system.
AT the close of the Civil War the
total annual revenue fthe post office
was s14.566, 1870; last year it was
$2S7, GAS, ,926.6S. The percapita rev.
enue was in 1865, AZ cents; it is now
$2.5S.
The one cent per pound rate for sec
ond-class matter-which covers week
ly and daily newspapers and maga-
zines-did not go into effect until 1886.
Up to that time there was not a limit
ed circulation for newspapers because
of the high postage. 1t is significant
that coincidently with the postage re-
duetion for newspapers in 1886 the
revenues of the post office department
began to increase rapidly.
In the next twenty years the per
capita revenue jumped to $120, and
increase of 100 cents, as against "a
cents in the preceding twenty years.
This great increase of revenue came
largely from second-class mails. There
was natural increase in other classes
of mail, but in only small degree did
it figure in this rapid growth of rev.
enue. The total weight of second-class
mail in 1886 was 110,0O0,O0O pounds.
In 1911 it was S93,O0O,O0O pounds, an
increase in twenty-five years of over
! 800 per cent
These figures tell the story of the
beneficial results growing out of
cheap postage rate.
There are abuses of the second-class
mail privileges, but if the department
would use but a small part of the
energy for eliminating abuses thar it
! is expending in the effort to increase
second-class postage it would do bet
ter.
The legitimate publications to en-
| Joy the second-class privileges are the
weekly country papers, the daily pa
lpers, certain legitimate trade and
class papers and certain magazines.
Certain magazines are conducted
wholly on an advertising basis. A
little cheap reading matter is inserted
between the bulky advertising pages
and this is called magazine. In the
true sense it is not magazine.
Not so with daily paper. which
must cover the general news field re-
gardless of the cost. The daily paper
keeps the man in the Office and on
the farm informed every night ana
morning Of the worlds happenings.
What sort of country would this be
to live in without the newspapers? But
Mr. Hitchcock proposes to weight us
down by a postage burden that woul
turn many paper in this country
from a profit to loss balance, SO mar
row is the line between the profit and
loss for many papers.
The growing cost of print paper has
developed serious situation. Many
dailies pay over $4,000 a year pos
tage. Double that. as Mr.. Hitchcock
proposes, and the Bermanecy of these
papers would be endangered
There can be no doubt that if the
post office department were run on
business principles. and with modern
business methods, it would be a great
money maker without single change
in the rates. Like every other gov
ernment department however. its ma
chinery is entangled in endless red
tape
Reams of speeches that We're never
spoken and tons of books that are
never read clutter up the mails of
Uncle Samuel They don't yield a
cent of revenue, and do mighty little
good to anyone
If candidate for office happens to
be in the house or senate he gets
leave to print in the Record all sorts
of campaign material He then has
this printed separately and sent broad
cast to the voters he wants to reach
and the government foots the bill for
him, charging the deficit to newspaper
postage. And yet there is talk in con-
gress of raising the second-class rates.
The franking privilege should be
abolished or rigidly restricted. Every
department should pay its own postage
bill out of its appropriations. You say
this would be taking money out of one
of Uncle Sans pockets to put it in
anotner. This is partly trpe. 1t would
be putting each department on its own
proper footing. instead Of making the
post Office department the goat for all
the rest of them. It would the be pos
sibe to say whether the rates needed