The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-02-23
SECOND-CLASS MAIL RATES.

President Taft has made public the
| report of the commission on second
class mail matter. This commission
comprises Justice Charles r. Hughes
of the L. S. Supreme Court, and the
| Hons A. Lawrence Lowell and Harry
A. Wheeler. The report is document
Of a hundred pages, thoroughly going
into the whole matter. except on one
controlling point, and this point is also
clusions of the committee are stated as
follows; that there should be paid
1. The rate Of cents pound on cop
les mailed by publishers TO subscribers.
To news agents and as sample copies. and
by news agents TO their subscribers or
10 other news agents.
. The rate OF ] cent for each four
ounces for copies mailed by other than
publishers and news agents; that is, the
present transient rate.
8. The present free In county privi
lege retained, but not extended.
These recommendations would dou~
BILE the secondclass rate; they are made
for the reason that the commission
finds, Approximately, coufessing its
! finding 10 be upon inadequate data,
that the cost of handling second, class
matter is very much greater than the
revenue derived from the postage upon
| it, The recommendations of the com.
mission are accordingly based upon the
main findings as presented
But these supposed main points are
| by no means the great thing that
should be considered in the whole ques
ton. 1t is all the more 10 be regretted
that the commission lid not consider
this main fact in making the recon-
incubation which it did. President
| Taft comes near hitting il when he SAYS
| that Newspapers and magazines have
| been potent agencies for the dissent.
! nation Of public intelligence, and have
consequently borne worthy part IN
the development of the country, ali
must admit But Just there he sheers
off and considers only the limited view
of the outgo and the return on this
| special class Of matter. The fact is, as
has been shown repeatedly and con-
| clusively, that the circulation Of news
papers with their advertisements, their
intelligence, their broadening of the
| view of the public, has done more fol
| building up the main revenue. .produc.
ing resource of the department than
all other agencies combined. That is
10 say. through the circulation Of the
newspapers letter correspondence has
been tremendously enhanced. and this
enhancement, profitable TO the Govern
meDt. has been coincideui with the lib
eral treatment of the newspapers by the
Government in the wav of posta
rates.
When il is urged by the President
AMI by the Commission that there is
no reason why the newspapers should
hc carried at loss. which has to be
made up bv the profits on the letter
postage. the reply is fairly made tina,
this letter postage has been built ar
more through the circulation OF tn,
newspapers than hy any other means
or by all other means put together. |,
IS idle 10 undertake 10 separate these
Two closely-related facts. Since tn,
newspapers built up the letter revenue
there Is no reason why the newspaper
should not receive fair return for thai
service. II is not only idle. but is uu
lust. to say that the newspapers should
be punished because they have built