East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-12-10

Letter postage users of the Unit
ed States and particularly those who
have large volume of letter mail
are clearly entitled to a one-cent let
ter rate, and determined fight will
be made in congress this winter u
secure it."
F Il Myers, Of La Grande, made
the above statement yesterday, ac-
companying it with the information
that the business men of his city sre
joining the ranks of the National
One Cent Letter Postage Association.
for the purpose Of securing a one
cent letter rate.
He declared that already the as
sociation has strong and representa-
tibe memberships in every city and
town throughout the United States,
and that every effort is to be direct
ed toward securing action on a one
cent rate at the approaching ses-
sion Of congress.
THE time has arrived" he went
on to say, when officials at Wash
ington should take cognizance of the
demand made by the users of first
class letter mail for readjustment
of rates so that ordinary letters
which are now being charged two
cents each shall be carried at cost,
or about one cent each.
1T has been amply demonstrated |
by statistics and actual investigation
that one cent letter rate through
out the United States will pay and
hat that the extra cent now being
demanded for the carriage of a ,et-
ter is nothing less than tax.
The United States post office de-
partment was primarily organized
for the carriage of letters. and in the
early days the charges made on a ba.
sis of actual cost of transportation.
Whens the department was organized
difficulties were i'm
lnense, and a high rate had to be
Years have passed, wua-
lerful inventions have revolutiorizel ]
he transportation business and the
,ost of carriage has been lowered un-
III now it is known letters can be
carried at one cent instead of at two
'ehts, which is the present charge. .
Mechanically the United States
]ostoffice department is about the ,
most perfect working machine there |
= in the business world. When you
;onSign letter to the postofgice. you
nave almost definite insurance that
t will reach its destination. on the /
,ther hand, the methods used for de-
charges on different class
IS of mail are autiquated and unsci- I
,ntific, and seems certain that !
general revision of the postal rates
must be made within the next few
months.
There are many reasons why let
er users are entitled to one cent $
ate. Among them NAV be mention.
ID: s
Because the government is max
ng about 100 per cent profit on let
er postage.
Because the department was es- ,
1blished primarily for the distrlbu-
ION of letter mail
Because it was never intended
nat letter mail should pay a profit
Because one-half of our letter I
,ostage Is a tax
Because this tax is not used for
he general expenses OF the GOV
.rnment, but utilized as a subsidy
or other classes OF man.
Because it is wrong to tax ono
lass for the benefit of another.
Because on equalization of our I
cstal rates will provide better SER
ice.
Because we have teen entitled to
ne cent letter postage for the past
en- years.
For the purpose of crystallzing Q
the United States so that r
his reform can be brought about, h
here has been formed the National 4
me Cent Letter Postage Association S
4 which Charles VIM. Burrows, \
'leveland. is president and George I
:. McIntOch, Cleveland, is secretary !
reasurer and manager Of the cant +
aign. This organization has been in
for a number of years and
as been steadily working for ons Z
ent letter rate.
II feel certain that we can pre-
ent this matter in a proper light, so
hat our representatives at the ma.
onal capitol win be sufficiently i'm
ressed to support this work.