The Washington herald., 1915-07-18
ROADS SUE U.s.
FOR Millions
New England Lines Say They
Have Lost $l0,8S0,S65
in Carrying Mails.
POSTAL HEAD is BLAMED
Court Petition Charges Daily Weight
of Mail Not Known-Demands for
Facilities Heavy.
POSTAL HEAD is BLAMED

Alleging they have lost so. $50. S5.i3 IN
the last six years by carrying mail un-
der the present system Of weights. seven
New England railroads Yesterday filed a
petition with the Court OF Claims asking
the above amount The petitioners claim
the present rate per nile for carrying
the mail is unreasonable. unjust and con-
f1scatory. They also sta te that the pay
for carrying the parcel post has been
Inadequate and that the deficiency Gre
ated must he made up from the freight,
Passenger and express rates.
The petitioners and the amounts
claimed are: New York. New Haven and
Hartford. s4.52i 1856. Boston and Maine.
s3,s76. Sc. 50: Maine Central. s1.sS9. 40:
Bangor and Aroostook 500. 1871 0S. New
York Ontario ard Western. s36. 900:
Sandy River and RangeIey Lakes. SS0.-
a62.3l. and Bridgeton and SlaCo River,
Sl3, 1853
Demands Expensive Facilities.
Two grounds for acton are claimed
first. the system of quadTennial weigh
ing. declared TO ne Illegal. and. secondly.
the conduct OF the Postmaster General in
demanding expensive facilities of the
railroads without corresponding in
crease in compensation.
With respect to the weighing of the
mails every four Years as a basis for the
mail payments 10 them. the railroads
assert that such weighing has been done
exclusively by the IostoiiiCe Department
and that they have been prohibited from
fully inspecting and verifying such
weighing. This weighing Of the mails
for certain period every four years as
the basis for stating the average weight
of the mail carried for the four years
beginning a number of months after such
weighing had been made. it is contended
is not in aCCorda nee with the law.
The petitions IN this connection allege
that the daily average weight of mail
was not ascertained ny the PoStoffice
Department tor each and every year of
said contract period. as was by law re-
quired, and as could and should have
been done. either by Weighing the same
annually or by avera -inC the weights so
taken in 1904. 19oS and lHi2 respectively.
between the different wears Of said con-
tract periods, as the PostoffiCe Depart
n,ent was by law bound to do
Postal Head blamed.
The railroads charge that the Post
master General deliberately and pur-
posely' resorted to this system for the
reason that by so doing they would be
compelled to carry and did carry the
whole increased and increasing amount
of mail during the subsequent four
wear period without any compensation
anu AHdl Hdu NiltN occh
weighed annually they would have
been paid more money. This is held
to have been illegal. inasmuch as the
annual compensation was by law fixed
according TO the amount of mail car
ried per annum-
1t is asserted by the railroads that
they repeatedly requested and de-
manded of the Postmaster General that
the mails carried he weighed annually
or that the weights he taken at the
beginning and end of the tour-year
period and averaged, but that such
demands were ignored and refused"
The protests against what the rail-
roads call in their petitions this un-
Just and Illegal method" have been
continued to the present day.
Another charge made against the
Postmaster General is that without
anv warrant or authority in law" he
raised the weight limit of the parcel
post packages by his executive orders
of July %, 1918. and December Is. 1918,
the latter order bringing il up to fifty
pounds in the first and second zones,
and thereby invited and permitted
the shipping of vast quantities of mer-
chandise. farm. mine and factory prod
ucts and materials of all kinds which
heretofore had been shipped by
freight or express, all without any
adequate compensation therefor"