Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-12-31
EFFORT TO REPEAL
POSTAL Zone system
Its Effect VIII Cause Vast Shrink.
age In Circulation
A BLOW AT DEMOCRACY
Free Schools And Public Press Now
InseparabIe Zone System 10
Divide Them

Authors League.
/ write TO urge the best efforts to-
wards effecting repeal of the I'M
just and destructive postal zone sys-
tenn as applied to periodical publiea-
lions which was passed at the last ses-
sion of Congress.
When the zone system goes into
full effect it will mean an increase in
the postage charge for periodicals of
from 50 to 800 per cent This viii
inevitably result in a vast shrinkage
in circulation, and as consequence
many of our most important publica-
lions will be forced ont of existence.
+ Others will be seriously crippled II
periodical publishers change their
nlaces. of business, 10 conform to the
necessities OF the zone system, as some
Of them contemplate doing, if their in
huence is arbitrarily limited, we viii
have at best a sectional rather than
national press
do not consider it necessary to
call attention to the vital importance
of maintaining truly national press.
especially at this crisis in affairs,
when national life depends upon unity
of thought and solidarity of purpose
To destroy that unity, that solidar-
ity, TO weaken it in any way is a blow
at that democracy for which we have
taken up arms
No country can survive without
literature, as a matter of fact, coun
try's greatness is measured largely by
the wealth and the variety of its let
ters. Throttle our writer's, lessen
their media of expression and you will
not only obstruct ohr national pro-
| gress but also distort national thought
and cloud national vision. for the ere
ators of literature play an important
part in directing public opinion, in
shaping public thought, in safeguard
ing public morals. Now. above all
| times, cur government needs a strong
intelligent, fearless and independent
press; it needs the brains OF honest,
| clear-thinking writer's. as we'll as hon
I est, clear-thinking legislators
Thanks mainly TO low uniform
rate of second class postage vast
reading public has grown up in
America and great body Of Ameri-
can writer's has come into being
These writer's depend for a large part
of their living upon American periodi-
Gals. Destroy or seriously cripple
those periodicals and You viii EXTERN
mate American writer's.
Is that a sensible or economical
thing to do?
But the appeal is not made to undo
the injustice wrought by the iniquitous
and destructive zone postal system on
the sole ground that it carries death
| sentence to authors and to periodical
publishers In all fairness that
should be enough to warrant its re
peal or at least it's radical modifica-
ton. but that is perhaps the smallest
| injury attributable to it. To vastly
| increase the subscription rate of
periodicals, to force many Of them out
Of business constitutes a body blow
at education. for remember. of all
| children who attend schools only
about ten per cent ever attain more
than a grammar school education
For their subsequent education, for
| their acquaintance with public affairs.
for their knowledge of matters out
side their own intimate worlds, they
must depend largely upon their read
! ing Destroy the home reading cir
Gle and you work an injustice of the
gravest sort, and one which no amount
of revenue can Offset.
American magazines and period
Gals are the finest in the world, they
| cover every branch of human thought
and endeavor, they range in scope
from the purely fictional magazines to
the highly technical and scientific
trade journals and agricultural
papers, their educational value is not
second even to our public schools.
And those Of the highest educational
value will be precisely the ones to suf-
fer the greatest injury from a pro-
hibitive postal rate. Free schools and
public press are inseparable from
each other The zone postal sys-
tenn as it now stands virtually taxes
periodicals out of existence since it
levies toll which the publisher can
not pay. and which he cannot pass on
to his subscribers, for they viii re-
fuse 10 become subscribers If you
lay tax upon reading why not tax
upon school books?
A low postal rate is privilege
granted by the government to the peo-
pie 1t is not a method for raising
revenue and should not be so consid-
cred There is no more reason why
the Postofice Department should show
an operating profit than that the De-
partment Of Agriculture or the
Weather Bureau should do so. All are
educational and misunderstanding de-
vices of incalculable value to the ma
ton If the postoffice must be run for
gain then why not abandon the rural
free delivery and save $4,000, 900 a
year.
Nor is it true that the present sec
ond class postal rate constitutes
subsidy Of magazines and periodicals.
The fallacy of that argument has been
proven. Would you assert that
American farmers are subsidized in
an amount equal to the operating cost
Of the Department of Agriculture?
Or that American shipping is sub
sidized in an amount equal to the cost
OF government weather reports2 No.
Magazines and periodicals are not
luxuries. they are necessities. Their