Imperial Valley press., 1917-01-25
ONE-CENT LETTER POSTAGE.

Il.
One-cent drop" letter postage will probably become
reality as result of legislation which it is expected
the present session of Congress will enact first step
in the movement for general rate of 1 cent for ord
nary letters.
An active campaign has been in progress for the last
five years looking toward 1cent letter postage This has
eliminated in definite agreement the part of legis
ative authorities at Washington to grant lcent local
rate in all cities and towns where deliveries made
This is the first STEP the which counts according to
those who prosecuting this campaign toward
= ing general rate for the entire country.
In connection with 1-cent rate for local first class
mail deliveries it is planned to have system of
rates for second class matter which is expected to in
crease the charges on all periodicals of nationwide circ
ation The proposition has been put in concrete way
by being made part Of the appropriation bill of the post
office department. Under the provisions relating 1cent
postage, all first class matter, including letters, when
mailed in any city rural district for delivery within
the limits Of the city or district would be carried at
1-cent rate.
For handling newspapers and magazines zone plan
has been proposed the idea being to divide the country
into eight zones, follows:
Local. first, second and third zones Cnder 300 miles,
i cent per pound.
Fourth zone, 800 to 600 miles, cents per pound.
Fifth Zone 600 to 1000 miles, 3 cents per pound.
Sixth zone, 1000 to 1,400 miles, cents per pound.
Seventh zone, 14OO to 1900 miles, cents per pound
Eighth zone, over 800 miles, cents per pound.
Free-i1-county circulation provided by the present
law would continue at present. Daily newspapers will
not be affected because they do not circulate beyond
Among other provisions, the bill increases rates for
mail order catalogues from to cents pound making
them third class matter instead of parcel post This pro-
vision vtay Interests every merchant in every city
throughout the country.
Although the cost of carriage of these catalogues
for long time has been great deal higher than charged
definite step has been taken increase the rate
until the present provision was included in the appropr
alton bill.
The postoffice committees of the Senate and House
have received literally millions of petitions in
TpIT yJnr lsofO
charged The committee has held number of sessions
and made very careful survey of the situation and be-
heves that lower postage bill be passed by Con-
gress. ChaiTmen Of the various committees and men,
bers Of the committees themselves have in many install
ces expressed their hearty approval Of the proposed
changes and it IS not expected that much difficulty will
be found In securing the lower rate.
For five years the National One Cent Letter Pos
tage Association which has its headquarters at Cleve
land o. has been vigorously fighting for the lower rate
The association has members in every city in the Union
mounting into the thousands and has for the past sew
era years been conducting active education campaign
There is every prospect according to officials of the
Association that the drop letter proposal will be passed
by the present session OF Congress and put into effect
very shortly This will a saving Of many millions
of dollars the part of letter Of the country who
are now required to pay twice the cost of carriage
has been expressly stipulated that newspapers hav-
ing circulation within 3O0nle radius are not to be
aiecled by the proposed change is felt that their
educational influence is too valuable have them affect
ed in any way, particularly they sell for very small
prce-much less IN proportion than many of the nation
al magazines which are carried several thousand miles
TO their destination.
Last year first class mail made profit for the gov
ernment OF over S5000000 per year, while second class
or periodical mail lost equally large, thus off
setting the biggest item Of profit which the Postoce
Department shows is confidently expected that an in
creased business created through the lower rate in cite
and towns will make up the revenue saved to letter users