The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-06-20


Chapter XXxIII, printed Tuesday.
covered a day at Wichita between the
two recent trips to the metropolis.
Yesterday came Chapter XXXIV on
THE wyandots.' This is Chapter
XXXV.
Tomorrow will appear Chapter
xxxvI, entitled, THE Conclusion"
and will be the end of "A Kansan in
New York"
BY the way, the writer again left
Topeka for the east Wednesday even
ing Of this week. to be in Washington
Friday. He would preferably have
stayed at home and only went as a
matter of duty and after many tele-
grams. He was urged to appear as
member Of the postal committee of the
American Newspaper Publishers As
ISOLATION before the ways and means
committee of the house of representa-
tives tomorrow, Friday. morning, at
ten o'clock.
This committee, of which George
McAneny of the New York Times is
chairman, is anxious to show congress
| that the new drastic postal law sch ID
| materially modified or postponed 50
far as its operation. is concerned.
| The law does a great injustice to
daily newspapers; it proposes to in
crease the cost of postage Is per cent
with an additional price for postage
on the advertising sections of the same
newspaper. If this law goes into eff
| feet it will make a difference for the
State Journal of about $40 day. The
increased cost of white paper an
nounced yesterday, adds another $500
a day expense.
The effect on the revenues of news
papers everywhere, involvi : the in
creased expenditures of newspapers
generally, is thus seen to be enor-
nous. The newspapers do not object
to paying their share OF any neces-
sa-y-to-win-the-war taxes, but they
do object to Discrimination; they want
fair treatment, which they do not
think they .tre getting in the new
postal law.
Tho facts of the case are that not
withstanding charges to the contrary,
it should not cost the government any
t. ing above what it receives from the
publishers to transport the average
daily newspaper at one cent per
pound. the prevailing rate, for the
reason that the great bulk of the cir
culation Of such a paper is within a
comparatively small radius, say fifty
to one hundred miles, with a practi-
cally extreme limit of $50 to 800
|
daily newspapers principal circulation
the express companies carry the news
, papers fer one-half cent per pound
and must make a profit in so doing
IT the express companies can make q
J profit at one-half cent per pound. this
government surely should be satisfied
with the present rate OF one cent.
The deficit in transportation Of sec
ond class mail, which includes news.
papers, magazines and periodicals gen.
orally, Is declared by the newspaper.
10 be due to the long haul by the gov
eminent of heavy magazines and pc
riodicals.
For instance: the government now
transports magazines printed in New
York from New York City to Sar
> Francisco, three thousand miles, at the
rate of one cent per pound, the same
rate 1t charges the Topeka State Jour
nal to transport its newspapers from
1 Topeka to Usage City, Kansas, 8;
miles.
1t is the contention of the newspa
pers that under the new law the,
would be overcharged; that the pres
ent rate is adequate. but that the zon,
system should prevail and the highe
> rate be charged as the distance from
= the publication office increases TIL
f periodical publishers are COMBATING
d this idea, their principal contention
d being that this country needs nationa
: ma gaines, and if a higher rate wer
It charged for carrying magazines acros
the continent than is charged for dis
tributing the daily newspaper in a ter
" ritory near its publication office, i
would tend to do away with magazine
as national publications of country
wide interest. This, Of course, is no
true. Yesterday. Stephen Farrelly @
- New York, manager of the America
News Company, even went so far a
to say that the principal trade woul
y be driven out of business. This is alb
surd, far-fetched and not likely to hap
e lpen.
: The Gillette safety razor is sold i
= San Francisco at the same price it
n sold in Boston and Springfield, Mas
n 1t is a national article and yet it cost
y far and away more to transport tina
g article from Boston to San Francisc
W than it costs to transport it to Spring
field, Mass.
Y, 1t is another contention Of the news
n papers that the government cannt
W afford to penalize them because tn
IL newspapers have made possible by tn
l. free publicity in their news column
W the great successes of the three Lii
artv Loan drives the MANY Red eros