River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1918-05-30
Our Weekly Letter
From Washington
(By James A. Frear, NJ. Co.
Written for last week.

written for last week.
! Petitions and protests have been
received by Senators and Members
asking that the second class mail
zone system provided in the last
Government tax bill be repealed.
Protests are made frequently with
out definite knowledge of the situa-
ton by men and women who are
persuaded to send word to their
representatives to do or not to do a
certain thing. Several letters just
received on both sides of the second
class mail proposition s h w that
constituents are being actively urg
ed to send such letters. Briefly the
situation before Congress on second
class mail is as follows. Taxation
must be levied to carry on the war.
With that knowledge the Ways and
Means Committee presented tax
bill to raise revenues. One item out
of hundreds contained in the bill
provides for an increase in second
class mail matter by zone rates,
affecting the parcels post. The in
crease in rates is to become affective
July /, 1918. Som publications
urge it will enbarass their circula-
ton and have demanded that Cong
ress repeal the law before it goes in
to effect. Revenue must be raised
to carry on the war and first class
mail or letter postage has brought
to the Government profit of about
$40, 900, 900 in 1917, while an increase
to three cents will give a profit an
nually of over $1O0,O00,000 on letter
postage
This increase strikes everybody in
the land, yet less than a dozen pro-
tests have been received, presum-
ably because the Government has to
have money, and no propaganda has
been started against it. On the 9TH
er hand IN 1910 the loss to the Gov
eminent in carrying second class
m a i ] including magazines, c.,
reached $50. 100000, and in 1917 the
loss to the Government on this class
jumped $40. 100000. In other words
letter writer's pay an increase of so
per cent in order to make good the
loss caused in carrying magazines,
many of which are two thirds adj
vertising and some of which are COM
posed entirely of cheap fiction. 1t
was claimed in debate in the Senate
last week that the issue of one large
magazine weighed $500 tons and it
would require fifty freight cars of
fifty tons capacity each to carry the
magazine each week. AS it costs
more to carry parcels long distances
SO it costs more to carry freight
car of magazines to California than
it does to Chicago. Valuable publ.
cations reached by the increase may
have to raise subscription and ad-
vertising rates, to make ends meet.
but at a time when every person
who writes a letter or buys food or
clothes is confronted with so per
cent increase in expense, no defense
can be offered for compelling the
Government to carry second class
mail at a 100000 loss annually.
Possibly some better adjustment can
be worked out than the present
zone feature of h e revenue bill
which only partially reduces the loss
on second class mail, but the Senate
has refused to consider that part of
the tax bill and it will stand until a
better system can be devised. |
have given space to this subject, as
presented by the committee, with
out attempting to discuss the merits
in d e all. War requires revenue
and no private interests should de-
mand Government support through
public taxation.
reply to requests regarding
Wisconsin's contributions to h e
war, ascertained recently h a t
Wisconsin's quota for the first Red
Cross War Fund Drive was S1,O0O,-
900, b III t h e amount subscribed
re a C h e d 81 ,555, 1894 "a. wisconsin
stood first of all states in the Sew
enth Federal Reserve District in
over subscriptions to h second
Liberty Loan with a percentage of
155 in over subscriptions and stood
second of those same states in the