The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-01-02
MUST NEE 7
GROWING
DEFICIT.
Congressman Kelly Puts Sum
at More Than 70 Millions.
social Justice" Costs
By CONGRESSMAN
CLYDE M. KELLY

CLYDE M. kELL1
Third of four interviews given to
William Hard on postage rates.
The Postoffice Department is
trying to make users of the mails
pay for services which they do
not get and which the Postoffice
Department renders to others.
This is the truth behind the
beautiful phrase: Making the
Postoffice Pay It's Way"
When the postoffice is made
to "pay It's way" the situation
simply is that the ordinary users
Of the mails are being subjected
TO excessive charges in order to
enable the Postoffice. Depart
ment to render services for which
It gets an inadequate return or
even no return.
Some Penalty Matter.
Let US consider, for instance.
penalty matter"
II you get q communication from
q government department, you will
notice on the envelope a little state
ment to the effect that penalty"
win be imposed upon anybody who
tries to make q private use OF that
envelope In order to avoid pay
ment Of postage.
That envelope, with it's contents,
goes through the mails without
the payment Of any postage what
soever.
The Postoffice Department carries
all official communications and all
official documents from the Gov
free.
It also carries free all official
matter-that Is, matter on official
public business-from members Of
the House OF Representatives and
members Of the Senate. This is
called franked" matter.
Penalty" matter and Thanked"
matter amount to quite few nail
Hon dollars a year in cost to the
POstoffice Department.
Cost About 2,5OO, 900.
Together they cause the Post
office Department to lose some
twelve and q half million dollars
annually.
Then there is the 'fres-in-county"
privilege which enables certain pub
Ncations to go through the mails
within the county Of their origin
at no cost whatsoever to them
selves.
The Postoffice Department bears
the whole cost OF that service with
out any remuneration at all.
The Postmaster General states
that the expense thus put upon the
Postoffice Observation-Disclosures any
financial return to it's some seven
and a half million dollars.
Then there are certain much
smaller losses incurred by the free
carriage Of certain publications for
the blind and by the free time and
Postoffice Department to the Treas
ury Department in the sales Of
Treasury savings certificates to the
public-with no financial return
whatsoever to the Postoffice Depart
ment.
Rural Delivery Extended.
Finally, and above all. there is the
rural free mail delivery services.
The gross cost OF this service is
upwards Of eighty-six million dollars
year.
The additional revenue brought to
the Postoffice Department by new
mail matter secured through the
maintenance of the rural free mail
delivery service cannot possibly be
estimated at more than thirty-six
million dollars a year.
The net loss to the Postoffice De
partment from the rural free mail
delivery service Is undoubtedly at
least fifty million dollars q year.
That money Is spent, that loss is
Incurred, not in order to produce a
service really commercially valuable
to the mass of the users of the
mails, but in order to improve the
educational opportunities and the
socializing contact Of the inhabitants
OF rural regions.
The enterprise Is one in social
welfare, or social justice, and can
not possibly be regarded as a
merely business enterprise, the cost,
or loss OF which should be laid up
on the shoulders Of the business
users Of the mails.
1t can be imagined-for purposes
Of illustration-that some day the
asked to use some of its airplanes
for the exploration OF the North
Pole. 1t might be a good thing to
do. It would not follow, however,
that the cost Of the exploration
should be laid upon the users oG the
malls in higher postage rates.
The free services, the social serv-
Ices, which the Postoffice Depart
ment renders should in strict prin-
ciple be deducted from the burden
which the ordinary users II the
mails are asked to bear in their
postage rates.
Totals $7O.OO9.OOO.
The items Of free service and of
social service mentioned in this ar.
ticle will be found. when added to-
other, to amount to a bit more
ehan $4,000, 900 annually.
When the Postoffice Department