Postal Riders and Raiders

m his address or addresses before the Hughes Commission. This Commission was created in the closing hours of the last session of Congress-created as a sort of cushion or pad in order that his uncons

s before it, as reported by the New York Ti

eration of the service on a self-supporting basis, maintained by imposing such charges as would yield an income equal to the expenses. They included, also, he said, such an adjustment of the postage charges as would make each class of mail matter pay for its own handling, and no mor

ould become permanent. Mr. Hitchcock opposed any new classification of mail matter at this time, saying the present classification could be made to include all matter now admissible, and he doubted the expedi

postal cards. This mail averaged in weight 0.35 of an ounce a piece, making 45.1 pieces to the pound. The cost of handling and carriage for this

lications, averaging 3.33 ounces a piece, or 4.8 pieces to the pound. The cost of handling and carriage was $80,791,615.03, or

r cent. higher, and that on letter and other first-class matter 3,100 per cent. higher. While it is true that the expense of handling and carrying second-class mail is less than for any other class, due to the size and weight of single pieces, to relief

rstood when it is noted that although first-class matter comprised during the fiscal year 1910 only 13.4 per cent. of all the revenue-producing domestic mail, it yielded a net profit of $68,004,156.73, while second-class matter, comprising 65.6 per cent. of all the

the reduction of letter postage from 2 cents to 1 cent an ounce. This reduction would come about from the fact, he said, that the p

ond-class mail should be at once advanced to where it would cover the cost

a flat rate of 2 cents a pound, which should be regarded as merely tentative, however, leaving

tinuance of the present rate-a "merely nominal postage rate," he called it-his department could not consistently[18

te rider amendment to the postoffice appropriation bill is made baldly clear. That he still is working that "deficit" as a sort of "come-on" to his purpose is equally clear. And the ridiculous, if not l

on a previous page, Mr. Hitchcock reports a profit of

age-pardon me, I mean he discovered an "excess"-of

is vigorous and fairly successful methods of going after that railway mail haulage steal, which has been going on for a time to which the younger generation of our citizens wots not of. Although I may adversely criticise a man, as in this volume I have criticised Mr. Hitchcock, I like the man who puts up a stiff f

scrutiny of the loose, wasteful methods under which the vast business of

e what his predece

-cent-a-pound-matter-the burden of recouping the government for the losses on rural route and star route service and the railway mail pay stealage. I object because I not only believe, but I

t down in distribution in just about the same proportion will t

cock's, to me, absurd purpose and attempt to make "each di

slation and to secure bureaucratic powers for his department-in con

tchcock's Sum Up." It evidences the fact that he still follows his folly-that he is s

reports a

eave the impression that there is a controversy over it. There is none. The department knows that the advertising matter in magazines produces first-class mail and that the po

he general argument against an increase in rates as though our recommendation is for a general increase. We don't want that at all. What we are driving at is a readjustment. We are not trying to economize or save mon

in his mental landscape since he put his "rider" on the Senate speedway during the closing hours of the last sessio

rces of postal revenues. Did Mr. Hitchcock or any of his assistants, at the time referred to, make any vehement declaration of that knowledge-that adve

a rate of "about two cents a pound" on the entire magazine. As about one-half the full weight of our leading magazines-the magazines which Mr. Hitchcock, as previously stated, appears to be "after"-is in their advertising pages, his method of "estimating" must have b

ound on all second-class matter. That shows some improvement over his "estimate" of March last. It would seem that Mr. Hitchcock is getting down nearer the tacks in this second-class mail rate question, and

is department go junketing about the country lecturing and hectoring postmasters, instead of staying at home and attending to department affairs? If he is not on the same trail he "caught up" last March, why are he and his assistants trying so hard to work up sentiment favorable to an increase in second-class mail rates and a decrease of fifty per cent in first-class rates? Has any considerable number of our people been complaining about the first-class or letter postage rate? If there has been such complaints The Man on the Ladder has not heard of them. On the other hand, it is a known fact that millions of our people have protested and are still protesting against a

first-class (letter or sealed) matter? It should be a one-cent rate. Nobody at all informed as to mail service rates and revenues will question that. But it is equally true that, up to a recent date, there have been, compar

rtmental political machine to make neighborhood runs and do some hill cl

itation for a lowered rate on first-class matter found o

conditions. Otherwise, why should he be arguing the postal "deficit" in March as cause and reason for his urgent efforts to make operative law out of that unco

ople understand as a Postmaster General's business, Mr. Hitchcock faded the then $6,000,000 deficit into a few hundred

y one of his predecessors could have done in any year during the past thirty-five, if

If my surmise is correct, who is it he is after, if not those publishers of magazine

" to bolster an opinion of the writer, I shall here quote a few paragraphs from an October issue of the Farm Journal of

] and distribution. Mr. Atkinson must also be credited with an acumen in watching and divining-sizing up-the purpose and intent of our Postoffice Department that is equaled by few, if any, other men in this country, Postmaster Generals not excepted. I have been studying thi

by Mr. Atkinson himself and which shows that this astute student of the present federal postal affairs corroborates the position The Man on th

issue of the Farm Journal, under

tal questions came together for informal conference at North View

icial representatives of

Fraternal Pre

of Trades Pre

ciation, and the Weekly Cou

atholic Editor

Typothet?

sentative of the American Medical Editors' Association was unable to be present on account of a pressing

plished toward establishing not only just and honorable, but amicable and pleasant, relations with the Postoffice Department; to bring publishers of the different classes into ha

w where they are at. To best accomplish this purpose it was thought that there should be a Publishers' bureau established at Washington, in charge of a first-class man, who would be the collector and distributor of information regarding postoffice doings, rulings, heari

of the department in which publishers are most vitally interested are less complete than formerly. Many important facts do not appear in them. For instance, no statement is ever made as to th

ions annually thrown out of the mails at s

stal information in small type; that for 1901, 133 pages; while those for 1909 and 1910 contain only 60 and

directly of the change. What purported to be "The Postal Laws and Regulations Relating to the Second-class of Mail Matter" was issued in 1910, but in it the law, rulings and regulations are so jumbled up together that it is diffi

te has been in progress ever since Congress adjourned, but such is the fact

postage rates based upon the principle of the payment on each class of mail matter of a rate of postage equal to the cost of handling and carriage, and no more, and that one class of mail mat

the Postmaster General to be exactly what Mr. Britt declared it to be; and he had the postmasters pass a resolution indorsing the Postmaster Gene

Were the publishers required to pay more in proportion to what it actually costs the government to transport their products, the people of the United States would be benefited. Every man, woman and child in the United States is taxed seventy-three cents by way of his letter postage ove

resolution was proposed complimenting the Postmaster General "for his efforts to br

o your hearts. Certain publishers have attempted to create public sentiment against an increase of postage on advertising matter in magazines.... Many of us believe that the postage rate is class legislation of the rankest kind in favor of the few at the expe

olutions and have been addressed by Washington officials endorsing "the great figh

stmasters being urged to pass resolutions and "talk to business men" in favor of an increase of postage r

es of the department to make preparations to renew vigorously at the forthcoming Congress the fight for an increased rate. If

getic Postmaster General, certainly it would be a prudent and wise step for publishers to place themselves in

nd honor those who will stand up like men and defend their cause, and can have

icable and pleasant relations with the Postoffice Department

right man to represent us at Washingt

publish the proceedings; keep abreast of measures introduced in Congress and proposed by the Postoffice Department bearing upon the publishing business; keep subscribers fully posted on everything that occurs at Washington or elsewhere

patriotic; discreet; firm; tactful; must have power as a writer; character as a gentleman; vision, courage, one who cannot be either frightened or cajoled; and finally, one

relation to this second-class mail rate question. Mr. Atkinson shows quite conclusively that our Postmaster General is still, and stealthily

1909-10 was the ground-plan of Mr. Hitchcock[192] for an increase in second-class postage

ll trailing those in

s, or sealed, postage rates, much as the advertiser declares the children cry for Castoria? To the Man on the Ladder it appears that what Mr.

, and which, it is well known among competents, any one of a dozen of Mr. Hitchcock's predecessors should have done, or could have done had not dirty politics blocked them-by doing just a few of the business thin

stice to the magnitude of the question he is constrained to ask: Is a "deficit" so essentially necessary to Mr. Hitchcock in a fight

ts a pound for carriage and handling letters and other sealed matter of the first-class. Certainly the postoffice can haul and distribute such matter at a profit at that rate. However, it is equally certain that the department will not handle such matter at a profit for two, three

it, either with or without Mr. Hitchcock's assistance, the people will be getting only what they are entitled to, deficit or no deficit. However, if Mr. Hitchcock thinks a "deficit" necessary armament in his fight to increase second-class mail rates-to increase such rates, as it would

s of the country have learned that they can write a letter to John, Mary, Thomas or Lucy and have it delivered for one

tly are gunning for periodicals which dare tell the truth, will have a "d

d handling, and merchandise parcels in fourth class. One has no data-nor can he obtain such data from the Postoffice Department records-to show what sum or portion of that $202,000,000 worth of stamps was canceled in the transmission of letters and other sealed matter of the first-class. But it may be con

hree years in his attack on those recalcitrant periodicals which attend to their own business in a clean, truthful way and expect nothing of a Postmaster General other than tha

s and his excellencies sufficiently. I will theref

HES COM

n comprised Associate Justice Hughes, President Lowell of Harvard University, and H. A. Wheeler, President of the Chicago Association of Commerce. That this triu

ial and private business in other lines and directions preventing, in large extent, their study of postal service costs and affairs. No doubt, these three gentlemen will do the very best and fairest they can-or know how to do-with the evidence presented to them. Still, I am of the opinion that they will discover little which has not already been discovered-which, as Congressman Moon said on the floor of the House last March (1911), "has already been discovered and filed

pending the $50,000 appropriated for its expenses, subsistence, incidentals, etc. The present commission would not

ikewise expensive, care somewheres in the government's archives. I have quoted from Mr. Atkinson several times in forward pages. I desire to quote here from his testimony before this Hughes Commission, because the Hughes Commission is the latest and "best seller" on the second class mail shelf and because I recognize in Mr. Atkinson one of the first and

been found to be a puzzling proposition. Many ha

House, with the aid of numerous expert accountants, at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars (according to the President's sta

ust as[196] easy for the Pennsylvania Railroad to state in dollars and cents what it costs to haul a ton of coal from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, or 100 pounds of silk from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis, as for the Postoffice Department to state what it costs the Department to handle newspapers or magazines. An

ew guess. Mr. Madden, Third Assistant Postmaster-General for seven years up to 1907, guessed that it cost 4 cents a pound. His suc

y what the cost is, the members of the Commission gave it as their opinion that "One cent a p

the direct application of plain, old-fashioned common sense to it. A little gumption in such a matter as this is f

ike the foregoing. I show the relation of second-class mail to stamp mail extending over a period of 25

rs was 4 times greater than now, when the sale of stamps was less

cond-class matter previous to the institution

lass matter originates large quantities of other classes

reased over 5 times. No other possible reason can be assigned for the increase in stamp mail, and the tremendous development of every branch of the postal business 5 t

cits and created an enormous annual surplus had it not bee

ce 1901, had allowance been made for the extraordinary cost of free r

t's own free matter, being sent stamped as first-class matter is, the surplus for 1910 would ha

REASE OF E

ransportation which grew from $33,523,902.18 in 1901 to $44,654,515.97 in 1910: of salaries to postmasters, assistants and clerks which grew from $32,790,253.39 in 1901 to $65,582,533.57 in 1910, of the railway mail service which grew from $9,675,436.52 to $19,385,096.97 in 1910,

s cost, and this it would do if the cost were double the highest guess yet made. The Government could afford to carry it free rather than not carry it at all, for without it the bottom would drop out of the Postal E

TAGE RATE W

ound, it would not be good public policy for Congress to increase it, because much readin

d below cost for the purpose of encouraging the dissemination of information of educational value to the people, and the benef

has from the beginning been our fixed and enlightened policy to foster and promote the general diffusio

eapened, it has gradually lowered all[198] postage rates. It has never aimed to make the postal service a source

te of postage for genuine newspapers and periodicals, with the express design of encouragi

f approved judgment. It is not for

and I would rather decrease it than raise it. The beneficiaries are the poor people themselves, who now get daily papers at from $2 to $4 a year, when t

ving expenses the cost of any but the very cheapest reading matter, and many not even that. After buying food and clothi

to give the dead a burial such as love would provide. Are these people, the bone and sinew of the land, those

o obtain that which is so essential to their welfare and t

of public prints. There is no resource so firm for the government of the United States as the affections of the people, guided by an enlightened policy; and

PERIODICALS.-

main uniform as it is now upon all classes of publications. There should be no partiality shown, there should be no discrimination. A proposal to increa

ation regularly issued at stated intervals of not longer than one week; a periodical is h

1

finition of the word, would apply to just such publications as the Postmaster-General might select in the administration of the law, and none other

cated in any individual or body of individuals; but that all in authority are guided and limited by those provisions wh

quarterly. If the Government really loses money in handling and transporting second-class matter, the loss would be greater on the former than on

nce 1.30, to education .64, religious 5.91, trade 4.94, agriculture 5, magazines 20.23, and miscellaneous 6.25. Note that it is stated that 20.23 of the w

hed along its lines, and transports them in the baggage cars for one-quarter of a cent per pound, to any station on the line, whether it is ten miles from the place of

d the parties to whom they are sent call at the depots for the packages. If they are sent by mail the publisher delivers them at the train, and the parties to whom they are addressed call at the postoffice for the p

per pound. The express company does not call at the newspaper office for the papers. The publisher delivers them to the express car, the same as he delivers his papers to the mail car. The express company then takes these newspapers, consisting of packages[200] of any size, from a

und. The express companies only charge the publisher one-half cent a pound, while the Government charges him one cent a pound. The express companies pay the railways one-fourth a cent a pound, while the Government pays about two cents-eight tim

the above statements concerning t

.

o the mails of 11,563 of other publications, and 32,000 others have been ruled out or died from the hard conditions imposed, I would respectfully request this Commission to as

ear of the public, that they hold a monopoly of the news, and that they can make or unmake the

class. It is held to be a newspaper, entitled to transmission through the mails at

ss, why the postage rate on one-half of the periodicals devoted to agriculture should be increased

THE HUGHES POS

. M. H. Madden, quoted on a previous page in connection with other phases of our general subject, to summarize for me the hearings of the commi

, and it continued its hearings in New York City, with occ

ck and his two assistants held to the view that each schedule in the postal service should be made self-sustaining, the credit for this idea being given to Hitchcock, and in order to justify his position concerning a raise in second-class rates an arbitrary figure has been placed on the cost of handling the same, the total "deficit" from this schedule being placed at about $70,000,000 annually. This amount was arrived at by what Second Assistant

ng second-class mail were made on a guesswork plan and not on a scientific or reasonably accurate basis of fact. Third Assistant Postmaster General Britt made the startling statement that "if all the magazines and newspapers were

than reading matter. Postmaster General Hitchcock went on record before the commission as declaring that he would recommend to Congress an increase on the advertising portion of magazines and newspapers of a cent a pound additional. Assuming that the postoffice officials are prompted by a legitimate purpose in their desire to increase rates on second-class matter, their arguments before the commission have been transparently weak, and an unbiased mind they would fail in convincing, but the feeling is th

o the religious press, forcing many publications out of business. This statement was made by E. R. Graham, representing the Methodist Book Concern publications in Cincinnati and New York, and seemingly

ents the Interdenominational Publishers who issue Sunday school literature throughout the United States. This witness gave it as his opinion that an increase in the rate on second-class matter would cause magazines and newspapers to avail themselves of the facilities now offered by the express companies which are becoming active competitors o

ay its own way, the stimulus toward encouraging other schedule receipts not being given its proper consideration. Mr. Shallenberger gave a hint concerning hidden influences seeking to have the second-class rate increased but did not enter deeply into this phase of the subject. The controversy between Mr

gures are based is guesswork and assumption, he admitting that if this were so the result would not be greatly different from what the officials first claimed. On the whole Superintendent[203] McBride's tes

nt of the cost of carrying second-class matter, placing it at nine cents a pound, is, according to him, "only a stereotyped guess that goes into the postoffice department report, each year," experts having repeatedly stated that there is no possible way of fixing t

rs of the commission during the sessions, and all entered emphatic protests against the increase. In numerous instances these interests made the

orous protests against discriminations against labor publications and registered a severe censure of the method by which the Postoffice Department had hampered the official journals of the labor people. Mr. Gompers stated that the publications of the American Federation of Labor and its auxiliaries were all highly

machinery features of the proposition, viz., from the ore in the mine, from which the machinery was made, to the forest tree from which the pulp is ground. The tonnage of the transportation service of the country would at once be doubly interfered with, first in a reduced demand for material with which to make the paper and, second

is understood that it will be called together in time to prepare its report

TNO

of handling second class matter "is less" than for other classes, he says nothing of cost of carriage and handling. His own figures show (see preceding paragraph), that the cost of carriage and handlin

is at the rate of 32 cents a pound. Mr. Hitchcock's figures assert, that it costs "47 cents a pound" to carry and handle the letters for "every man, woman and c