In 1860 the postal deficit was $10,652,543; in 1910 it was $5,848,566. The postage rate was four times greater in 1860 than now.Coming down twelve years to 1872 the total weight of second-class matter was that year less than 65,000,000 pounds.Now it is 817,428,141 pounds, more than twelve times greater.Then the postage rate was four times what it is now.Then the gross revenue was $21,915,426; now it is $224,128,657, more than ten times as much.Then there was no rural free delivery; now that system costs $36,923,737.Then there were no registered letters; now there are 42,053,574 a year.Then there were issued $48,515,532 of domestic money orders; now there are issued $547,993,641.Then postmasters were paid $5,121,665; now they are paid $27,514,362, and their clerks are paid $38,035,456.62.Then city delivery cost but little; now it costs $31,805,485.28.In 1872 there were issued of stamps, stamped envelopes and wrappers less than $18,000,000 (there were no postal cards); now are issued, including postal cards, $202,064,887.96, more than ten times as much.Observe that the weight of second-class matter is 752,428,141 pounds greater than in 1872, costing therefore (according to some official mathematicians), more than 9 cents a pound for transportation, or a total of $67,718,532.69. The deficit for 1910 is almost identical with that of 1872.1885-1910As late as 1885 the government income from the issue of stamps, stamped envelopes and wrappers and postal cards was $35,924,137.70.In 1910 it was $202,064,887.96, more than five times as much.The number of registered letters issued in 1885 was 11,043,256; in 1910 it was 40,151,797.The amount of money orders issued rose from $117,858,921 in 1885 to $498,699,637 in 1910.The total postal receipts rose from $42,560,844 in 1885 to $224,128,657 in 1910, an increase of $181,567,813.The postage rate on second-class matter in 1885 was double what it is now.During the intervening period the weight of second-class matter had increased about 600,000,000 pounds.Now we will get down a little closer in this business and see what has happened within the last five years.1906-1911In 1906 there was a gain in weight of second-class matter of 41,674,086 pounds; in that year the deficit was $10,516,999.In 1907 there was a gain in weight of 52,616,336 pounds—11,000,000 pounds more than in 1906; the deficit was reduced to $6,653,283.In 1908 there was alossinstead of gain in weight of second-class matter of 18,079,292 pounds; the deficit went up to $16,873,223, an increase over the year before of more than $10,000,000.In 1909 there was only a slight gain in weight of 28,367,298 pounds; the deficit went up to $17,441,719.In 1910 there was a gain in weight of 94,865,884 pounds, the largest ever known; and the deficit dropped to $5,848,566.88.From 1906 to 1910 there were 198,863,387 pounds increase in the weight of second-class matter; the deficit was $4,668,432.12 less in 1910 than in 1906.The impression is prevalent that the amount paid for railway transportation was cut down the past year, but the truth is that the railroads were paid $44,654,514.97, the railway mail service and the postoffice car service cost $24,065,218.88, a total of $68,719,733.85, which is more by a half million than was paid in 1909, and over $7,000,000 more than was paid in 1906.It is claimed that there is no definite relation between deficits and second-class matter; very well, the foregoing are the official figures; let them speak for themselves.In the whole history of the Postoffice Department, neither an increase of second-class matter nor a reduction of the postage rate has ever increased deficits, no matter what burdens have been piled upon the service in the way of an extension of city delivery, the establishment of rural free delivery, the multiplication in number and increase of pay of officials, increase of government free matter, increase of railroad and other transportation charges, nor an increase in the obstructive energies of postal officials directed against the publishing business. (See In Memoriam, page 49.)It has come to be generally understood and conceded that second-class matter originates mail of the other classes. The Postal Commission testifies that “No sane man will deny that second-class matter is the immediate cause of great quantities of first-class matter.” Mr. Madden and Mr. Lawshe said the same thing. Meyer said that “It is known that second-class matter is instrumental in originating a large amount of other classes of mail matter.” To what extent this is so can not be determined with exactitude, but the official figures given throw a flood of light on the subject.There are four classes of (paid) mail matter—first, second, third and fourth. The first comprises letters and postals, the second newspapers and periodicals, the third circulars, and the fourth merchandise.How, of themselves, could the first, third and fourth classes develop faster than the growth of population? Does not their extension depend upon the business energy and the intellectual activity of the people, and in turn do not these depend very largely upon the circulation of the public press?Will it, therefore, be deemed unreasonable to conclude that of the $202,064,887.96 of stamps sold for the first, third and fourth classes of mail matter last year, $150,000,000 of it originated immediately, remotely and cumulatively from the second class? How else than in some such way can we account for the prodigious development of the postal business, which has outrun population sixfold or more?The late Senator Dolliver, at the American Periodical Association’s banquet, at the New Willard hotel, at Washington, a year ago, said: “I look upon every one of your little advertisements as a traveling salesman for the industries of the United States.”The amazing development of the industries of the country is in a large measure due to second-class matter; the great increase of second-class matter is due to the low postage rate; and the wonderful expansion of the postal establishment is based chiefly upon the widespread distribution of newspapers and periodicals.The foregoing figures are respectfully submitted; they are official; and their significance can be interpreted by any intelligent and thoughtful person. In the presence of these figures, is it too much to claim that the government has never lost a dollar in transporting second-class mail, that it is by far the most profitable of any, and that, were it withdrawn or greatly curtailed by an increase of rate, the postal establishment would collapse into bankruptcy?In view, also, of the foregoing figures it is hoped that the government will assume a less antagonistic attitude toward the publishing business, and encourage and promote the circulation of the public press rather than repress and curtail it. Its obstructive course has been pursued too long, having no basis in justice, business foresight, or common sense.Let there be a realization and an awakening!IN MEMORIAM.During the last fiscal postal year the death list of publications footed up to 4,229. Of these, 504 died a-bornin, that is, were denied entry; the others—3,725—were papers that had been established.In the decade from 1901 to 1910, inclusive, 11,563 publications were strangled at birth (denied entry), and of established papers that died there were 32,060.How many of these were forced to give up the struggle for existence on account of the hard conditions imposed by the government, we have no means of knowing. It is not found in the annual reports. It is beyond question that with sample copies cut off and necessary credit for subscriptions forbidden, no publishers without large cash capital to draw from can start and keep going in competition with old established papers.Why at this time, when the people are trying to get rid of monopoly, the government should thus build one up, is hard to comprehend.We are informed that the rule in regard to expired subscriptions “has met with strong approval and continues to grow in favor with publishers and the public generally.” This statement is made by the newly installed Third Assistant Postmaster General, but it is a delusion which Mr. Britt has unfortunately inherited from his predecessor. It may be true as to those benefited by the monopoly, but not as to those who have been put down and out. “Dead men tell no tales.”
In 1860 the postal deficit was $10,652,543; in 1910 it was $5,848,566. The postage rate was four times greater in 1860 than now.
Coming down twelve years to 1872 the total weight of second-class matter was that year less than 65,000,000 pounds.
Now it is 817,428,141 pounds, more than twelve times greater.
Then the postage rate was four times what it is now.
Then the gross revenue was $21,915,426; now it is $224,128,657, more than ten times as much.
Then there was no rural free delivery; now that system costs $36,923,737.
Then there were no registered letters; now there are 42,053,574 a year.
Then there were issued $48,515,532 of domestic money orders; now there are issued $547,993,641.
Then postmasters were paid $5,121,665; now they are paid $27,514,362, and their clerks are paid $38,035,456.62.
Then city delivery cost but little; now it costs $31,805,485.28.
In 1872 there were issued of stamps, stamped envelopes and wrappers less than $18,000,000 (there were no postal cards); now are issued, including postal cards, $202,064,887.96, more than ten times as much.
Observe that the weight of second-class matter is 752,428,141 pounds greater than in 1872, costing therefore (according to some official mathematicians), more than 9 cents a pound for transportation, or a total of $67,718,532.69. The deficit for 1910 is almost identical with that of 1872.
1885-1910
As late as 1885 the government income from the issue of stamps, stamped envelopes and wrappers and postal cards was $35,924,137.70.
In 1910 it was $202,064,887.96, more than five times as much.
The number of registered letters issued in 1885 was 11,043,256; in 1910 it was 40,151,797.
The amount of money orders issued rose from $117,858,921 in 1885 to $498,699,637 in 1910.
The total postal receipts rose from $42,560,844 in 1885 to $224,128,657 in 1910, an increase of $181,567,813.
The postage rate on second-class matter in 1885 was double what it is now.
During the intervening period the weight of second-class matter had increased about 600,000,000 pounds.
Now we will get down a little closer in this business and see what has happened within the last five years.
1906-1911
In 1906 there was a gain in weight of second-class matter of 41,674,086 pounds; in that year the deficit was $10,516,999.
In 1907 there was a gain in weight of 52,616,336 pounds—11,000,000 pounds more than in 1906; the deficit was reduced to $6,653,283.
In 1908 there was alossinstead of gain in weight of second-class matter of 18,079,292 pounds; the deficit went up to $16,873,223, an increase over the year before of more than $10,000,000.
In 1909 there was only a slight gain in weight of 28,367,298 pounds; the deficit went up to $17,441,719.
In 1910 there was a gain in weight of 94,865,884 pounds, the largest ever known; and the deficit dropped to $5,848,566.88.
From 1906 to 1910 there were 198,863,387 pounds increase in the weight of second-class matter; the deficit was $4,668,432.12 less in 1910 than in 1906.
The impression is prevalent that the amount paid for railway transportation was cut down the past year, but the truth is that the railroads were paid $44,654,514.97, the railway mail service and the postoffice car service cost $24,065,218.88, a total of $68,719,733.85, which is more by a half million than was paid in 1909, and over $7,000,000 more than was paid in 1906.
It is claimed that there is no definite relation between deficits and second-class matter; very well, the foregoing are the official figures; let them speak for themselves.
In the whole history of the Postoffice Department, neither an increase of second-class matter nor a reduction of the postage rate has ever increased deficits, no matter what burdens have been piled upon the service in the way of an extension of city delivery, the establishment of rural free delivery, the multiplication in number and increase of pay of officials, increase of government free matter, increase of railroad and other transportation charges, nor an increase in the obstructive energies of postal officials directed against the publishing business. (See In Memoriam, page 49.)
It has come to be generally understood and conceded that second-class matter originates mail of the other classes. The Postal Commission testifies that “No sane man will deny that second-class matter is the immediate cause of great quantities of first-class matter.” Mr. Madden and Mr. Lawshe said the same thing. Meyer said that “It is known that second-class matter is instrumental in originating a large amount of other classes of mail matter.” To what extent this is so can not be determined with exactitude, but the official figures given throw a flood of light on the subject.
There are four classes of (paid) mail matter—first, second, third and fourth. The first comprises letters and postals, the second newspapers and periodicals, the third circulars, and the fourth merchandise.
How, of themselves, could the first, third and fourth classes develop faster than the growth of population? Does not their extension depend upon the business energy and the intellectual activity of the people, and in turn do not these depend very largely upon the circulation of the public press?
Will it, therefore, be deemed unreasonable to conclude that of the $202,064,887.96 of stamps sold for the first, third and fourth classes of mail matter last year, $150,000,000 of it originated immediately, remotely and cumulatively from the second class? How else than in some such way can we account for the prodigious development of the postal business, which has outrun population sixfold or more?
The late Senator Dolliver, at the American Periodical Association’s banquet, at the New Willard hotel, at Washington, a year ago, said: “I look upon every one of your little advertisements as a traveling salesman for the industries of the United States.”
The amazing development of the industries of the country is in a large measure due to second-class matter; the great increase of second-class matter is due to the low postage rate; and the wonderful expansion of the postal establishment is based chiefly upon the widespread distribution of newspapers and periodicals.
The foregoing figures are respectfully submitted; they are official; and their significance can be interpreted by any intelligent and thoughtful person. In the presence of these figures, is it too much to claim that the government has never lost a dollar in transporting second-class mail, that it is by far the most profitable of any, and that, were it withdrawn or greatly curtailed by an increase of rate, the postal establishment would collapse into bankruptcy?
In view, also, of the foregoing figures it is hoped that the government will assume a less antagonistic attitude toward the publishing business, and encourage and promote the circulation of the public press rather than repress and curtail it. Its obstructive course has been pursued too long, having no basis in justice, business foresight, or common sense.
Let there be a realization and an awakening!
IN MEMORIAM.
During the last fiscal postal year the death list of publications footed up to 4,229. Of these, 504 died a-bornin, that is, were denied entry; the others—3,725—were papers that had been established.
In the decade from 1901 to 1910, inclusive, 11,563 publications were strangled at birth (denied entry), and of established papers that died there were 32,060.
How many of these were forced to give up the struggle for existence on account of the hard conditions imposed by the government, we have no means of knowing. It is not found in the annual reports. It is beyond question that with sample copies cut off and necessary credit for subscriptions forbidden, no publishers without large cash capital to draw from can start and keep going in competition with old established papers.
Why at this time, when the people are trying to get rid of monopoly, the government should thus build one up, is hard to comprehend.
We are informed that the rule in regard to expired subscriptions “has met with strong approval and continues to grow in favor with publishers and the public generally.” This statement is made by the newly installed Third Assistant Postmaster General, but it is a delusion which Mr. Britt has unfortunately inherited from his predecessor. It may be true as to those benefited by the monopoly, but not as to those who have been put down and out. “Dead men tell no tales.”
I had intended to omit that “In Memoriam.” Then I carefully read it over. The appalling slaughter of the “innocents” which it exposes was so new to me, news of such a tragic nature in the domain of periodical publishing, that I then and there changed my mind. I am of the opinion that the news conveyed in its five brief paragraphs will be as new and as surprising to most of my readers as it was to me. Think of 42,623 publications put out of business inten years? Of 4,229 sent to the commercial—in most instances, probably, to thefinancial—junk pile in one year—last year? Then think of the causes this conscientious writer holds chargeable for a large share of the slaughter!
We will now revert to the bold attempt made in presenting that rider amendment to the postoffice appropriation bill to breach the federal constitution, following which we will take up some of Mr. Hitchcock’s efforts to show how much or how little he knows about the business of publishing and distributing magazines and other periodical literature.
First let us inquire if Mr. Hitchcock and the coterie backing that Senate “rider”knewthat, under the Constitution, all measures forraising federal revenue must originate in the Lower House of Congress? One scarcely dares conclude they were so densely ignorant as that. Then, was theirs a deliberate, calculated attempt to breach the constitutional prerogatives and rights of the Lower House? Did they figure upon putting through that vicious rider in the congested closing hours of Congress? I call them thecrookedhours of Congress. Did those backers of that riderhopethat Senators and Congressmen would overlook or fail to read that rider, hope that so many would be so fully occupied by the swan-song chorus being sung during those closing hours that they would not notice that “rider” jumping the constitutional hurdles?
Now, if either one of the last assigned reasons is valid, a word stronger than “ignorance” should apply to such tricky, treacherous action, whether it is practiced by Senators, Congressmen, cabinet chiefs or chiefs higher up. One greatly dislikes to apply a fitting term to such ulterior motives as lead high and respected public officials to breach the constitution by trickery about on a level with that of the sneak thief or with that of a “con” man who thinks he has done his full duty by the people when he has sold Reuben the painted brick. But how could Mr. Hitchcock and those Senators co-operating with him be ignorant of the plain letter of the law and supported by a long line of precedents in both the Senate and the House?
As to the Senate precedents for the House’s right to originate all measures for the raising of revenues, Mr. Henry H. Gilfry, Chief Clerk of the Senate, compiled in 1871 a work entitled “Decisions on Points of Order with Phraseology in the United States Senate.” Mr. Gilfry cites the attempt of the Senate to repeal the income tax. The House returned the bill to the Senate with a reminder that the Constitution “vests in the House of Representatives the sole power to originate such measures.” Mr. Gilfry cites many other precedents.
In 1905 the Senate tried to originate revenues by amendment to the postoffice appropriation bill. That amendment was very similar to the “rider” of Mr. Hitchcock. I will here reprint it:
“That hereafter the rate of postage on packages of books or merchandise mailed at the distributing postoffice of any rural free delivery to a patron on said route shall be three cents for each pound or any fraction thereof. This rate shall apply only to packages deposited at the local postoffice for delivery to patrons on routesemanating from that office, or collected by rural carriers for delivery to the office from which the route emanates, and not to mail transmitted from one office to another, and shall not apply to packages exceeding 5 pounds in weight.”
The House brought that measure to conference and flatlyrefused to recognize the power of the Senate in the premises. The Senate receded and the amendment was killed.
“Hinds’ Precedents of the House of Representatives” is a recognized authority. In Chapter XLII, Vol. 2, under the caption, “Prerogatives of the House as to Revenue Legislation,” Mr. Hinds cites many instances in which the House had invariably insisted upon theexclusive exercise of its rights as defined in Section 7, Article 1, of the Constitution.
Mr. Hinds cites in all one hundred and twenty-five precedents, each of which raises the same point of order as was raised in debating Mr. Hitchcock’s late “rider” and on each of which the Housemaintained its right to originate all bills for raising revenues.
In view of the fact that some of Mr. Hitchcock’s supporters were men of experience, skilled parliamentarians, in view of the fact that some of them were trained lawyers, and in view of the further fact that the works both of Mr. Hinds and of Mr. Gilfry are on file in the reference libraries of the Senate and House and probably in most of the departments, how, I ask, in view of the above facts, can either Mr. Hitchcock or any of his supporters enter a valid plea ofignoranceof the fact that their attempt to put over that rider was contravening the constitutional rights and prerogatives of the House?
No, they were not ignorant. In my judgment, as based upon the reports which have reached me, that “rider” was a deliberate frame-up and its architects were a few conspirators who sought by means of that rider either to put certain periodicals out of business orforce them to print what they were told to publish.
Possibly I may be in error as to this, but the careful observation of the best informed and most experienced correspondents on the Washington assignment, as well as a number of Senators and Congressmen, have, in reports made, supplied ample evidence to warrant my statement to the effect that there was a collusive understanding among a few people to present that “rider” in the closing hours of the session with the hope that in the rush of affairs it might escapenotice and go through. And that hope was born of an ulterior purpose to get even with some monthly and weekly publications—publications ofindependentthought and voice and which have for several years beentelling the truthabout certain Senators and Congressmen. These independent periodicals have also been telling a rapidly growing multitude of eager readers the cold, unvarnished facts about some corporations and corporate interests which, it is generally believed and openly charged, are represented in federal legislation and in cabinet and other official circles in Washingtonby several of the very men who were so actively supporting Mr. Hitchcock in pushing his “rider” over the legislative course.
A brief summary of the history of that rider may be presented at this point. The Penrose-Overstreet bill was before the House in the early part of 1910. It carried no recommendation of an increased rate on second-class matter. This Penrose-Overstreet bill was, however, reintroduced in the House by Congressman Weeks, of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House Postoffice Committee, and by Senator Carter in the Senate. The House refused either to approve or take action on Mr. Hitchcock’s recommendation. After consideration, the Senate approved the House bill. That bill carried no recommendation for an increase in second-class postage rates. Not a single member of the Senate during the debate suggested nor introduced any bill or amendment recommending such increase.
In his message of December, 1910, President Taft recommended an increase in the second-class mail rates. His recommendation was couched in language very similar to that used in his message of December, 1909.
Mr. Samuel Blythe, from whom I have previously quoted extendedly, says some pertinent things in commenting on the situation at this point in our brief outline of how this “rider” got mounted for a lap or two and then was blanketed in the home-stretch:
“The Postmaster General had not been idle in the matter. He had it on his mind. Moreover, his party had been defeated at the polls in the previous November and about the only Republicans who were successful were Progressive Republicans against whom the President had admitted, in his famous Norton-Iowa letter, he had been discriminating and for whom Mr. Hitchcock had no sympathy. The policies, and in many cases the individuals, in the progressivemovement had had large support from the magazines and periodicals; and before that, the reactionaries who had ultimately been defeated, had been assailed because of their misdeeds.”
There is a lot of bone and sinew in that. Of course, both the President and his Postmaster General wanted to make good; wanted, as I have previously intimated, to get rid of those pestiferous independent periodicals which had been so conspicuous and powerful in unhorsing some of their stand-pat friends in the elections of November.
Mr. Hitchcock is not one of the sort of men who rush in where angels fear to tread. He is quite a general. He can make the waiting tactics of General McClellan, it would seem, apply beautifully to a political maneuver. He can wait and bide his time. At any rate, he waited. He waited until the President and other friends had worked that announced method of “discriminating” against the progressives, the so-called “insurgents,” to the end of appointing a Senate Committee on Postoffices and Postroads, the personnel of which suited Mr. Hitchcock’s quietly nursed purpose—in fact suited him as well as if he had selected the committee himself. Mr. Hitchcock, however, still waited, and while he waited, the House Committee had been appointed and was engaged in considering the postoffice appropriation bill. This House Committee held numerous sessions and gave hearings to many newspapermen and to publishers of periodicals. It went over the entire field of requirement in the government postal services and appears to have gone into the subject of second-class mail rates and the cost of its transportation and handling most carefully and thoroughly. The result of its deliberations was to tender to the House a bill carrying, as previously stated, an appropriation of some $258,000,000 for the year’s salaries, maintenance and operation of the Postoffice Department, a sum which must certainly appear liberal to any informed reader.
In this connection, two points stand out in bold relief. First:—When the House bill covering the 1911 appropriations for the Postoffice Department was passed and advanced to the Senate,it carried no provision or recommendation for an increase of the second-class postage rates.
Second:—As previously stated the House committee held many sessions while considering and preparing its 1911 Postoffice Departmentappropriation bill, andat no session of that committee did Mr. Hitchcock urge an increase in the second-class postage rates. He made no propositions or recommendations to that committee touching on increases in the second-class mail rate.
In fact he made no proposition of any sort to that committee. Nor did he submit any statements or figures to that committee, other than those contained in his 1910 report and in the President’s message.
Rather a queer procedure that, is it not? Especially is it queer, likewise suggestive, in a man who, for two years, had been running with anti-skidding tires on and the high-speed lever pushed clear down, in a wild chase to capture an increase in the second-class mail rate.
That is the way it looks to The Man on the Ladder, anyway.
Why did Mr. Hitchcock so completely ignore that House committee? Or why, at most, did his attitude, when present at any of its sessions, manifest so little interest as almost to indicate anindifferenceas to what was done or not done? Why, again, was Mr. Hitchcock so inactive, so void of suggestions and recommendations when before that branch of federal legislative authority with which he knew must originateallmeasures for the raising of revenues?
Why?To that question there appears, to The Man on the Ladder, but one valid answer.Mr. Hitchcock was waiting.
When the House bill was sent to the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Postoffices and Postroads, it appears from reports of people whose business it is to watch things done and doing at Washington, D. C, that Postmaster General Hitchcock livened up a bit, being careful, however, not to put any noticeable pressure on his high-speed leveruntil those meddlesome publishers had left town and were well away.
These publishers, knowing the constitutional prerogatives of the Lower House, considered matters safe and settled when the House bill making appropriations for the Postoffice Department was adopted and advanced to the Senate. They knew it carried no section advancing second-class postage rates nor any recommendations favoring such advance. With the publishers that ended it. But they failed to consider Mr. Hitchcock. His wiles and ways were, it appears, neither understood nor even suspicioned by those publishers. So, confident and content, they gathered up their belongings, packedtheir grips, paid their hotel bills and hied away to their several homes. Then it was that Mr. Hitchcock got busy with that discriminatingly selected committee of the Senate—the Committee on Postoffices and Postroads.
To see how “discriminating” some one or more persons had been in selecting that committee, let us look over its membership. At its head, as Chairman, sat Boies Penrose. He is the reputed Republican boss of Pennsylvania and an “organization” man. So is President Taft an organization man. Therefore Senator Penrose is an Administration man to the last ditch—that is, of course, if the administration is Republican. Mr. Hitchcock is also an organization man, and if both the President and his Postmaster General wanted this “rider” turned loose on the senate tanbark, Mr. Penrose was willing to go along with them. The other members of the committee were:—
Republicans:—
Democrats:—
We will scrutinize that list and see how the members fared at the November election. The first four Republicans and the first Democrat as named in the list were defeated at the last senatorial selection—in fact they were repudiated by the states they had been representing or misrepresenting, as the reader cares to take it. As these defeated toga-smudgers attributed their overthrow largely to newspaper and other periodical attacks upon them, Mr. Hitchcock naturally found them in line for anything he wanted to visit upon those offensive publications.
Of the other Republicans, Crane, is reputed to be lugging around with him a large-sized aspiration to be Republican leader in the Senate. If he cashes that ambition, he must necessarily stand patwith the President and Hitchcock, in spite of the alleged fact that Senator Crane does not carry an over-load of esteem for said Hitchcock. The other left-over Republican member of the committee, Guggenheim, would not be worth mentioning were it not for the fact that the methods pursued by himself and his friends in his elevation to senatorial honors have put him in the class almost removed from criticism. Those methods received much caustic consideration from newspapers and other periodicals. Simon Guggenheim, though reputed to be noticeably obtuse in comprehension and decidedly pachydermatous of integument, is probably neither so dull nor so thick of skin as not to have felt and to have remembered the exposure the magazines made of the methods they asserted were used to secure his toga; methods, it was asserted, which virtually bought his “friends,” both those in and those out of Colorado’s legislature. Yes, Simon probably remembers those exposures and the sources from which they emanated.
Entirely aside from that fact, Simon Guggenheim is a dyed-in-the-wool Administration man. In fact, if reports be true, and his record in the Senate appears to justify the reports, Senator Guggenheim could not be other than an Administration man. First, it is said, there are “official” motives and reasons for his being such, and, second, that his intellectual equipment is so out of repair, or so lacking in native operating power, as virtually to disqualify him for any part or position save that of a nonentity in legislative procedure and affairs.
So Senator Simon “Gugg” must necessarily stand with the President and the Postmaster General on the “rider” amendment as on any other propositiontheywanted to forward.
As to the hold-over or returned Democratic members of that committee little needs be said as the Democrats were in the minority anyway. Senator Bankhead is quite generally recognized as a congenial, obliging and accommodating politician. In all probability, he would not enter any strenuous objections to Mr. Hitchcock’s proposed amendment, provided a hint was given him that the President approved it. That such hint was handed around quite freely before the committee’s report was submitted to the Senate is a matter of common knowledge.
Senator Taylor first voted for the rider amendment. Later,however, when he neared Jericho, the scales appear to have fallen from his eyes and he then saw things differently. At any rate he later voted against the amendment.
Senator Terrell of Georgia was ill, and therefore not present when action was had. It will be seen, then, that the Postmaster Generalhad his “discriminating” committee.
Mr. Hitchcock began his advance on that committee February 1st. He approached certain of its members on the 1st and 2nd and informed them, in effect, that he wanted them to urge a second-class amendment to the postoffice appropriation bill, which the committee had under consideration. He, it is reported, also assured these senators that President Taft most earnestly desired that an increase be made in second-class rates. He got a committee appointed, consisting of Senators Carter, Crane and others to confer with the President regarding the matter. Owing, however, to the pending of other legislation in the Senate (the ship subsidy bill in particular), the matter dragged along until the 8th of February. During the delay, Hitchcock made sure of the committee by nailing down Penrose, Crane, Burrows, Carter, Scott, Bankhead, Taliaferro, Dick and Simon “Gugg.” On the date last named, Senators Carter and Crane went to the White House “by request” to confer with the President. The President, it is said on authority, flatly told the two Senators that they “must” put the amendment into the bill. It is also reported, and to their credit, that the two Senators argued strenuously against the expediency of inserting it, pointing out the fact that such an amendment would go out on a point of order under Senate Rule XVI. Mr. Hitchcock was present throughout the conference. Incidentally, it may be likewise noted that Vice-President Sherman dropped in, quite “by accident” of course, but he showed no hesitancy, it is said, in participating in the discussion as actively as Postmaster General Hitchcock had been doing from the beginning of the conference. While the President and his Postmaster General were arguing with the Senators to prove to them how important the action was to the Administration; why the “rider” must go into the bill as an amendment, and probably why it was “time for all good organization men to come to the aid of the party,” Mr. Sherman probably dropped a few timely hints to the effect of how easy it would be, with the gavel in his hands and a quick, true andfavoringeye for floor recognitions,to get aroundSenate Rule XVI. In the end, Senators Carter and Crane were won over and a meeting of the Postoffice and Postroads Committee was called for the afternoon of the same day, Wednesday, February 8th, 1911.
When the committee got together it was found that there was not a single proposition of any sort relating to second-class mail rates before it for consideration. Neither was there a written suggestion, recommendation or report bearing upon that subject before them. Mr. Hitchcock, however, was present at this committee meeting. He formulated his proposition and the committee went into session, the discussion being led by Senators Carter and Crane, who had become “convinced” against their best judgment if not against their will, in the forenoon of the same day, to support the amendment. The discussion lasted for several hours, with Mr. Hitchcock’s deficit occasionally buzzing as his wheels went round. Then the committee adjourned until the next afternoon, February 9th.
Mr. Hitchcock left the room after the discussion and, it is said, went immediately and reported to the President. Upon learning that the attitude of the committee was unfriendly, the President at once began to turn on more current, not hesitating to use his patronage club in doing so, reports say.
The committee met, as agreed at its adjournment.Mr. Hitchcock was present with his rider amendment all written up and fully varnished and frescoed, and in two hours Mr. Hitchcock’s rider amendment was tacked onto the bill, in wording substantially as it appears on another page.
Then the real fight began. Hitchcock stood to his embrazured guns, to his reprisal rider, throughout the entire engagement. As an evidence that it was his rider, or his and President Taft’s, I desire here to present to the reader points in proof:
That picked “discriminating” Senate committee had a majority of defeated or otherwise disgruntled politicians. They were defeated or disgruntled because certain independent periodicals had, figuratively speaking, peeled the varnish and smooth epidermis off them, thus exposing their decayed or decaying carcasses to a public not only able to read and understand, but a publicwillingto read and understand.
I will offer a few other established facts. Mr. Hitchcock, during the closing days of the fight,devoted nearly his entire time to pushingand advocating his measure, his carefully prepared scheme. A canvass of the Senate was made, which canvass led Mr. Hitchcock to believe he had the votes to put his rider over the course a sure winner. In that, however, he was mistaken. A number of the Senators had wised up as to the real purpose and purport of that rider and, in the canvass, theyhanded back to him a little of his own peculiar brand of jolly, which he had delivered to them in unbroken packages, freight prepaid.
After his canvass, Mr. Hitchcock still kept his oil tank well filled, and his “deficit” playing rag-time to boost his rider along. He even kept his deficit buzzer going after nearly everyone about the Capitolknewthat Senators La Follette, Bristow, Owen, Gore, Cummins, Bourne, Clapp, Beveridge, Borah, Brown and others intended totalk his rider into the ditchor talk the postoffice appropriation bill into the Sixty-second Congress.
Yes, Postmaster General Hitchcock, though neither a very competent nor scrupulous tactician, nor an able manager for any large business, industrial or other, is agood fighter. That much must be said for him. When a man fights to the last ditch for a lost or losing cause or purpose as he fought for his “rider,” that man has courage, nerve, whatever we may call it, in him. At any rate it is a quality which commands respect and the man possessing such a quality will receive his just meed of respect wherever menaremen.
Mr. Hitchcock worked up a vigorous support for what The Man on the Ladder considers not only an objectionable cause, but a cause viciously dangerous to our form of government, to the material welfare of our people, to their educational advancement as well as to their moral and intellectual betterment.
That is the reason he opposes the purpose of this rider amendment and the methods used to enact it into law. In brief, that is why this book has been written. How Mr. Hitchcock secured a following, even for the brief period his followers followed, for such a cause and the methods used to advance it is as difficult for me to work out or solve as the “Pigs-in-Clover” puzzle or the “How Old Is Ann” problem. He must certainly have learned some new “holds” or tricks in what Sewell Ford calls “the confidential tackle,” or he could not have secured so many “falls” in so short a time for a cause that was bad and for methods even worse, if such were possible.
Now we will take up the Postmaster General’s somewhat prolific, if not always lucid, verbiage, to prove that he knows more about the publication and distribution of publications than the most experienced and successful periodical publishers have yet learned, however experienced they are and however hard they have striven to familiarize themselves with the many intricacies which the business involves.
FOOTNOTES[1]Now, see here, Samuel, if you have any knock to make about the liberties I may take with your Saturday Evening Post informative article, knock me, not my publisher. I may quote and even disfigure a little, but I assure you the latter will be far this side of the ambulance.
[1]Now, see here, Samuel, if you have any knock to make about the liberties I may take with your Saturday Evening Post informative article, knock me, not my publisher. I may quote and even disfigure a little, but I assure you the latter will be far this side of the ambulance.
[1]Now, see here, Samuel, if you have any knock to make about the liberties I may take with your Saturday Evening Post informative article, knock me, not my publisher. I may quote and even disfigure a little, but I assure you the latter will be far this side of the ambulance.
Postmaster General Hitchcock’s persistent activity in seeking to push the “rider” through the Senate was a noticeable feature in the closing hours of that session of Congress, his industry showing in his daily contact on the floor of the Senate with the members who seemed pliable or willing to harken to his wishes in the matter pertaining to the legislation he wished to have made into law. The following communications, adroit and carefully worded to Chairman Penrose, boldly justified the increase on second-class matter, and may be regarded as the dying struggle of the postoffice head to gain his point.
The italics are the writer’s and set out the controversial promiscuousness of the Postmaster General. The letters bear date February 14-15, 1911:
Washington, D. C., February 14, 1911.My Dear Senator:—In response to your request Isubmit the following statementrelative to the section of the postal appropriation bill, H. R. 31539, now pending in the Senate that provides for an increase in the postage rate on the advertising portions of periodical publications mailed as second-class matter.Under the provision in the bill the postage rate on the advertising pages of magazines is increased from 1 cent to 4 cents a pound,but this increase does not apply to newspapers of any kind, nor does it affect periodical publications mailing less than 4,000 pounds each issue. By the terms of the provision the privilege of carrying advertisements is for the first time extended to several classes of periodical publications enumerated in the act of March 3, 1879, namely, the periodicalpublications of benevolent or fraternal organizations, of regularly incorporated institutions of learning, of trade union organizations, and of professional, literary, historical, and scientific societies, including state boards of health.As the advertising portions of magazines comprise on an average about athirdof their total weight the effect of an increase from 1 to 4 cents on the advertising pages will be to advance the postage rate for second-class matter as a whole about 1 cent, making the second-class rate 2 cents a pound instead of 1 cent, as at present. In view of the fact that it costs the government about 9 cents a pound to handle and transport this class of mail the proposed increase is an exceedingly moderate one.In a whole page newspaper advertisement printed on the 12th instant, signed by 34 of theprincipal magazine and periodical publicationsof the country, it is stated that the increased rate “will drive a majority of the popular magazines outof existence, and with them the enormous volume of profitable first-class mail their advertising creates.”This charge is made in the face of the fact that some, if not all, of the signers of the statement are realizing tremendous profits from the vast amount of high-priced advertisements.It has been foundon investigationthat one of the great periodical publications signing this protest contained in 21 of its successive issues, from January 1, 1910, to and including May 21, 1910, exclusive of cover pages, an average of 19,354 agate lines of advertising matter, which, at the same rate, would make a total of 1,006,408 lines for the year.On October 1, 1910, the publisher of this periodical increased the rate for ordinary advertising in his publication from $5 to $6 an agate line. At the higher rate thegross valueof the ordinary advertising space for one year would amount to $6,038,448. Increased rates charged for the inside and outside cover pages would bring $650,000, making a totalgross valueof $6,688,448. Allowing a discount of 15 per cent, or $1,003,267, there would remain as atotal net valueof the advertising in this publication for a single year thetremendous sum of $5,685,181. The additional income from advertising resulting from the increased rates would amount in a yearto $957,107, which would be much more than sufficient to pay the proposed higher postage rate of 4 cents a pound on the advertising pages of the publication during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910. In other words,the advance in advertising rates for this periodical will not only meet the higher postage charges, but will leave a surplus of increased revenue to swell the annual profits of the magazine.In a printed statement recently issued by the president of one of the leading magazine-publishing companies of New York City,the exceedingly profitable nature of the magazine business was clearly set forth. According to his statement the profits of his own magazine for themonth of October, 1910, showed an increase over the correspondingmonth for 1909 of 100 per cent on advertisements and 151 per cent onsubscriptions, making a net annual profit for dividends and surplus, based on a circulation of 500,000 copies monthly, of $348,980. Regarding the periodical-publishing business in general, the same gentleman says in his statement that “magazine publishers receivegrossincomes as high as $6,000,000 in a single year. Dividends amounting approximately to $1,000,000 yearly have been made.” Speaking of the publishers of some of the magazines joining in the protest against the proposed legislation, he says that one of them, according to his own statement, realizes a net profit of $1,000,000 annually; of another, the principal owner of two great publications, that his gross income is more than $6,000,000 annually, and that his net profits for the same period exceed $1,000,000; of another, that his magazine yields more than 10 per cent on a capital of $10,000,000; of another, that his net profits are $600,000; of another, that the value of his advertising space alone is $1,500,000 a year; of another, that his advertising receipts are $75,000 per month and his profits are from $600,000 to $800,000 per year; of still another, that his publishing business represents a profit of 100 per cent a year to its stockholders.
Washington, D. C., February 14, 1911.
My Dear Senator:—In response to your request Isubmit the following statementrelative to the section of the postal appropriation bill, H. R. 31539, now pending in the Senate that provides for an increase in the postage rate on the advertising portions of periodical publications mailed as second-class matter.
Under the provision in the bill the postage rate on the advertising pages of magazines is increased from 1 cent to 4 cents a pound,but this increase does not apply to newspapers of any kind, nor does it affect periodical publications mailing less than 4,000 pounds each issue. By the terms of the provision the privilege of carrying advertisements is for the first time extended to several classes of periodical publications enumerated in the act of March 3, 1879, namely, the periodicalpublications of benevolent or fraternal organizations, of regularly incorporated institutions of learning, of trade union organizations, and of professional, literary, historical, and scientific societies, including state boards of health.
As the advertising portions of magazines comprise on an average about athirdof their total weight the effect of an increase from 1 to 4 cents on the advertising pages will be to advance the postage rate for second-class matter as a whole about 1 cent, making the second-class rate 2 cents a pound instead of 1 cent, as at present. In view of the fact that it costs the government about 9 cents a pound to handle and transport this class of mail the proposed increase is an exceedingly moderate one.
In a whole page newspaper advertisement printed on the 12th instant, signed by 34 of theprincipal magazine and periodical publicationsof the country, it is stated that the increased rate “will drive a majority of the popular magazines outof existence, and with them the enormous volume of profitable first-class mail their advertising creates.”This charge is made in the face of the fact that some, if not all, of the signers of the statement are realizing tremendous profits from the vast amount of high-priced advertisements.
It has been foundon investigationthat one of the great periodical publications signing this protest contained in 21 of its successive issues, from January 1, 1910, to and including May 21, 1910, exclusive of cover pages, an average of 19,354 agate lines of advertising matter, which, at the same rate, would make a total of 1,006,408 lines for the year.
On October 1, 1910, the publisher of this periodical increased the rate for ordinary advertising in his publication from $5 to $6 an agate line. At the higher rate thegross valueof the ordinary advertising space for one year would amount to $6,038,448. Increased rates charged for the inside and outside cover pages would bring $650,000, making a totalgross valueof $6,688,448. Allowing a discount of 15 per cent, or $1,003,267, there would remain as atotal net valueof the advertising in this publication for a single year thetremendous sum of $5,685,181. The additional income from advertising resulting from the increased rates would amount in a yearto $957,107, which would be much more than sufficient to pay the proposed higher postage rate of 4 cents a pound on the advertising pages of the publication during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910. In other words,the advance in advertising rates for this periodical will not only meet the higher postage charges, but will leave a surplus of increased revenue to swell the annual profits of the magazine.
In a printed statement recently issued by the president of one of the leading magazine-publishing companies of New York City,the exceedingly profitable nature of the magazine business was clearly set forth. According to his statement the profits of his own magazine for themonth of October, 1910, showed an increase over the correspondingmonth for 1909 of 100 per cent on advertisements and 151 per cent onsubscriptions, making a net annual profit for dividends and surplus, based on a circulation of 500,000 copies monthly, of $348,980. Regarding the periodical-publishing business in general, the same gentleman says in his statement that “magazine publishers receivegrossincomes as high as $6,000,000 in a single year. Dividends amounting approximately to $1,000,000 yearly have been made.” Speaking of the publishers of some of the magazines joining in the protest against the proposed legislation, he says that one of them, according to his own statement, realizes a net profit of $1,000,000 annually; of another, the principal owner of two great publications, that his gross income is more than $6,000,000 annually, and that his net profits for the same period exceed $1,000,000; of another, that his magazine yields more than 10 per cent on a capital of $10,000,000; of another, that his net profits are $600,000; of another, that the value of his advertising space alone is $1,500,000 a year; of another, that his advertising receipts are $75,000 per month and his profits are from $600,000 to $800,000 per year; of still another, that his publishing business represents a profit of 100 per cent a year to its stockholders.
My Dear Senator:—On February 13, 1911, Everybody’s Magazine published in the local newspapers a full page advertisement attacking the proposed increase in second-class postage carried by the postal bill now pending in the Senate. In their statement the publishers claimed to have a circulation of 650,000 copies per issue and asserted that “the postal measure now before Congress increases the cost of handling Everybody’s Magazine $150,000 a year.” They further stated that in view of the fact that the magazine makes “each year for its stockholders about $100,000,” the proposed increase would “actually exclude the magazine from the mails.”The department’s figures for the calendar year 1910 show that Everybody’s Magazine mailed at the New York City postoffice 2,898,372 pounds of its issues as second-class matter, on which the postage at the cent-a-pound rate was $28,983.72. As an average of one-half of the pages is devoted to advertising, the proposed increase of 3 cents per pound on such matter would make the additional postage $43,475.58 per annum instead of $150,000, as stated by the publishers of the magazine.Based on the publishers’ statement of 650,000 circulation, the gross income of Everybody’s would be about $1,550,000 annually, divided as follows:200,000 subscriptions, at $1 (net)$200,000450,000 news-stand sales, at $1 (net)450,000150 pages of advertising per month, at $500 per page900,000Grand total$1,550,000Since the publishers state that the magazine makes each year for its stockholders only about $100,000, the approximate cost of publication reaches the surprisingly high figure of $1,450,000. Using their own statement showing a circulation of 650,000, it appears that Everybody’s issues 7,800,000 single copies annually. If their total net profits are only $100,000, it is evident that it must cost the publishers approximately 19 cents to place a copy of the magazine in the hands of a reader who can secure it on the news stand for 15 cents.Before your committee reported the bill providing for the increased rate on second-class matter, the publishers of Everybody’s Magazine announced that on and after March 6, 1911, their rates for ordinary advertising would be advanced from $500 to $600 a page. On the extremely conservative estimate that the magazine carries a monthly average of 150 advertising pages, this advance will produce an additional income of $150,000 per annum. As the proposed increase of postage during a like period will amount to approximately $43,500, it is evident that out of the increase of revenue alone the magazine will be able to pay the additional postage and still retain a considerable surplus for its stockholders.Yours, very truly,Frank H. Hitchcock,Postmaster General
My Dear Senator:—On February 13, 1911, Everybody’s Magazine published in the local newspapers a full page advertisement attacking the proposed increase in second-class postage carried by the postal bill now pending in the Senate. In their statement the publishers claimed to have a circulation of 650,000 copies per issue and asserted that “the postal measure now before Congress increases the cost of handling Everybody’s Magazine $150,000 a year.” They further stated that in view of the fact that the magazine makes “each year for its stockholders about $100,000,” the proposed increase would “actually exclude the magazine from the mails.”
The department’s figures for the calendar year 1910 show that Everybody’s Magazine mailed at the New York City postoffice 2,898,372 pounds of its issues as second-class matter, on which the postage at the cent-a-pound rate was $28,983.72. As an average of one-half of the pages is devoted to advertising, the proposed increase of 3 cents per pound on such matter would make the additional postage $43,475.58 per annum instead of $150,000, as stated by the publishers of the magazine.
Based on the publishers’ statement of 650,000 circulation, the gross income of Everybody’s would be about $1,550,000 annually, divided as follows:
Since the publishers state that the magazine makes each year for its stockholders only about $100,000, the approximate cost of publication reaches the surprisingly high figure of $1,450,000. Using their own statement showing a circulation of 650,000, it appears that Everybody’s issues 7,800,000 single copies annually. If their total net profits are only $100,000, it is evident that it must cost the publishers approximately 19 cents to place a copy of the magazine in the hands of a reader who can secure it on the news stand for 15 cents.
Before your committee reported the bill providing for the increased rate on second-class matter, the publishers of Everybody’s Magazine announced that on and after March 6, 1911, their rates for ordinary advertising would be advanced from $500 to $600 a page. On the extremely conservative estimate that the magazine carries a monthly average of 150 advertising pages, this advance will produce an additional income of $150,000 per annum. As the proposed increase of postage during a like period will amount to approximately $43,500, it is evident that out of the increase of revenue alone the magazine will be able to pay the additional postage and still retain a considerable surplus for its stockholders.
Yours, very truly,
Frank H. Hitchcock,Postmaster General
Investigations recently made by the Postoffice Department show that large numbers of periodical publications already entered as second-class matter are in reality nothing more than trade catalogues, which, under the law, ought to be treated as third-class matter and subjected to a postage charge of 8 cents apound, which is the rate for catalogues. By inserting a few pages of reading matter, these publications succeeded in being classed as magazines and thus secured admission at the cent-a-pound rate. Among publications of this kind is one containing 140 pages, 99 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements; another containing 562 pages, 97 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements; another containing 238 pages, 93 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements; and another containing 268 pages, 89 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements. Almost the entire space in these publications is devoted to the carrying of commercial advertisements, and this in defiance of the statute specifically excluding from the second-class privileges “publications designed primarily for advertising purposes.”By the proposed law, magazines, in so far as they provide public information, are left exactly on a par with newspapers and the smaller periodicals, for the increase of rate of 3 cents a pound attaches only to such portions of the magazines as are devoted to advertising purposes.The stock argument of magazine publishers that the profit to the government on first-class matter induced by the advertisements in their publications offsets any loss incurred by reason of the low postage rate on second-class matter is disproved by the fact that the government’s entire profit on first-class matter is less than the total loss on second-class mail matter.During the fiscal year 1910 over 800,000,000 pounds of second-class matter were carried through the mails at a loss to the government of $62,000,000. The profits on all other classes of mail matter were more than swallowed up by this tremendous loss, leaving a postal deficit for the year of about $6,000,000. It is estimated that the annual saving to the government through the proposed increase in postage will amount to about $6,000,000, or enough to wipe out what remains of the deficit.Magazines have repeatedly increased their advertising rates as their circulation has grown, but the postal charges for the handling and transportation of these magazines have remained stationary for years, so that while this increased circulation has swollen the profits of the publishers it has added correspondingly to the loss sustained by the government. It is clearly inequitable that the public in its general correspondence, the publishers of books and pamphlets, and the senders of small merchandise should continue to be taxed to meet the deficit caused by a subsidy enjoyed by the publishers of the large magazines.Yours, very truly,Frank H. Hitchcock,Postmaster General.
Investigations recently made by the Postoffice Department show that large numbers of periodical publications already entered as second-class matter are in reality nothing more than trade catalogues, which, under the law, ought to be treated as third-class matter and subjected to a postage charge of 8 cents apound, which is the rate for catalogues. By inserting a few pages of reading matter, these publications succeeded in being classed as magazines and thus secured admission at the cent-a-pound rate. Among publications of this kind is one containing 140 pages, 99 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements; another containing 562 pages, 97 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements; another containing 238 pages, 93 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements; and another containing 268 pages, 89 per cent of which are devoted to advertisements. Almost the entire space in these publications is devoted to the carrying of commercial advertisements, and this in defiance of the statute specifically excluding from the second-class privileges “publications designed primarily for advertising purposes.”
By the proposed law, magazines, in so far as they provide public information, are left exactly on a par with newspapers and the smaller periodicals, for the increase of rate of 3 cents a pound attaches only to such portions of the magazines as are devoted to advertising purposes.
The stock argument of magazine publishers that the profit to the government on first-class matter induced by the advertisements in their publications offsets any loss incurred by reason of the low postage rate on second-class matter is disproved by the fact that the government’s entire profit on first-class matter is less than the total loss on second-class mail matter.
During the fiscal year 1910 over 800,000,000 pounds of second-class matter were carried through the mails at a loss to the government of $62,000,000. The profits on all other classes of mail matter were more than swallowed up by this tremendous loss, leaving a postal deficit for the year of about $6,000,000. It is estimated that the annual saving to the government through the proposed increase in postage will amount to about $6,000,000, or enough to wipe out what remains of the deficit.
Magazines have repeatedly increased their advertising rates as their circulation has grown, but the postal charges for the handling and transportation of these magazines have remained stationary for years, so that while this increased circulation has swollen the profits of the publishers it has added correspondingly to the loss sustained by the government. It is clearly inequitable that the public in its general correspondence, the publishers of books and pamphlets, and the senders of small merchandise should continue to be taxed to meet the deficit caused by a subsidy enjoyed by the publishers of the large magazines.
Yours, very truly,
Frank H. Hitchcock,Postmaster General.