In 1900 it was stated that the whole cost of the extension of the rural free delivery service could be met from the saving which would result from the elimination of the second-class mail abuses.—Ibid., 1900, p. 13.
In 1901 it was described as "the one great overshadowing evil of the service, because it underlies and overtops all other reform and advance."—Ibid., 1901, p. 4.
[341] There had been, under an Act of 26th June 1906, a weighing of second-class matter from 1st July to 31st December 1906.
[342] Report of Postal Commission on Second-class Mail Matter, 1907. Known as the Penrose-Overstreet Commission, from the names of two of its members.
[343] The actual statistics to be obtained were defined thus:—
"The Postmaster-General shall cause a record to be kept from July first to December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seven, inclusive, of the weight in pounds, respectively, of first-class, second-class, free, paid-at-the-pound-rate, and transient, third-class, and fourth-class matter and all franked and penalty matter and the equipment carried in connection therewith.
"For thirty days during such period he shall require a record to be kept of the weight of each of the classes above specified despatched from such post-offices as he shall determine to be representative for the purpose and have computed thereon, in the most practicable way, the average haul of the mail of the different classes and sub-classes as hereinbefore set out. For seven days during such period he shall cause a record to be kept of the revenue received from each of the classes and sub-classes of mail matter hereinbefore specified and a count of the number of pieces of each class and sub-class, showing also for the first class the number of letters, postal cards, and other matter separately, and for thirty consecutive days during such period he shall cause a record to be kept for the purpose of ascertaining the average load of railway post-office cars other than storage cars, the average load of storage cars, and the average load in compartment cars.
"Such record shall be reported to Congress by May first, nineteen hundred and eight, and the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to cover the expense of such weighing and counting and the recording and compilation of the information so acquired, and the rent of necessary rooms in the city of Washington, and the same shall be immediately available."—Statute of 2nd March 1907.
[344] Special Weighing of the Mails, 1907. Document 910, 60th Congress.
[345] Hearings before Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (House of Representatives), January-February 1910.