Fourth.—It must be originated and published for the dissemination of information of a public character, or devoted to literature, the sciences, arts, or some special industry, and having a legitimate list of subscribers; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to admit to the second-class rate regular publications designed primarily for advertising purposes, or for free circulation, or for circulation at nominal rates.
In 1894 the privilege was extended so as to include under certain conditions the periodical publications of benevolent or fraternal societies; and again in 1900, to include the periodical publications issued by State departments of agriculture.
It was provided by the statute of 1879 that a supplement may be enclosed with a second-class publication, without subjecting it to extra postage, provided that it is germane to the publication which it supplements, that is to say, is matter supplied in order to complete that to which it is added or supplemented, but omitted from the regular issue for want of space or time, or for greater convenience. It must, however, in every case be issued with the publication.
Since the establishment of these conditions and rates, there has been a steady and growing increase in the amount of second-class matter sent through the mails. In 1879, under the old rates, the total weight sent at the pound rate was 51,125,500 pounds. In the following year the total weight was 61,822,629 pounds; and by 1910 the total had increased to 817,772,900 pounds, that figure representing an increase of no less than 94,539,718 pounds on the total for 1909.
During the whole of this period the accounts of the Post Office in the United States had in two years only (in 1882 and 1883) shown a surplus of revenue over expenditure. In view of the vast quantity of matter sent in the mails at very low rates, the question naturally suggested itself whether, seeing
that it was necessary year by year to call on the public treasury for funds to meet the deficiency in the Post Office accounts, it would not be practicable, and equitable, to obtain an increased revenue from this class of traffic. The fact that considerable abuses of the second-class mail privilege had grown up made consideration of the question the more necessary.
Periodicals obtained so great a privilege as compared with ordinary books, that publishers sought devious ways to obtain the advantage of the pound rate. Books termed a "library" were issued periodically, with a frequency sufficient to meet the requirements of the Act, numbered in series, and devoted to literature or science; were issued from a known office of publication, and with a list of subscribers. Complying thus with all the requirements of the Act, there seemed no ground on which these publications could be refused admission to the second-class privilege, and they were accordingly entered. The practice grew, and a multitude of libraries, comprising books on every conceivable subject, were distributed through the mails as second-class matter. The Act permitted the posting of sample copies, and as no limit to the number of such copies was fixed, the mails were burdened with vast quantities of sample copies of publications which, while complying with the letter of the statute, as did the "libraries," were in reality mere advertising media. The subscription list was extremely small in comparison with the number of sample copies sent out, and in many cases the subscriptions had been obtained by the offer of premiums at least equal in value to the subscriptions. Another abuse appeared. Under the law, copies of newspapers and periodicals mailed under the second-class privilege which were found to be undeliverable were, when returned to the publisher, liable to postage at the rate of 1 cent for each 4 ounces; but newsagents had the right to send second-class mail to one another, and in order to avoid the higher rate on returned copies, the publishers arranged a scheme by which the copies were returned by one newsagent to another newsagent whose office was near by the publisher's office. These abuses assumed such proportions that in 1889 the Postmaster-General, Mr. Wanamaker, brought them to the notice of Congress and asked a remedy. Nothing was
done, however. In 1892 Mr. Wanamaker again complained of the same gross abuses, and especially of the book abuse, which had then become, he said, "a practice of so long standing that it has crystallized into law, allowing to paper-covered books which are simply numbered, and dated, and designated as periodicals, though in reality not so, the privileges of genuine periodicals."[338] He also attacked with vigour the sample-copy abuse.[339]
Several Postmasters-General caused estimates to be made of the actual cost to the Post Office of the handling and transmission of the second-class mail. An estimate made in 1894 indicated the cost of transportation for all mail matter as 8 cents a pound, and on that basis second-class matter at that time involved a loss of nearly 17 million dollars for transportation alone. In 1897 the total loss on account of the second-class mail was estimated at 26 million dollars. A further estimate made in 1901 indicated that the cost of transportation of second-class matter was at least 5 cents a pound, and that the cost of handling was a further 2 cents, giving a total cost of 7 cents a pound on matter for which postage at the rate of only 1 cent a pound was paid.[340]
In 1905 Postmaster-General Cortelyou submitted an estimate which put the loss on second-class matter at some $27,000,000 a year; and he recommended that the whole question should be considered by Congress, and a law enacted