The weight for any year was to be fixed according to the actual weight of the numbers of the paper during the previous year, and for new publications the rate was to be applied quarterly on the basis of the weight of such numbers as had appeared. The publisher was required to deposit with the Post Office a complete copy of each issue for the purpose of calculating the weight charge.
Financially, the result of the rates has been unsatisfactory; the amendments of the proposals of the postal administration which were made by the Reichstag could hardly have had any other effect. From the year 1871 to the year 1902 the increase in the number of newspapers was 508 per cent. (1871, 202⅘ millions; 1902, 1,157 millions), but the increase in newspaper postage was only about 378 per cent. (1,760,326 M. in 1871 and 6,659,735 M. in 1902); and if the cost of the service remained approximately the same as in 1897, which there is little reason to doubt, the loss to the administration was about a million Marks.
In the case of a number of papers a higher rate of postage became payable; but in the case of some of the expensive illustrated and scientific publications the new rate represented a considerable reduction. Thus, in one case, the rate became 2 M. 9 pf. instead of 96 pf. yearly, while in another the rate was reduced from 7 M. 20 pf. to 50 pf. yearly.[394]
But the reduction of rate did not represent the whole disadvantage. The greater part of the issue of illustrated and
scientific journals and trade papers had formerly been distributed through the ordinary channels of the publishing trade. Now that the postage rates were in many cases so largely reduced, it became cheaper in those cases to distribute a larger number by post, and this course was naturally adopted. Increase in the number sent by post in such circumstances simply resulted in increased financial loss.
An indication of the extent of the privilege which the newspapers enjoy as compared with other printed matter may be obtained by comparing the revenue which was actually obtained from the newspapers with the revenue which would have been obtained from the same number of packets of ordinary printed matter of similar size and weight. In 1900, in the inland service in Germany, some 440 million packets of ordinary printed matter were transmitted, and the postage on them amounted to 21,133,499 M. If the 1,150 million newspapers had yielded postage in the same proportion, they would have brought in a revenue of some 55 millions of Marks, whereas in actual fact they yielded only some 6½ millions.[395]
The present rate rests on the two grounds of frequency of issue and weight of copies. It is therefore in practice more difficult to apply than the former rate based simply on the price, since the weight factor is variable and requires exact determination in every case. Moreover, the Reichstag forbade rounding up of the weight, which would be essential if a rate in even pfennigs were to be ascertained. The calculation of the actual rate must be carried to the second decimal place in pfennigs, and a rounding up of broken pfennigs is permitted only at the final settlement for the regular subscription period. This complexity has, of course, added largely to the cost of administration, without a corresponding increase in revenue.
It is anticipated that with the growth of the newspaper traffic the loss to the postal administration will tend to increase rather than to diminish. There is, however, no disposition to restrict the privilege accorded to newspapers. The attempt made by the administration in 1899 to secure an increased revenue from them was, as explained, frustrated
by the Reichstag. Since 1852 the Post Office has held the monopoly of the distribution of political newspapers, and the general advantage resulting from such an effective control of the dissemination of public intelligence no doubt explains the continuance of so favourable and unremunerative a rate.[396]