Why a Loss in Postal Business
THE New York World, referring to the claim of the Postmaster-General that the Government loses over seven cents a pound on second-class mail-matter sent to the Pacific Coast, and $50,000,000 a year on all such matter, pertinently asks: If the Government loses on the exceptional long haul, what does it gain on the common short haul? And if it loses also on the common short haul at a cent a pound, why does it lose? The great bulk of second-class matter is carried over comparatively short distances. Within these distances the express companies do the business at much less than a cent a pound and make money. Over the same average distance the railroads will carry passengers and provide them with cushioned seats and room to walk around at a less charge per pound than second-class matter is said to be costing the Government. What is the trouble? Simply that the Government has driven away the profitable part of the second-class mail business, and now deals with the unprofitable part, as if it were the possible as well as the actual whole. It is the way governments usually do business.