Printer and Publisher

TiiE avalaiiche of criticism being hurled at the Post
Office Department in connection with the ill-starred
postal convention wiith the United States continues
unchecked. Evidence keeps piling up, showing how
injurious have been the results so far. Losses of sub-
scribers in the United States are recorded by many
papers, and this is the worst feature of the case. It is
absurd that our lpblishers should be deprived of these
readers.
LOSSES ARE GENERBAL.
The Hamilton Times, a Liberal paper supporting
the present Government, says, editorially:
"Whatever benefit Postmaster-General Lemieux's
arrangement with the U. S. postal authorities regard-
.ing postage on newspapers and magazines entering
into our country from the United States accrues to
Canadian interests, it cannot be said to help the pib-
lishers of newspapers in this country. The reverse is
the fact. For this increased postage arrangement has
dealt a heavy blow to the sale of Dominion newsipapers
to people living in the United States. As a salmple of
how the arrangement works, the following extract is
taken from a letter received from a Chicago sub-
scriber:
"'I am in receipt of your favor of the 5th inst.,
relative to the increased postage rate on the daily
papers. This has reference to my late father's sub-
scription, but as I don't feel disposed to reiiit monley
to fatten the P.O. Department, will simply have to let
it lapse. Of course, it will prove a loss as I have not
missed many issues during the past 37 (thirty-seven)
years.'
"The Tines regrets as deeply as does this sub-
scriber to the Times of over thirty-seven years the fact
that he can no longer see his way to sutbscribe to the
Times. But the new regulations require that every
copy of the Times crossing into the States must have
a one cent stamp attached to it, and on occasions two
stamps. This makes a big difference, from the former
rate, vwhen newspapers were charged in bulk by
weight.
"There is not a newspaper in Canada but has lost
largely by the increase of postage on newspapers-
some of them have lost hundreds of dollars. That is
only one side of the question. The thousands of Cana-
dians living in the United States keep alive the love
for and interest in their native land by subscribing for
the daily or weekly paper from the homte town. Now
the increase of the postage has caused a great nulmber
of them to cut even this connection that bound them
to the old home. Mr. Lemieux's action may be of ser-
vice to Canada in some way, but we confess we have
not seen the benefit."
AN INDEFENSIBLE BLUNDER.
The Weekly Sun, of Toronto, organ of the farm-
ing interests of the country, has a strong editorial on
tle postal convention. It says: "One of the reasons
given for the abrogation by the Donminion Govern-

li itl of the postal agreemtent recently existing be-
t\eccn Canada and the L tUited States, vwas tiat under
the same our postal departienltt was carryintg at a loss
a vast volume of tnited States publications addressed
to subscribers ini Canada. This reason wotuld have
iiore force if the principle which is beinlg applied in
the case of the United States, were applied in all cases.
tiut what are tlie facts? It costs, unrder the regula-
l:iots iiow in force, two cents per four ountces on pub-
lications sert from Buffalo o o St. Catharinles, wvlile the
same bulk is carried fromti London, Eing., to Victoria,
tBC., at one cent.
"There can be but one explanation of the action of
the Governnient. It is a deliberate attet1mpt to m?ake it
difficult for our people to obtain readinlg matter fromii
one source and easy to sectre it from another. Tlle
spirit in the case is the samie, but not so violently ex-
pressed as that which promvpts the Government of
Russia to examine all papers seeking accesn to the
Russian nails 'and to mark out anything appearing in
the papers of which the atuthorities do not approve. It
is equivalent to saying that Canadian citizens requtire
tlle guidance of the Canadian Post Office Departmlent
as to what they shall or shall not read.
"One of the best daily newspapers piblished in the
tiUnited States is the New York Sun. It is a paper
which any intelligent Canadiati citizen would be the
better for reading. The subscription price is six dol-
lars a year in the lUnited States; it was fornerly $6
to Cantadian readers as well, but tunder the new poIstal
arrangements the cost is $9. The Breeders' Gazette,
of Chicago, is undoubtedly the best live stock paper iin
America; it is filled from cover to cover with informa-
tion of practical value to stockmlen in all parts of the
continent. To the American reader the cost is $2.00
a year; to the Canadian, due again to the abrogation
of the old postal agreement by our Govertament, it is
$3.00. And what is true as to comparison between
cost and postage in these cases is true also as regards
the New York Outlook, New York Post, and htundreds
of other excellent publications which had a large cir-
culation in this country, and through which our people
w ere beilng broadened and the cause of international
brotherhood strengthened.
"Ecually unfortunate it is that a like restriction is
tnow placed on the circulationt of Canadian papers in
the United States. Forinerly Canadians living in the
Utnited States were enabled to secure their old home
paper at the same price which is charged readers in
Canada. \s a result of this privilege almost every
local paper in Canada had from scores to hundreds of
readers across the border. These papers kept up in
the hearts of the wanderers the love for the old home,
uand were as well weekiy messengers of peace to the
new friends made by these ex-Canadtianis oti the other
side. To-day the postage on Canadian publications
sent to the United States amounts to nhalf the sub-
scription price, and there has been a wholesale cancel-
lation of stbscriptions in consequence.

4I

1~?-?...

Jantuary, 1yo8