Loud Smell

The New York News has 1,600,000 daily circulation and the courage of its errors. It pours more ashes in its beard in a year than most other journals do in a generation. Last week the News was at it again. Postmaster General Farley had just announced that the Post Office had lost $46,614,723 in the year ending June 30, 1937. but had it not handled second-class mail (papers & periodicals) for a $89,148,809 loss it would have made $42,534,086.*

"To the extent that the News mails papers," said the breast-beating News, which has only 3,600 mail subscribers, "it participates in this subsidy--a subsidy which smells louder as time goes on."

At a White House conference day later cagey News Reporter John O'Donnell jockeyed incident Roosevelt into openly denouncing the press subsidy by the Government as an "unhealthy thing." Grinning, the President suggested that the press might well campaign for repeal of the 90-year-old subsidy, originally enacted to promote distribution of newspapers and magazines, uplift educational and moral standards. In 24 hours the President had his answer from the American Newspaper Publishers Association. It took a quick sense of its postal committee and solemnly denied that second-class privileges amount to a subsidy. "Charges of private agencies of transportation and distribution" are "far less than those of the Post Office for the same service," says the A. N. P. A.

-The figures:

Post Office Handling Cost Payments By Publications Loss to Post Office Daily Newspapers.... $38,001,739 8,999,158 2,9002,581 All other Newspapers..... 14, 293,411 2,99,241 11,294,170 Magazines.... 35,583,007 9,246,108 24,336,899 Philanthropic, Fraternal papers, etc... .18,512,038 1,903,590 16,608,448 Papers free in country... 7,906,711 none 7,906,711 Total Government Loss.... 89,148,809

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