�splitting Up the Country
��Do you know that the postage on your magazines is to be increased by several hundred per cent be- ginning July 1st, unless you and other intelligent citizens protest strongly enough? It is a huge tax on intelligence. For many years one cent has carried a pound of publications to any place in the country. This rate on publications is called "The Second Class Rate."
Penalized for Where You Live
In the War Revenue Bill is a clause placing a very high postage rate on the advertising pages of magazines — the rate increasing with the distance carried — • in other words a zone system as on parcel post. It now costs about 1 3^ cents to carry a copy of Popular Science Month- ly to the Pacific Coast.
But when the Second Class Postal clause in the War Revenue Bill is in full effect it will cost over six cents to carry one copy of this magazine — over 72 cents a year, as compared with the present cost of 15 cents! Just think of it! The further you happen to live from New York the more postage you will have to pay on your Popular Science Monthly and on all the other magazines you read that are printed in New York!
You know that if you bought the con- tents of one issue of Popular Science AIonthly in book form it would cost at least one dollar, and probably a good deal more. But you buy Popular Science Monthly for 15 cents.
��This is made possible by the one-cent-a- pound postage and by the advertisements. To place a huge tax on the advertising pages is to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Why does Congress, now, in the midst of the War, want to throttle the press, the one vital force that keeps the country united. It was by the jugglery of Con- gressman Kitchin that the Second Class Postage clause was passed as a part of the War Revenue Bill. A little group in the House of Representatives proposed it, the Senate voted it down; then the little group put it back, and insisted. You know how the discussion in Congress on the War Revenue Bill dragged and dragged. ■ Finally, the only chance of passing the Bill was to take it all — hook, line and sinker, including the vicious postage tax on magazine readers — and it was passed!
What You Should Do About It
No, The Zone System must be repealed before it goes into effect on July 1st. The Senate thinks it vicious. The people don't want it, and they must protest.
You and every reader of magazines should write to your Senator and your Congressman; tell them that you want the Zone System repealed.
If you want the names of your Senator and your Congressman, or any other assistance, write to the Editor of Popular Science Monthly — he will gladly help you.
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