| Show Increased Postal Rates Doom for Papers Adoption of the increased postal rates now asked by the Kennedy administration will touch off a wave wa of newspaper and failures s throughout through hout h- h out the nation and will be the death blow to thousands o 0 of I f town small-town merchants and fam fani operated ily-operated small factories Joseph Jo Jo- Joseph seph II H. Salt Lake City book publisher and candidate for the United States Senate from Utah said in to a letter he sent to all members of the Congress In urn many smaller towns newspapers are almost wholly dependent upon rural mail delivery delivery de de- livery to reach tench their widely widely- scattered subscribers and to adequately serve as the main means of t i ion o n among the people of their areas arcas These papers already are arc struggling against the heavy odds of technological improvement improvement improvement im im- provement costs and population losses and the increase of postal rates in many cases will wiH willbe willbe be the Hie straw that will break the camels camel's back for them Indeed many town small newspapers already have fold folded folded folded ed since world war II because of the city bound rush of the people to take up jobs in an increasing ever-increasing o 0 n of industry And in these communities communities com com- where an adequate public press no longer exists the result soon becomes commercial commercial commercial com com- mercial and social stagnation Merchants who still sUIl arc are brave enough to carry carryon on must use third third- and fourth-class fourth mails to reach their scattered custom custom- ers An And the community better ment services of course which have always been able to reach the public free through the press are arc no longer able to reach the people with unifying ideas and ideals In man many of these town community life would practically be destroyed by an increase in third and fourth class mail rates The people who are raising all this about junk mail simply do not know as I much as the they ought to about the economic and social systems systems systems of oC this nation especially as 38 they apply to small towns Weston said Finally he added the increase of rates in these classes classes classes clas clas- ses of postage will deal such a severe blow to our institution of ol the free press in the United States that the cause of totalitarian totalitarian totalitarian government will be rapidly rapidly rapidly rap rap- idly advanced |
