Mr. LATIMER. As counsel for the committee may I direct this question to you, Mr. Downer, and the other veterans' publications, since their problems are somewhat the same. Are you prepared to offer a suggested amendment that will take care of your situation?

Senator WELKER. If he isn't I will.

Mr. DOWNER. We could do so. We did not prepare one, and I did not include one in the statement, because our statement deals entirely with second-class postal matters and I think there are other veterans who are more concerned in third class than in second class. Mr. LATIMER. I might say for the benefit of Senator Welker, last year they offered an amendment that was quite helpful to us as we studied the bill.

The CHAIRMAN. May I suggest, then, that it would not hurt to present one to the committee.

Mr. DOWNER. Very well.

The CHAIRMAN. If we can have it before us it may be helpful to us. Mr. DOWNER. Very well.

The CHAIRMAN. But in drawing it up I suggest that you make it as general as possible, not only to cover you but the American Legion and all the other service organizations.

Mr. DOWNER. Very well.

STATEMENT OF MRS. MARGIE MALMBERG, DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON OFFICE, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Mrs. MALMBERG. I am Mrs. Margie Malmberg, director of the Washington office of the American Library Association, a professional organization of the country's 20,000 librarians, trustees, and friends of libraries.

The American Library Association is most appreciative of the great public service rendered by the Post Office Department in providing an inexpensive medium for the dissemination of goods and services to all the people of the land. While we believe the majority of our citizens recognize these services for their true worth Congress might well, in a statement of purpose, clearly define those public service features to eliminate any misinformation or unwarranted accusations regarding postal deficits. Those services which most nearly fall into the category of public service should be clearly defined with an appropriate recognition of deficits. It is our understanding that the Post Office Department was not established as a profit-making busi

ness.

We have long appreciated the foresight of Congress in inaugurating quick and inexpensive methods of communicating ideas and information. We have profited from your policy to accord a special rate to public library books. It has helped libraries with limited budgets to extend their services to rural areas. It has also helped through interlibrary loans with other libraries; it has helped us to inexpensively supplement each other's collections and multiply the usefulness of books to individuals. As you know 33 million Americans are without access to a local public library, and those people fortunate enough to know of the services of their State library rely upon it to supply them with books, pamphlets, periodicals, and film by mail. Generally, too, these same people forward their requests by Government card. The special book rate is a boon to servicing rural people either from a local,

regional, or State library. At the same time we have always proposed that books be approved for mailing at the second-class rate for reading

matter.

We regret that in 1925 Congress gave the ICC the right to fix fourthclass rates. We urge that the authority be returned to Congress to adjust rates according to the total postal picture. Frankly, we will be affected financially, from $300,000 to $500,000, and seriously inconvenienced by the proposed ICC rate increase and size of package limitations. The library book rate only affects the library book rates between public libraries, between libraries and their patrons, and vice

versa.

While ALA represents all the libraries of the country, I will speak primarily for the public libraries since others will be speaking for schools and colleges. Of our 7,400 public library systems, 2,222 of them have less than $1,000 for all expenses including heat, light, rent, personnel, books, and periodicals; and 1,916 have from $1,000 to $4,000 budgets. Considering such budgets it is apparent why we are increasingly concerned with any increases in our expenditures. Any increase in rates would further restrict already inadequate service.

Libraries are users of postal cards for overdue, reserve, and other notification services, for ordering materials, and for quick, easy reference to patrons. We estimate the increase to 2 cents would cost public libraries at least $100,000.

In 1948 American public libraries alone spent $13 million for books and periodicals. About $3 million was spent for periodicals and $10 million for books. After much checking with authorities we have estimated that the current expenditures for postage on these magazines would be no less than $150,000 for the estimated 750,000 periodicals. The doubled rates would amount to a $300,000 cut in our periodical budgets.

As you know 90 percent of all libraries are Government agencies, either Federal, State, or local, and as such are tax supported. Any increase in postal rates means either an increase in tax rates or curtailments. With the growing talk of economy prospects for increases are slim.

A final word on our own organization's professional periodical, the ALA Bulletin with its current postage costs of roughly $1,200 a year. Should the postage rate on such nonprofit professional journals double, the bulletin would have to be restricted either in size or quality since previous budgetary cuts eliminated a reserve fund.

We are grateful for this opportunity to explain how adversely any increase in postal rates will affect the libraries of the country. We have appreciated your previous thoughfulness of our cause, and hope you will consider the plight of public service institutions designed to supply needed information to all ages and classes of people.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mrs. Malmberg.

Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Chairman, I have the statements of Mr. James B. Cook, Jr., of Wake Forest, N. C., and Mr. Harold McAvoy, the national president of the National Association of Post Office and Postal Transportation Service Mail Handlers, Watchmen and Messengers, to be inserted in the record.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, they may be inserted in the record.

(The statements referred to are as follows:)

STATEMENT OF JAMES B. COOK, JR., WAKE FOREST, N. C.

At this time I hope that the Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service will adopt a positive approach to the postal rate problem, which the committee has declined to meet for several years. Regardless of in what operations or services the deficit occurs, it is still a fact that the Postmaster General has to draw each year on the Treasury for $500,000,000 of general tax revenue in addition to postal receipts in order to operate the postal service, and it is further true that a deficit of that size must be made up in large part by an increase of rates, regardless of additional mechanization or operating economies.

The Postmaster General's recommendations have my support in general, although I do not think they go far enough. I support particularly the increase on second-class and special services.

Opponents of the second-class increase will bring forward the following arguments:

(1) That the cost ascertainment system is faulty and that too large a proportion of the deficit is assessed against second-class.

(2) That the publishers themselves perform a number of postal functions in the mailing of their publications, for which they receive no credit in the cost ascertainment.

(3) That the Department does not offer speedy and timely service to the publishing industry and its rates are in excess of those quoted by private transportation services for better services.

My comments are as follows:

(1) The publishers have never produced any compelling proof from an accounting standpoint that the cost ascertainment as set up now is faulty, but have in general put forward their own opinions. I concede that evidence has been produced that the cost ascertainment work is or was not carefully done in at least one large post office, however.

(2) For the low rates charged, the publishers should be expected to perform some of the elementary postal functions, since the rate charged in most cases does not even cover transportation costs to the Department.

(3) Other mail than second-class must be carried, and the Department cannot afford to set up a separate transportation system with schedules purely for the convenience of publishers. In fact, why should it do so if the publishers are able, as they say they are, to obtain better and cheaper service elsewhere?

The statement that cheaper service is available to the publishers elsewhere is open to question in my mind. The post office delivers directly to the subscriber's door, whereas if private truck or baggage shipments are made, the publishers must employ a distributor or newsboy at the point of delivery to get the publication to the subscriber, and usually the newsboy or distributor is paid a sum in excess of the postage paid to the Post Office Department for the same service. In the case of "exceptional dispatches," if the publisher did not use the post office for final delivery, he would have to pay a newsboy more than he would pay the post office.

Without regard to any data submitted by either the publishers or the Department, it is obvious even to the layman that the present second-class rates which have been in effect since 1934 (with only slight changes since 1925) are utterly out of line with the price and wage trends of the past several years.

On the other hand leaving aside the merits of the Department's rate requests, I consider that the Department is able to effect further far-reaching operating economies, particularly as follows:

(1) Fourth-class post offices, of which there are too many. A table is attached showing data regarding these offices, and it is seen that there is a wide variation between States unexplainable either on the basis of population density or other peculiar conditions.

Why are 1,808 fourth-class offices needed in Kentucky, when Alabama, a larger State with approximately the same population, gets along with only 516? The same thing is true of Maryland and Pennsylvania, which are in drastic contrast to the four States immediately below them on the list. The question is especially pertinent when one realizes that the operation of every fourth-class office in the United States is a loss, since a fourth-class postmaster's salary is always in excess of the receipts of his office.

I could take the post route maps and scheme distributions and demonstrate that one-third to one-half of the fourth-class offices in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky could be eliminated without detriment to the service or any considerable complaint from the public.

The discontinuance of post offices is vested by law (39 U. S. C. 2) in the Postmaster General. The Department for some years has had a successful consolidation program for rural routes, and I can see no reason why the same principles cannot be applied to fourth-class post offices.

(2) An effective personnel program. In most of the larger offices assignments of personnel to jobs is done by a bid system among the employees, in such a manner that seniority is almost always the sole determining factor to the exclusion of any others, and the result is that the Department actually exercises rather nominal control on assignments.

This is very clearly brought out in the General Accounting Office report on the Los Angeles post office (H. Rept. 2391, 80th Cong., 2d sess., pp. 41-45), which was very thoroughly done. The General Accounting Office investigators stated: "The system of permitting regular employees to bid on jobs and the assignment to the bidder of a job because of seniority has practically eliminated any reason for an employee to produce to the best of his ability and has caused waste and extravagance in certain functions of the office as well as in individual jobs." That is a serious statement in view of the fact that 80 percent of the Department's expenditures are for personnel.

This report was submitted to the House on June 17, 1948, and I have not learned since that time that the Department has made any effort to overhaul personnel practices.

(3) Closer supervisison of post offices. At present, routine inspection of post offices does not go beyond a check-up to ascertain that financial responsibility is met and that the law in general is followed. Any other supervision is generally exercised by the Department through correspondence. I advocate strongly a substantial increase in the complement of inspectors, as I feel that if each post office could be carefully checked on minor details of administration, further savings can be effected, especially in such items as supplies and utilization of clerical personnel.

83782-51-16

States in order of population density showing number and ratio to population of fourth-class post offices

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee on S. 1046:

Our organization would like to go on record as endorsing the provisions as outlined in S. 1046, which provides for readjustment of postal rates.

I sincerely hope that you and the members of your committee will favorably report on this meritorious piece of legislation.

Thank you for the privilege of appearing before you.

Respectfully submitted.

HAROLD MCAVOY,

National President, National Association of Post Office and Postal Transportation Service Mail Handlers, Watchmen, and Messengers. APRIL 3, 1951.

Mr. LATIMER. Most of these are in favor of the bill, although some are not: A letter from Mr. E. A. Meeks, national secretary, National League of District Postmasters; a suggested amendment which is in line with the amendment to S. 1103 from Mr. A. J. Burnes, president