Message to the House of Representatives Transmitting Reports on the Extension of 2-cent Letter Postage to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and The Netherlands

To the House of Representatives:

In response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of February 20, 1913, requesting the President of the United States—

if not incompatible with the public interest, to transmit to the House of Representatives all information that may be in his possession or the possession of the Department of State or the Post Office Department as to the practicability of extending a 2-cent letter postage rate, similar to that in force with Great Britain and Germany, to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and whether offers or intimations of a willingness on the part of any of said countries to establish such postal rates have been received, and if received, what action was taken in that behalf and the reason therefor—

I transmit herewith reports by the Secretary of State and the Postmaster General upon the subject matter.

WM. H. TAFT.

The White House, March 1, 1913.

Department of State, Washington, February 28, 1913.

To the President:

The undersigned Secretary of State, to whom was referred a copy of the resolution adopted in the House of Representatives on February 20, 1913. has the honor to report that there is no information in the possession of the Department of State as to the practicability of extending the 2-cent letter postage rate and that no offers or intimations of a willingness on the part of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands to establish such postal rates have been received by it.

P. C. Knox, Secretary.

Post Office Department, Washington, February 26, 1913.

To the Postmaster General:

Replying to your inquiry in connection with House resolution 809 I have the honor to state as follows:

The agreement with Great Britain for a 2-cent letter rate of postage became operative October I, 1908. The agreement with Germany applying only to letters exchanged between the United States and Germany by sea direct became operative January 1, 1909. Both of the agreements were exceptional and experimental, and no similar agreements except that with the colony of Newfoundland have been concluded since. Proposals for similar agreements received from other countries, including Denmark and Norway, have been replied to uniformly to the effect that the department is not prepared to extend the 2-cent letter rate to any other countries. No proposals for a 2-cent letter rate appear to have been received from either the Netherlands or Sweden.

Letters from this country for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and The Netherlands, unless dispatched by slow steamers not used for the conveyance of such letters, would be required to pass in transit over one or more intervening countries in which this department would have to pay the transit charges fixed by the Universal Postal Convention, which would make the 2-cent rate on letters for those countries less advisable than the 2-cent rate on letters for Great Britain and Germany, which involves this department in no charges for intermediary transit.

It is estimated that during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1912, the agreements with Great Britain and Germany resulted in the loss of postal revenue to this department amounting to $899,961.92, assuming that the same number of letters would have been dispatched at the regular postal-union rate as were actually dispatched at the 2-cent rate.

In view of the loss of revenue involved and of possible changes in international postage rates which may result from the next Universal Postal Congress which will be held at Madrid in the spring of 1914, it is not deemed practicable or desirable to conclude agreements for 2-cent letter postage at this time with Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, or any other foreign country.

Joseph Stewart,

Second Assistant Postmaster General.