not, however, prove altogether satisfactory,
because the term "sheet" was not defined with any degree of precision.
It was thought that a better basis for the rate might be found in the
price at which the newspapers were sold to the public, because, it was
argued, the price must stand in exact proportion to the number and size
of the copies, and also to their real value. Accordingly, in 1848 the
rate was fixed generally at 25 per cent. of the published price.[381] At
a somewhat later date this rate was reduced to 12-1/2 per cent. of the
published price in the case of newspapers appearing less frequently than
four times a month.[382] In 1871 the minimum yearly rate payable in
respect of any newspaper was fixed at 4 sgr.[383]

The application of this tariff resulted in many cases in considerable
discrepancies between the amount charged and the service rendered. The
improvements in the manufacture of paper and in the methods of printing,
particularly the introduction of the rotary press, had cheapened the
processes of production, and led to a great expansion of the newspaper
trade. With this expansion came a more than proportionate expansion of
the business of advertising. The result was that, as in England and
America, the newspapers increased in bulk; but so far from there being
a corresponding increase in price, there was in point of fact a very
considerable decrease. Moreover, advertisements became a more important
source of revenue than the subscriptions themselves. A rate of charge
based on the selling price, which might have been reasonable when
newspapers were produced under the old conditions, was totally
inapplicable under the altered circumstances.[384]

The financial results proved extremely unsatisfactory. From the causes
indicated, the average weight of the individual copies of newspapers
continued to increase, while at the same time the price (and with the
price, the postage) continued to decrease.

In 1897 the administration of the Imperial Post Office estimated that
the total cost of the transmission of newspapers by post in Germany, for
staff, post offices, transport, equipment, etc., was 6,178,362 M., or
about 66/100 pf. per copy.[385] The number of newspapers transmitted by
post in Germany was at that time about a thousand millions annually, and
the total postage received in respect of them was less than 5 million
M., or on the average about 1/2 pf. per copy;[386] in the case of a
number of papers the