ary printed matter of similar size and weight. In 1900, in the
inland service in Germany, some 440 million packets of ordinary printed
matter were transmitted, and the postage on them amounted to 21,133,499
M. If the 1,150 million newspapers had yielded postage in the same
proportion, they would have brought in a revenue of some 55 millions of
Marks, whereas in actual fact they yielded only some 6-1/2
millions.[395]

The present rate rests on the two grounds of frequency of issue and
weight of copies. It is therefore in practice more difficult to apply
than the former rate based simply on the price, since the weight factor
is variable and requires exact determination in every case. Moreover,
the Reichstag forbade rounding up of the weight, which would be
essential if a rate in even pfennigs were to be ascertained. The
calculation of the actual rate must be carried to the second decimal
place in pfennigs, and a rounding up of broken pfennigs is permitted
only at the final settlement for the regular subscription period. This
complexity has, of course, added largely to the cost of administration,
without a corresponding increase in revenue.

It is anticipated that with the growth of the newspaper traffic the loss
to the postal administration will tend to increase rather than to
diminish. There is, however, no disposition to restrict the privilege
accorded to newspapers. The attempt made by the administration in 1899
to secure an increased revenue from them was, as explained, frustrated
by the Reichstag. Since 1852 the Post Office has held the monopoly of
the distribution of political newspapers, and the general advantage
resulting from such an effective control of the dissemination of public
intelligence no doubt explains the continuance of so favourable and
unremunerative a rate.[396]

NOTE ON DELIVERY FEES FOR NEWSPAPERS.

House-to-house delivery of newspapers was introduced in 1828, the lowest
charge (i.e. in addition to ordinary postage) being 30 pf. quarterly.

In 1872 a uniform delivery fee was fixed for town and country. For
papers appearing weekly or less frequently the charge was 15 pf., for
papers appearing two or three times weekly 25 pf., for papers appearing
four to seven times weekly 40 pf., and for papers appearing more
frequently than seven times weekly 50 pf. quarterly. The system of
charging delivery fees has been continued, and those at present in
operation are:--