but licenses the postriders to carry them,
presumably outside the mail, the charges made by them for the service to
be retained by the riders as a perquisite.

The statute of 1792 first fixed rates for newspapers, as follows: 1 cent
a copy when sent for distances less than 100 miles, and 1-1/2 cents a
copy when sent for distances greater than 100 miles. This charge was
opposed in Congress, and efforts were made to legalize free transmission
by extending, so as to cover the transmission of newspapers, the general
privilege of franking conferred by the Bill on members of Congress, on
the ground that as the Government of the country was a government of
opinion, which always depended ultimately on the suffrages of the
people, much greater reliance was to be placed on the confidence of the
people than on any other circumstance. Such confidence could only
result from the fullest information, which the people had a right to
expect, not only as regards the actions of the Government but as regards
the principles on which they were grounded.[335]

Some members were disposed to approach the question from the financial
side, and contended that the rates proposed were not sufficient to
discharge the expense of the service. The middle way between economic
rates and free transmission was finally adopted.

An Act of 1794 amended the rates on newspapers and provided a further
special rate for magazines and pamphlets. Newspapers might now pass from
any one place to any other within the same State for 1 cent; magazines
and pamphlets at 1 cent a sheet for distances not exceeding 50 miles;
1-1/2 cents a sheet for distances over 50 miles and not exceeding 100
miles; and 2 cents a sheet for any greater distance. A suggestion was
made in Congress to reduce the newspaper rate to half a cent for
distances not exceeding 100 miles, and 1 cent for any greater distance;
on the ground that it was desirable to encourage the distribution of
newspapers from the seat of Government and the large towns, since such
papers must contain more complete information than the country
publications, which could only publish selections from the metropolitan
papers. There was, however, a feeling that country papers performed a
useful function and should be encouraged.

The rates on magazines were altered in 1825 to 1-1/2 cents a sheet for
any distance not exceeding 100 miles and 2-1/2 cents for any greater
distance, when published periodically and sent to subscrib