er in which the
accounts of many of the undertakings had been kept.[568] In several
cases also the owners asked exorbitant amounts.

After much negotiation the sum to be paid was finally decided. It
amounted to some six million marks. In order to get rid of the private
establishments for the handling of private letters, etc., the Imperial
Administration therefore paid in all (i.e. including the compensation to
the employees of the private undertakings) a sum of about 7-1/2 million
marks.[569]

The new rates were as follow[570]:--

(_a_) Letters--
Not exceeding 250 grammes in weight 5 pf.
(_b_) Postcards 2 pf.
(_c_) Printed matter--
Not exceeding 50 grammes 2 pf.
50 grammes to 100 " 3 pf.
100 " 250 " 5 pf.
250 " 500 " 10 pf.
500 " 1,000 " 15 pf.
(_d_) Commercial papers--
Not exceeding 250 grammes 5 pf.
250 grammes to 500 " 10 pf.
500 " 1,000 " 15 pf.
(_e_) Samples--
Not exceeding 250 grammes 5 pf.
250 grammes to 350 " 10 pf.
(_f_) Mixed packages of (_c_), (_d_), and (_e_)--
Not exceeding 250 grammes 5 pf.
250 grammes to 500 " 10 pf.
500 " 1,000 " 15 pf.

These rates applied throughout the Imperial postal territory, including
Berlin, which thus for the first time obtained the advantage of local
rates; and in 1902 they were extended to all places which had a post
office for only part of the year, such as small watering-places, summer
resorts, and beauty spots.[571]

The result of the reduced rates was not satisfactory financially. It was
not, of course, possible to calculate with any exactness the actual cost
of the service performed by the Post Office in respect of local traffic;
but such estimates as the administration were able to make tended to
show that the cost exceeded the revenue, and that the local business was
therefore conducted at some loss.[572] Consequently, when in 1906
Imperial requirements made it necessary to obtain an increased revenue
from the Post Office, the administration placed the burden on the local
traffic, although not without some opposition in the Reichstag. On the
1st July 1906 the ra