l others.... For this costly abuse, which drags on the
Department and weighs down the service, trammels its power and means of
effective advancement in every direction."--Ibid., 1899, pp. 4 and 5.

In 1900 it was stated that the whole cost of the extension of the rural
free delivery service could be met from the saving which would result
from the elimination of the second-class mail abuses.--Ibid., 1900, p.
13.

In 1901 it was described as "the one great overshadowing evil of the
service, because it underlies and overtops all other reform and
advance."--Ibid., 1901, p. 4.

[341] There had been, under an Act of 26th June 1906, a weighing of
second-class matter from 1st July to 31st December 1906.

[342] _Report of Postal Commission on Second-class Mail Matter_, 1907.
Known as the Penrose-Overstreet Commission, from the names of two of its
members.

[343] The actual statistics to be obtained were defined thus:--

"The Postmaster-General shall cause a record to be kept from July first
to December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seven, inclusive, of the
weight in pounds, respectively, of first-class, second-class, free,
paid-at-the-pound-rate, and transient, third-class, and fourth-class
matter and all franked and penalty matter and the equipment carried in
connection therewith.

"For thirty days during such period he shall require a record to be kept
of the weight of each of the classes above specified despatched from
such post-offices as he shall determine to be representative for the
purpose and have computed thereon, in the most practicable way, the
average haul of the mail of the different classes and sub-classes as
hereinbefore set out. For seven days during such period he shall cause a
record to be kept of the revenue received from each of the classes and
sub-classes of mail matter hereinbefore specified and a count of the
number of pieces of each class and sub-class, showing also for the first
class the number of letters, postal cards, and other matter separately,
and for thirty consecutive days during such period he shall cause a
record to be kept for the purpose of ascertaining the average load of
railway post-office cars other than storage cars, the average load of
storage cars, and the average load in compartment cars.

"Such record shall be reported to Congress by May first, nineteen
hundred and eight, and the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby a