-11.8. Congress. House. HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES EIGHTY-FOURTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON UNORDERED MERCHANDISE TRANSMITTED BY MAIL (UNDER AUTHORITY OF H. RES. 304) FEBRUARY 28, 29; MARCH 2 AND 5, 1956 Printed for the use of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service 56-62248 75787 UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1956 CONTENTS Page Ford, Vincent M., executive vice president and general manager, Goff, Hon. Abe McGregor, Solicitor, Post Office Department_ Jordan, Father T. J., Catholic University, representing the Association Kip, Kermit F., representing the Akwell Corp., Akron, Ohio. 144 Patric, Marvin W., Jamestown Stamp Co., Jamestown, N. Y. Phillips, Walter P., president, Betty Phillips, Inc......... Post, Seymour, representing Standard International Library, Inc.. Stephens, David H., Chief Postal Inspector, Post Office Department. - Sutliff, M. J., president, Greystone Corp., New York, N. Y__ Tumulty, Hon. T. James, Representative in Congress from the State UNORDERED MERCHANDISE TRANSMITTED BY MAIL TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1956 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND POSTAL OPERATIONS, Washington D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, in room 213, Old House Office Building, at 10 a. m., Hon. John Dowdy (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Dowdy, Robeson, Fascell, Kilgore, St. George, Gubser, and Cederberg; ex-officio member, Mr. Rees. The CHAIRMAN. The subcommittee will come to order. I have a little statement I will place in the record here. The hearings which begin today are being conducted under direcion of the House of Representatives as contained in House Resolution 304. Paragraph (5) of the resolution directs the committee to investigate The mailability of articles and printed matter generally, including, among other things, the mailing of unsolicited articles with requests for payments or contributions. One of the practices complained of consists of sending unordered merchandise through the mail, coupled with the followup of very strong letters of collection. According to information received by the committee, this business has grown to tremendous proportions, grossing hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Unsuspecting citizens who unwittingly pay for some of these items find themselves placed on a "preferred" list which causes them to be bombarded by a volume of such material. The subcommittee intends to explore also the practices of stampsales organizations and books and record sales groups which refuse to cut off orders brought about by misleading statements contained in advertisements. Before setting the hearings the subcommittee reviewed a Post Office Department display of many such items. In determining to conduct this study we were deeply concerned about the fact that the Post Office Department is being called upon to subsidize these very questionable business practices--many of them bordering on actual illegality-the subsidy being, of course, through low mail rates. This subsidy contributes much to the multimillion dollar loss of the Post Office Department, as it is principally thirdclass mail. Very likely we will explore also the need for tightening up postal laws and regulations as they relate to other phases of the study. Spe 1 36 143 |