Although special provision had been made in the statute with regard to the amount of compensation to be paid to the proprietors, the determination of the actual amount was a matter of some difficulty, owing largely to the unsatisfactory and unreliable manner 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 rates for local traffic, with the exception of the rate for local letters, were made the same as the general rates for transmission throughout the Imperial postal territory. The rate for letters remained as formerly, 5 pf. for letters not exceeding 250 grammes in weight.[573]