The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-11-03
cents pound, but if over four pounds
you must 60 to the cormorant express
company that charges all the traffic will

yOu uu0C 6O " IAC COl ulOI dllI cApleS
company that charges all the traffic will
BEAR
Again, let us see how we are treated
In this business. Our government ham
died in 1893 5000 million pieces of mail
at loss of $1O,OOO,O ,OOO England han
died 2,7S5 million pieces at a profit of
$14,000,0 900. Therefore, it will be seen
tfat on like amount Of business with
us the profit Of the English postoffice
would be over $25, 900 900, and England
has the parcels post and cheaper post
age that will counterbalance the shorter
average distance the packages are car
ried. 1t will be claimed by some that
because this country is thousands Of
miles across, while England is OILY
hundreds, therefore there is no safe
ground of comparison. The answer is
that it is ascertained that in any coun-
carriage of letter or package is short
(the average passenger ride on che N.
Y, N. H. & Hartford railroad is 1904
miles), and therefore the distance across
the country cuts but little figure. There
are hundreds of short trip rides and
short trip packages to one that extends
across the country
The loss to the United States IN the
operation of our postal service is all
caused, and more too, by the corporate
greed that demands, and the cowardly
acquiescence of congress that gives,
the exorbitant rates paid to the railway
companies for carrying the mails In
credible as it may seem, the government
pays as rental on postal car a sum
yearly sufficient to pay for the car, and
then it continues to pay for it again
each year for the average twenty years
Of the "life of the car" In the light of
this information, is it any wonder that
railway companies can and do spend
large sums to keep their own paid at
torneys in congress to superintend the
appropriations and see to it that no
hitch occurs or cut is made in the rates?
The more this matter is probed the
more Goes it smell of excessive rotten
ness in high places. In ore case S59,-
037.75 was paid for annual rental on
FOUR postal cars that could 3c fully
built and equipped for $17, $50, and this,
too, in addition to the full pay by
weight for carrying the mail The pay
for carrying should include the Use of
the car, as in the case OF other freight,
but simply because a special pattern
of car is required the companies ask
aud congress gives them the full value
of the cars annually (and in this one
case above it gives three times the
full value of the cars) in addition to
the carriage cost.
Testimony in 1895 before the Inter
state Commerce Commission showed
that the uniform" milk rate into New
York city covers a"zene"1 of $50 ra:!esi
That is applying the postage stamp
principle to freight in the single case
Of milk. Why should milk have this
rate, and not the COW that gave the
milk nor the calf that fattened on the
milk, nor the passenger who milked tie
milk near Utica or Syracuse and, trav-
cling on the same train with it, drinks
it with his MONDAY lunch at a Broad
way cafe? The only answer is found
in the greed of corporations, who find
that by making a low and uniform rate
on milk, that they can induce a larger
quantity of it to travel to New York
IN bulk, rather than wait to be skinned
and churned. The corporation agents
are fully appraised of how much
given change Of rates would make or
lose to the company, and the rate card
for both passengers and freight is made
out solely for it's dividend bearing abil-
ity. But this article is getting too
long. However, a careful examination
reveals the fact that the express busi-
ness of this country should re combined
with the postal department. of govern
ment. We are far behind the rest of
the world in this matter, and should
wake up before we are completely
swamped and our patrimony eternally
lost and swallowed up by few rail-
way cormorants.