, 1905-04-04
mo PARCELS
POST LAW
MEASURE FOR BENEFIT OF cATA.
LoGUE HOUSES KILLED IN
LAST HOUR OF CONGRESS.
Retail Merchants Of Country to Be
Congratulated Upon Outcome Of
Gallant Fight Made to Prevent Dis
~astrous Law-Fight Will Probably
Be Renewed in Next Congress.

The postoffice appropriation bill was
finally passed in the closing hours of
the session that terminated at noon
on the 4th of March free n clear OF
parcels post amendments of all kinds
and the fifty-eighth congress expired
with a clean record as for as this pop
%ulistic Legislation is concerned. says
the Washington correspondent of the
Denver Commercial Tribune. The out
come can not fail to be highly crafty
ing to retail dealers in all lines, but
it Is only fair to state that a large
measure Of credit is due to those mer-
chants who registered at the most OPP
tests against the pending amendments
and were largely instrumental in bring
ing about their rejection.
The retail merchants of the country
are to be congratulated upon this very
satisfactory outcome. General Bris-
tow's plan was very strongly indorsed
by many merchants and, as will be
seen from the history of the postoftice
appropriation bill, it was rejected not
on its merits but simply because of the
fear that it might be regarded as a step
toward a domestic parcels post, or
might be used as an argument by the
would-be Performers" of the postal ser
vice to force congress to reduce the
merchandise rate throughout the mail
service. The Bristow plan has served
an excellent purpose, for it has demon
strated the unwillingness of congress,
even at the solicitation Of a consider
able contingent of retail merchants, to
adopt a plan which Is antagoniZed by
any of the recognized opponents of a
domestic parcels post
1t would be idle to assume that the
fight for a domestic parcels post has
been brought to an end d OF
the defeat Of these amendments In
the session just ended. The contest
will go on and there Is much to be
done without delay by those who op
pose these schemes. More than one
hundred new members of congress
will take their seats when the house
reconvenes-probably in extra session
next October-and the congressional
recess will afford an excellent oppor-
tunity for retailers and their friends
to ~acquaint their respective congress
men with their views concerning all
these projects.
The most dangerous measure
brought forward in several years is
the proposed consolidation of third
and fourth-class mail matter. 1t has
the support OF the postofice depart
ment for purely administrative reasons
and chiefly because a few patrons OF
the mail occasionally find some diff
Guilty in distinguishing between mer-
chandise and printed matter in the
case Of calendars, samples, etc. Rep
resentative Hedge calculates that on
the basis of the amount of fourth-class
matter now carried in the mails such
a consolidation would result in a loss
of from 1900, 900 to s 5000, 900 per an
mum, which would have to be met by
the general taxpayers chiefly for the
benefit of half a dozen catalogue
houses. OF course, these concerns Will
not be idle and as a full-fedged domes-
tic parcels post seem a good ways
off, they can be relied to concentrate
the,. energies to bring about his con-