The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1906-09-15
MERCHANTS ATTACK
PARCELS POST PLAN
League Exposes Scheme Of Cata-
logue Mail Order Houses.
BIG CAMPAIGN STARTED.
Extends to all Sections Of the
Counkry-Huge Postal Deficit
May BE Prevented.

Merchants, jobbers and manufacturers
Of all sections of the country are vitall5
Interested in the campaign which has
been begun by the Merchants League oi
America, with headquarters at 2sc
Broadway, New York City. for the pur-
ppse OF opposing the efforts Of the cata-
lgue mail order houses TO saddle on the
lnited States government, through the
cstablishment OF domestic parcels post
The bulk of their expenses OF delivering
goods to purchasers.
The smaller the merchant, the smaller
.he jobber, and the smaller tn. nlnu-
facturer the more vitally is he affected
BY the parcels post plan advanced BY the
catalogue mail order interests, for is es-
Enlistment by Congress would cna Die
big corporate houses to completely
undersell the small merchante and drive
them ont of business.
This would mean calamity to thou
sands OF communities, closing up small
shops, throwing employees out of work,
canoeing the orders to jobbers and man
uiacturers, cutting down the business OF
local banks, reducing the advertising in
loci newspapers, and depreciating prop
erty values in the smaller communities.
And all for the unfair enrichment of the
few men controlling the catalogue mai.
order business of the country, who de-
sire to have the government deliver their
sales at ruinously low prices.
The establishment of domestic par
GELS post means the multiplying by many
times of the already enormous annual
deficit OF ~ Post Office Department, a
deficit which increased from less than
S3,ooo,ooo in 1902 to more than SI+,5oo,-
f1~ r..
fiscal year ending June 80, 1906, it is
believed the deficit will exceed SIs.5oo,-
600, while competent authorities figure
that under domestic parcels post the
annual deficit would reach an annual
total OF SI5o,ooo.ooo
Such deficit would have TO be made
good by the government through the tax
alton OF the whole people, falling largely
on the men who would be injured by
the business gains of the catalogue mail
order houses. Thus summed up, the
campaign of these catalogue mail order
houses is to compel the small merchants
of the country to pay the cost OF their
own determination. The plan would fail
if the government were to carry parcels
at rates which would make the estab-
lishrnent of parcels post self supporting.
az accordingly the rates fixed by the
catalogue mail order interests would pro-
vide revenue estimated at not more
than onc-seveuth the cost to the gov
eminent for handling the business.
These proposed rates range from one
cent for package weighing three ounces
or under to FIVE cents for one pound
packages, with an increase of two cents
per zpound additional until limit of
eleven pounds is reached Thus, an
eleven pound package could be sent from
one end of the country to the other at
a cost of twenty-five cents to the ship
per, while the government would have
to spend approximately SI.7s to handle
the business. Not satisfied with this, the
catalogue mail order houses want free
insurance on each package up to $40,
with exceedingly low rates for registra
ton and insurance for larger amounts.
At the present time only the first-class
mail, consisting of letters and postal
cards, is carried by the government at
profit This class of mail matter, which
aggregates less than IA per cent of the
total mail tonnage handled annually
provides revenue amounting to 90 per
cent Of the total receipts annually.
The profits from first-class mail busi-
ness are more than offset by the losses
in the handling of mail of the other
classes. Under the present postal laws
parcels may be sent through the mails
readily at any time as tourth-class
matter, the uniform rate being one cent
an ounce or sixteen cents a pound.
Reports of the Post Office Department
show that at the present rates fourth
class matter just about pays its own
VIZ but these rates do not give the
casaiogue mail order houses the unfair
advantages they seek.
Representatives of the catalogue mail
order houses, in urging the establish
-nent of domestic parcels rost, cite the
example of Germany. where there is
such a system, and where the postal
department annually earns surplus
about equal to the present deficit in
this country. They do not. however,
point out the fact that the average haul
OF parcels in Germany is forty miles,
while the average parcel haul In this
country is ~ miles. or more than eleven
times what it is in Germany. Neither
do they point out that in Germany the
population is dense. running nearly 500
to the square mile, while in the United
States it is scattered, and averages less
than twenty-five to the square mile The
carrying charges here and the cost OF
distribution over wide areas would make
the cost to the government far higher
than in any European country.
Postmaster General Cortelyou, in his
annual report for 1905, calls attention to
the fact that the department, should a
parcels post system be established,
would get the bulk Of the money-losing
long hauls, while the more profitable
short hauls undoubtedly would go to the
express companies, which, operating un-
der the zone system, would make de-
liveries between nearby points at rates
far under the uniform rate charge OF
the government for all points. Such .