Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-12-05
TO RECOMMEND
PARCEL POST
ter General Also in
Favor OF Postal Savings Banks.

From the address OF POSTMASTER
General G. Won L. Meyer, delivered
before the New England Postmaster's
association at Boston, Mass, we pub
lish the following recommendations
which he will make to congress in his
annual report:
| propose to recommend the estab-
lishment of parcel post on rural
routes which will meet the objections
of the small storekeepers and re-
tailers. This will be boon to our
rural population, and to the store
keeper. as the latter can receive his
orders by mail or telephone and dis
patch the desired merchandise by the
rural carrier. The farmer will be
saved from hitching up his horse and
losing the time he needs for planting
or harvesting his crops, and it will
enable the StOrekeeper to increase his
sales and meet the requirements of
modern trade. If my recommends
tions are adopted, it will cost II cents
pound for the mail-order house to
send parcels to the rural delivery
patron from any city poStotfice, while
for delivery from the distributing
office of the rural route, or il mailed
by patron OF any rural route for de-
livery to patron on the same route.
or at the distributing postotf1ce of
said route, the charge will be out 5
cents for the first pound and 2 cents
for each additional pound up to IL
pounds, or % cents for package
weighing Ii pounds In Germany the
small storekeeper has not this ad-
vantage in competing with mail-order
houses, but he has adapted himself to
the situation, and in many instances
has become the agent in his town,
I, thus supplying the people with goods
which it is impossible for him to keep
in stock without a great outlay of
money.
| am also considering the advisa-
bility of recommending local parcel
post delivery at city free-delivery
postoffices, but in order to install such
a system it will be necessary to obtain
from Congress a special appropriation
to acquire wagons and automobiles
to do the required hauling. AS al
ready stated, there is parcel post eX-
listing in the United States today, but
at rate of 16 cents per pound, and
limit of pounds, The object of my
recommendation to Congress will be
to get a decrease that will meet the
rates charged for parcels sent by post
to other countries. In other words,
reduction of cents a pound, and an
increase in weight which will COM
pare in some measure to that which
has been adopted by other highly
civilized nations An 1l-pound limit
will, however, be far from the maxi
mum established by France %
nnnndSA Garnaanu (l10 nnnn6CA and
Belgium 1872 pounds).
Another matter of great public in
terest which [ shall recommend for
the consideration of Congress is a |
postal savings bank system, which has
been adopted by many countries in
the last thirty or forty years. These |
banks were established in England as
early as 1861, in France in 1882, and
in Austria in 1888. Now. with US in
New England, we realize that the
necessity forpostal savings banks is
very much less than in many other
parts of the country, and this is
demonstrated by the fact that in
New England the average distance of
the savings bank from the postoffice
is about Is miles: in the Middle and
Western States it is about % miles:
in the Southern States. 30 miles: and
in the Pacific Slope States 50 miles.
We desire TO encourage among our
people economy and thrift, and by the
use of the postal savings banks to give
them every opportunity to husband
their resources. The policy will not
be to compete in any way with the
savings banks, but rather to en-
courage the habit of depositing saw
ings. The people that we shall want
to reach are, first, those who have not
the facilities at hand for depositing
their money in savings bank, and
secondly. the foreign population
which is entering the country in such
enormous numbers, and which is, to
great extent, boarding it's surplus
earnings. The immigrants reach the
United States suspicious of any pri-
yate banking institution, but with !
absolute faith in the Government. |
We have evidence of this in the fact
that they are buying postal money
orders payable to themselves Our
object is to bring hidden money to
light, to instill life into it, and to
lead it again into the channels of
trade, for the mutual benefit of labor
and capital, and thus add to the
prosperity throughout the land.