Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1909-11-27

But there is another people on the
face OF the earth who would have
40, 900 rural mail wagons going out
| every day to serve the millions of pa-
| irons on their routes. who want to use
| this service to carry their small and
| large parcels to and fro from market
and which neglects to provide the
law necessary to use these public car
riers? There is not. The private ex-
! press service is chiefly confined to
| traffic between cities. To be success
full, a business requiring express SER
vice must be located in q large city
| where the different express compan-
| les have their offices. otherwise their
| parcels will be often subjected to two
or three express charges before they
reach their destination. The express
companies present system OF making
rates, based upon volume of business
and the value of the service rendered,
is deadly to the small place and the
small dealer.
Under the growing differentiation
OF industry there is a steadily growing
demand for a door-to-door express
service of parcels ordered by tele-
phone, telegram, or by mail. The bus
mess can not be done by private ex-
press companies to the public salts
faction. Their machinery does not
reach the rural districts. An extend
ded postal service Is the only public
choice. Such would enable the dealer
in a small place perfectly to satisfy
the wants OF the patrons of rural
.N,,... ,D.xA,fa.r .,. f-.... -. .N..x uNI.z
express system of discriminating in
favor of large towns against small
towns, of large dealers against small
dealers, and of exorhitant taxation of
the general public is clearly set forth
in the opinion of the interstate COM
merce commission in the case of Boise
Commercial club VS., Adams Express
company, ct al, recently decided.
Write the commission at washington
D. c. for a copy Of this decision, and
write you congressman Tor a copy of
the speech of Congressman Bennett.
made August 8. 1909. You will find
these good reading and you may wake
congress up to a realization of the inn
%portance of this subject.
The express rate on eight-pound
parcels from New York city to Boise,
Idaho, is $2.20, and the mail rate
from Berlin, Vienna, Rome, London
and other capitals of European
tries to Boise, Idaho. and other
points in the United states is but
from sixty-five cents to eighty-five
cents upon an eight-pound parcel. Is
Is not about time that we quit giving
the foreigner n better rate than we
give our own people? II. for ex-
ample, you live on a rural route, you
may order ten pounds OF coffee from
the City of Mexico at twenty-five
cents per pound and it will be sent
and delivered at our door by your
postman free of POSTAGE; but If You
wanted coffee from your nearby
town grocer, he could send you but
four pounds, n the postage OF that
would be sixty-four cents, more than
the Mexican grocer pays FOR ten
pounds sent to you. Why? Ask your
congressman and senator and the ex-
press companies.
No other government permits com
petition in h carriage of mailable
matter by private express but this
enlightened land of free and home
of the brave 1t was not ever thus
had hardly been organized when they
began to compete with the mails over
the most profitable routes, This be-
came OF such importance, and they
were making such inroads into the
revenues of the postal department
that the attention OF congress was
directed to the necessity of remedial
legislation, n the committee of the
rouse on postoffices and postroads
looked into the subject and reported
to congress under date of February
2s, 1914.
Here are a few sentences from this
report to show its emo The com
mittee is unanimously of opinion thpt
the power granted by the constitution
to establish postoffices and p%ostroads.
and the laws passed in pursuance of
it, are both fraudulently evaded and
wantonly violated and defied; ami
that the government ought. without
hesitation, to interpose its strong arm
to arrest and forever suppress such
lawless conduct 49,. further logisla-
ton Is necessary to protect the pub
lie service, and presents n question
less momentous than this: Wheth-
err the constitution and laws OF the
country or a lawless combination Of
individuals shall triumph?
Ask your congressman n senators
If they have ever read this report.
A law was passed in 1S4S which
made II unlawful for any private ex-
press to carry for hire over any post
road or from any city, town or place
any other city. town or place be-
tween which the mail is regularly
carried, any letter of packet, and
law was inendcd TO prevent
compettittion with the postoffice in
the carriage of mail matter This law
was enforced for a number OF years
we had no postal deficits. Grad
ually its enforcement was neglected,
until now even under this law, the
p~ostofficc department does not claim
q monopoly in the carriage of mail
except as TO letters.
The word packet might as well
nave been left out of the law, even
a court of the Unitetd states
has said that letter and packet IS 4,
simply old-fashioned for mai mat
ter The enforcement of the law
has grown to be an 'old-fashioned'
virtue. long since abandoned. and so
have big postal deficits which you
- 49, wrshtla "a . sIa aa no Time we /