The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-05-26

u
for some time between the express
| companies and the banks bids fair 70
continue. The banks declare that tue
express companies are acting as panA
| ers when they deal In express money
| orders, while the express companies az
sert that they are simply transferring
money from place to place LOT
patrons. They have gone to the Inter-
state Commerce Commission with the'.
differences. and the matter Will pe
fought to q finish. This question may
we'll agitaate the banks, since lnoie
than l4.000.000 money orders were
sued by the express companies Lae
year. The money transferreao I onn "no
them amounted to about $lbo,ooo'oVo,
| In addition thereto 100000 travellers
checks and letters OF credit were 10
| sued having face value OF $zo,ovos
600. All Of this business Is regaroeu
by the banks as being properly theirs
Another effort was made recently "
curtail the business Of the express
comnanies, There is q law which pro-
hibits private enterprises from con.
peting with Uncle Sam in the carrying
of the mall. Acting on that law an
Arkansas citizen instituted SUIT IN
| the United States courts to proven. lno
| express companies from hanohns psoA
ages of four pounds or less ,.,as -
| that such packages were entitIeo "
be carried in the mails. and tnat 10
carry them otherwise was vioiation
of the law. The express companies
| fled a demurrer, and the Federal Judge
threw the case out of court on tnis os-
murrer. Nt
THE express companies are the most
n,ttar onnonents Of the parcels post.
not even excepting the small local mer-
chant. FOR q long time. Thomas ".
Plat, President of the United Sta.es
Express Company, was MEMBER VI ~
United States Senate. and he was iaIse
ly influential In preventing any aclon
looking to the establishment OF .ne p a.
cells post. The express companies uo
clare that u will not pay the covers.
ment. Th& assert that the rates ~
NAYS for tie transportation OF mans ~
80 nigh that 1t would be losing ven
| ture to carry parcels at the rates pr
posed. Furthermore. they ado' conu
lions here canpet be 1uosea ny naul
there is less than ffty miles. while tney
assert the average haul here ID mor~
IN this connection one fact stands ous
In plain relief; the express companlss
do get better rates from the raiiroa1s
than the government can optain'
though the railroads assert that tney
| are losing money In carrying the mails,
thew are getting much higher compen-
sation therefor than they get lor car
| ryinx express. To begin with. the raii'
roads furnish the express companies
with cars free Of mileage charges wnirw
the government has to pay enough !"
two or three years to buy outright ev.
cry car IL uses. The express companies
give the railroads about forty per cent
Of the charges for carrying eacn con-
sionment On this basis the rate of pay
ner mound for almost Identical service II
very much lower In the case OF ex'
press companies than Tor CARRYING tnS
mails. vet a determined enort Is 10 pc
made to increase. by some $1O.o0O,o0Vs
the cost of transporting the mail.
The courts have handed down some
tnterestinR decisions lately with regard
to the express companies. one relateo
to the issuance of express franks. Ihe
American Express Company held tnas
when the railroad rata law prohiDlteo
the issuance Of passes" It did not have
any idea of making that word apply to
express franks, and with that view
went ahead issuing them The courts
took the matter up, ana Judge hohi-
saat, OF Chicago. rendered an opinion In
which he declared that q pass ana
frank are one and the same thing SO
| tar as the rate law is concerned.
A bank at Aberdeen. 8. D.. sought TO
compel the express company to receive
constgnments OF money in the evening,
SO It could be forwarded on the carry
train next morning. The express COM
pany refused to accept the consign-
ments. The state courts all upheld the |
contention of the bank. Then the ex- |
press company carried the matter to the |
Federal courts. where 1t was held that
the bank, having a safety vault OF It's
own, would have to keep its money |
there. The result Is that the Aberdeen |
bankers now have to be up by sunrise
to get their money shipments away on |
the first train.
The express business is now seventy |
years old. In 1889, William +. Harnden, |
valise in hand. made four trips week
between New York and Boston, carry
ing valuables and small packages. His
old carpet-bag was the fore-runner OF
that great American institution, the ex-
press car. Before that time valuables
were entrusted to friends. or even to
strangers, who were introduced by a
mutual friend and the man who was
going to New York or Boston could de-
pend upon being we'll laden with the
vaIuables of his acquainsances. The
man who would not accommodate EEL
low being in this way was regarded as
a surly person and there was a certain
unwritten law to the effect that good
breeding was indicated by a Willingness
to become a private express messenger
for everybody.
From the small beginning of Harm
express companies which reaches ev-
cry town in the United States. 1T COW
ers nearly a quarter million miles OF
railroad and electric lines. and does al
business amounting to $l2S.OOO.OO0
year. There are six principal express
companies, and they do about 80 per
cent of the express business. The ex-
press service has been so highly de-
veloped that even the Philippines are
now included. and one may send ex'
press packages to more than one hun
dred Offices in those far-off islands
Prepayment Is an essential condition in
expressing packages to Philippine
points.
Someone has said that the express
companies buy transportation at whole
sale and sell 1t at retail. but even this
Is not all. They do an order and com
mission business. Fruit growers ev-
erywhere declare that the Interstate
Commerce Commission ought not to take
the right of doing this sort of business
out of their hands. In recent hear
ing it was pointed out that many
growers got surer and better returns
when entrusting the sale of their goods
20 the express companies, than by
sending them to regular commission
oo-ohonts In many sections q large |