The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-12-24
PARCELS POST IS
LIKELY TO pass
SoNaREssNtN LAWN THi>k> THE
PROPOSITION VIII GIT "
CONGRESS
OTHER BILLS PENDING
t,ItuT Fos >Htr >tHsip, >tHED-
uLED AND TEMPER t>cE
MEASURE NAY III RES
HHEtTEn,

soneress e3i3 AJke4Y pass "a parcels post
biz aud u stroue effort eiil also he
inadc &C. set snap SUBSIDY h'it
through. according ~ Congressman
Ith n l.anib. al the Richmond district,
WHO has returned nome Ter the
Christmas h@tiasys Ana u te not an
likely h betIrNes, Jnat thc bill 10
nFssN sg1f interstate Shipment 1T bq1Ur
into arY TERRITORY VII W r@SiirrcFtch
curing the pre-. ent session tranI the
judiciary committee. ~ mere Il has been
Slum boring these many months lie"
ever. h. j. not wiling IL forecast
the fat, II this bil' ewing T. mo tact
that IT has been neglected FIR 50 long
that few Of the congressman are
probably as familiar with II, a. they
should be
Captain LIANT j. nov the ranking
mem Der Of the agricultural commit
tee Of the house and Il slated for Its
chairman He has been a member ot
this committee continuously since he
WIS elected to congress fourteen years
age. The Democrats. he says. viii hold
"a caucus on January - then 1T is
Expected the ways and means com
mitfee will be named and designated
as the committee on committees. with
the authority of appointment prev
ieusly vested ia the speaker. The APP
HttHiHftiltS VIII Ilp1 I& b!fitblIEti4
until next beccnah~r when congress
seeonyenes for its long term.
Enrict, ship Builder
Discussing ship subsidy and thu par
GELS post. Captain Lamb said he was
opposed to the former on the ground
that IL looked to he merely a scheme
to enrich the ship builders and owners.
lie was inclined 10 favor anch II bill
III something like 10 per cent. re-
1,afe f,E,
into this country On American hot
toms hut he hardly thought the hill
would contain any such provision.
Captain Lamb regards the parcels
post as one al the most important
MEASURES which congress has had to
consider IN a long time. He realizes
that IL Is a good proposition in many
respects, although there appear 10 DE
certain practical features yet 10 he
worked out
When both thcse measures ara nut
10 a test. he thinks that party lines
will be forgotten and that the con
xressrnen viii vote as they think best
or az their constituents may dictate
Charges txorbitant.
Concerning the parcels post, the
Philadelphia North American has the
following II say editorlaliy on the
subject.
ITO every man and woman whose
christmas purchase include even one
gilt TO he sent to an absent friend or
kinSman, this season provides the an
nual object lesson Of this nations dis
rreatfaeie IageardnesS IN establishing
4 parcels post.
The erfer that shames public in
felligenee. NJ permitting q public
service 10 he al the mercy ~ a grasp
ing and inefficient private MONOPOLY
II brought home to every one who sur
tFrs from tho cNtorfiOn and incoul-
petsnce Of the express companies.
And every citizen who comes To
understand why he is overcharged Ter
the carriage Of his gift. why aisap.
pcins follows the tardtness of its dc.
livery, why II II cheaper and pronp-
Ter and safe rtosend itHjhaunaTe 10
ter and safer to send II hV mail and
why the postatsice refuses ct carry
ANYTHING heavier than weight limit
so low as Ia dc bar him from n service
IN use even in semtcivlized lands by
mat nndt rs'a'tding becomes Il CON
Nerf To the merits ~ the parcels post
The nnans"erahic arguments for
the establishment or a parcels post
III this country need no repetition
Ihf people at last are beginning To
realize why they Suftsr from ,e1-
tortionate express rates and why the
United States Lays behind eecry other
civilized land Ia it, lack ~ All econorn-
tcai and highly useful mode OF trans
portation
Raise Package Limit
THE Sulzer hill now before can.
gress. providing for the raising of the
mail package limit 10 the eleven
pounds Of the Universal Postal Union
and reducing the rate about half
simply proposes Ia give the people af
the United States the same benefits
1sVt q r. -,.tt
1e Of either countries through it's
agreements with foreign nations
The people must count only upon
the pressure public opinion can exert
upon their congressman They can
look for no help from President TAFT
his postmaster general nor from any
of the old guard corporation serving
senators and representatives III either
party
There Is the transparent scheme a.
delay presented ia the proposal for ~
commission io study the operation at
the parcels post IL foreign countries
ard recommend whether or not this
government can afford io Introduce the
systenl, And this in the fact Of the
facts that all such concei,. Aide iufor-
nation is ALREADY at the disposal Ol
Congress and that more than TWO years
ago Postmaster General Meyer set
forth IN detail that $27.ae average net
profit would be earned by the postal
department upon each ton al parcels
pDst carried
Scheme Exposed.
I'VE have already exposed the latest
Hitchcock proposal 20 authorize the de-
livery on rural Tee delivery routes of
eleven pound parcels as being in reality
Il recommendation IN increase the pro-
fits by lessening the expenses of cx- ,
press companies and to deude the pco-
pie with IA cheat and Il sham
And Presideut Tafth as IL his cus
tam. contents himself with approving
the good principle while indorNing the
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