The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-01-18
The Postal Deficit and Express Com.
pany Profits

INC TOStdl DSISlt anu GNPiS coo NNiH-
pany Profits
The failure of the postal revenues
to meet the postal expenditures is
subject of perennial discussion. The
postal deficit like the poor we have
always with us. Various plans and
departures have been suggested to
wipe it out II has been suggested
that the extravagant pay of the rail
ways for carrying the mails be re-
dueed. But with congressional boss
es who would frank back and forth
during the maiI-weighing period tons
of useless public documents for the
mere purpose OF stufiing the mails
and increasing the railroad rake-off
this suggestion never got far.
1t has also been recommended by
at least one postmaster general that
the government build and own the
railway mail cars instead of paying
the railroad more than their total
cost annually for the rent of the
cars. But this recommendation new
er received consideration by Con
gress.
Then there is the postal savings
banks proposition, to which the Re
publican party is committed. The
operation of a postal savings system
would increase postal receipts with
out a corresponding increase in ex-
penses and thus tend to reduce the
deficit. But the system is against
tbi- "ro dial" and "coofoIfo+icu under
taking and the system congress has
thus far strangled postal savings
bank legislation.
Recent disclosures of express com
pany earnings add new and impor-
tant arguments for parcels post. II
was Postmaster General Wanamaker
who said that there were only fou,
reasons why the people could not
have a parcels post. These four rea
sons were the four big express com
panies.
The Wells Fargo Express company
in the fiscal year 1909 earned net, AT
ter the payment of all expenses and
taxes, over So per cent of the tota
value of all its property and equip
ment used in its business and receiy
ed in addition Sl,400,000 income from
investments of the accumulated prof
its. 1t presented its shareholder
with a special Christmas divdent o.
300 per cent or $24,000,000.
The American Express company
has been paying dividends of to 1.
per cent for years on capitalization
half water; and last year received az
income of $1,17S,000 from invest
ments of its additional, accumulated
profits.
The Adams Express Company will
a total investment Of about $6,000,00l
has, in recent years, in addition t
high regular dividends, distributed
additional, accumulated profits II
special dividends amounting to 1885,
100000 and last year received from
it's accumulated profits not yet dis
tributed an income of over $1,000,000
| So that another special distribution
dividend Of 100 per cent is about du
to the Adams share holders.
And so we might go on giving tn
statistics of the extravagant profit
of the express carriers. Some of tn
smaller companies earned last yea
200 to 800 per cent net on their In
vestment.
The pertlnence of these facts y
connection with the postal deficit
this: These earnings represent wha
the public is paying private interest
for the transportation of express
freight. parcels and also mailabl
matter and money, transported by IN
express companies partly in compel
ton with the postal department an