The Washington herald., 1910-04-03
PARCEL POST MAY
FOLLOW THE BANKS.
Facts Presented in Favor of
the Plan.
OF BRISBANE WALKER
How Packages Could BE, Carried as
Mail and No Deficit Result to the
Postal Revenues - Express Conn
panIes Accused OF Misleading the
PeOpIe-How 10 Get the Rate.

The passage OF the administration pos
tai bank bill by the Senate and the con-
fdent expectation that it will be carried
by the House Republicans when it comes
TO vote in that body, gives hope to many
] that the next tide In postal affairs will
sweep in a genuine parcels post for the
lasting benefit Of the people.
/ This reform is not looked for at this
/ session of Congress. and perhaps not at
/ the next. but the establishment of the
postal savings system leaves the way
open for the advocates of the parcels
post to push their scheme before the pub
| lie and in Congress with greater
/ chances Of success. 1t is assumed that
/ the postal bank will prove so great
success that the public appetite for fur
/ Their reform in the Post-office Depart
ment will be whetted to the point of
! quickly demanding the parcels post
Views of j. Brisbane Walker.
John Brisbane Walker. in a recent
article on the subject sets forth the sit
uation as follows:
while the German postal service is
carrying packages for one-third Of
cent a pound-transportlng them, If nee
essary. from one end Of Germany 10 the
furthermOst town in Austria-Hungary-
carrying all sorts Of parcels up TO g 100
pound trunk, the President OF the United
States. in his message 70 Congress, and
the Postmaster General, in his annual
report. are arousing the attention OF the
country to a loss of $4,000 per annum
incurred in transporting periodicals at 1
cent a pound.
THE actual cost OF these periodicals
has been accurately measured by the
Postmaster General down to the one
!thousandeth part OF a cent. He says
| that for each pound of 1-cent mail car
ried the government Is put to an ex-
pense OF cents and 2S5 one-thousandeths
Of cent.
IF any one suggests that Germany
and Austria Hungary and pretty nearly
all the countries of Europe are carrying
parcels al a fraction OF a cent per pound.
the United States Post-office Department
retorts that they are all small countries,
thickly populated
But Canada is a country as wide as
ours and sparsely populated While we
have been losing S225 cents per pound on
| periodical mail, Canada found that her
profits on such mail at one-half cent a
pound were excessive. Accordingly the
rate was reduced TO one-quarter cent per
pound. and at this rate the government
report for the postal year ended March
81, 1909, shows a surplus Of $Soe 23Z53.
Adds TO Cost of Living
Instead of the butter and cheese pro-
Queer being able 10 ship directly 10 the
user. as In Germany, in refusing a par
GELS post we have put the whole army OF
American consumers into the power OF
all sorts of combinations. who pay the
lowest price 10 the producer and seem to
be able to charge any sum TO those COM
PEELED TO buy.
so fragrant has this system become
that in the early months OF 1910 the high
prices OF food are ascribed as forcing
5000 children out Of the public schools Of
Brooklyn to help support their house,
holds by child labor.
Fruit in the orchards of New York
State has been permitted TO rot on the
ground because the express charges and
the middleman's charges would not
leave the cost OF packing for the horti-
culturist
I shall undertake TO show, by a COM
parison of accepted facts and figures, !
that our whole system Is laundering, and
worse, and that the suffering caused by
our failure to adopt the methods en-
plOyed by not merely one, but by many
European countries. IS a governmental
crime of monumental proportions.
Here are a few simple facts TO be kept |
In mind:
4 In the United States our railways !
have been able to ship freight for one |
fifth of cent per ton per mile I be- |
lieve no European country has been able |
TO equal this cheap rail transportation. |
As the cost per ton mile forms the basis |
for all kinds of freight carriage. it would !
seem that We have a primary advantage. /
Like Carrying Of Letters.
. The transportation of parcels is like |
the carrying of letters. It is governed by |
the law of averages. There are some let /
ers carried by the United States into diff |
cult regions which must cost the govern |
ment S apiece. But as the price demand /
ed for hauling letters is regulated by the |
average haul. so the price of carrying /
parcels must be based upon the same 1
law
g. The average express haul to-day is
less than thirty-eight miles. This is be-
cause trade IS largely carried on with
those living near by.
4. If the government carried parcels at
even / cent a pound. it would get the
hundreds Of millions of packages sent
out by the great dry goods houses. This
would probably reduce the average haul
to twenty miles or less
IS. The United States government is al
ready equipped with more than $1,000
completely organized stations. These have
their managers and clerks, their rentals.
heat and light. their detective and legal
services already paid for. To handle par
GELS would cost nothing additional in tens
of thousands of post-offices except the
wagon haul in the locality
s. Is it possible to conceive of any
business men taking part in operating
private express companies If the govern
ment were to make use OF this far-reach-
ing and costly machinery?
z The government is spending more
than sS2,000,Oo0 annually on a country de-
livery service which the Postmaster Gen.
eral reports as carrying only twenty-five
pounds a trip a wagon. Each of these
wagons could carry from 500 to 200 pounds
a daily trip each way. At cent pound
this service, instead of being conducted
at almost a total loss as now. would be
clearing tens of millions. The wagon
that now carries only twenty-five pounds,