El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-17

service The fees for insurance and
registration shall be as follows: For
registration and insurance up to $50
10 cents; for each additional $50. 2
cents. No claim for compensate ton will
be admitted if not presented within
one year after the parcel is posted.
The act shall take effect six months
from and after the date of approval
thereof
Is Not Taft's Plan.
Of course this is not in accordance
with the recommendation of the presi-
dent, as he suggests only parcels post
for rural sections. while Suffers bill
provides for a general system
Some parcels post enthusiasts oppose
even the Sulzer bill on the ground that
the merchandise rate should only be
cent a pound. This they claim. is the
only way that uncle Sam can hope 10
compete with the express companies
They argue that if the bill is made a
law as it stands, uncle Sam will get all
the long hauls. where losses are in
Cured. while the express companies
will get the advantage of the short
hauls as they will be able to quote
cheaper rates In support of their
statement they make the following ex-
ample:
City desires to ship a 10 pound parcel
to Buffalo. The rate by parcels post
would be 10 cents, while the express
company carries it for so cents Of
course the express company would get
the business. But suppose he wishes to
ship it to Seattle Wash. The express
company's rate would be S2.15, while
Uncle Sam would carry it for the same
price,. 70 cents, and of course would
get the business. As the greatest per-
centage of hauls are on an average Of
40 miles the express companies, of
course, would get all the profit"
Suggest CurbIng Express Companies.
Other supporters of the movement
say that this difficulty can be over
come by the government taking steps
to prevent the express companies from
handling packages under the II pound
limit AT the last session of congress
representative Murdoch of Kansas. in
troduced resolution calling upon the
postmaster general for informa ton
whether the government had taken
steps to protect its monopoly in car
rying the mail against the incursions
of the express companies.
The resolution declared that under
existing laws. the government has a
monopoly for carrying all letters and
packages. The law specifically def
clares for letters and packets"
According to Mr.. Murdoch packets
cover most of the packages handled
by the express companies, although the
postoffice officials construe it to mean
packets of letters, in accordance
with an opinion given by attorney
general MacVeagh in 1881.
Mr.. Murdoch declared that the Mac
Veagh opinion was not founded on
law or fact
Nothing definite came of the resoIu-
ton, but the matter will be taken up
in the near future, and every effort
will be made to have congress look
into it.
Beach Is Pleased.
Frederick o. Beach. editor of the
Scientific American and president of
the Postal Progress league. seems
greatly pleased with the progress that
Is being made.
Parcels post legislation is bound to |
come soon," he said in an interview
with a representative of the Interna-
tional News Service. "All the leading
nations in the world have it. and If |
has proved not only a great time and /
money saver to the merchants. but is |