The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-03-08
PRESIDENT BARRETT 1O
THE MEMBERS Of THE
FARMERS UNION

President Charles S. Barrett, of the
Farmers union, has issued a state
went to the members of the union,
rging them TO press their represehta
tiyes for the passage Of a parcels posi-
bill. His statement follows:
$40 the Officers and Members of the
Farmers Union: ),
"One of the things I insist that
members Of the Farmers union ana
farmer generally should get IN pc
hird about, is the parcels
post.
Year after year we have been
striving TO secure this legislation from
Congress. False promises from poll-
ticians, the lobby maintained by the
express companies and to an extent
pur own apathy have operated 70
keep us out Of this huge beneft.
The time has come TO cease dllly-
dallying. Go after your representa-
tive and Senator with a club. bury
him under an avalanche of letters,
telling him you want a parcels post
and that YOU are not iii TO let
him or yourself rest until You get IT.
What is a parcels post?
The answer is extremely simple
What the Parcels Post Is.
"A parcels post is a system when
will make the government do tol
packages over four pounds What 1T Is
now DOING for letters; carry them 81 81
reasonable rate with profit alike TO
the manufacturer and the merchant,
the farmers and the III at
large.
let this fact sink into your mind:
The express companies, which now
have q monopoly of the small carrying
trade in the United States, are getting
OIL an average of 10 cents ii pound
for fr1 81 ptiror ,,3ck9uac
Last year, one Of them declared a
dividend of 900 per cent: Is it any
wonder, with q cinch Of the transport
tation Of small packages?
Now. what will a parcels post do
for he government?
1t viii help wipe out that big
postal deficit, about which Congress
and the newspaper editors are now
raising such a howl. It viii transfer
TO the government a large part Of
the patronage. and therefore profit,
now enjoyed by the private express
mOnopolies which are Just O as
h~jgh-handed trusts as Standard Oil
or any other. It will wipe cut that
postal deficit and, as the service de.
yelops with use. it viii prove q grow
ing and unfailin@ source of actual
revenue to the treasury OF the United
states
What viii d parcels post do fo1
the farmer?
1t Will ave him about - per cent
a year on the charges he is now COM
PEELED to pay the express companies
for everything that travels in their
cars. The packages that come to his
home from the big m~ail-order houses
in South and North, will cost him
about 80 per cent less for Transport
tation, because in the long run the
farmer always pays the freight The
parcels post also has q county fea-
ture. Under the plan proposed, the
small town merchant Will be able
TO send out small packages over rural
routes at a cost so small compared
to the hire of q messenger or a horse
and buggy or a wagon, as under pres
ent conditions, as to put millions of
dollars yearly into the pockets Of both
the American farmer and the Amer
lean country merchant.
Won't Hurt Merchant.
Don't let your country merchant
fool you into believing hat a par
GELS post Will cut off his revenues by
d1Eerting trade to the big mail order
houses. Even if it did. we would
still stand for it, because it is better
that millions Of farmers save money,
than that hundreds of snlail mcr-
chants make money. But. as a mat
ter of fact, a parcels post Will add to
the profits Of the small country mer-
chant BY giving him cheap access to
ms customers out in the country.
In preSS upon your Congressman
that practically everybody in your dis
trlct IS 2 unit for parcels post. Tell
him that it doesn't injure anybody, not
even the crossroads merchant. after
the latter understands it. Make him
see that there IS no opposition to the
measure and that it is bound to come.
and you viii get it quickly.
How much do YOU pay on the eggs
You snip to town? a great big heavy
charge. almost So prohibitive that IL
doesn't pay you to ompet with the
cold storage trust or keep a yard full