The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-07-02
WOULD TAKE OVER
EXPRESS SERVICE
Bill Has for Object Placing 1t
i'll Hands of Post-Office
Department.
LEWIS FATHER OF MEASURE
He Tells in What Ways Coun-
try Will Benefit ii Law
Is Enacted.
Especial to The Times Dispatch. ]

/ Especial to The Times Dispatch.]
/ Washington, D. c., July 1.-The bill
/ of Representative Lewis of Maryland.
to take over the express companies and
/ operate them through the Post Office
Department, pending in Congress. is
attracting national attention. \ par
tial hearing on the bill before the
House Post-Ohice Committee already
has taken place, and similar hearing
shortly Will be given II before the
Senate committee. MIR. Lewis is thor
oughly in earnest about the matter.
! There are two main reasons for
this bill he said to-day. First, the
express rates are prohihitively high
about three times as high as they nor
mally should be. This is proved in a
very direct way by comparison with
/ freight rates. The average charge for
carrying a ton of freight in this coun-
/ try is $3.50, while the average charge
for carrying ton of express is $3.50,
giving ratio Of the express charge
to freight of about sixteen to one. In
Argentina the ratio is three to one. and
in nine countries of Europe five to one.
The carriage OF express matter ought
not to cost more than five times as
much Is freight. The result of the
high charges here Is that all use the
express service sparingly and ship
/ only ninety-nine pounds per capita per
annum by express. while in other coun-
/ tries they ship about 200 pounds per
capita.
No Service to Country.
| The second reason is that the ex-
/ press companies render no service at
all to the country merchants and the
| farmer, nearly half our population.
SO shat there is no articula ton of the
country with The RAILWAYS
The postal system has now in oper-
alton an agency that can be made to
bring the express and fast freight SER
vice to almost every country door. 1t
is the rural free delivery system.
equipped and paid for and actually
waiting with empty wagons to carry
the traffic to the country merchant and
farmer. and carry back to the towns
(and the railways) the necessaries of
life at living prices. The people are
now paying for this service $4,000, 900
year. merely to carry a. few letters
and papers. Why not give it chance
10 earn it's living expenses by carrying
what the country merchant and the
farmer need. and carry back the vital
neccssaries TO the town.
/ In what respect does this differ from
| the various parcels post schemes?" Sir.
Lewis was asked.
like them at all. Those schemes are
limited TO four or eleven pounds, and
! while not so intended. they look as IL
! they We're meant to exclude the local
merchant and help his patron 10 get
away from him. Postal express, hav-
ing no such pound limit, would include
/ these merchants, bring the goods TO
| their stores. and be like bringing a
now railway into their section. BY
coupling the rural delivery with the
fast freight service. the merchant
would get the chepaest freight rates
| on loo-pound lots, paying only the
usual l00-pound rates. while the postal
| system would recoup itself by assem-
bling these smaller shipments into car
load lots, buy the transportation from
| the railways at carload (wholesale)
rates. and sell it to the shipper at 100
pound retail rates. The two kinds OF
| express services are working in Ger
many. For the all-passenger train
service the shipper pays four times the
freight rate; the other uses the pas
senger train to the trunk line, where
! the shipment takes fast freight and
/ finishes up with the passenger train
on The branch line to destination For
| this inferior express the shipner paws
twice the freight rate.
| II have completed an economic study
| q This subject. and it appears that
! the express rates can be reduced by
! two thirds on packages up to forty
! pounds and about one-third on large
weights"