The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-04-14
Cooper And Vincent Express Views On
 Parcels Post Bill

8 cents per pound. According to the postmaster generals report the aver miles at cost of 12.3 cents per pound. With this as a basis of esti mate, it would cost to carry a pack age to Chicago from New York IS cents pound or $1.9S for II pounds; to San Francisco 57S cents per pound On this last transaction, the govern ment would collect S8 cents and lose $5.47.
 MT. Cooper's idea was that if one- tenth of the energy expended upon parcels post agitation had been ex- pended in trying to secure fair ex- press rates, something would have been accomplished. He was in favor of going after the express companies whenever they were in the wrong. Yet he must admit that the express companies would carry an II pound San Francisco for $1.59.
 Reading from government reports, MT. Cooper showed that of A mill lions of dollars paid the railroads for carrying mail in one year, 23 millions were for carrying magazines. He argued that the government could not dc business as cheaply as an in- dividual and that it was not the gov ernments place to do work for any body unless it could do it cheaper than the individual could do it him. self.
 The question of delivery was an important one. In New York city 1t costs an average of cents to deliver each package sold by a large store. Tn smaller cities through Connecticut it costs less but at least half this amount. And yet it was proposed to deliver goods by a parcels post on a rural route 20 miles long and to de- liver a package weighing one pound for one cent or three pounds for three cents.
 As a matter of fact, comparison. with England and Germany on par cels post were of little value. Eng lands population was 557 to the square mile, Germany's 290 and the United States 26. Could there be any comparison of postal package condi- countries and the United States, les- pecially when one thought of the diff ference in the average distance that packages would be hauled.
 Parcels post was not a paying pro- position. In Germany, they knew it did not pay In England, they knew little about it. The entire postal ser vice pays but not the parcels post sec tion of it.
 As to the claim that the farmers wanted a parcels post Mir. Cooper said he believed that they did not want it if the other fellow had to pay for it. The farmers would not ask a sub sidy at the expense of the city peo- ple. Even now they did not realize what the city man was paying for them in the sustaining of the rural free delivery. Again reading from re- ports. he showed that while it cost S26 OOO,000 for city delivery, it cost ss4:355,0 900 for rural routes and an ad- ditional s7,000,000 for star routes. It was estimated that every dollar of business done on the rural routes costs the government $5. He, person. ally was willing to pay his share of this cost of delivering the farmers mail to him but he did object to pay ing for the carriage of his merchant disc. There are now 10000 rural routes. Each of these costs the gov ernment practically s6S7 year net loss to operate for the deficiency in the year last reported by the post oft1ce department was nearly $2S, ,000,- 900. But what would it be if these routes, and all other departments of the post office, became haulers of freight as we'll as carriers of mail.
 MT: Cooper insisted that the only feasible system for a parcels post would be zone system with charges regulated by the distance parcel was to travel as we'll as it's weight and size. But he believed that one cent letter postage was more import ant and of more interest to larger number Of people. He believed that the discriminatory rate should be taken away from magazines for the government had no right to subsidize one class and tax another to make up the difference. F'irst-class mail was but 13 per cent of the weight and 53 per cent of the pieces but 1t paid 75 per cent of the expense Second class mail was 65 1-2 per cent of the vvn O ny,
 but it only paid per cent of the cost.
 Ought we not to remedy this condi- tion first. Was a government that did business in such ways a good govern ment to trust with a parcels post |? Until there was assurance that a par cels post would be conducted on bus mess methods and not at a loss we ought not to favor it.
 w. F. Kind and c. I. Smith, both of Norwich also spoke in opposition and then S. E. Vincent of this city was given the floor He spoke briefly but emphatically. If the committee could recommend parcels post upon a paying basis he believed it should do so. But it seemed to him as though present conditions should first be inn proved. The magazine rate of one cent a pound, established originally to forward the cause of education d pense of the rest of the people That privilege pays the magazines a prof it, handsome profit and when they saw 1t threatened they got their ad- vertisers to work with them and then induced the farmers to work with them for parcels post to distract attention. Their agitation was suc- cessfu1 to a degree
 But he did not want the commit tee to recommend anything to our representatives at Washington with out very careful study They had enough foolish things in their heads at Washington now without any more being put there. Yet if a parcels post could be established on a business basis he would favor it.
 Senator Paddock suggested that the committee would be pleased to receive and consider an amendment along these lines and then Ralph O. Wells of Hartford spoke for a few moments in opposition to the proposed law. He represented the Connecticut Mer- chants association which he said was not opposed to a self-supporting par cells post but was opposed to such one as was advocated by the reso- lution. He wanted assurances that a parcels post would be handled better than was the second-class mail, not at a loss but at a small profit if any thing. And if such a guarantee could be given he would favor parcels post.
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