The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-05
What They Earn

The Wells-Fargo Express company has capital stock of $S,O00,o00, and its net earnings for the year ending July, 1908, were s407S,81S The Adams Express com pany is not incorporated but is an as- socia tion," and the capital stock is 120,OO0 shares of mo fixed par value." Funded debt, S36000,000 col. tr. As, and for the year ending June 30, 1908, the company's net profit after deducting all charges, was s9s1 ,00G and an extra dividend of s20o per share in per cent col. tr. bonds was also paid in that year. The charges above referred to, therefore, must have includ- e1 the per cent on this S36,OO0,O0O in bonds. The American Express company has capital stock of s1S,00O,OO0, and it's net earnings are in the neighborhood of S1 ,So0 900 to s2.000,000 per annum.
 Express companies are common car riers, but there is nothing common about their rates and their earnings. Not so as you can tell it. With all this capitalza- tion and funded debts" etc., the express companies do not own an inch of track, or single car to handle their freight with. All these immense sums are invest ed in horses and wagons and office fixtures and safes and water; the water may be for the horses, but we doubt it. They pay the railroads that handle their traffic all the way from 40 per cent to 65 per cent of the gross receipts, according to the importance of the railroad and the terri tory through which 1t runs, and yet with this enormous tax on its income the ex- press company stands in absolutely no fear of the sheriff. and piles up it's profits by the millions annually. Who is the goat?
 Other countries have answered this question ty introducing the parcels post. and it has proven with them an instantan- ecus success. yet here we are taking ID lesson from the example set us by our European neighbors, whose express busi- ness has ever been on a smaller scale than our own, here we are, either tod careless to look after our own interests, or frightened to death by the little scare croW' the only one in stock issued by the express companies. that the parcels post will kill the small merchants ana make the people victims of the designing mail order houses. All buncombe pure and simple No legitimate business, if i, keeps abr east of the times and caters tc the demands of it's patrons has anyt hine to fear from the mail order houses and tEe parcels post
 The, republican politicians in power de. clsre that they favor parcels post, but
 they favor 1t like they favor tariff re form, merely to catch votes. When il comes to putting some of the things they | favor ioto laws they are about as active as an Indian cigar sign.
 | Our esteemed Postmaster General inti- mates that the parcels post should be taken in broken doses, and first inaugu- rated on the rural routes. He fears. we presume, that the instantaneous cessation
 of express robberies would give the people
 heart failure.
 Not Muck Raking
 1 This is not muck raking article" mol
 at all, and no tirade particularly agains
 the express companies, but 1t is merely
 in advocacy of parcels post. A parcels
 post would cheapep the tax on small ar ticles for carriage at least 15o per cent, and yet it would leave the express com
 puliies ample business to pay them a nice