The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1911-12-28
PARCELS POST
INCREASES COST
Packages Delivered Cheaper I'm
der Present Method

ages of merchandise delivered at
his mail box quickly and cheaply.
No n disputes this-but there
are 40 more sides to the question.
Here Is one:
Every rural delivery carrier is
now authorized to carry merchan-
disc parcels weighing over four
pounds from your farm to town or
from town to YOUR farmland you
or the town man, pay the carrier
whatever you agree is right. The
proposed postage charge would
average much higher than what you
would paw under tho present system
of local delivery. Now there is no
maximum weight limit, for the car
rier can take anything for you that
he is able to carry, but it is propos.
to limit the weight to eleven pounds
only. This would greatly curtail
the delivery privileges now open to
every farmer who desires to use
them and make delivery cost HIM
more than under the present meth
cd.
Here is another side of the ques-
tion-the side cen by your good
friends, the home merchants:
Big-city merchants Of all kinds
would be quick to seize the rural
parcels post as a delivery outlet,
through the use of local agents, to
whom parcels would be shipped in
large quantities bv express or
freight for deposit in the local post
Office and absolutely no way IN
which this could be prevented.
The opportunity thus afforded
these maii-order houses for the de-
velopment of a gigantic trust is a
most serious menace to the farmers
welfare. Every necessary Of life
could in time monopolized through
this government postal subsidy,
taxed against all the people and ap-
piled for the sole benefit of the
mail-Order trust. Already Wall
street sees the trend of events and
big business has become interest
in fostering and financing the par
GELS post agitation. Its appetite has
been stimulated by the results Of
the past few years, which have
enabled one mail order house to pay
an annual dividend Of Z per cent on
its many millions of capitol, and re-
Gently to declare a special dividend
of 3S3 per cent. What farmer can
ever hope to equal that record?
The blg-city mail-order merchants
pay no taxes of any kind-direct or
indirect, maintain your schools.
churches, libraries. hospitals and
other pubic institutions. They do
not give you credit and they give
you neither sympathy nor help
when misfortune comes. These big
city merchants have absolutely no
interest in you, excepting to get
hold of as MANY dollars as they
can and give as little return as pos
sible.
Furthermore, the big-city msr-
chant does not help in any way to
maintain and build up the home
market for your products that Ell
ables you to get spot cash or its
equivalent for everything ysu have
to sell. Your location near such a
town increases the value of your
farm and makes that farm easy to
sell at full value whenever you de-
sire.
You appreciate the fact that the
farmer trade keeps up the country
towns and that any system-such as
the parcels post-which will
divert the farmer trade from the
country town to the big city
will ruin the country town.
If the country town is ruined, the
farmers home market will be des-
troyed or at least very seriously i'm
paired. Property values in the
country towns would certainly de-
preciate as store after store was
forced out of business and greater
burdens of taxation would be placed
upon the farmers overburdsned
shoulders. Lack of funds raised by
taxation would curtail the schools
of the country towns. Churches
now so largely supported by the
home merchants could no longer be
kept supplied with ministers, unless
the farmer members heavily increas-