Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-09-10
THE NEW PARCELS POST.
A Discussion of What New Mail Law
Means.


Means.
The casual readers Of Washington
dispatches are likely to get a vague and
imperfect vision Of the parcels post
scheme on the zone SYSTEM" de-
vised by the ingenious Senator
Bourne, of Oregon, and embodied in
the postoffice appropriation bill in the
senate, says the New York Journal OF
Commerce. He may understand that
the postal rate on fourth-class mat
ter Is to begin with five cents for the
first pound and three cents for each
additional pound or fraction up to II
pounds in the first zone, and advance
one cent more the first pound and for
each additional pound from zone to
zone up to the eighth, delivery In
which will cost IL cents a pound, or
$1.3z for full sized parcel Of II
pounds. He may comprehend the
increase In distance from the radical
distance of approximately so miles"
in the first zone to $50 miles in the
second, 800 in the third, 600 in the
fourth, 1000 in the fifth, 1,400 In the
sixth, 1900 in the seventh, and all be-
yond that In the eighth, though he
may get a little confused until he
grasps the typographical scheme Of
zones, which would be not parallel
but concentric.
The whole postal area would be di-
vided into units Of area 80 minutes
square" which means that each unit
would be one-quarter Of quad
rangle. formed of intersecting paral-
lels Of latitude and meridians of longi-
itude. The first zone would be cir
cular and would have a radical dis
tance Of approximately so miles.
from the centre of any given unit Of
area" Consequently the whole map
would be spotted with first zones Of
about 1000 miles in diameter over
tapping and obliterating each other
all over the United States "and its
several territories and possessions,
excepting the Philippine islands" J"
There would be no end Of first zones
and each would be encircled by an
other 100 miles wide and others Of
increasing width until the eighth
and last was 1900 miles from the
centre and Of indefinite extent. From
any one centre Of a given unit Of
farea'' the postal map would present
ring-streaked aspect, circling
around the postoffices Of the zone Of
which that area was a part; but an
attempt to represent all the zones for
the whole country would result in
wiping out the map altogether or
covering 1t with a confusion of lines.
Assuming that the parcels post
scheme, with different rates for diff
ferent distances, is described in it.
self, il may look as though this was
an equitable way Of arranging the
distances by zones. But consider 'he
zones for the borders Of the country,
along the coast and the land bound
aries Of Canada and Mexico, COM
pdTeu Will tlOoc oloi tih6 hioAA ehS ~
terror. Half Of each ring around the
first zone on the Atlantic coast would
stretch out at sea until 1900 parcels
posts would operate only in the other
half, while a mail order house in the
middle Of the country would have the
benefit of the service in all directions
to the limit. This might have consid-
erable effect upon the advantage Of
the system for different parts Of the
country and cause some chifting in
the centres Of distribution for va
rious articles Of merchandise. This
raises some question about the equity
Of the zone system and its superior
ity over our established plan Of
equal postage fo- everybody over all
distances.