Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-08-09
REFORM IN EXPRESS RATES.

VI INC duuneS anu eXlOntlOno OF th'
express companies Of the Unite,
States. Theme are thirteen of them
ostensibly independent corporations
but really owned and controlled by
Few men who ane officials Of the val
ious railroads over which the ex
press companies operate. Congres.
recently gave the Interstate Com
merce Commission authority owe,
express companies, similar to tha
which they hold over the railroads.
They have been investigating tht
matter, and in a report recently pub
lished, and on this point of owner
Ship they say that these companies
are by stock ownership and other
wise so interbcked, that It is will
difficulty that We can trace any ont
OF the greater companies as eitheI
wholly Independent in its manage
ment, or the agency of a single rail
road system. So that, while these
companies operate separately ant
compete with each other for traffic
the express business of the United
States is managed by not more than
three groups Of interests"
This justifies all that we have said
On the subject. In fact the whole ex
press business is parasitic; first. ca
the face Of it, on the railroads, but
really on the public through the rail.
roads, which control the expness CON
panies and pocket a good share OF
the earnings, but not the companies
themselves, but the large stockhod.
ers, officials of the companies, who
under separate organization, control
the express companies.
The order of the commission is in
two separate parts, one which makes
a marked lowering in the rate esTe.
eially on the smaller packages-five,
ten and twenty-five pouBis For ex.
ample, the present rate on a five.
pound package from Chicago to Pitts
burg is 50 cents, the proposed rate
q cents. On a ten-pound package
between the same points the propos.
ed reduction is from 20 cents to IS
cents; and on a tweRty-five-pound
package from 81 TO 81 cents; wh'le
on a 1OO-pound package 1t Is from
81 to $l7O. When it comes to dis
tances, there is first a minimum
charge, which increases with the dis
tance, but very slowly. For example
two-pound package under the new
rating can be shipped from New
York to Chicago for "a cents, and
twice that distance for 81 cents. A
ten-nound package can be sent 1000
miles for AZ cents and twice that far
for II cents, the present rates being
70 oerts and sl.25, respectively.
1t is not proposed that these rates
be put into effect at once, the ex.
press companies being required TO
appear bef0ne the commission in Oc-
tober and show cause why they
should not be put in. There is, how
ever, a ruling which will go into ef.
feet at once, the main features d
which are as follows:
The exprss companies must route
on the quickest lines Of
communication and the shipper must
have the power to name the route.
Heretofore, II a package had to 60
over two lines, the shipper had to
pay two rates, and II was to the in
terest Of the company to send the
package over the route that would
give the most expensive haul, and
charge the shipper accordingly.
The most radical departure lies in
the method Of applying the rates.
Theme are $4,000 express stations in
the United States, and to name rates
for each Of these requires a state
ment Of more than six hundred mil.
lion different rates. The commission
divides the United States into blocks
OF fifty miles square, practically a de
gree Of latitude one way and d longi
tude the 0ther. It then treats all
points In one Of these blocks as one
point, all taking the same express
rate. This reduces the six hundred
million rates to $50. In other words,
the agent has TO consult n list of On
ly $50 published rates. which can be
put on a single sheet or card Of the
size Of about a quarter Of a news
paper page. to find the rate from
any point in the United States to
any other point.
It is believed by the commission
that these new rates, when put into
effect, will, pending the adoption Of
a parcels post. enable the farmer liv-
Ing near a town to ship certain kinds
Of produce direct to the consumer in