Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-08-09

las He fakSrs 3 ee commission
and nj ins liz opgosition to
such ulsl loImald ion Il ths II express
fbnsinesss I'LL .Hon1tf saYes lie ct the F
private tOmpania6 En- s$S
B. The impo5 tant rapport BY the com.
mission 81 its investigati on Of the ex-
press q companies and their operations;
published this week states the scope
IN express rates which the commission
sof ! the ref orms agreed upon and an "A
noancas Sai)so the. sweeping i!treduc tionls 8
has decided are reasonabless These re-
auctions in rates, averaging approxl,-
*mately, is per cent throughout the TN
country, are contested bySathe com
spanies and hearings will be h6eld the
Commission: before the orders for them
70 20 into effect will be issued Some-
time ID the autumn, however, the
charges win be completed and the ex-
press business will begin q new era ON
ia radically altered basis. NH 1
The new principle to be applied will
be that express companies are 2 public
utility are more !; or less 81 q natural
monopoly, like the railroads, @ and
especially in their small package bust
ness are SO much akin to the post office
that the public interest compels gov
eminent regulation of. their affairs. It
has been easy for Commissioner Lane,
who directed the investigation, to
prove that the express business of
the United States has become "a fam
lily affair." in the sense that the lead
ing companies are interlocked and. in
tertwined inextricably, and are in turn
allied with the great railroad systems
the net result being a monopolistic
control from which the public have had
no sufficient protection. Rate making
has for many years proceeded on the
principle Of charging what the traffic
would bear modified only by such
competition as was offered by the post
office on the one hand and the railroad
freight train on the other. .S p
Between these two extremes, the ex-
press business has been developed on
extortionate lines, particularly in the
!: business Of carrying packages weigh
ing less than SO pounds. Rates, too, are
in many instances the same for SO
pounds as for 100 pounds between the
same points; in some instances. The
old system of rate making discriminates
dSd1ASI Guc uOuotuOIuCl3 VI sCOLouAl1CA IL
favor of the middlemans an2 jobber, for
the householder often pays as much in
express charges for a l0-pound package
as dealer would pay for a 25-pound
package and three or four. times as
much as the dealer would pay for 10
pounds included in 100-pound ship
ment. 1t the change proposed in the
system of rate making should, as Com
missioner Lane believes, tend to dimin-
ish the cost Of living for the average
family by bringing the producer and
the consumer nearer together, the bene-
fit would be perhaps very considerable
at a point that now presses heavily up
on every household. 5s: ..@ /. II ~ !, @I
The introduction Of the block system
of rate-making should be an important
reform in the direction of simplifca-
stion. Under the old system there are
more than 100000, 900 express rates be-
tween the $4,000 express stations
in this country. The block system pro-
vides for the division Of the United
States into $50 blocks each approx
mately SO miles square; and every town
or city in a particular block will have
the same express rate from any given
point in any other block. Thus the ex-.
press rate will be stated between blocks
instead Of between cities or towns. A
Of express stations will show
within what block each station is To-
Gated. This method Of stating rates.
will avoid the great body Of complaints
arising out of undercharges and over
charges, the present method Of stating
rates being so confusing that not even
the express agents are able to discover
the lawful rate between two points.
The directory Of express stationssis also
to state the delivery, limits in each
city within which the express com
pany gives service upon its tariff
rates. Il 81 8 .5.s # @9 3D. !#aS # 4 II
The regulation Of express companies
and their charges by a government com
mission is an important experiment up
on the success Of which will probably
depend the carrying out Of the parcels
post scheme under direct government
auspices. In view Of the fact that the
United States postoff flee is not yet
managed SO economically and efficient
II as it should be, there is reason to
welcome as a substitute for the parcels
post the strict government regulation
Of the express company business. The
combinat ion Of private management
and the effective supervisio Of such -
body as the interstate commerce com.
mission may be the. best practical So
luton Of the prob lem; for some time to-
come. ss 5sfs3s
W Is
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