The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1912-09-06
A REAL PARCELS POST.

In the reports of the conference COM
mlttee agreement on the Post Office APP
preparations Bill we hear of the adoption
OF the conferees of the Bourne amend
ment, embodying a scheme of parcels
post. One would hardly gather from this
that what the Conferees really did agree
to was one OF the most important acts of
constructive legislation for a generation.
The Bourne amendment was, indeed,
agreed to, but in a completely amended
form. In effect the amended amendment
was a substitute drafted by Representa-
tive Lewis, of Maryland, and embodying
that gentemens idea Of a governmental
Postal Express.
1t provides for the transportation not
only OF tourth-claSs mail, which by depart
mental definition has come to exclude al
most everything the people desire to
send, but also OF farm and factory pro-
ducts and matter commonly carried by
express. This would permit a Post
master General with iron in his backbone
to extend the service to anything carried
by the parcels posts of European Coun-
tries. The German postoftice will trans
port live chickens, fresh fish or week 5
wash If packed in proper containers. The
substitute further provides that the
weight of maflable packages may be in
creased beyond the tentative IS pound
limit as the facilities of the post office
shall permit. A carload might be mailed.
il the department had the equipment and
the shipper should care to pay the rates.
The tentative rates are approximately
one-thlrd the express company rates. and
may be lowered or changed as expert
enCe may prove reduction and adjust
ment to be feasible. 1t is also provided
that the railway transportation charges
may be reduced by order of department
10 the level of those now paid to the rail-
roads by the express companies: and it
provides means for asCertaining what
these LATER charges are. The best infor-
nation Is that the express companies pay
about halt the price for railway trans oor-
tatiOn OF packages that the Post Office is
required to pay.
This reduction would not be disadvan-
tageOuS to the railroads; for it is estimat-
ed that by the institution of a postal ex-
press the quantity of matter shipped
would increase at least four-fod; and the
carriers would get four times their pres
, ent amount of most lucrative business.
The postal express would tor the first
| time link the rural delivery routes to a
| really disable service for the carriage of
| packages. The country producer would
be brought into direct communication
with the city consumer, and vice versa;
and one way would thus be opened to
reduce the high cost of living by the saw
| ing OF mlddIemen's profits. The substi-
tute would give c. O. D. privileges to the
! sender, as is done in nearly all European
| postal express systems, and as even our
express companies do, inept and lnetii-
| Cient as they are in most respects. This
is most Important almost an indispen-
| sable concession.
I The zonal system established by the
! House substitute is simple. The first or
local zone includes the county of ship.
ment and any contiguous county; the
second, a circle with a radius of $50
miles; and each successive zone has a
radius greater bv $50 miles than the pre-
Cedlng one. The rate is always cent a
pound per number of zones, plus four
cents. The latter is the cost loaded per
| package for collection and delivery serv-
ice. Finally provision is made for the
! establishment OF collection and delivery
| service in cities, the same as is now fur
| nIShed by the express companies III their
wagons. This will be an ocular demon
stration that the new system is to be
something very different from the carrier
and hand delivery which we associate
with the postal service. And those city
vans, in company with the vans of the
rural post routes, will provide US with a
system of house.to-house package trans
pOrtation from any place in the United
States TO the remotest point reached by
our post office The elasticity of the plan
makes the service capable OF almost I'M
limited enlargement, and the Postmaster
will have the aid of commission of three
| experts to establish the same, while diff
ierences regarding railway pay for trans.
| porting post express packages may be
settled by the Interstate Commerce Com
! mission.