Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-02-16

Representative Lewis or Maryland,
spoke recently on his pet suDjecl,
postal Express" and was heard by
la representative assemblage OF men,
Ders and visitors, says washington
special to the BaIumore sun. He
said: ------,------------------
1.-The high cost Of living problem
before the nation resolves itself into
a simple proposition. 1t Is how to
transport small shipmen,s-quantities
20 suit the ultimate purchaser-from
producer to consumer. This sort OF
transportation is now denied and the
high cost Of living Is an inevitable re-
suit.
The railway does business entire
ly by wholesale. Its minimum is the
10O-pound shipment. It's transporta-
ion practices, especially its transpor-
tation accounting, render 1t Incapable
OF economically handling the small
shipment. One does not look at the
freight depot tor packages dispatched
to the consumer. The railway charg-
es, based upon the handling Of the
larger shipment, impose an uncon-
scious, unintended, but none the less
prohibilive, penalty upon the move
ment of any small shipment to mar
ket by that transportation medium"
Mr.. Lewis read the list Of twenty
operations essential to the dispatch OIL
a shipment by freight, no mater how
small the package.
I'VE look to the express company to
carry small packages" said Mr.. Lew
Is. 1T ought to DO, but 1t does not;
1t cannot. The express company fol-
lows the railway lines. 1t does not
and cannot reach the 25,000,000 farm
ers and other ruraliies who comprise
nearly a third Of our population. 1t
has to sustain transportation ac-
counting Of eleven needless items to
every package, involving an enormous
and unnecessary expense which should
and could be covered by a postage
stamp. Its rate making processes are
unnatural.
IN ten countries Of Europe, not
blessed with express companies, but
possessing an express service run In
the public interest, the average ex-
press charge is five times the freight
charge. Our express companies exact
fifteen times the average freight
charge, three times as much as the
European shipper pays"
Mr.. Lewis argued that while ex-
press rates are too high their practices
are such that the eXorbitant charge
is mainly absorbed and no margin left
upon which regulation may seize; and
he declared that no regulation can
successfully be attempted through the
interstate commerce commission.
Parcels post Is not the remedy"
Mr.. Lewis declared. Eight cents a
pound, or $3.50 a ton, even IL nation
wide, Is no answer to a condition that
can not survive an average express
charge Of $31.20 a ton--less than two
cents a pound. The local merchant
needs a reduction Of rates II he Is not
to be throttled by the mail order
house He needs a preferential rate
and his location deserves 1t. No law
that discriminates against the local
merchant, that imposes rigid limit
of weight or Of overcharge against his
use should be written on the statute
books.
IAN adequate system should include
a unified system Of transportation
from farm to city and city to farm,
with no gaps Of double cost to seller
or buyer. To get such a system low
rates enjoyed by the express compa-
nies are necessary, and no private
plan can ever give the desired bene-
fits, because no private necessity tor
profit will ever admit the public SER
vice motive. The public management
will articulate the country and the
town, cut the express rates in half and
develop a new NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
gardening, where the poor man VINO
has worn out his best years In indus
trial occupations may end his days In
peaceful tilling of the soil, doing his
share to reduce the high cost OF liv-
ing.
A few days ago a shipment Of two
dozen eggs, a dressed fowl, three
pounds Of butter, three pounds OF
sausage, ten pounds Of country cured
ham and half a bushel Of apples.
which cost on the farm Sass. was
sold in Washington Centre market,
20 miles away. for 1856. II we could
have sent this my postal express to
the consumer the cost would have
been 25 cents for delivery, and one
family's high-cost- -of-living problem
solved.
These necessaries are indispensa-
BILE: and 1t Is the duty Of congress to
give serious consideration as to wheth-
er they can afford to neglect this OPP
portunity to thus afford at once a wide
market on one hand and a chance for
life on the other to millions Of our
fellow-countrymen, when doing so
can injure no legitimate interest any
where"
Mr.. Lewis was congratulated by Re-
publicans as we'll as Democrats on his
speech Judge Prouty Of Iowa, told
him that II was one of the best
speeches he ever heard in the house.