The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-04-16


The enactment of parcels post
law by Congress will divert a large
part of rural trade TO city mail order
merchants. thus crippling approx
rately 1.0U0, 900 retail dealers of the
nation and their employees and fam
lilies. destroy good home markets for
arm products. lnjnrr all country
newspapers which can only live and
give local and general news TO their
patrons at their low subscription prir"
! nv the aid Of liberal advertising from
local merchants. And finally. when
the ruthless storm has wrecked. If
not bankrupted. the above named
Iclasses. the reeoil will fall in full
force upon the farmers. In heavy
depreciation of farms and their pro.
ducts for want of home markets All
told, about $4,000. 900 or one-third OF
our population will be damaged and
) 900 or less will have been profited.
One proposition before Congress |;
to take over the express companies
and their facilities: another is to en-
gage in transportation in competition
with express companies. II the post
Office department Of our government
can arbitrarily compel express COM
panies to sell their business, il can
force any commercial or manufacture
ing plant to cease its work and let
The government run Ii 30 much cheap
er. Any parcels post act must. OF ne
cessity. cause large postal deficit
to be paid by the masses. most of
whom were hurt by the law. Will
not this be adding insult to injury?
Advocates Of such law talk glibly,
but ignOrantly of its success in Euro
pean countries. Conditions there and
here are SO different that comparisons
are valueless except when the truth
Il known to warn us from falling into
a like trap. Distances. character of
roads and occupations in this coun-
try. which Is larger than England.
Germany, France and Spain would
negative what might succeed over
there.
England has ceased to make public
annual reports Of its post operations.
Why, may we ask, rather suspicious.
isn't it? London catalogue houses
sent agents to solicit orders for mer-
cnandlse on all postal routes and the
sequence was chaos and dry-rot OF
rural towns.
Some pseudo farm journals as well
as other interests are striving TO mis-
Inform farmers and publishers that
home dealers are "blood-suckers and
lteches." living off them, producing
nothing themselves, thus stimulating
class hatred but 4 short step from
A large acquaintance with rural
justities the writer in saw
Ing that they will compare favorably
with like number of any class of
occupation The big majority are al
ways willing to cheerfully correct err
rors, ready to help a poor farmer
when in need, proposition that al
city catalogue house would scorn with
Ievlty, The hypocritical cry of "di
rect from producer to consumer as n
remedy for high cost of living. is
iellsive. Most of the retail trade in
rural towns is done on credit and as
long as farmers have home cash
market Tor their produce in bulk they
VIII not divide it up in quantities to
SUIT town families. send it by parcels
post and wait for their money till pay
lay.
II congress honestly desired to BEN |
hit the country it will enact no par
els post law. But the agents of those
anxious for such a law will do their
Utmost to have the measure passed.
Producers Auxiliary.
fine new packing hOuSa will no