Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-04-19
THE GERMAN PARCELS POST.
Described by the Dean of ohio State
College.

Described by the Dean of Ohio State
College.
written to the New York Tribune
Farmer from Halle a Saale Germany
If American farmers could see the
benefits of the parcels post as l am see
ing it in Germany, Congress would have
no rest until it had made provision for
establishing it in America. One of the
most striking things to an American
traveller when he first comes to Europe
is the sight of the immense number of
packages that are being handled at the
railroad stations and the large number
of post office wagons around the sta
tions and on the city streets.
At first l did not understand what it
all meant; then 1t suddenly dawned upon
me that it was the parcels post, the
very thing we have been asking Con-
gress to establish for so many years.
| at once began to investigate, and for
the last four or five months have been
observing and studying the German par
GELS post particularly in regard to its
service to the farmer.
In Germany the paroles post is as
much a part of their postal service as
| the sending of papers and magazines as
second class matter is a part of our
| own. No one remembers the time when
| they did not have it, because it has been
| established over 100 years, and they do
not understand why l should be par
| ticularly interested in it, When l tell
| them we have no parcels post in Amer
| lea they will scarcely believe me, and
say, "Oh, you have too many trusts in
| America" and l have to admit that is
doubtless true so far as the parcels post
| is concerned.
The German System.
Practically all of the other countries
-
| good as Germany, and l am describing
| the German system simply because it is
| the one that l have had an opportunity
| to study personally. AS already men
| toned, they have had a parcels post of
some description for over 100 years, and
since 1873 their present very effective
| and successful system. At first charges
were made for sending packages accord
| ing to their weight and the distance
| they were to go. This resulted in an
| endless amount of figuring for the pos
tai clerks and a disporportionate charge
for small packages that were sent only
| short distances. Then the charge was
| fixed according to zones; that is. uni
form price was charged for the first five
miles and increased for each additional
| five miles until the distance reached 80
miles, and then it was raised every 40
miles until 100 miles was reached, and
for distances over 100 miles the rate
| C-iaHSeu loT every duullloHdl ~ iuileS'
| While this was a decided improvement
it still involved a great deal of calcula-
ton, and in 1873 a fiat rate OF 20
pfennigs (six cents) a package up to the
weight of five kilograms Q1 pounds) for
a distance not over ten miles was fixed.
| For all distances over ten miles a uni
| form rate of so pfennigs az cents) was
charged for packages up to the weight
of IL pounds. SO that today the cost OF
| sending packages under IL pounds In
weight is as uniform in Germany as let
ter postage. except that for distances OF
less than 10 miles 1t is only one-half as
much as for longer distances, and one
can send an II pound package across the
German empire for little over one
cent a pound, and it will be delivered
just as a letter. For packages of over
II pounds the rate is fixed according to
the weight of the package and the dis
lance 1t Is to go. The rate Is uniform
up to ten miles and increases for dis
tances between 10 and 20, 20 and 80, 81
and 100, 100 and $50, and is uniform fol
distances over $50 miles
Farm Products by Post.
Butter ranks first of all in agriculture
products that are shipped by post, ano
thousands OF families in all the large
cities of Germany have their butter
shipped to them regularly each week by
| parcels post. Often II Is shipped as IA
as 200 or 300 miles. but as long as thu
package is not more than II pounds II
weight 1t can be sent for the uniform
rate of ~ cents. AS an example OF thu
extent to which the parcels post is use'
for such shipment the record shows tina
from the province of East Prussia alone
which Is about one fourth as large a
New York state. nearly 100000 package
of butter and 10000 packages of chess
are shipped each year by post. Cream
and milk are also shipped to some ex
tent by the same means, but to yer,
much less extent.
Next in importance to the dairy pro
ducts come the shipment OF eggs AM
dressed poultry, and these shipments L
private customers are naturally YER
generally combined with the butter slip
ment. That is, family in the city will
get their supply of butter, eggs an
poultry from the same farmer and hav
them shipped together each week b.
post
The use of the parcels post Is prima
rily for the shipment of small package
and between private individuals and no
, between the farmer and dealer or com
mission man. Herein Is another advan
tage of the percels post, 1t offers tn