The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1913-01-08
SUBURBAN TRUCK
Be A RESULT
Representative Tells How
Farmers Profits Are
Made Greater.
CONDITION that allows the

farmers OF the country 10 get
but 100000 for what finally
sold to the for about
S13, 100000 Is directly attacked by the
new parcel post service. As to the
in which farm profits are in
creased and prices { o re-
duced by the service, Representative
David J. Lewis Of Maryland has given
an interesting review, In part as fol
lows:
THE mere articulation of the farm
and countryside with the town and
railways by the postal van will be OF
very great social Importance. 1t will
lead TO a new in~dustry-the suburban
gardener. lie will be able TO send his
shipments to his patrons direct ut cost
of service, and the economic barrier
of an individual transportation system
Is removed. -Four acres and independ-
ence has been n dream of the past. IL
is apparent that 1t may become a fact
through the postal van. And what a
factl Shifting the u~nwholesome ten
0NlAlt VI HOBhtaNADh W thG hAlhCAt1tVA
civilization Of the cities back TO the
country. As the president has stated,
the high cost OF living was bound up
In this postal legislation. Two dozen
eggs, a dressed fowl, three pounds Of
butter, a like amount Of country sau-
sage. a country cured ham and a half
busheI OF apples sold recently at a farm
near Washington at $2.S5, but when
they got to the consume the cost was
sos. Give the small shipment Its
transportation rights and the means
have been provided 10y which the pru-
dent and outstanding spirit OF the work
ers Of our country can give themselves
a measure of relief.
There Is considerable objection TO
the parcel post In this country. IL
ZONES from men who make their OBJ
jections with an earIiestEsss and spirit
that should cause one to halt and con-
slider. / lei the local merchants.
They ask Why make the limit from
four 10 eleven pounds In weight? Is
10 this limit obviously designed TO be
J15N 1hOhEh ~ kGA HIS IuAAOn
away from him to the mail order house
and yet so small as to exclude the local
merchant, since he commonly ships IN
larger weightsY This objection was
largely overcome with the substitution
Of the zone system for the fat rate
proposition. The rates should not ere
ate unnatural markets by ignoring dis
lance. The fat rate idea represents a
misapplication Of the principle Of neg
ligible costs In rate making. Ii is
rightly applied to letters, because the
element OF transportation cost with
them Is less than on~e-fourth of the to-
tai cost. But where weight is involved
to any extent the transportation cost
Is not negligible, and even In the small
est countries, like Switzerland and Bel
GUM. the rates recognize distance.
Connects Farmers With Outside
World.
'Some 100000 of our people, the
producers OF vital necessaries, live In
the country, of the railway lines.
The express companies, Of course, and
the railways. too. have no means OF
reaching this country population. Any
system at all adequate to directly con
meet the producer and consumer, espe-
cially with reference to vital necessa-
ries, will have TO connect the farmer
with the railways and the towns.
Only the postal system possesses the
agency for that purpose. 1t possesses
1t In the rural free delivery structure.
now almost complete and ready for
adaptation TO the larger service. We
are spending over $40. 1000 on that
service, and it is waiting. n might
with empty wagons to receive and
convey I'm retail quantities the neces-
of life from the farmer In the
country to the hungry mouths that
need them in the city. The express
company, therefore, is excluded as the
remedy to connect producer and con-
for two main reasons-its rates
are prohibitive and it's instrumental.
ties do not reach the farm. The COM
putation of the outlay the p~ostofice
department will have to make for this
increased service a only take place
as the development of the traffic pro-
ceeds. The simplihed and reliable mo-
tor truck is now In sight. No abrupt
change will take place, and the postal
department will gradually adapt the
rural delivery structure to meet the
needs of the traffic as they become
manifest.
1.-The postal system OF the United
States Is certainly the most efficient
agency of its kind throughout the
world. ! have divided the number Of
postal employees In England. France
and Germany into the number of mail
pieces handled each year and then
made a like division for the United
States. The result shows that for the
year 1908 the efficiency of the average
employee IN England was 31,117
pieces handled. In France 1924, in
Germany 25,901 and in the United
States 51.591. We certainly have the
most efficient postal agency to handle
the small shipments"
The new act naturally made neces-
sary big APPROXIMATIONS for eouipment