East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-09-25

Of railway mail pay is purely and
F solely business question. to be de-
c!ded on its merits after the rough
sitting. deliberation and analysis OF
the facts The department desires 70
pay rate reasonable compensatory
tc the railroads. taking into consiG-
Grafton all Of the conditions Of the
service. Mails are not a commodity
Of commerce, and hence the question
Of whether a different yardstiek
should be applied to them Is a debat-
able one. l have always held that
while the mails may not be a COM
modify Of commerce, transportation
! undoubtedly is and that when the
Tostoffice needs transportation it
should pay a fair price for It.
However the department is en-
titled to the lowest rate consistent
with the business equities OF the case.
High cost articles OF commerce which
move in small volume and in the ex-
change Of which a large margin Of
profit is involved bear high transpor-
tation charges. The mails move IN
large volume, are easily handled, inl-
pose little risk on the carrier and
constitute a traffic into which the
element Of profit does not enter at
all. To pay the roads more than
reasonable compensation on the ba-
sis / have indicated would amount to
levying an indirect tax upon the gen
eral public for the benefit Of pri-
vate interest
"A painstaking and thorough inves-
tigatiOn has been made. running over
a long period OF time. The tests cf
reasonableness have been completed,
both as to the rates and the methods
of adjusting pay. and the results have
fully justified the postal authorities
in resisting the claims Of the rail-
roads
The government as a shipper os
parcel post, should not be required to
pay more than Is charged other ship
pers for substantially the same SER
vice. There have been many in
stances where the railroads have car
ried the same matter both as express
and as mail and have charged almost
double for it as mail. Why should
it cost the railroads more to haul
given package because It carries the
government label? How does an ex-
press company's label reduce the ex-
pense to the railroad?"
There being no apparent answer
to this, the. postmaster general was
asked what the next step would be.
Largely because Of the opposition
to the railway mail section, the en-
tire postoffice appropriation bill was
defeated in the senate last winter,
and the whole question went over to
the coming congress-" he said. Need
less to say, I shall renew my recon-
mendation on the subject. If the rail-
roads are successful in their cam
paign for more pay, it will seriously
hamper the proper development Of
the parcel post"
This brought US right up to the
postmaster generals favorite topic.
He admitted he had taken more
pleasure from the opportunity to
build up the parcel post system than
from any other branch of his work.
1t is apparent, he said, that the pub
lie appreciates the new service and
wants it developed to its maximum.
Notwithstanding the business de-
preston caused by the war" said Mr.
Burleson. the flow Of parcel mail
has steadily increased. An enormous
traffic has come into being in little
more than two years.
'The parcel post knits our countrg
more closely together. 1t is the
farmers sole express facility; he
buys AMI to some extent now. sells
by mail. The Farm-t Table adjunct
of the parcel post offers the city
householder the means of obtaining
better farm produce at lower prices
and provides many farmers with a.
new lucrative market.
Here's something you may not
have thought of; AS a result of the
parcel post competition, all express
traffic now moves much more swiftly
Il realize that the commercial ship
per has had grievances. Many boards
Of trade have passed resolutions de-
claring the present postal service
lacks. features of express service |
which for them are absolutely indis- |
pensible, such as receipts for parcels, |