1912. 
563 
LARGE PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 
[Editor’s Note. —Under this heading we intend to 
have discussed questions which particularly interest 
country people. We do not agree with all'that our 
correspondents say, but we shall give men and women 
who possess the courage of conviction an opportunity to 
say what they think about certain things which interest 
country people]. 
NOTES ON POSTAL REFORM. 
Part I. 
Parcels Post. —The following circular 
came in reply to a letter from the writer to 
our Congressman urging him to favor a par¬ 
cels post law. It is safe to say that there 
are enough Congressmen that will support 
a good parcels post bill if we can show 
them what is for the best interests of the 
country as a whole. The letters follows: 
House of ‘Representatives. Washington. 
March 23, 1912. My Dear Sir: Your letter 
received. The main features of the parcels 
post bill favorably reported by the House 
Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads 
seem to be unsatisfactory to many people 
in the Fifth District of Michigan. 
Retail merchants object to the provision 
for rural carriers to deliver parcels from 
the distributing ■ post office to the farmers 
on their routes on the ground that it is 
an entering wedge for q general parcels 
post, which they seem to think would drive 
many of them out of business. Farmers, 
on the other hand, object to this provision 
as giving them too little benefit and insist 
upon the prompt adoption of a general par¬ 
cels post law. They also look upon the 
provision for a commission to thoroughly 
investigate the subject as unnecessary and 
for delay. For my own Information and 
for use in the discussion, will you kindly 
give me your views on the following points? 
1. Should the postage rates be the same 
for all distances within United States? 
2. Should this part of the mail service 
pay all of its own expenses? 
3. What rates of postage will do this? 
4. If you fav<?r the zone plan suggested 
as a means of Using the rates of postage 
in proportion to distance and actual ex¬ 
pense what precise method seems to you to 
be the most practical? 
5. Where would yon place the limit as to 
size and weight of parcels? 
These are matters essential to the intel¬ 
ligent preparation of a general parcels post 
bill or the proper amendment of the bill 
reported. 
I trust you will favor me promptly with 
your views. The committee will doubtless 
insist on the adoption of its bill, including 
the commission to investigate, unless prac¬ 
tical answers can be given to the above 
questions. I will vigorously support amend¬ 
ments to the bill reported or an entirely 
new general parcels post bill if we can get 
one before the House which will fairly and 
squarely meet the situation on a business¬ 
like basis. Very truly yours, 
E. F. SWEET, 
5th Dist. Michigan. 
Should Rates be Uniform? —Nearly 75 
years have passed since Sir Rowland Hill 
startled the people of England with his pro¬ 
posal of a “penny post." proposing at one 
sweep to reduce the average rate on inland 
THE RURA.L, 
postage from tenpenee to a penny, and to 
carry a letter from Land’s End to John 
o'Oroat's at the same charge as from London, 
to the nearest village. The postal laws of 
England were in perfect harmony with the 
rest of that system of class 'legislation 
which, as Tkorold Rogers says, had been 
concocted for the purpose of cheating the 
workman of his wages, of tying him to the 
soil and of degrading him to irremediable 
poverty. “What!" said the private inter¬ 
ests of those days, “carry a letter a hun¬ 
dred miles at the same rate as for one 
mile? Mr. Hill is mad: the idea is ab- 
sug-d; it is impos-sflble.,” The .common 
people of England gladly accepted the idea 
and in 1S40 “penny postage" became a law 
and has remained the law to this day, 
and now a letter goes round the world 
for a “penny” or two cents in our coin. 
Distance has very little to do with the 
cost of carrying a letter. The letter going 
from London to Glasgow may travel with 
a thousand others and take no more time 
to_ handle it than a letter going but a few 
miles. In fact the letter going the shorter 
distance may actually cost the more money. 
The same is true of a package of any 
size. Packages going long distances travel 
most of their journey in company with 
large numbers of similar packages. We 
have uniform rates regardless of distance 
on our city street cars. For 40 years the 
milk rates into New York City were the 
same for all distances. A can of milk taken 
on the train 40 miles from New York City 
might easily cost more to transport than 
one from 400 mites if a larger number of 
cans were taken aboard at the farther 
point. Fruits are carried from the Pa¬ 
cific Coast to practically all points in the 
United States at uniform rates. A large 
percentage of transcontinental traffic is 
handled on a “blanket" or uniform set of 
rates. The English parcels post is handled 
on this principle, as also is almost all the 
fast freight service of that country. Ger¬ 
many carries all packages 11 pounds and 
under with only one line drawn in the 
uniform distance rate. In practice it might 
be found advisable to make two or three 
zones for larger packages, as is done in 
nearly all countries. But the nearer uni¬ 
form is the rate the more all classes are 
placed on an equality. The more compli¬ 
cated the rate system the more call there 
is for a complicated system of tariffs call¬ 
ing for much time of employees when de¬ 
termining rates, and in the auditing de¬ 
partments in checking against the compli¬ 
cated reports that come from the local 
offices. It is this condition that causes so 
much complaint from the public against the 
practices and charges of the express com¬ 
panies. 
Should Parcels Post Service Pay its 
Expense? —It should. It would not be pos¬ 
sible to tell exactly how much it costs to 
carry any branch of postal business. There 
are so many employees that devote part of 
their time to various activities that it 
would never be possible to keep an exact 
cost accounting system. Railroads never 
expect to allot more than 70 per cent, of 
their expense of operation to any line of 
traffic. The balance Is mere guesswork. 
No European nation attempts to insist on 
NEW-YORKER 
a division of its expense as between its 
letter and package divisions. No merchant 
knows for certain exactly what It costs to 
conduct any line of his business. No 
farmer can tell exactly how much it costs 
to produce any certain erop. It may cost 
more at one time than at another. But 
any farmer or merchant can tell whether 
he receives approximately what he should 
for his various activities. 
Parcels Post Rates. —What rates on 
parcels will be practical in this country? 
That will depend largely on whether or 
not the government has a monopoly. The 
government has a monopoly in the car¬ 
riage of letters, and makes this branch of 
the postal business self-sustaining. It is 
probably true that the government loses on 
its second-class matter, newspapers and 
magazines, but the chief cause of the loss 
lies in the fact that the express companies 
bid for and secure the short-haul portion 
and the government carries the long-haul 
portion. Again the railroads charge the 
government several times as much for haul¬ 
ing the mail as they charge the express 
companies. The express business of the 
country is hauled for three-fourths of a 
cent a pound and the mails cost about 
eight cents a pound. The two services are 
similar and comparable, both going in pas¬ 
senger trains. The average express rate in 
this country is iy 2 cents per pound and is 
conducted at a huge profit. The average 
rate over the whole country could well be 
a cent a pound if the government had a 
monopoly of the business. About 80 per 
cent of the express business is carried at 
50 cents per hundred or less. The Long 
Island Express Company has a large busi¬ 
ness carrying fruits and vegetables on Long 
Island as far out as 80 miles, delivering 
these products in hampers of about 50 
pounds to private households over nearly 
all of New York City at a charge of 25 
cents per hamper. It considers the business 
profitable, and maintains an expensive city 
delivery. In Germany parcels up to 11 
pounds are carried 46 miles and under at 
six cents each, and beyond 46 miles up to 
600 miles or anywhere in the Empire for 
12 cents per package. Larger packages are 
proportionally much less. France carries 
6.6 pounds and under for 10 cents, between 
6.6 pounds and 11 pounds for 14 cents, 
and from 11 pounds to 22 pounds for 23 
cents to any part of the Republic. There 
is a large industry in southern France 
where flowers are grown outdoors in the 
Winter and are shipped to Paris, taking the 
place of what must otherwise be grown in 
the hothouse, and lack that peculiar per¬ 
fume that comes from growing in the sun¬ 
shine of the Mediterranean. The English 
rate is higher than that of Germany and 
France, although low compared to our ex¬ 
press rates. In England the charge for 
one pound is six cents; two pounds, eight 
cents; three pounds, 10 cents: five pounds, 
12 cents; seven pounds, 14 cents; 8 
pounds. 16 cents: nine pounds, 18 cents; 
10 pounds. 20 cents; 11 pounds, 22 cents, 
approximately two cents ppr pound car¬ 
ried anywhere in the United Kingdom. 
Switzerland carried one pound for three 
cents; up to five pounds, five cents: up to 
11 pounds, eight cents; up to 22 pounds, 14 
cents; up to 33 pounds, 19 cents; up to 44 
pounds, 29 cents. It may be said that these 
European countries are very small in size 
compared to the United States and what 
would apply there couTd not apply here. 
All of these countries carry letters at prac¬ 
tically the same rate as we do in this coun¬ 
try. The size of a country has very little 
to do with rates. The vast majority of all 
kinds of transportation is for short dis¬ 
tances in all countries. The rate that will 
carry anything the short distances will 
carry it anywhere. The law of averages 
will always govern. The nations of Europe 
are not all of one size, yet they maintain 
nearly the same low system of rates. 
Should Have a Zone System of Rates.— 
Most all nations have a more or less elabo¬ 
rate system of zones for large packages. The 
English post-office carries nothing above 
11 pounds. Their railroads handle pack¬ 
ages above 11 pounds at nearly a uniform 
rate for all distances. Germany has a 
zone system for packages above 11 pounds. 
So does Austria and Hungary, where the 
rates are about the same as in Germany. 
In Switzerland there is a zone system for 
packages above 44 pounds. The charge 
there is for each additional 11 pounds six 
cents for 62 miles; 12 cents 1 for 124 miles; 
18 cents for 186 miles, and 23 cents for 
beyond. All of these zone systems are sim¬ 
ple and easy of application, and a page of 
tariff and instructions will cover all so 
that everyone may know whether the cor¬ 
rect charge is being made. In this coun¬ 
try the shipper is at the mercy of the 
express or freight agent, and never at¬ 
tempts to know whether he is getting a 
square deal. Our rates outside of the post- 
office are based on the principle of “what 
the traffic will bear” which is often con¬ 
strued as “all the traffic will bear.” This 
is the “value of the service” theory. Were 
it applied to carrying of letters the rates 
would be much higher. If a farmer has 
a load of potatoes to sell and the price at 
bis local station is 50 cents a bushel and 
the price in the distant city is 75 cents a 
bushel, the “value of the service” to haul 
the load to market is 25 cents per bushel. 
The farmer might be able to drive to mar¬ 
ket at that price and the railroad might 
charge the full 25 cents rate, while the 
“cost of the service” to the railroad might 
be only five cents per bushel. The railroad 
would probably make a 20 cent rate and 
thus make the business move. Our postal 
system is based on the “cost of service’ 7 
principle which should govern. 
Limit to Size and Weight of Parcels. 
—There should be no limit to the size or 
weight of parcels. Our express companies 
make no limit, they will carry anything 
from an ounce to a carload if one has the 
price. Some nations have a limit. England 
places it at 11 pounds; Germany and Aus¬ 
tria no limit: in France the length of any 
parcel must not exceed five feet; in Switz¬ 
erland eight feet in length is the limit. 
These limitations are practically no limit. 
The cost limit is the real limit as in this 
country in the express business. Some 
countries place a limit in size of packages 
principally for limiting the article to the 
service of their rural carriers, f. n. C. 
OUR GREATS OFFER! 
TO 5,000 PROGRESSIVE FARMERS 
Introducing “ NITRAGIN,” the Salvation of the Soil 
The Greatest Agricultural Discovery of the 20th Century 
P ROGRESSIVE farm ownei’s, everywhere, are 
studying the vital subject of nitrogen. 
They are beginning to understand that the 
value of their crops, and the value of their land depend almost 
wholly upon the amount of nitrogen (plus decaying 
vegetable matter) there is in the soil. 
They are beginning to realize that they can keep the soil 
supplied with ad the nitrogen and humus their crops require without 
buying cue cent's worth of commercial nitrogen: that they 
can supply both nitrogen and humus for almost nothing—in 
fact they can make these right on their own farm by turning 
under inoculated legume crops, and nitrogen will thus cost 
less than one cent a pound. 
You know that the word “legume” Is applied to all pod-bear¬ 
ing plants, such as Alfalfa, clover, peas, beaus, etc. You know 
that the Government bulletins, farm, papers and other authori¬ 
ties have, for years, been urging the farmer to grow legumes; that 
this advice comes from every quarter; that the almost univer¬ 
sal slogan is " legumes are the salvation of the soil.” In fact, you 
won’t find one man in a hundred who does not know this. 
Legumes Get “Nitrogen” From tlte Air 
But. neither will you And one man in a hundred who really 
knows why so many authorities are recommending legumes. 
Most farmers know that legumes are good green-manure 
crops. Many know that legumes enrich soiL Some of them 
know that legumes bring nitrogen to the soil. But how many 
know that it is the legume GERM that really does the work? How 
many know that it is the legume Germ alone that makes it possible 
for any legume to take nitrogen out of the air and store it 
in the soil ? 
The slogan ~ Legumes are the salvation of the soil” is 
wrung, for legumes without the GERMS are as big soil robbers 
as oats, or wheat, or corn, or cotton, or any other non-legumi- 
nous plant. It is the EEBMS that do the work. It is the GERMS 
that take the nitrogen ont of the air. It is the GERMS that 
enrich the soil. 
You must know, however, that the Germs that perform 
this wonderful work must have the co-operation of the le¬ 
gumes. That they live and thrive on tlie roots of legume 
plants only, which, of course, is the reason why agricultural 
authorities all recommend the growing of legume crops. But 
you will now understand that these authorities should have 
* one a step farther, and have urged farmers to grow inoculated 
legumes. And the slogan should be ‘ Inoculated legumes are the 
salvation of the soil,” or to be more accurate, 
“ Legume Germs Are the Salvation of the Soil ” 
Yon will now understand and appreciate our slogan “ NIT- 
RAGIN the Salvation of the Soil,” since "NITKAGIN” is 
simply the trade-name for the GERMS that live at the roots of 
the legumes, and it is these Germs that make the soil richer by 
taking nitrogen from the air and storing it up in the soil. 
Scientists studied these germs for years. They are still 
studying them, for these wonderful legume germs are playing 
an important part in the solution of man’s mightiest problem: 
“How can the fertility of the soil be maintained?” 
Legume germs are commonly known as nitrogen-gathering 
Germs. We are breeders of these very germs, and onr business 
(after they are bred) is to pack them in small tin boxes (along 
with some food stuff to keep them alive) and sell them to the 
farm-owner, who mixes them with his seed and then sows 
germs and seeds together. 
Right here, let us give yon seven facts which scientists 
have discovered concerning these great benefactors of Man— 
the nitrogen-gathering Germs: 
What “NITRAGIN” Germs Do 
(1) These Germs make the legume plants healthier, hardier, 
deeper-rooted, quicker of growth, and give them greater food 
value, since they contain more nitrogen (protein) than Germ¬ 
less Legumes. 
(2) Legumes without these nitrogen-gathering Germs in 
their roots de not thrive weR, and get id their nitrogen food out of 
the vegetable matter in the soil, the same as do oats, wheat, 
corn. etc. 
(3) Alfalfa and some of the clovers wither awav and die. 
unless these germs are in their roots; or at best, they never 
produce a crop worth harvesting. 
(4) These germs in co-operation with legumes build up worn- 
out land. 
(5) Legumes without these germs never add an ounce of 
nitrogen to the soiL 
(6) These .Germs and legumes maintain'soil fertility. 
(7) Legumes without these germs, and all other crops 
(non-leguminous crops) rob the soil of its fertility. 
You should grasp the above facts firmly in your mind, for 
they are strong, vital, fundamental truths. 
With the above facts in mind, ask yourself why you should 
plow under a legume crop for its nitrogen, unless it has these 
nitrogen-gathering Germs in the roots? Unless the crop is 
inoculated (or "NITKAGINED.” as farmers are beginning to 
call it) the green manuring will not add an ounce of nitrogen 
to your soil. It will only put back what it took out of the land. 
You had far better plow under some crop the seed of which 
is cheaper than the costly legume seed. 
But if you want a catch of Alfalfa, elover. vetch. Soy 
beans, etc., you must see to it that these legumes have nitrogen 
germs in their roots. 
If you want greater fertility instead of less, increased value 
of vour land rather than decreased, vou should green manure 
and rotate with some “NITRAGLXRL) ' legume plant. 
A legume becomes “NITRAGINKD” when its seeds are 
treated with "NITKAGIN.” The seeds are then spread over 
the floor to dry. When dry enough to handle, they are plant¬ 
ed, along with their germs, in the usual manner. 
The method is simple and inexpensive. It Is the common- 
sense, logical way of inoculating legumes. It is cheaper, 
easier and surer than soil transfer, and has none of its 
dangers. The "NITKAGIN” method is endorsed, recommended 
and encouraged everywhere by the highest agricultural 
authorities, including the United States Government, Experi¬ 
ment Stations, Soil Experts and Editors of best-known Farm 
papers. “NITRAGIN" meets the great agricultural need of 
the hour—greater soil fertility. • 
Our Offer To You 
In order to quickly introduce “NITKAGIN ” to one or more 
farmers in every township, we have decided to distribute a 
certain amount upon exceptionally favorable terms in order 
to prove to you aud your neighbors just what “ NITRAGIN” 
will do. Write at once for our great 10 day offer. Be the first to 
respond from your township. Act quickly because we have 
allotted only a certain amount of “NITRAGIN” for this 
offer. First come—first served—send us the coupon now. 
Free BuUetiu Explains All 
W e can’t tell you half the facts about “ NITKAGIN ” here, 
so we have prepared a bulletin,“01d Farms Made New.” which 
shows, by actual photographs and bona-fide testimonial 
letters from prominent users, just what “NITRAGIN” ,*+ 
will do. and how “NITRAGIN” has brought success 
to AI falfa growers and other farmers in rnauy Stales. 
In short, it proves all we have said here. 
We want you to have a eopy of this bulletin 
whether you ever use a cent's worth of 
“NITKAGIN” or not. Send for the bul- 
letin now—take time to read it—profit s,' 
by the truths it contains—prepare to 
make a bigger success of farming 
this season and every season, 
hereafter. > 
The bulletin is free- just /' 
semi the coupon, that’s all. / / , 
In addition to sending , 
German-American 
“RITBAGir* Co. 
mi 
Milwaukee, 
's ' Please send me your free bul- 
jL n „“° ld Farms Made New” 
and full particulars of your Great 
Ten Bay Offer an "NITRAGIN. ” 
you the bulletin, we 
will explain Our Great 
10 Day Offer on “ Nl- ' 
TRAG1N.” Fill out 
and mail the > / 
coupon now y / / 
before It s ' 
Is mis- /,' 
laid. 
Name 
Town. 
County. 
GERMAN-AMERICAN “ NITRAGIN ” CO., 292 Mason St., Milwaukee, Wis. 
P. O. Box OF R. F. I ) 
_ State. 
