THE PARCELS POST. 
A Subject for Agitation and Discussion. 
We have progressed at this stage to where postal 
savings banks are assured. As to all benefits we shall 
receive, all things considered, they will only be known 
after they have been in operation for at least a time. 
Postal savings bank checks will be used instead of 
post office money orders, express money orders, and 
registered letters. These three methods of sending 
money safely are made unnecessary, as we can then 
send postal savings bank checks in transmitting our 
money. This brings us naturally to the question of 
parcels post. Since we 
have gained the point 
of safely sending our 
money, and with less 
trouble, we must next 
look toward an equally 
efficient and cheaper way 
of getting our goods. 
The Germans have long 
ago taken up and settled 
for all time this question 
which we are just be¬ 
ginning to consider seri¬ 
ously. The German par¬ 
cels post carries parcels 
from one end of the Em¬ 
pire to the other for a 
third of a cent a pound. 
It has progressed t o 
where they even convey 
butter, eggs, chees'e, 
fowls, and even heavy 
supplies for repairs. The 
money is sent by the pos¬ 
tal savings bank system 
at a small rate. This 
gives access to any stores 
in the country, and the 
goods are delivered at 
their door at the rate oi 
30 cents per h u ndre d 
pounds weight. We are 
told here that we cannot 
do this here, it being 
possible only because 
Germany is a compara¬ 
tively small country and 
thickly populated. Let us 
compare ourselves then 
with Canada, our north¬ 
ern neighbor. Canada is 
as wide as the United 
States and more sparsely 
settled. Our Department 
loses money on second- 
class matter at one cent 
per pound. Canada 
charged one half a cent a 
pound, but finding the 
rate too high cut it in half. At one quarter cent a 
pound they had a surplus of $S09,237.50 for fiscal year 
ending in 1909. Our rate for carrying parcels is (54 
times greater than the Canadian rate, and 48 times 
greater than the German rate. In spite of these high 
and excessive charges the Post Office Department is 
cutting the life and efficiency out of our mail service 
under the plea of economy and to avoid a deficit at 
the end of the year. One of the maxims of the most 
selfish of our corporations is to charge all that the 
traffic will bear. Our Department is charging more 
than the traffic will bear and is driving the public to 
give all its transportation to the express companies. 
Soon only letters and a few papers that can only be 
delivered by mail will be sent this way; the rest will 
go to the express companies. A large part of the cata¬ 
logues sent out from Chicago mail order houses go by- 
express. Rural deliveries go by mail. 
While the Department is losing money the express 
companies are paying dividends ranging from 40 to 
3G0 per cent, and are charging less. These companies 
pay enormous salaries to officials and directors. The 
pay of express messengers is less, but neither are they 
required to know and do the work as postal clerks are 
required. A run like New York to Pittsburg requires 
a knowledge of about 1:2,000 post offices, together with 
railroad connections so as to deliver the mails in the 
shortest possible time. So while the postal clerks are 
doing more intricate work the Department takes the 
long and unprofitable hauls and the resulting deficit, 
leaving the short and profitable ones to the express 
companies, to pay enormous dividends. If the express 
company takes a long haul package they charge what 
it is worth, and this helps to throw these shipments 
to the Post Office Department. The plan is one of the 
most devilish ingenuity to cripple the Department that 
cculd be devised and to enrich the express companies, 
who form the principal opposition to the parcels post. 
Here again the opposition is in the field with their 
arguments well presented before others are more than 
seriously thinking of their wants. Post cards, with 
opposing reasons printed on the back (from an ex¬ 
press company standpoint apparently ), by whom I do 
not know, are in existence, to be sent by their con¬ 
stituents to their Congressmen. Here you are told to 
protest, not with arguments of your own making or 
even belief, but like a boss of a well established poli¬ 
tical machine would tell you to vote. The principal 
argument against parcels post seems to be against 
large mail order houses by country merchants. I do 
not even know whether the country merchant is the 
author of these objections himself or whether he is 
used by some one else to raise an objection against 
something he fears will deprive him or them of ex¬ 
cessive dividends. First, 
I do not believe that the 
majority of t h i n k i n g 
merchants really do ob¬ 
ject ; and • second, those 
that do object are cer¬ 
tainly fighting against a 
general want that will do 
them more good than 
harm. The really profit¬ 
able shipments from these 
large mail order houses 
are freight shipments, 
which are generally made 
up of many articles to 
make up a weight of one 
hundred pounds. Mer¬ 
chants themselves order 
goods from these houses 
in this way and do so 
profitably. Large o n e- 
piece shipments do not 
affect local merchants 
whether we have a par¬ 
cels post 0i ; not. • The 
postage on -small light 
shipments, even with a 
reduced parcels post rate, 
will never compete seri¬ 
ously against local mer¬ 
chants and known goods. 
Here the merchant seems 
to consider the possible 
harm only, and not also 
a very evident good. We 
will consider that the 
local merchant carries 
standard goods. If he 
does not he has no right 
to expect anyone to pur¬ 
chase them at a standard 
article's price. The brands 
of these far distant mail 
order houses are gener¬ 
ally unknown and con¬ 
stantly changing, while 
with home merchants all 
patrons of the store are 
familiar to a great extent. 
Is it not plausible that a person thinking of a needed 
article, and knowing the brand carried by his local 
merchant to be good, would send the order either with 
payment or on account, and get goods by return mail 
at a fair transportation charge? If this easy way of 
getting the needed article sent for would not be 
available, the chances are that the person would wait 
until several articles were needed, and either make a 
tiip to the city where a larger stock was kept to select 
from or send a large order to the dreaded mail order 
house to be sent by freight. 
Small orders when needed, by parcels post, at a 
cheap transportation rate, would save these orders for 
the local merchant, who could enlarge his stock, buy 
THE FOUNDATION FOR GOOD ROADS IN MICHIGAN. Fin. 413. 
FILLING THE SILO ON A NORTHERN MICF1IGAN FARM. Fig. 414. 
