AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS OF EXPRESS COMPANIES

By 1890, moreover, the express companies had developed and at the present time are performing certain functions which are secondary to or even independent of the express business proper. These functions for the greater part parallel at the present time similar functions performed by the national government or by other agencies. These adjunct and independent functions are:

1—The issue of money orders, letters of credit, travelers' checks, etc., payable through express company agents and correspondents over well-nigh the entire civilized world.

2—The purchase for customers of goods in any locality in which an express office is located.

3—The sale for their customers of goods in any locality in which an express is located.

4—Miscellaneous services, such as filing legal documents, redeeming pawned articles, selling exchange, entering and clearing articles of import and export at customs houses, paying bills, and, in short, attending to any business which can be readily performed by an agent for a customer.

THE 1890 CENSUS

Remembering, then, these secondary as well as the primary aspects of the express business, the students of the 1890 Census on Express Companies would have learned the following facts:

Number of companies18
Total mileage operated174,535
Total on Railroads160,122
Total on Water Lines10,822
Total on Stage Lines3,055
Value of Equipment and Fixtures$5,074,045
Expenditures$45,783,123
ReceiptsNot reported
Number of employees45,718
Number of Money Orders Issued4,598,567
Number of packages carried by Express115,377,112
Paid to Railroads, Steamboats, and Stage Lines for transportation$19,561,182

Of the total mileage operated, as shown below, 92.7% was operated by the five leading companies listed above and the Pacific Express Company. The latter, organized in 1879, was owned and directed by the Gould group of railroads (the Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific and Wabash Lines); its business was taken over in 1911 by the Wells-Fargo Company.

Total mileage operated174,535
Adams Express Company24,919
American Express Company43,126
Pacific Express Company21,332
Southern Express Company21,714
United States Express Company21,479
Wells-Fargo Express Company29,098

These six companies also carried 92% of the parcels carried by express, as follows:

Total number of packages115,377,112
Adams Express Company26,456,382
American Express Company23,871,251
Pacific Express Company7,552,622
Southern Express Company7,552,622
United States Express Company17,039,844
Wells-Fargo Express Company22,658,384

The unquestioning devotion of the American public of 1890 to the principles of private enterprise is attested by the fact that there was no further census, and hence no further reliable information about the express companies, until 1907. It is true that the express companies were included in a Census Report on Transportation in 1894, but this survey could hardly be considered comprehensive.