Data Relative to Proposed Extension of Parcel Post. pp. 1-6.
OFFICE OF THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL,
Washington, D. C., March 4, 1908.
My Dear Senator: It affords me great pleasure, in compliance with your request, to place at your disposal the data which are available relative to the proposed extension of the parcel post.
It does not appear to be generally appreciated that a comprehensive system of parcels post is already in satisfactory operation in most foreign countries. Exhibit No. 1 gives detailed information on this subject. I show here the limit of weight which has been fixed in a number of instances:
| Pounds. | |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | 11 |
| Germany | 110 |
| France | 22 |
| Italy | 11 |
| Chile | 11 |
| New Zealand | 11 |
| Austria | 110 |
| Belgium | 132 |
| The Netherlands | 11 |
| Cuba | 11 |
The rates in the countries mentioned are much lower than those shown in Exhibit No. 2, which have been recommended for the general parcel post in the United States.
The present rate on the general parcel post is 16 cents a pound for people in our own country, the limit of weight being 4 pounds, while the rate from the United States to 29 foreign countries is 12 cents a pound and the limit of weight to 24 of these countries is 11 pounds. In other words, our own people must pay 4 cents a pound more for the privilege of dispatching packages to each other than when destined to residents of a foreign country. I have therefore urged a rate of 12 cents a pound for packages forwarded through the mails to post-offices in the United States and its possessions, subject to the same regulations as exist at the present time, with the exception of increasing the weight limit to 11 pounds. The service can be rendered at a cost well within the rates recommended.
According to the report of the record of weight of second-class mail matter, transmitted by the Post-Office Department to the House of Representatives under date of February 1, 1907, the average haul of all second-class matter was 540 miles.
Of the total receipts of the Post-Office Department 69 per cent are expended for labor and supplies, and 7 per cent for conveyance charges other than those paid the railroads for transporting the mail. A general rate for parcel post of 12 cents a pound would produce a revenue of $240 a ton. Even on the basis of a 540-mile average haul, I find the debit and credit sides of 1 ton of parcel post to be as follows:
| By postage | $240.00 | |
| To railroad transportation, 540 miles, at 5½ cents | $29.70 | |
| Other transportation charges | 16.80 | |
| Labor and supplies | 165.60 | |
| Total cost | 212.10 | |
| Profit | 27.90 |
A local parcel post confined to rural delivery routes is also advocated at the rates given in Exhibit No. 3. The Department favors the establishment of this special service because of its ability to render it with great advantage to the farmer, the country merchant, and other patrons of the routes, as the necessary machinery (over 38,000 routes now regularly covered by rural carriers) is in operation. There are some 15,000,000 people living on these routes, which shows the vast possibilities of the rural service. It has been estimated that if but three packages of the maximum weight were handled each trip on the rural routes now established the resulting revenue, even at the low rates given, would more than wipe out the postal deficit. The increased cancellations would automatically advance the salaries of postmasters of the fourth class, and the remaining revenue, which would be clear gain, would be of great assistance in making the rural service self-sustaining. The rural service will, in all probability, cost the government this year $34,000,000, an increase of $10,000,000 over last year.
The history and advantages of the rural delivery should be understood by our people. There is a feeling in many quarters that it is an extravagance and an unnecessary drain upon the postal revenues. The first rural route was established in the latter part of 1896, $14,840 being expended for rural delivery during that fiscal year. At that time the postal deficit was $11,411,779. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907, the expenditures for rural delivery aggregated $26,671,699, while the postal deficit showed a decrease, as compared with 1897, of $4,800,000, the deficit amounting to $6,653,282. This would seem to show that while the expense incurred for maintaining rural delivery is great, yet the rural delivery has been instrumental in increasing the general postal receipts. However, its benefits to our people can not be measured in dollars and cents.
That a local parcel post would be of material advantage to the retail merchant in competition with mail-order houses is seen at once when it is pointed out that the latter, at the proposed general parcel post rate of 12 cents a pound, would be obliged to pay $1.32 for sending an 11-pound package to a rural route patron, a difference in favor of the local storekeeper of about 10 cents a pound, or $1.07 on an 11-pound package.
Letters and petitions for the extension of the parcel post are being received from all sections of the country. Many commercial bodies formerly opposed to any action of this kind are on record as being heartily in favor of it.
On the other hand, objections have been raised to the measures the Department is advocating. Although no sound argument has been advanced in opposition, the contentions which have been made are not without interest. I mention the more important of them, at the same time giving the replies which they have elicited:
It has been stated that the Department is not equipped to deliver 11-pound parcels received in the general mails. The present postal regulations provide that where a package is of undue size or weight a formal notice shall be sent the addressee requesting him to call for it. This practice, would continue were the weight limit increased to 11 pounds, in the case of offices having free delivery. Nor would it work a hardship, for under the present limit of 4 pounds the average weight of parcels sent through the mails is but one-third of a pound. Increasing the weight limit would not have nearly as great an effect on the average weight of parcels mailed as seems to be commonly supposed. Where packages were addressed to persons living on rural routes they would, of course, be delivered to the boxes of the patrons by rural carriers, who would not thereby be inconvenienced.
The claim that the special local rate recommended for the parcel post on rural routes would eventually be extended to include the entire postal service has been given considerable publicity. The impossibility of this becomes apparent when attention is directed to the cost of railroad transportation, which has no part in the former service. About $45,000,000 were paid last year for mail transportation and $6,000,000 for postal cars.
Others have said that large mail-order houses would, under the proposed law, utilize the special parcel post or rural routes through agents to the great disadvantage of the country merchant, first assembling their orders and despatching them by express or freight to suitable distributing points. The Department has recommended provisions which will prevent any such use of the routes. It should be remembered, too, that even in the absence of a specific prohibition of this nature, any systematic attempt upon the part of a mail-order house to thus distribute its wares would necessitate the employment of many thousands of local representatives. The catalogues of these concerns indicate in no uncertain way that they attribute their success, in large measure, to their low selling expense, and that the absence of any sort of agents is the principal feature of their argument in accounting for the supposedly low prices of their goods.
The cry of “class legislation” has been raised. There is, of course, no discrimination involved, for all who can be reached by rural carriers will be accommodated. It would be as reasonable to decry the laws which permit the delivery of mail to patrons living on rural routes, while persons differently situated are obliged to make a trip to a near-by post-office to obtain their letters.
Those who claim that an increase in the weight limit would work an injury to country merchants appear to have the impression that mail-order houses now deliver their goods extensively through the postal service, and that this practice would largely increase if the recommendations which have been made become law. Upon a moment’s reflection it will be perceived that the present rate of 16 cents a pound ($16 per hundred-weight), as well as the proposed rate of 12 cents a pound ($12 per hundred-weight), are alike prohibitive on practically all lines of merchandise. Mail-order houses make their shipments usually by freight or express and would continue to do so.
Antagonism to the proposed measures, when analyzed and found not to be the result of selfish motives, appears to be based upon inaccurate or insufficient information. In illustration, I desire to invite attention to a communication of the Richmond Commercial Club, of Richmond, Ind., which appeared in the Congressional Record of January 4, 1908. In this letter the statement was made that a certain mail-order house would save $40,000 a year on the mailing of catalogues alone. Catalogues are rated as third-class matter, whereas the Department’s recommendations with respect to parcel post relate to fourth-class matter only. Catalogues are now mailable at 1 cent for 2 ounces, or 8 cents a pound, 4 cents a pound less than the rate proposed for the general parcel post. The mail-order house referred to, therefore, would gain nothing under the proposed law in the mailing of its catalogues.
With the adoption of new conveniences of life by urban residents, and the ever-increasing attractions of the city, especially potent in their influence upon the younger generation, the importance of affording farmers and ruralites generally every legitimate advantage becomes more and more apparent. The free rural delivery has improved materially and intellectually the life of great numbers of these people. Is it too much to ask that the Department shall make a further use of this important system; a use which, while adding appreciably to the postal revenues, will directly and vitally benefit every man, woman, and child within reach of a rural route? The countryman would have the necessities of life delivered at his gate at an average cost of 2 cents a pound, thereby facilitating and increasing consumption. This would mean augmentation of the trade of thousands of country merchants. The commercial traveler should appreciate the advantages of this system; it would increase his orders because the country merchant buys from the jobber or the wholesaler. Every component part of our commercial system would feel the effects of an increased prosperity.
It would inevitably tend toward the improvement of the roads. Better roads and improved postal facilities in the rural districts would result in increased values of farm lands. The rural service as now organized has accomplished something in this direction; its enlargement will add to the good attained.
Believe me, faithfully yours,
G. v. L. Meyer.
Hon. Henry E. Burnham,
United States Senate, Washington.
Exhibit 1.
Parcel Post Rates in the Domestic Service of the Countries Named.
Great Britain.—Postage rates for the first pound, 3 pence (6 cents), and for each additional pound, 1 penny (2 cents); maximum weight, 11 pounds; greatest length, 3 feet 6 inches; greatest length and girth combined, 6 feet.
New Zealand and the States Composing the Commonwealth for Australia.—Limits of weight and size, same as in Great Britain. Postage rates, 6 pence (12 cents) for the first pound, and 3 pence (6 cents) for each additional pound.
Germany.—Greatest weight, 50 kilograms (about 110 pounds); no limit of size. Postage rates: For all parcels conveyed not more than 10 geographic miles, 25 pfennig (6 cents), and 50 pfennig (13 cents) for greater distance; if a parcel weighs more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds av.), it is charged for each additional kilogram (2 pounds) carried 10 miles, 5 pfennig (1 cent); 20 miles, 10 pfennig (3 cents); 50 miles, 20 pfennig (5 cents); 100 miles, 30 pfennig (8 cents); 150 miles, 40 pfennig (10 cents); and more than 150 miles, 50 pfennig (13 cents). Unwieldy parcels are charged in addition 50 per cent of the above rates.
Austria.—Greatest weight, 50 kilograms (110 pounds); except that parcels containing gold or silver coin may weigh up to 65 kilograms (143 pounds). Postage rates: Parcels up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds) in weight are charged 30 heller (6 cents) for the first 10 miles, and 60 heller (12 cents) for greater distances. A parcel weighing more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds) is charged for each kilogram (2 pounds) in addition to the above rates, for the first 10 miles, 6 heller (1 cent); 20 miles, 12 heller (2 cents); 50 miles, 24 heller (5 cents); 100 miles, 36 heller (7 cents); 150 miles, 48 heller (10 cents), and more than 150 miles, 60 heller (12 cents).
France.—Greatest weight 10 kilograms (about 22 pounds); no limit of size. Postage rates: Up to 3 kilograms (7 pounds), 60 centimes (12 cents) delivered at the railway station, and 85 centimes (17 cents) delivered at a residence; from 3 to 5 kilograms (7 to 11 pounds), 80 centimes (16 cents) at a station, and 1 franc 5 centimes (21 cents) at residence; from 5 to 10 kilograms (11 to 22 pounds), 1 franc 25 centimes (25 cents) at a station, and 1 franc 50 centimes (30 cents) at a residence.
Belgium.—Greatest weight 60 kilograms (about 132 pounds); no limit of size, but unwieldy parcels are charged 50 per cent in addition to the following rates for any distance: Parcels up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds), 50 centimes (10 cents)—or if by express trains, 80 centimes (16 cents); up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds), 60 centimes (12 cents)—or if by express trains, 1 franc (20 cents); for each additional 10 kilograms (22 pounds), 10 centimes (2 cents)—or if sent by express trains, 50 centimes (10 cents) additional. Fee for delivering at residences, 30 centimes (6 cents).
Italy.—Greatest weight, 5 kilograms (11 pounds). For ordinary parcels, greatest size in any direction, 60 centimeters (2 feet), except rolls which may measure 1 meter (40 inches—3 feet 4 inches) in length by 20 centimeters (8 inches) in thickness. Postage rates for a parcel not exceeding 3 kilograms (7 pounds), 60 centimes (12 cents); and 1 franc (20 cents) for a parcel exceeding that weight. A parcel which exceeds 60 centimeters (2 feet) in any direction, but does not exceed 1½ meters (5 feet), is admitted to the mails as an “unwieldy” parcel and is charged, in addition to the above rates, 30 centimes (6 cents) if it does not weigh more than 3 kilograms (7 pounds), and 50 centimes (10 cents) if it exceeds that weight.
The Netherlands.—Greatest weight, 5 kilograms (11 pounds); greatest size, 25 cubic decimeters (1,525 cubic inches), or 1 meter (3 feet 4 inches) in any direction. Postage rates: 15 (6) cents (Dutch) up to 1 kilogram (2 pounds); 20 (8) cents from 1 to 3 kilograms (2 to 7 pounds); 25 cents (10) from 3 to 5 kilograms (7 to 11 pounds).
Chile.—Greatest weight, 5 kilograms (11 pounds); must not measure more than 60 centimeters (2 feet) in any direction. Postage rates: 30 centavos (10 cents) if a parcel does not weigh more than 3 kilograms (7 pounds); 50 centavos (17 cents) if it weighs more.
Cuba.—Greatest weight, 11 pounds; greatest size, 3 feet 6 inches in length by 2 feet 6 inches in width. Postage rates: 10 centavos (10 cents) a pound up to 5 pounds; and 6 centavos (6 cents) for each additional pound.
Exhibit 2.
Rates recommended by the Postmaster-General in his annual report (year ended June 30, 1907) for packages forwarded through the mails to post-offices in the United States and its possessions, subject to the regulations which exist at the present time, with the exception of increasing the weight limit to 11 pounds.
| Cents. | |
|---|---|
| One ounce | 1 |
| Over 1 ounce and not exceeding 3 ounces | 2 |
| Over 3 ounces and not exceeding 4 ounces | 3 |
| Over 4 ounces and not exceeding 5 ounces | 4 |
| Over 5 ounces and not exceeding 6 ounces | 5 |
| Over 6 ounces and not exceeding 8 ounces | 6 |
| Over 8 ounces and not exceeding 12 ounces | 9 |
| Over 12 ounces and not exceeding 16 ounces | 12 |
Exhibit 3.
Rates recommended by the Postmaster-General in his annual report (fiscal year ended June 30, 1907) for packages covered by the special local parcel post on rural delivery routes.
| Cents. | |
|---|---|
| For the first pound | 5 |
| For each additional pound, up to 11 pounds | 2 |
| For fractional parts of a pound: | |
| Two ounces or less | 1 |
| Over 2 ounces and up to 4 ounces | 2 |
| Over 4 and up to 8 ounces | 3 |
| Over 8 and up to 12 ounces | 4 |
| Over 12 ounces and up to 1 pound | 5 |