[418] Cf. supra, p. [127], note 2.
[419] "When the British Government can secure better mail facilities in the United States for the English people than Uncle Sam can secure in this country for our own people, it is time that somebody be heard from."—Mr. Hartranft, Secretary of the Postal Progress League of California.
[420] "The difficulty now lies in the absence of a connected transportation conduit, which will receive the small shipment at the farm and convey it, like a letter, direct to the consumer."—Hon. David J. Lewis, Postal Express, 1912, 62nd Congress, 2nd Sess., Doc. No. 379, p. 5.
[421] Ibid.
[422] Mr. S. Norvell: "I found the conditions in Europe very much worse than I had anticipated. I found the way the people lived was entirely different from what I had anticipated, and no man who has simply lived in this country and has read in a general way about the conditions in Europe can appreciate how the people live in Europe without going among them and studying the subject. The business of Europe, while in the aggregate, of course, it is very large, as a matter of fact is a peanut business."—Hearings before the Sub-Committee on Parcel Post, Washington, 1912, vol. ii. p. 496. Cf. Address at Atlantic City, N.J., 16th November 1911.
[423] "The department believed and still believes that the parcel post, in time, will become an important factor in improving and cheapening the food supply of the great cities. Hence, on March 25, 1914, twelve of the large post offices were designated for special test of a farm-to-city service. Farmers were invited to register their names and designate the commodities they desired to sell. Lists of farmers and of the articles each offered were then printed and distributed by the carrier force. The results exceeded expectations; shipments of country products at the twelve offices named so materially increased that now eighteen additional offices have been named for similar exploitation of the farm-to-city service. The department's preliminary experience warrants the conclusion that direct shipment of food products that are consumed substantially in the same form in which they are produced offers practical possibilities of reducing the cost of living."—Report of Postmaster-General, Washington, 1913-14, p. 12.
[424] Law of 9 vendémiaire, an VI.
[426] Art. 5 § 2, Convention of 1880.
[427] "En obtenant ainsi le concours des compagnies pour le transport des colis internationaux, M. le Ministre devait évidemment être frappé des conditions dans lesquelles allait se trouver la circulation des colis à l'intérieur. Tandis que les premiers circuleraient en France avec la plus grande facilité à un prix forte réduit, notre commerce intérieur non seulement continuerait à payer des taxes de transport relativement élevées, mais encore resterait assujetti à tous les inconvénients qui résultent de la multiplicité des taxes et du manque d'entente entre les compagnies."—Journal Officiel de la République française, 27 janvier, 1881, p. 474.