On rural route: 5 cents for the first pound or fraction of a pound, and 1 cent for each additional pound or fraction of a pound.
| First Pound. | Each additional Pound. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First zone | 5 | cents. | 3 | cents. |
| Second zone | 6 | " | 4 | " |
| Third zone | 7 | " | 5 | " |
| Fourth zone | 8 | " | 6 | " |
| Fifth zone | 9 | " | 7 | " |
| Sixth zone | 10 | " | 9 | " |
| Seventh zone | 11 | " | 10 | " |
| Eighth zone | 12 | " | 12 | " |
Although, of course, with the body of the people the main arguments had been the ordinary contentions of the advantage of such a system as providing a most convenient facility for persons in all parts of the States, and especially in the rural districts, whereby they would be able by the utilization of existing machinery to have articles of all descriptions brought to their doors, yet in Congress the argument was largely based on the possibility of finding in the parcel post a means of reducing the "high cost of living," a problem which is giving much anxiety to politicians in America. By means of the parcel post, producer and consumer are to be brought into
direct relations the one with the other. All middlemen and their profits will be eliminated, and either the producer will get more for his products or the consumer will pay less—which of these will happen does not appear: probably in some degree both are hoped for.
The experience of England may not be any indication of what will happen in America. But it is certain that in England the produce sent direct from farm to consumer, whether eggs, butter, or poultry, is not obtained by the consumer at less cost than he could buy it in his own town. There is an advantage, but it rests solely in quality. The products obtained from the farm are more fresh, are probably better altogether, but the price is not less. In England these considerations have been sufficient to prevent the wholesale use of the parcel post for food-stuffs. It is, in fact, in general used for such traffic only by those people to whom a little extra expense is not an object of consideration. The conditions in America seem, however, to be substantially different from those in this country, and a large development of parcel post business of this character is anticipated.[423]
On the 15th August 1913 the limit of weight was increased to 20 pounds in the local, first, and second zones; and on 1st January 1914 the limit in local, first, and second zones was further increased to 50 pounds, and in the remainder of the zones to 20 pounds. On the 16th March 1914 books and printed matter were admitted to the fourth class, or parcel post, with a rate of postage of 1 cent for each 2 ounces up to 8 ounces, the ordinary parcel post pound rates to apply to packets exceeding 8 ounces in weight.
The service, as a whole, has been enormously successful. It is estimated that in the second year the post office was handling parcels at the rate of 800,000,000 annually, a figure which may be compared to its advantage with that for the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom the annual number of parcels posted is some 130,000,000, say three per head of the total population as compared with eight per head in the new service in the United States.