For cumbrous and unwieldy parcels an additional charge not exceeding 50 per cent. of the ordinary postage might be made. With the increase of traffic it was found impossible to forward all the parcels by the postal trains, and the Post Office was only permitted to send a limited quantity of parcels by the ordinary express trains.[450] In 1880 it was arranged that parcels which must be delivered without delay—e.g. those containing fish or flowers—should be forwarded by express train on payment of a special fee of 1 Mark each. In 1886 this additional fee was made applicable to all urgent parcels, whatever the contents.
The tariff of 1873 has proved too high both for heavy and for very light parcels, and some curious anomalies result from the combination of zone rates and uniform rates. A parcel of 5 kilogrammes sent for any distance greater than 10 miles costs 50 pf. Eight parcels of 5 kilogrammes each could, therefore, for 4 Marks be sent for any distance; but if made up into one parcel of 40 kilogrammes the postage would be 7 Marks 50 for places in the third zone (20 to 50 miles), and for places in the sixth zone (over 150 miles) no less than 18 Marks.[451] It is therefore to the advantage of
the public to divide a heavy parcel, though such a proceeding obviously increases the cost to the administration of its handling and transmission. The despatch of heavy parcels by post is naturally discouraged, and the proportion of such parcels is decreasing.[452] Of the total number of parcels sent by post in 1900, more than 88 per cent. were less than 5 kilogrammes in weight, and the number of greater weight than 10 kilogrammes formed less than 3 per cent. The average amount of postage per parcel on parcels falling in Zones III, IV, V, and VI is not appreciably greater than that on parcels falling in Zone II.[453] The number of heavy parcels in the higher zones is, therefore, negligible,[454] and is least in the highest zones.[455]
In the case of very light parcels also the rate is excessive. The number of parcels under 1 kilogramme in weight, which in 1870 formed about 30 per cent. of the total, fell in 1874 to 26.6 per cent., in 1878 to 21.8 per cent., and in 1910 to 12.616 per cent.[456] Similarly the rates for the longer distances are too high generally, and the number of parcels falling under the higher zone rates is extremely small. In 1887, 42.5 per cent. of the total number of parcels were delivered within the first zone, and 84 per cent. within the first three zones, those in the sixth zone forming only .064 per cent.[457] Notwithstanding these defects in the scheme of rates, the total number of parcels has largely increased,[458] and the cheapness of many of the rates has led to the development of a traffic in certain food-stuffs, and has encouraged numerous localized industries.[459]
In view of the small number of heavy parcels it has been suggested that the post should be restricted to parcels not exceeding 10 kilogrammes in weight, parcels of greater weight being left to the railways.[460] This would result in the exclusion of about 3 per cent. only of the parcels. The proposal is, however, objected to on the ground that the postal service for such parcels ought not to be withdrawn unless the railways can afford as punctual, speedy, and cheap a service as the Post Office;[461] an argument which is sound only if the present rate is profitable to the Post Office (which is doubtful), or otherwise so long as it is assumed that the Post Office ought to continue the present service for the public advantage, regardless of considerations of cost and revenue.
To meet the difficulty with light parcels a lower rate has been proposed for parcels under 1 kilogramme in weight, but a further modification in favour of parcels between 1 kilogramme and 5 kilogrammes in weight is deprecated as involving an undesirable complication of the uniform rates.[462] The parcel post business is conducted as part of the general Post Office business, and consequently it is not possible to eliminate from the general expenses of the whole service the expenses incurred in dealing with parcels. It cannot be said, therefore, whether either the light parcels or the heavy parcels,
the short-distance parcels or the long-distance parcels, are or are not profitable to the administration, or, indeed, whether the parcel post service as a whole is a remunerative service or otherwise; but German writers on the subject hold the opinion that the cost of the service exceeds the revenue derived from it.[463]