Similar findings on the comparative value of the Government service and the private companies' service in the express fields may be obtained from another source. Up to January 1, 1913, outside of parcels weighing less than four pounds, the private express companies had unchallenged exploitation of the express service of the United States. How did the extent of our service in 1912 compare with the extent of the service in other lands in which our private express companies found no counterparts?

Obviously, there is no absolute basis for fruitful comparison. Greater distances, more sparsely settled territory, greater wealth, greater geographical specialization of function and hence greater need for integration between different sections, higher standards of living, more diversified demands—these are some of the features of the problem here as compared with the problem abroad which make an absolute comparison of express services valueless. But practically every feature of the express situation would affect also the freight traffic of the United States as compared with the freight traffic abroad. In other words, the express traffic of the United States before 1913 should have had the same ratio to the freight traffic of the United States as the express traffic of other lands to the freight traffic of other lands, in case the United States express companies were as efficient in comparison with foreign express agencies as the railroads of the United States in comparison with railroads.

In a hearing before a committee of Congress in 1912, Mr. David J. Lewis, then a congressman from Maryland, presented the evidence, which he had obtained from the original reports of the railways of the countries concerned:

PoundsPoundsRatio
FreightExpressExpress
ShippedShippedShipped to
CountryDatePer CapitaPer CapitaFreight
Argentina190910,680 165.4 1 to 64
Austria190811,260 116.6 1 to 97
Belgium190916,320 199 1 to 82
Germany190915,980 140.4 1 to 113
France1908 7,480 140.6 1 to 53
Hungary1908 5,540 67.8 1 to 84
United States190916,300 99 1 to 165

In other words, the express facilities of the United States were used 50% less than in the country above showing the lowest development of express service and about 200% less than in the country showing the highest development of express service. When it is remembered that express is much quicker and more convenient than freight, although more expensive, and that the industrial processes of the United States have long been and still are characterized by a keener demand for speed and convenience, irrespective of cost, than the industrial processes of other countries, the above table becomes eloquent with significance.

With respect to the costs of the express service, the same basis for comparison may be used.

Ratio
AverageAverageFreight
FreightExpressCharges
ChargeChargeto Express
CountryDatePer TonPer TonCharges
Argentina1909$1.95$6.51 1 to 3.2
Austria1908 .74 3.77 1 to 5
Belgium1909 .53 4.92 1 to 9.3
France1908 .95 6.88 1 to 7.2
Germany1908 .76 3.80 1 to 5
Hungary1908 .93 3.68 1 to 3.9
United States1909 1.9031.20 1 to 16.4

And yet the statesmen at Washington have disposed and doubtless will still endeavor to dispose of the proposal to have the Government own and manage the express service of the land by speeches on texts to the effect that the spirit of America demands individual freedom; that that is the best Government which governs the least; that incentive to productive endeavor is possible only in private establishments and completely disappears in the public service; to which will now doubtless be added the charge that such a proposal smacks of Socialism and that every red-blooded American understands that anything and everything Socialistic is undeniably un-American!

The implication of the above figures, however, is undeniable for the man who trusts thought as well as emotions. The Postal System has gone into the express field and, in competition with the express companies, by their respective showings, has in five years rendered to the American public far more valuable service than that rendered by the express companies. The opponents of Government ownership and management have been ruthlessly confuted. They predicted graft—there has been none. They prophesized inefficiency—the figures give them the lie. They foretold unwholesome political intrusions—whatever may be the unwholesome features of the present operations of our postal system, those operations are less unwholesomely attached to political influences than ever before. There is accordingly every reason a priori to assume that the Government would render more valuable service than that rendered by the express companies in the remaining section of the express field unoccupied by it and still occupied only by the express companies.

But there is no necessity for relying upon a priori reasoning. The results to be achieved by the consolidation of the express service of the land into the postal system of the land are definite and demonstrable.