Parcels Post. pp. 8-11.
S. C. Smith.
In Foreign Countries
The sentiment in favor of this new governmental service has been built up in this country chiefly by holding up to view more or less highly painted pictures of what is being done along a similar line in the countries of Europe. Any fair comparison of the postal service in those countries and in ours must take into consideration density of population, expanse of country or length of transportation routes, and the ownership of the means of transportation. The density of population and the relative size of the United States and of the principal countries of Europe having a cheap parcels post are shown by the following table:
| Country. | Area. | Ratio of size. | Population. | Population per square mile. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sq. miles. | ||||
| United States | 3,602,990 | 100 | 84,154,009 | 23.35 |
| Great Britain | 121,391 | 3.36 | 41,976,827 | 345.79 |
| Germany | 208,860 | 5.79 | 60,641,278 | 290.34 |
| France | 207,054 | 5.74 | 38,961,945 | 139.87 |
| Belgium | 11,373 | .31 | 7,074,970 | 622.08 |
| Italy | 110,550 | 3.06 | 32,475,253 | 293.76 |
| Switzerland | 15,976 | .44 | 3,315,443 | 207.73 |
These figures are extremely interesting and important in connection with this subject. We constantly lose sight of the immensity of this country and its “magnificent distances,” as compared with the nations of Europe; but in considering a question of transportation, distances and density of population stand in the foreground. Let it be observed, for instance, that while our country is over 300 times as large as Belgium, the latter has a population of 622 people to the square mile, while we have but a fraction over 23. Yet we will hear it argued that “Belgium carries 132-pound parcels by mail; why can not we?” or, “If Switzerland can carry 110 pound parcels, why not the United States?” entirely ignoring or forgetting the fact that our country is 250 times as large as Switzerland and has about one-tenth the population in a given area. Postal authorities have estimated that the average distance traveled by a piece of mail, including letters, papers, and parcels, is 40 miles in Great Britain, 42 miles in Germany, and 540 miles in the United States. Of course it is still less in the smaller countries of Europe. The admission of paper mail to this calculation greatly reduces the average, since newspapers circulate chiefly in the vicinity of the city of their publication. Parcels of merchandise or produce would certainly move much farther on an average, because they would chiefly flow to and from the great cities. If one is going to trade by mail, and the cost of delivery is the same, why not go to “headquarters,” which, in the popular mind, means one of the larger cities in the country?
The maximum parcel carried by the principal nations is as follows:
| Pounds. | |
|---|---|
| United States | 4 |
| Great Britain | 11 |
| Germany | 110 |
| France | 22 |
| Belgium | 132 |
| Switzerland | 110 |
| Italy | 11 |
| Austria | 110 |
Railroad Ownership
Another factor of equal importance is the nature of ownership of the means of transportation. In this country all routes are privately owned and operated. The railroads—the chief means of transporting the mails—have been constructed for the most part by private capital, without the aid of the government, and the government, like individuals, must pay a rate for its service which will yield a fair return to the owners. The roads in the foreign countries used in this comparison are largely owned by the governments, in which case it matters little whether merchandise and produce move by mail or by freight. In some of the countries, as in France, the government guarantees the interest on the capital invested in the roads, and in return has its mails carried free or at a nominal rate.