Part 13

It may well be doubted whether this tendency will ultimately be beneficial to the race. Vice, crime, and disease are rampant in the slums of our great cities. Human life, under such conditions, becomes cramped. The unfolding process is impossible. The exigencies of the situation cause sporadic and abnormal development. The moral and physical culture of the individual is almost wholly neglected, and the intellectual development resulting is nearly always one sided, and too frequently resolves itself into the attainment of solely those qualities which make for greater acquisitive power. The social superiority resulting under the questionable standards prevailing in such centers may be obtained only with the sacrifice of much that is higher and nobler in human nature.

A large proportion of the population is compelled to lead a sedentary life. It may well be asked whether the conditions prevailing in our large mail-order houses and department stores make for the good of humanity. From 8:00 a. m. till 6:00 p. m. the many children and young girls employed are kept at close, confining work, frequently straining every nerve far beyond the limit of safety and human endurance, in order to make themselves independent, and to meet the conditions which city life imposes upon them. During the fall rush these girls are often asked to remain at work till 9:00 or 10:00 p. m. They realize that it is necessary for them to acquiesce in such unreasonable and brutal demands or lose their positions during the dull season immediately following the holidays.

An eminent physician not long ago remarked that it was his personal opinion, based upon long practice, that less than 10 per cent. of the girls in our large cities are as strong and healthy as their mothers were at a corresponding age. This he plausibly explained by the fact that nearly all of the latter had come from the country where they lived close to nature, with plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and with plenty of hard work too, but of the kind which upbuilds and strengthens the health rather than destroys it.

Furthermore, the wages paid in such institutions are seldom high enough to enable the individual to live at the prevailing social standards, and only too frequently the female employees are compelled to piece out their salaries by questionable means. It is inevitable that the future generation of the city-bred population should be as much beneath the present, as the present is beneath the last, unless radical reforms take place. Such progressive degeneration must be regarded as a tremendous social calamity.

Without trespassing too far upon the field of the sociologist, it may safely be assumed that an increased concentration of industry and population is far from desirable. Why then should the government take active steps to promote it? Would it not be better to allow the mail-order houses and local retailers to fight out their own battle for trade supremacy upon equal terms, on the basis of the survival of the fittest? The retailer would then at least be able to cling tenaciously to the few natural advantages which he does possess, and would necessarily retain a considerable portion of the business. In establishing the parcels-post the government would be taking action to crush the local dealer, and would thus take away the last economic basis for the rural community, and accelerate the concentration of industry in great cities.

By the elimination of the smaller towns the easiest and most natural market is taken away from the farmer. His small produce would then have to be shipped to the large cities, where he would almost certainly become the prey of commission-house agents, whose methods of operation are well known. Legitimate competition which means the lowest prices in view of the quality of the goods offered would be eliminated. The only competition would then be that of advertising. The one capable of producing the most attractive advertisements would win in the end. The American public is so great and so credulous that the house which has once fooled the public can again under another name and perhaps with different customers work off the same class of worthless or inferior goods.

Furthermore, the nearby location of a small country town gives to the farmer and his family immense social, educational, and cultural advantages, which would be almost wholly inaccessible if it were not for the existence of such communities. Take away the business and economic support of such a community, and immediately it becomes stagnant. Its ambitious and progressive citizens immediately migrate to other fields, and the town is left to decay.

No parcels-post could be established which would be self-supporting. The innate desire of the people to get something, as it were, for nothing, would soon express itself in a demand for a reduction of rates. No administration could be popular and at the same time effectively resist such a demand. It has been proved over and over again in history, that wherever a democratic body politic has undertaken to conduct a commercial enterprise of a public-service character, the demand for rates far below the cost of doing the business has seldom or never been successfully resisted. If this has proved true of local governments, how much more is it likely to be true of the federal government which, nearly everybody seems to think, already has a revenue so great that the principal problem with regard to it is the determination of the best method of turning it back into the channels of trade. Even at present with a nominal postal deficit of from $11,000,000 to $14,000,000, but with an actual deficit as will be subsequently shown of much more than that amount, it seems that the demand for penny postage and for the increase of salaries of certain classes of postmasters and of almost the entire clerical force is too strong to be resisted effectively.

The real issue is, therefore, Can the government expect successfully to compete with the express companies, on a business basis? If it can be shown that the government would be utterly unable to compete it follows that the government should not undertake the service.

Mr. H. A. Castle, former auditor of the Postal Department of the United States, has shown in its true light the many defects of our present postal system, and how far it comes from being that which should be expected of a private enterprise of like character. Speaking upon this point he says:

The protracted postal investigations of 1893 revealed to thinking men the disquieting fact that our national mail system, which is now the greatest business enterprise in the world, is entirely destitute of logical, coherent, business-like organization.

Among many other striking defects, he points out that there is utter lack of business methods in the accounting department. Of the one billion and a quarter dollars of transactions represented in the accounts of the 70,000 postmasters all over the United States, less than 10 per cent. have the double audit required by law. Fraud, peculation, and embezzlement of third- and fourth-class postmasters have become common occurrences and are exceedingly difficult to detect. As the salary of these postal officials depends upon the number of cancellations at their respective offices, all sorts of fraudulent schemes are continually being practiced to swell the number of cancellations beyond the legitimate amount.

Furthermore, there is no method of auditing the number of cancellations, and the department must accept the word of the postmaster, which may or may not be true. Several cases have been unearthed where an agent of a manufacturer has secured a nominal position of postmaster at some out-of-the-way point, and by drawing a salary based upon the number of cancellations has practically been able to secure a rebate amounting to about 75 per cent. on all matter mailed, the mailable matter being shipped to said point by freight. Absolutely no account is kept or record made of the number of stamps issued by the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, and no one has any means of knowing how many disappear before official record of the stamps issued is made by the Postal Department.

The weighing of mail matter handled by the railroads takes place only at stated intervals of four years. As the payment of the railroads depends upon the average tonnage during the period in which the weighing goes on, it is charged that all sorts of fraudulent schemes are continually being practiced by the railroads to increase the weight of the mail during this period.

There is no auditing of railroad accounts. Forty million dollars is annually paid out by the department merely on the statement of the railroads that the service has been performed. There is no effort made to ascertain the truth or falsity of the allegations.

There is no method of accounting for the actual amount of cash received by postmasters in payment for second-class mail. The amount of cash turned in by the various postmasters may or may not bear any relation to the actual amount of such mail received at their respective offices. It is impossible to detect dishonest returns except in some of the most aggravated cases. The average mercantile house which should practice such methods would be forced out of business in less than six months.

The slowness of the Postal Department to adopt modern business methods is strikingly illustrated by the fact that till quite recently the only method of checking the money-order accounts of postmasters was by a hasty examination of the stubs of order books turned in. No account was made or reference taken to the actual receipted orders. Imagine a bank attempting to settle accounts with its customers by the examination of the stubs of their check-books, rather than by reference to the actual checks!

We are driven to the conclusion, therefore, that the Postal Department as now organized and operated would be utterly unable to compete with express companies upon purely a business basis.

Furthermore, it should not be expected that the express companies would quietly drop out of business. They would make a tremendous fight for existence, and would at all events retain such portions of the business as they are now doing at less than the lowest postal rates. The equipment for the express service would, therefore, have to be duplicated in every town and village of the United States. It is folly to presume that the public would not in the end be required to pay for the enormous loss which would be involved in such an uneconomical procedure.

Would it not, therefore, be better to place the proper safeguards around the existing organizations which are fitted to perform the transportation service by the best and most economical means, rather than that the government should undertake the impossible, i. e., competition with private companies upon a purely business basis?

Parcels Post Problem. p. 20.

Parcels Post in England.

One of the most concise and yet comprehensive reviews of the operation of the parcels post system in England is that of I. A. Fleming, taken from an exchange, and it is as follows:

“American friends of so-called ‘postal reforms’ point to the absence of express companies in the Kingdom of Great Britain as one of the good results that have been obtained, and say this is entirely due to the existing postal laws. But if there are no express companies in Great Britain, there are scores and hundreds of forwarding agents that perform the functions of our American express companies. The railroads are themselves engaged in the forwarding business, making low rates for service by fast express, exceeding in limit of weight and size of packages received by the limitations of the postal service by many pounds even by hundreds of pounds.

“Any attempt at comparison between carrying methods in Great Britain with those in vogue in the United States is useless, because of the very short distance between points in the former.

“I asked the managers of some of the leading stores in Ireland, Scotland and England if parcels post offered great opportunities for them to send business into the country, and without exception they admitted that the business by post was decreasing, while the express by rail and by forwarding agents looking for assignments was increasing.

“Eleven pound packages and under are but a small quantity of package shipments.

“From the best information at hand, it is evident that the big carriers have nullified parcels post in Great Britain, and what they have left the railroads have picked up. These carriers receive all manner of parcels, put hundreds in baskets, and thus get the very lowest rates of transportation. They give their patrons lower rates than they could otherwise obtain, and because of their concessions charge them four cents on each consignment, a ‘booking charge’ which gives the carrier a very fair return for his kindness to the shipper. Little packages go by parcels post as a rule, and many of the larger department stores use the mails for delivering goods to out of town customers.

“These rates but add to the burdens of the merchants of the interior. The independent retailer in the country has few friends. Cheap rates, co-operative stores, chain stores, mail-order houses by the thousand, fares paid entirely, special excursions (such as Harrods of London are now running to the sales) with fares paid and ‘tontine’ establishments tend but to make the independent merchant, be he a grocer or ‘draper’ as they call dry goods dealers, only a small potato of the kind that are many in the hill.

“Our mutual friends, the English general merchant, the independent grocer, and the small retailer, have been almost completely relegated to a parsimonious living by co-operation, mail-order retailing, the carrier or forwarding agent, and last but not least, by cheap excursions to the cities.

“That these same evils will, if they obtain a foothold in the United States accomplish the same results for the American general merchant and retailer I firmly believe.”

A. B. C. of Parcels Post. pp. 4-5.

C. W. Spofford.

Q. What is the plan of the rural parcels-post proposed by Postmaster-General Meyer?

A. It proposes to carry packages originating at a local office of a rural route for 5 cents for the first pound and 2 cents for each additional pound, with a limit of 11 pounds. Thus, an 11-pound package would be carried to any point on a rural route for 25 cents. It is significant that the rates are the same as those proposed by advocates of a parcels-post applicable to distances within the United States and its insular possessions. This proposal seems to be but an entering wedge for general parcels-post.

Q. Why was rural parcels-post proposed?

A. It was proposed by the Postmaster General as a special favor to country merchants.

Q. Have country merchants asked for any such special favor?

A. No. On the contrary, they are opposed to it on the following grounds:

1. They do not seek class legislation.

2. The plan would be impracticable in its operations.

3. It would discriminate between towns, favoring the town with the greatest number of rural routes, regardless of its trading advantages.

Q. Would rural parcels-post be of any benefit to the farmer?

A. No. For the following reasons:

1. The farmer can now arrange with the rural carrier for the delivery of packages over 4 pounds at rates mutually satisfactory.

2. The proposed rates would be prohibitive on groceries, machinery repairs and on the bulky merchandise most likely to be delivered under this new arrangement.

3. To secure the rural parcels-post service, the farmer would be compelled to buy his goods at the particular town where he gets his mail, when he might prefer to buy elsewhere.

Parcels Post. pp. 3-9.

F. E. French.

I have the distinguished and pleasing honor of being here today upon your invitation as a representative of the American League of Associations, which includes representative wholesalers in nearly every important city in the United States. The creation of this League has for its object the development and advancement of the general welfare and mercantile interest of retail merchants in the smaller communities. The relations of its members to all retail merchants are intimate and personal. The retailers desire to buy merchandise from the wholesaler. The wholesaler desires to sell merchandise to the retailer. In short, whatever conserves, promotes and advances the merchandising ability and success of the former, is a direct proportionate benefit to the latter. Whatever relaxes the intimacy between these interests, deprives the retailers of their truest and best facilities as merchants and money makers. The thoughtful and progressive wholesaler and retailer believe that any rural parcels post bill will unmistakably impair, curtail and finally dissolve this relationship, which in reality is a partnership between the wholesaler and the retailer. The proposed parcels post legislation will gradually eliminate the country store and the very heart and pulse of country life. Believing this to be absolutely and unmistakably true, we should stand as a unit in opposition to any extension of the parcels post system, upon rural routes, even upon an experimental basis. If the country merchants will co-operate with the wholesalers in an unyielding resistance to any congressional action that would in any way interfere with the present system of rural deliveries, the proposed legislation will be defeated.

In official words, it is contended that rural parcels post will enable local merchants to hold and increase their trade. On the contrary, the well informed wholesaler, manufacturer and retailer contend, and the entire orthodox system of trade distribution replies, that any parcels post, whether it be a general parcels post law or a rural parcels post law, although intended to be of benefit to the retailers and a boon to the rural population, would, in reality, be a great detriment to both.

Mark well how the camel enters the tent: First his head, next his neck, and last his huge and unwelcome body. First on a few routes only and in experiment only, a local parcels post; next a complete rural parcels post; and finally a general parcels post. Let us beware of the beginning lest in the end we be overcome. During the inauguration of the first and experimental stage, those interests most to be profited by this perilous innovation will remain silent, while from the experiment no safe deductions could perhaps be made which would indicate the effect of parcels post extension upon your prosperity and posterity. Finally you will discover that the currents of trade are running past your door rather than through it, and in that day your elimination becomes a certainty. In that day also every wholesaler who has so long found in the country merchants a sure and steady outlet will know even better than he knows now that rural parcels post, and, much more, the general parcels post is a dangerous blow to country life.

At the risk of telling you much that you know, let me state some of the factors of this great problem so that we may think as one man over its solution.

The mail order houses, some of the farmers, and various other people who reason narrowly, even with generous intent are sustaining the government in its purpose to go into business in behalf of a class of the American people at the expense of the whole American people, and through a bill in Congress they ask all of the people to sanction a trial of this new species of government aid in certain selected places. Our government reasons that if it is made more practicable for rural free delivery routes to become shipping lines between their own termini, everybody depending for income and outgo on such routes will profit by this enlarged service. On the contrary, the American League of Associations holds that everybody will eventually suffer.

The great problem about which we are all trying to think clearly and think together, has been summarized so effectually by a retail merchants’ paper in the central west, that I do not hesitate here to quote its protest against parcels post, endorsed by thousands of retail merchants in every section of America. The protest reads as follows:

“Parcels post is wholly unnecessary, since rural delivery carriers are authorized to carry parcels weighing over 4 pounds, and the matter of compensation is decided by carrier and merchant or by carrier and farmer. Merchants and farmers generally have not availed themselves of this service, for the very good reason that there is no need for it.

“If adopted, parcels post will be immediately seized upon as a delivery outlet by mail order houses which would ship orders by freight or express in bulk lots to local agents for deposit in the post office to be forwarded by the rural deliveries. The catalogue houses have already many of these agents selected, and they have been busily engaged in distributing catalogues for weeks past. As soon as a rural parcels delivery became effective, these agents would become active in the solicitation of business in unfair competition with home merchants, as these agents would have no taxes, no rent, no salaries, etc., to pay.

“Rural parcels post is admittedly merely an entering wedge for extension along European lines. That would mean severe demoralization of our country towns which are dependent almost wholly upon the farmer trade for existence, and which afford the farmer a good home market for every dollar’s worth of products he has to sell. If he does not buy his supplies where he sells his products, he not only demoralizes the business of his home town, but he also deprives himself of his home market. If his home market town dwindles into insignificance through the gradual loss of trade, necessitating the closing of stores and the emigration of merchants and clerks, then the income will shrink so seriously that there will be insufficient funds to provide for schools, churches, libraries, hospitals, good roads, etc.

“Every farming community and its market center are interdependent. It is impossible to injure one without injuring the other. The parcels post would injure both farmers and country merchants. We protest against it as being designed to further the formation of a mail order trust that could eventually control all important channels of distribution and thus levy upon the people any desired tribute.”

Today the people’s problem is to conserve our natural resources and keep the farmer on the farm. Will the gradual impoverishing of the village storekeeper keep the farmer on the farm? Will the decline of the social center, the decline of the schools and the decline of the church facilities keep the farmer on the farm? Will long distance shopping do more for isolated communities than the sight of real goods and the warm touch of living people? Will the picture catalogue or the hearty salesman do more to keep vital the currents between seller and buyer? Would a heavily laden parcels post messenger, running between a mail order agency and a distant farm, often through a foot or two of mud or snow, compensate for the disappearance of the mart and congress of our country’s rural life--the independent, thriving, hospitable store?

Fellow merchants, it is our duty to sustain that store, and to do it now. That store is imperiled by pending legislation, whether by the institution of a local or a general parcels post. If this new service be established by the government, even with the best of motives, we must admit that:

The postal deficit will be increased,

The country’s commercial system revolutionized,

The delivery of legitimate mail delayed,

The population of rural communities depleted, and their progress retarded.