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Show THE PARCELS POST SYSTEM. The benefits t6 local merchants of a parcels post system in the United States, quite contrary to arguments advanced by promoters of organizations of retail merchants, now are urged by the Farmers' National congress as one of the reasons for action by congress. The new turn to the argument was given by John M. Stahl of Chicago, a representative of the Farmers' congress, who declared: "The parcels' par-cels' post privilege certainly would benefit local merchants everywhere every-where in the country, for it will make trading with them by the rural people so convenient. Merchants are really injuring themselves by opposing the limited, rural route, parcels post, for as the farmer is now compelled to go to the village to deliver or to receive packages he very frequently takes the train to go to the larger town or city to buy goods he needs. Any close observer in the western states, where mail order trading is perhaps the greatest, knows that what takes most from the trade of the local merchants is not the mail order or-der houses, but the low railway fares to the larger cities. If the merchant mer-chant could send by rural carrier goods ordered of him by mail or telephone, as a result of a parcels' post system, millions of dollars' worth of merchandise now bought of the big mail order houses would be bought of or through the merchant. A complete modern parcels post would benefit town and city people even more than farmers, but it certainly will benefit millions of farmers, will increase trade of local merchants and soon wipe out the postal deficit." Contrary to supposition, the big mail order houses in recent years have opposed rather than advocated the parcels post, for they are well satisfied with the present arrangements with the express companies, and long ago realized that a parcels post system would put local merchants on a parity with them in the delivery of goods by mail. |