Show t A w T i 1 t government Sovern ment goes into business of transmitting merchandise through the mails NEW LAW FULLY EXPLAINED country divided into zones and units for purpose of fixing charges fop carriage no package weighing more than eleven pounds Is callable anything properly wrapped which injure other mail may be sent by B CLARK with the coming of the new year the united states government will en ter into a new field of enterprise the transmittal of merchandise by what la known as tho parcel post for years there has been a demand for such a system ot inexpensive transmittal of packages the camps i ot favor and disfavor of the parcel post scheme have been about equally divided finally at the last session of congress a bill was passed which will put the plan into operation but only it auit be said in little more than an experimental nay it la the intention of uncle sam to move rather slowly in the parcel post ho wants to find how popular it will be how much it will cost the government and whether there Is to be a profit or loss at the end of each year it it la found that the flan in successful from the point of blew of the people which means the government also the parcel post will bo extended until finally it reaches the proportions which its proponents cay they believe it Is destined to as bume i zone system explained it Is no exaggeration to say that thousands upon thousands of inquiry tea have been made of the postmaster beneral as to just what tho parcel post will mean to the people it was the law of agress cg ress establishing the system walca made provision for a division of the country into zones and into 35 units which are to be ased as centers in describing the cir les which mark the boundaries of tho zones there has been no clear understanding apparently of Is zone system but really it Is a tery matter the accompanying map shows the country divided into zones from the unit in which washington is alt as the center accompanying the map Is a table showing the rate of postage per pound for parcels from washington to places within all the bones fabb unit contains an area thirty square now each unit Is a center from which the zones are drawn and eo every unit in the coun try no matter where it Is situated will lave zones drawn from it just exactly aa washington has them drawn from it for instance take keokuk la which is in a unit in the fifth zone that will be drawn circles ex acely as they are drawn f cm washington and they will be numbered from keokuk as number one just as they are numbered from washington as number one of course ho weyer zone six will have a different geographical position as related to keokuk than it has as related to wash ington but as abo radius of the circles drawn from keokuk is the same length as the radius of the circles drain from washington ceone six will bo just as far from its center as washington 8 zone six is how rates are fixed it can be seen from athla readily enough that the rates from washington to its particular zona will he the same as the postal rates from t to its particular zones each being about thirty miles square bvm ot course contain in most cases a but ach office in the came unit is considered as be mag the tenter lof the circles from RATES OF POSTAGE parcels weighing four ounces or less are at the rate of one cent for each ounces or fraction of an ounce regardless of distance parcels weighing more than four ounces are at the pound bateas shown by the following table and when mailed at this rate any fraction of a pound is considered a full pound ast 1st zone ad ad ath ath ath ath ath wt local zone zone zone zone zone zone zone zone lbs rate rate rate rate rate rate rate rate rate 1 2 06 08 10 12 14 16 19 21 24 3 07 11 14 17 20 23 28 31 36 4 08 14 18 22 26 30 37 41 48 5 09 17 22 27 32 37 46 51 60 6 10 20 26 32 38 44 55 61 72 7 11 23 30 37 44 51 64 71 84 8 12 26 34 42 50 58 73 81 96 9 13 29 38 47 56 65 82 91 10 14 32 42 52 62 72 91 11 15 35 46 57 68 79 for a full explanation of the rates of postage in the first zone see the parcel post guide which tha zones are drawn the rates 0 postage are fixed from the unit la which the sending la situated but the price to every place in any zone is just the same to illustrate it will cost exactly the same amount to send a parcel from washington to erie pa that it costs to send it to atlanta ga because erie and atlanta with reference to washington are situated in the fourth zone the rates therefore are fixed from the unit in which the postoffice post office is located but they are the same from that office to any point in any one zone it will bo seen by reference to the table of rates of postage that it will cost more per pound to send a pack age a long distance than it docs to bend it a bhart distance the rate increases for a package weighing one pound at the rate of one cent for each zono no package weighing more thin 11 pounds can be sent un der the new parcel post law it should be said right here that on the long hauls the parcel post may not be able to compete with the express companies but that on shorter hauls it can so compete it was the ex pressed desire of the legislators and of the officials that the par eel post system should be made of particular use to persons having farm and factory products to transmit to customers it Is probable that pro dubers must study the rates of post age and the convenience of trans and compare them with the cost and convenience under present methods before individually a man can determine whether he Is to profit or not by the change then there is an other thing to be considered and which only can be known definitely when fuller regulations have been made to specify exactly what hind of things can bo sent by parcel post it can be said in a general way that any thing can be sent which Is properly wrapped and which will pot injure other mail matter with which it may como in contact copy foreign countries it is probable that the government will adopt a means of transportation for certain kinds of its merchandise much like those which have been adopted in parcel post countries abroad what the english call ham pera basket like arrangements probably will be adopted and as these can be kept separate from the ordinary mail matter it Is believed that the regul attona as finally adopted will al low the sending ot eggs butter dress ed poultry live poultry honey fruit and other products of the country the 11 pound limit for a single pack age may work at first against any very extended use of the parcel post tor come of the articles which have been named of course more weight can be sent it it Is sent in different parcels but the cost in that case would be heavier because the in crease per pound on a single package is nota great up to 11 pounds and probably it would increase at no greater rate it the government were to raise abo limit of weight which Is now fixed to make it simpler it will cost more to send two packages of 11 dounda than it would to send one package of 22 pounds if the govern ment eventually should allow a beahl er single package to bo carried and should charge in proportion juat what it does now tor one package of 11 pounds weight every postmaster in the united states will have a parcel post map like the one which Is here reproduced except that the zone lines will be shown with the unit of his as a center all that a postmaster will have to do when a eircel Is presented tor transportation la to find out in what zone the destination of the package lies his table will chow him instantly the rate per pound from the unit in which his lies to the zone of the packages destina eions the price as has been explained before to every in any one zone being the same the parcel post will take nothing but fourth class mat ter printed matter Is still in the third class designation therefore books cannot bo sent by the parcel post system athla the au thorit les seem to think Is in a way unjust and may work a hardship it may be that in the future the law will be changed BO as to include all print ed matter it seems to be certain that an attempt will be made to bring about this change as speedily as pos elble must bez giamp postmaster general hitchcock has ordered that postmasters be advised that parcel post packages cannot be accepted for mailing unless they bear a distinctive parcel post stamp and have attached to them the return card of the sender A series of distinctive stamps is now in course of alon tor this class of mail as required by the law creating the parcel post system consignments Consign ments of these stamps will be ready for shipment to all post offices in ample time tor the establishment of the new system on new years day the department has given instruction to every postmaster in the country to enlighten his patrons as much as possible on the general subject of the parcel post and especially on the use of the special stamps and the necessary attachment of the return card the law requires that all fourth class mitter mailed jan uary 1 1913 without parcel post stamps attached shall be treated as held for postage matter parcel post packages will be callable mal lable only at branch let and local named stations and such numbered stations as may bo designated by the postmasters it has been announced by general hitchcock that nearly scales will bo required for use in the parcel post system which Is to go into effect january ast 1st he has ac cordingly authorized the issuance of bids for that number two hundred of the largest and their brancheau bran chea will bo supplied with automatic scales ohp next class of offices numbering about will be given high grade beam baale while the four class numbering about will be fur with the best spring balances obtainable each having a capacity for twenty pounds these scales will be used by postmasters to determine the amount of postage required on post packages the fact that many of tho post offices ot the country are now furnished with bacales of a limited capacity makes it necessary for the postmaster general to make this very large purchase ot scales capable of taking are of the parcel post business it la understood that this will be ae largest single order ever placed tor scalea hate on seeds not affected it should be said that the act of congress which puts a parcel post plan into operation does not in any way affect the postage rate on seeds cuttings bulbs roots scions and plants as fixed by section of the postal laws and regulations the classification of articles mall able as well as the weight limit the rates of postage zone or zones and other conditions of under the act of congress if the postmaster general shall find on experience that they or any of them are such as to prevent the shipment of articles desirable si or shall permanently render the cost of the service greater than the receipts of the revenue ho Is hereby authorized subject to the consent of the interstate commerce commission after investigation to reform from time to time such cl assifi cation weight limit rates zone or zones or conditions in order to promote the to the public or to insure the receipt of revenue from buch service adequate to pay the cost thereof through many years different mem bers of the house and senate have been interested in promoting parcel post legislation among the men most active in securing the legislation which soon Is to go into effect as law are senator Sena toc jonathan bourne of oregon representatives david J lewis of maryland and william sulzer of new york who haa just been elected governor of that state to ascertain conditions surrounding the establishment of the parcel post system in places differing widely in size climate and industries ter general hitchcock recently sum boned to washington to confer with the parcel post committee the postmasters of five typical offices they are william II 11 dails pittsburg pa daniel T gerow jacksonville fla M II 11 boster wilmington del E M C quamby suffolk va and henry N bradley Charies town W va confer with postmasters the postmasters of the five largest offices in the country have already appeared before the committee so pittsburg was represented as being a large first class office though smaller than any of the greater five and as being the center of a tremendous manufacturing area the postmaster of pittsburg reported that the board of trade of that city has a special parcel post committee working toward bringing the consumer and producer nearer to each other by the new tern lie also said that many of the merchants are planning to have their city deliveries made by parcel post wilmington api dpi represented a large farming and manufacturing district with its mall connections close with philadelphia one of the largest offices jacksonville is the largest 0 flee in florida and the outlet tor all the mall of the state it Is peculiar in having a special increase of force in winter the tourist season and the postmaster said that it was expected that travelers would use the parcel post extensively in sending home five and ten pound packages of fruit suffolk va and charlestown Charles town W va are both very small second class offices one in the tide water district ft ath large truck interests the other far inland in an orchard country with diversified farm products the postmasters of both offices reported great interest in the parcel post and said that they had continual inquiries regarding its scope from these postmasters the committee was able to glean a great amount of valuable information which added to that gained from the recent hearings in maryland puts it in to plan the details of the to the greatest advantage of the producing farmer |