These organizations as well as several others, named in the bibliography given elsewhere in this volume, publish and distribute literature for and against the parcels post, and the student of this subject will find it profitable to get into communication with them.
Hearings on the subject of a parcels post have been held before the House Committee on the Post-Office and Post Roads, at two different times, in April, 1910, and in June, 1911. At these hearings, have appeared representatives of the associations named in the preceding paragraph and of others who approve or oppose the recommendations for an enlarged parcels post. Among those who have appeared in favor of the parcels post are the various state Granges and farmer’s organizations, the American Dyers and Cleaners Association, the Manufacturing Perfumers Association, the Associated Retailers of St. Louis, the Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor, the Society of American Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists, and the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association. Other societies opposing the parcels post are the National Retail Hardware Association, the United Commercial Travelers, the National Association of Implement and Vehicle Dealers’ Associations, the National Associations of Retail Druggists and Grocers, and various Oil, Paint, and Varnish Clubs and Associations.
Postmaster-General George von L. Meyer recommended that our present parcels post system, which is now limited to parcels weighing four pounds or less, be extended to include all parcels of eleven pounds or less, and that the rate be reduced from sixteen to twelve cents a pound. He also recommended that a similar post be established on the rural routes for all parcels of eleven pounds or less, with a rate of five cents for the first pound and two cents for each additional pound. Various bills have been introduced into Congress embodying part or all of these suggestions. Other measures that have been presented provide that the government be given a complete monopoly of the parcels-carrying trade. One bill of this kind introduced by Representative David Lewis of Maryland, provides that the government shall take over the business of the express companies and have complete control of the carrying business in parcels under a given weight. This bill also provides that the zone-system of rates, now in operation in Germany, be adopted.