who made the country town a social centre where the farmer might come into touch with civilization and refinement. And on the continuance of the prosperity of the country merchant depended the continuance of the army of travelling salesmen, without whose patronage railroads would be driven to reduce the number of trains, hotels would go out of business, and throughout the country accommodation for travellers would be found extremely poor. In short, parcel post would reduce the country merchant to the same condition as the small shopkeeper in Europe; and the country towns would become mere hamlets and deserted villages.[422] The parcel post was, of course, as likely in 1912 to prove a blow to the express companies as in the earlier years when they had so strongly resisted any proposal for its introduction. In face, however, of the strong and widespread movement in the country in its favour, they realized that they would be unable always successfully to resist its establishment, and no open opposition to the proposals of 1912 was encountered from them. They did not appear before the Senate Sub-Committee. The Sub-Committee saw no insuperable difficulty in the way of introducing a general system at once. Moreover, they were impressed by the fact that a parcel post system was in operation in most other countries of the world, even in Australia, a country slightly larger in area than the United States and much more sparsely populated, where the two factors which so radically distinguished the United States from most other countries in which a parcel post had been established were met with in even greater degree.