Viewed in the light of these considerations, and especially of the fact that it is open to competition at all points where its rates would prove profitable, it will not appear extraordinary that the parcel post is less successful financially than the letter post.[672] The conditions under which postal business is conducted render it impossible to earmark the expenses properly chargeable to the parcel post, since expenses are for the most part incurred jointly. But the parcel post is to a large extent a secondary service engrafted on the letter post, and is perhaps not properly chargeable with a mathematical proportion of the total cost of the two services based on the relative cost of handling individual letters and individual parcels. Theoretical estimates of the cost of the parcel post must, therefore, be accepted with reserve. But a proved moderate loss on the parcel post would not be conclusive against the propriety of its maintenance. Postal rates are simple, definite, and generally known; and every post office is a receiving agency. It is convenient to use the post, which offers the further advantages of quick transmission, and the greater degree of security attaching to a State institution. The line on which a postal service for small parcels can best be justified is that by the utilization of existing machinery for the disposal of additional traffic, not so large as to overburden or disorganize the practical arrangements, a useful public advantage can be secured without inordinate cost. Nevertheless, the parcel post service is not a true postal service, but rather a commercial undertaking.[673] The question of the legitimacy of State control, which in the case of the letter post is of academic interest only, is therefore of real importance in the case of a parcel service, and those who have a distrust of all State interference in industry may legitimately argue that it should stand aside from the parcel business. * * * * * APPENDIXES APPENDIX A I. RATES OF INLAND LETTER POSTAGE CHARGED IN ENGLAND, 1635-1915 WITHERINGS' RATES, 1635. --------------------------------------------------------------- | Single | Double | | Letter. | Letter. | Per ounce. -------------------------------+---------+---------+----------- Under 80 miles | 2d. | 4d. | 6d. 80 miles and not exceeding 140 | 4d. | 8d. | 9d. Above 140 | 6d. | 12d. | 12d. To or from Scotland | 8d. | | " " Ireland | 9d. | After 2 ounces, | | 6d. the ounce. -------------------------------+---------+--------------------- --Royal Proclamation of 31st July 1635.