_Ratio_ _Average_ _Average_ _Freight_ _Freight_ _Express_ _Charges_ _Charge_ _Charge_ _to Express_ _Country_ _Date_ _Per Ton_ _Per Ton_ _Charges_ Argentina 1909 $1.95 $6.51 1 to 3.2 Austria 1908 .74 3.77 1 to 5 Belgium 1909 .53 4.92 1 to 9.3 France 1908 .95 6.88 1 to 7.2 Germany 1908 .76 3.80 1 to 5 Hungary 1908 .93 3.68 1 to 3.9 United States 1909 1.90 31.20 1 to 16.4 And yet the statesmen at Washington have disposed and doubtless will still endeavor to dispose of the proposal to have the Government own and manage the express service of the land by speeches on texts to the effect that the spirit of America demands individual freedom; that that is the best Government which governs the least; that incentive to productive endeavor is possible only in private establishments and completely disappears in the public service; to which will now doubtless be added the charge that such a proposal smacks of Socialism and that every red-blooded American understands that anything and everything Socialistic is undeniably un-American! The implication of the above figures, however, is undeniable for the man who trusts thought as well as emotions. The Postal System has gone into the express field and, in competition with the express companies, by their respective showings, has in five years rendered to the American public far more valuable service than that rendered by the express companies. The opponents of Government ownership and management have been ruthlessly confuted. They predicted graft--there has been none. They prophesized inefficiency--the figures give them the lie. They foretold unwholesome political intrusions--whatever may be the unwholesome features of the present operations of our postal system, those operations are less unwholesomely attached to political influences than ever before. There is accordingly every reason _a priori_ to assume that the Government would render more valuable service than that rendered by the express companies in the remaining section of the express field unoccupied by it and still occupied only by the express companies. But there is no necessity for relying upon _a priori_ reasoning. The results to be achieved by the consolidation of the express service of the land into the postal system of the land are definite and demonstrable. EXPRESS SERVICE VS. PARCEL-POST