transferring it into the hands of five separate companies? _Private enterprise._ Could the Government do the business more satisfactorily, more cheaply and more extensively, and thus reduce the cost of many commodities to their consumers? _The holiness of and the necessity for the untramelled right of private enterprise._ Accordingly, it was not until 1890 that even any accurate and reliable figures of the quantity and quality of the express service of the country were available for purposes of mere study and investigation. Within the census of that year, the express companies happened to be included--a survey being made of their operations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890; and thus for the first time and after fifty years the American people were able to get some information on the operations of the private agencies to whom the express service of the land had been entrusted. It is true that the act of Congress authorizing the census of 1880 had contained a provision for the collection of statistics of the express companies, and that a schedule of inquiry directed toward that end had been formulated and distributed. Only two of the eighteen companies in existence, however, replied to it. The others maintained that the census law had no authority over their vested interests, and declined to make a report. The Census Office in 1880 actually reacted to this attitude by courteously abandoning its legally-authorized investigation, and contenting itself with publishing merely some information on the contracts between the express companies and the railroads. And, although the 1890 Census went so far as to publish the expenditures of the express companies, it very naively declined to report upon their receipts. AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS OF EXPRESS COMPANIES By 1890, moreover, the express companies had developed and at the present time are performing certain functions which are secondary to or even independent of the express business proper. These functions for the greater part parallel at the present time similar functions performed by the national government or by other agencies. These adjunct and independent functions are: 1--The issue of money orders, letters of credit, travelers' checks, etc., payable through express company agents and correspondents over well-nigh the entire civilized world. 2--The purchase for customers of goods in any locality in which an express office is located. 3--The sale for their customers of goods in any locality in which an express is located. 4--Miscellaneous services, such as filing legal documents, redeeming pawned articles, selling exchange, entering and clearing articles of import and export at customs houses, paying bills, and, in short, attending to any business which can be readily performed by an agent for a customer. THE 1890 CENSUS