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338 METHODS OF SOCIAL REFORM.
Office manages tho distribution of lettors. The presumption
is always agsinst o. State department ; bot in any particular
kind of work there may be special conditions which render
the unity and monopoly of Government control desirable and
profitable. On this point I will tako the liberty of quoting
from my paper published by tho Manchester Statistical
sO&QtJ’, p. 91 :
“Before wc give our ndhcsion to syetcms of State telegraphs and
State rnilwrtys in this kingdom, wc should closely inquire whether
tclt~groph~ nnd rnilw~ys havc more nnnlogy to thc Post ORcc or to tho
Dockynrtls. l’l~ii :irgnlnc’llt ftmn anxlogy is frccly uctl 1,s ercryonc.
It is tltr nrgumrnt of thc so-called reformers, who urge that if we
trcat the tulcgrtrphs nntl tho railmap as Sir Rowland Hill treated the
I’o.qt Oflice, reducing farcs to a low and uniform rate, me shdl reap the
snmc gmtifying rcsulrs. nut this will dcpcnd up011 whcthcr tho
analogy is corrcct-whothcr thc telegraphs and railmnya rcscmblc the
Post Ofiico in those conditions whicl~ render tbc lnttcr highly
successful in tho hands of Government., and cnnblc ra low uniform rate
to bc adolltcd. ‘1’0 this point ttlc following remarks arc directed :
I‘ It scorns to xnc tht State lnanngcrncnt possesses adoantngcs
undcr thc follow-ing cotlditicms :
“ 1. Whcrc nnmbcrlc~r; wide-spread operations can only bc
ofliciently connected, united, and co-ordinatcd, i n a siyqlc, all-extensive
~OVC~IIIUOIL~ Byatcm.
‘‘ 2. \Vl~cro tho opcmtions possess an invariable routine-liko
charnctcr.
(‘3. Where thoy arc performed under tho pnblic ere, or for the
sorvico of indivictualn, wllo will immediately detect nnd expose any
fttilure or laxity.
4.. Fi’hcro there is but little capital cspcnditnrc, so that each
yew’s rcrcmuc and cxpcnsc nccount, shall reprcscnt, mitll sufficient
nccurncy, tho real commercial conditions of tho dcpartmcnt.”
Thoro can be no doubt, I think, that in all tho four points
spocifiednbovoparcel trafficishighlysuitodto State management.
It is conducted nt present,, RS we have seen, by almost numberless
disconnect.ed or rtntagonist,ic companies and private carriers,
who, though not pnrticuldy inefficient each in his own sphere,
are highly wasteful and inefficient as a system. The operations
of the parcel post, again, would be almost RS routine-like
as those of the Post, O5~e. There would be none of the delic,ate
scientific and technical questions involved in the bailding