because it is to be applicable to a parcel sent
across the whole territory of a postal administration; and with such a
parcel, even if weighing only 1 pound, the cost of transportation is an
appreciable item.

The uniform rate for parcels is an expedient for smooth working rather
than a scientific rate, and against the acceptance of uniformity of rate
as a principle must be placed the fact that railway companies have not
adopted it. The actual results of the uniform rate have not been
altogether satisfactory. The small use of the post for the transmission
of the heavier parcels appears to indicate that the rate for such
parcels is, in general, too high.[650] For local traffic in small towns,
where cost of conveyance is negligible, it is almost prohibitive,[651]
and is much higher than the rates charged by competing agencies.

The considerations in favour of a degressive rate apply with greater
force to parcels of moderate weight than to the comparatively light
packets which pass at the letter rate, and this feature should receive
fuller recognition in the determination of parcel rates than has
hitherto been the case.

To sum up: there are important differences between the letter and parcel
traffic: (1) the letter traffic is a monopoly in which the more
profitable business belongs to the State as well as the unprofitable,
while the parcel business is not a monopoly, and any traffic which
proves profitable may at once attract private competition; (2) in the
letter traffic the cost of transmission for a given distance is
negligible, and in the parcel traffic it is important; (3) the social
arguments which make it desirable for the State to secure as wide as
possible a diffusion of letters containing information, of newspapers,
books, and samples, do not apply in the same way, or to the same degree,
to the traffic in parcels containing goods.

* * * * *

In essentials the case of international rates differs little from that
of inland rates. The work in connection with a letter falls into three
main divisions: (1) at the place of posting; (2) transmission from place
of posting to place of delivery; and (3) at the place of delivery. In
the case of inland letters, the first and third factors preponderate to
such a degree that their cost alone need be taken into consideration in
fixing the rate. The factor of transmission can be ignored. In the case
of letters from one country to another, th