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Durham, Andrew Everett, 1882-1954

"Epistles from Pap: Letters from the man known as 'The Will Rogers of Indiana'"


And may your trains always be on time--which they will not.
As Ever,

PAYING OUR OWN WAY
April 3, 1953
Mrs. Cecil Harden
Member, House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.
My dear Mrs. Harden:
I am home today with a slight cold. My wife and daughter are gone
to Indianapolis shopping. Tomorrow the parcel post packages will
begin rolling in. Our parcel post man is an understanding fellow.
It has become a sort of standing joke when he stops his truck and
starts in with various packages he smiles facetiously and says,
"Well, I see the folks were in Indianapolis yesterday."
And so, tomorrow's delivery here at the house will add a tiny
fraction to the already increasing postal deficit. Why? Parcel
post rates are evidently too low. Mrs. Harden, that is wrong.
Some helpless somebodys, somewhere, will have to make up that
deficit. The postage on those packages should slightly overpay
their way, not underpay them.
A year or so ago the Congress enacted Public Law 199, which cut
down the weight of parcel post shipments and thereby helped
considerably in reducing the parcel post deficit, which I think
is still up around 100 millions. Now the boys who use parcel post
at the partial expense of the general taxpayers want 199
repealed, and have introduced HR 2685 to that effect.


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