The Express Companies of the United States: A Study of a Public Utility

Published in 1919, this sharp economic study traces the meteoric rise of America's express industry, from scrappy local carriers operating out of train station backrooms to the mighty monopolies of Wells Fargo and American Express that would eventually become household names. Bertram Benedict was writing at a remarkable inflection point: the federal government had just launched its own parcel post system, upending an industry that had operated without meaningful competition for decades. What emerges is both a meticulous historical account and a passionate policy argument. Benedict catalogs the express companies' systematic overcharging, their stranglehold on rural delivery, and their cozy relationships with railroads that kept competitors out and prices artificially high. But this is more than a critique. Benedict uses express companies as a lens to examine a question that still divides us: when private enterprise fails the public, should government step in? His case for a national express service reads almost as a prophecy, anticipating debates about postal infrastructure, Amazon, and universal delivery that we still haven't resolved.