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Show hi Dan Marriott Maintain quality postal service In the last few years we have all become concerned about maintaining the quality of the Post Office. The Postal Reorganization which was supposed to cure all the evils of the Post Office Of-fice has only added a few of its own. We have seen continuously rising rates, while complaints have increased in-creased and service has been cut back. Some have suggested then that the Post Office should pay its own way. When the Post Office originated in this country, the sender didn't pay the postage; the person who received the mail paid for it. Americans soon realized that if they were going to communicate with each other in this large and growing country, they needed postal. service which served everyone. Rates were kept low for periodicals because we believe that reading and public discussion of matters of interest improve our quality of life. The Post Office was the pride of our young nation. Experiments such as the Pony Express, which traveled through Utah, was just one example of its forward-looking attitude at-titude to improve service. At least since World War II, political pressures on the Congress have imposed many burdens on the Post Office. In an effort to give jobs to people who were out of work, they were hired then, although the work was being done by machines by then. The effort to help give people jobs is laudatory, but when that becomes a burden on a an important service, we should ask ourselves if such efforts are really doing what they are supposed to. Some have suggested that private enterprise could do a better job. We can be sure that this is correct, but it may not , be the answer to the problems of providing service to rural areas which couldn't support private carriers. In areas such as Fourth Class mail, private delivery offers a cheaper and more satisfactory delivery than the Post Office. Of-fice. But it is not going to be available to everyone, so it is important that the Post Office provide the service whenever and wherever it is needed. Good mail and package delivery is a high priority in rural communities. com-munities. In recent years many post offices in smaller communities com-munities have been closed or service cut back. There is a 60-day period for comments before a closing. I encourage your comments to the Post Office in any closing which will adversely affect you. This is your opportunity to put forth your views where they must be heard. We need to cut back on the waste which has been built into the Post Office. This year the Congress will subsidize a minimum of $1 billion dollars in Post Office costs. Wages in the Post Office are 30 to 50 percent higher in the Post Office than in the rest of the federal government, averaging $17,000. We must be sure that the taxpayers' money is being spent where it is needed, but prevent needless expenses and frivolous expenses. |
