fagin%ji.Berkeley.EDU@UCBVAX.BERKELEY.EDU (08/22/86)
Put bluntly, there is simply no just cause for the continued
existence of the Postal Service. It's not a partisan issue;
you don't have to be a libertarian to support its abolition.
We have a monopoly in mail delivery simply because we've always
had one. Period.
We inherited a tradition of monopolistic mail service from
Great Britain, first codified in 1792 with the passage
of the first postal act. Private competition flourished
nonetheless, and in 1845 Congress tightened the laws banning
competition, finally subsidizing rates in 1851. Thanks
to spotty and expensive service, however, private carriers
still thrived. The first private Pony Express route delivered
the mail in less than half the time of the Postal Service,
which eventually began contracting with it to speed up
the delivery of government mail. Indeed, private letter
carriers were welcomed throughout the country. Journalist Patrick
Cox notes that:
"The August 1875 cover of Harper's ... showed
an illegal carrier galloping down a country road...
as federal agents race to arrest him for carrying
mail. Arrested carriers of that period were
immediately bailed out by citizens, and most juries
refused to find them guilty..."
Today, however, private competitors find it much tougher
going. Consider the following incidents:
In 1971, a federal district court prohibited a private firm
from carrying Christmas cards in Oklahoma on the basis that
the plaintiffs, a postal employees union, suffered "significant
loss of work time, overtime, employment benefits, ... and
morale". They court held that private delivery of Christmas
cards would be a "widespread public nuisance".
In 1976 in New York, a pack of Cub Scouts tried to raise money by
delivering Christmas cards: Postal Service lawyers ordered them
to stop, and threatened the ten-year-olds with a $76,500 fine.
In 1978, the P. H. Brennan Hand Delivery Service offered
same-day mail delivery in Rochester, N.Y, for 10c a letter
(the post office couldn't guarantee overnight delivery for 15c).
Brennan never lost a letter, and never had a complaint.
Nonetheless, a judge issued a cease and desist order, citing
the "threat to postal revenues".
The USPS has been providing us with deteriorating service for
the past three decades, behaving like a textbook monopoly
organization. It now takes 10% longer to deliver a letter
than it did 10 years ago (according to USPS records), this
slowdown coming at least partially from a 1969 decision to
"no longer strive for overnight mail delivery and to keep
this a secret from Congress and the public" (Washington Post).
The price of a first class stamp has gone up 633% since 1958.
Postal labor costs have long been out of control; they are
"the highest paid semi-skilled workers in the world" (Postal
Rate Commisioner John Crutcher). USPS pays starting clerks
$20,991, compared with $8000-$9000 for private companies.
USPS janitors make $10.29/hr, compared with privately contracted
wages of $4.44. Private mail couriers in Washington D.C.
get $6/hr, USPS couriers get $13. The average postal worker
get 23 paid vacations days a year, 9 paid holidays, 13 sick
days, fully paid life insurance, 75% paid health and medical
insurance coverage, a taxpayer-financed pension, and a
guaranteed lifetime job. In spite of this, up to a third
of postal employees have "attendance problems"; three cities
surveyed by the GAO had average employee absenteeism rates
of *50* work days a year.
One argument often made to support the continued monopoly
status of the USPS is that a monopoly is necessary to maintain
uniform rates. But why should equal rates be charged for
unequal service? Shouldn't uural customers should pay a surcharge
for rural delivery, just as city residents pay surcharges for
fresh produce and firewood?. What is it about uniform rates
that's so sacred? What about efficient, productive mail delivery?
Another argument made by the USPS is that private carriers
can't ensure the inviolability of the mail. But neither
can the USPS, of course. The CIA routinely opened mail
during the 1970's, the USPS refused to deliver Henry Miller's
books only a couple of decades ago (obscene, don't you know),
and has even refused to deliver a booklet published by the
National Health Federation, claiming that it contradicts
the weight of scientific opinion.
And let's not forget those lovable postal employees, who, according
to the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, have
dumped mail in outhouses to avoid delivering it, committed hundreds
of thousands of dollars of mail theft, and eaten cookies from
packages they we're supposed to have delivered (I like that one
the best). Private mail companies live or die by reliable
delivery; seems obvious to me who would do a better job.
It's interesting to note that the USPS often
contracts with private carriers to deliver mail in rural
areas, saving up to 2/3 the usual cost. Contracting out
other services to private operators could save $12 billion
a year; we could have 15c stamps again.
But why stop there? There simply are no good reasons
for making it a crime to deliver mail better than the USPS.
The Private Express Statutes (the laws that give the Postal
Service their monopoly) should be repealed, pure and
simple. Fortunately, there at least one sign of sanity in Washington:
James Miller III, chairman of the FTC and a board member
of the Cato Institute, supports the abolition of federal
postal monopoly and the legalization of private letter carriers.
Now if only he had more support from members of Congress
and the electorate ...
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Most of the above material was shamelessly plagiarized from
a study on the USPS by the Cato Institute, Washington D.C.
Sources include the Journal of Law and Economics, various
Washington, LA, and New York newspapers, USPS records,
personal interviews, and government memos.
It's tough for me to understand why people aren't more
upset about the postal monopoly than they are. I guess
private letter delivery isn't all that exciting an issue.
Alas, there's also a very strong impulse among people to
like things just the way they are.
--Barry
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