RSS 2.0 FeedJuly 22, 2011, Weekly editorial
Saving our country’s lifeblood
Among the main purposes of establishing a federal government, according to the preamble of the Constitution, were to “provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and ensure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” None of these would be possible without a communications system, which is why the Constitution further provided for post offices and post roads. Benjamin Franklin, a leader of the American Revolution and a Founding Father, was our first postmaster.
In those days there was no Internet, no telephone, television, radio or even telegraph. The Pony Express preceded the railroad, cars and trucks and finally airplanes.
Most shipping was by water and rail before the airline industry took off and the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was built.
That highway system and the postal system provide some of the most important contributions of the federal government to our nation’s economy. Yet, Congress eventually decided the post office must be made to pay for itself. Now there are rumblings it should even make a profit and help close the budget gap.
If we don’t go along with that, the powers-that-be say, we may lose the delivery of Saturday mail. On holiday weekends, then, there would be a three-day gap. Either way, by raising prices or reducing services, the post office stands to lose in the long run as mailers turn to other delivery methods.
Already, there is talk of getting rid of paper checks. Great Britain is committed to that, and U.S. banks and businesses are eager to get their customers to switch to online bill paying. Newspapers are going online. How long is it since you received a paper greeting card by mail?
Making the post office pay for itself or even turn a profit means the government is really out of the business of subsidizing the nation’s communications system and economy in this way. Is that what we want? Isn’t the post office still one of the best ways to do it?
Our carriers’ routes get longer and longer as the post office centralizes sorting to facilities that rely on mechanization. Our local post offices seem to be turning into banks, as more and more customers on line seem to be there to buy money orders. Rural routes are being dropped, and we may one day have to go to postal booths within big box stores and supermarkets to do whatever postal business we cannot do online.
While it is good to have creative thinkers in the post office, since there is no reason to stick to old ways just because of tradition, we also need to remember why we have a post office in the first place. And that is not to make a profit or even to break even, but to serve as our country’s lifeblood!
Please contact your Congressional Representative today and help save the post office for tomorrow.
