The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1952-08-01
EXPLANATION OF
POSTAL DEFICIT
BY POSTMASTER
Manteo Postmaster Names
Many Reasons Mail Bust
ness In The Red

| geSt deficit In the history of tins
government agency. This condi-
ton is due first, to the high costs
of operation, and secondly, to the
fact that the postage rates and
fees have not been increased suf-
ficiently comparable to the costs
of operations.
There will be a deficit in the
Postal Operations as long as pos
tage rates and fees are inadequate
to meet the costs of operati ,n.
Congress alone can determine
whether the Post Office shall sup
port itself as any other business
by authorizing increases in present
postage rates to meet the operat-
ing costs, or the Congress may
elect to keep the Postal System a
Service Institution that partially
supports itself under existing laws,
and then annually appropriate
sums from the General Fund to
offset deficits.
Since 1915 the fixed operating
costs have increased at a rate of
nearly 1.5 billion dollars on an
annual basis, while additions to the
revenue by increases in postage
rates and fees have been increased
only at the rate of $500 million a
year, a difference of over a bill
lion dollars in expenses above the
annual additional revenues. Even
with the new increases in post
age rates, it is estimated that there
will be about 500 million dollars
deficit in 1853. And inasmuch as
the deficit must be paid out of
the general taxation, Postmaster
General Jesse M. Donaldson is
greatly concerned, and has called
attention to the great increase in
the cost of salaries and transport
alton in the current fiscal year
over 1945.
Any organization that under
takes to give as much service as
does the Postal System is costly.
There are varied services in every
post office for every community in
the United States, and there are
also, many duties, obligations and
opportunities for more service for
the public. These services cost
money.
The Post Office Department
cannot set its financial policies,
and does not. Departmental poll
cies are set by direction of the
Congress, the Interstate Commerce
Commission and the Civil Aero
nautics Board, as well as other
regulatory agencies of the FEEDER
al Government.
Salaries paid postal personnel
are likewise set by the Congress.
However, the use of personal serv-
ices are controlled through stat
fling patterns for each post Of
flee. Approximately all travel
rates are set by law or some reg
ulatory agency. Rates for trans
portation by rail and by air, COM
munication services, price paid for
postage stamps, stamped envelopes
and price paid for postal cards, as
we'll as the price and quantity of
supplies and materials are all set
by federal regulatory authorities.
The total obligations of the Post
Office Department for the fiscal
year, 1851, amounted to So, ASS, 900,
900. 95.6 percent of that amount
was for salaries, transportation,
travel and rents.
The obligations estimated for
1852 amounted to $2,738, 1O5, 261
while the estimate for 1853 shows
an increase of 80 percent over
the 1862 estimate.
With 81 percent of the revenue
of the Post Office Department ex-
pended according to laws of the
Congress and Federal regulatory
agencies, the Postmaster General
has only approximately 3 cents out
of every dollar of revenue to spend
as the demands of the Service re-
quire. He cannot increase rates and
fees without authority, as can the
management of other normal bust
nesses.
Postmaster General Donaldson
directed the biggest change in ac-
counting ever undertaken by the
department with the installation of
the new money order sysUem,
which is calculated to save in 1868
alone some Sc million, or 2,065
man-years of service, as well as
save clerical time in issuing and
paying money orders in the A.
900 post offices. This is one of the
several steps to save on costs cf
operating the department, and
shows the biggest saving.
Another item in saving has been
effected in the establishing of the
Highway Post Office System. The
cost of the use of the highway
post offices is much lower than
the use of rail.
The establishing of these two