Copyright 2000 The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
June 3, 2000, Saturday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE, Pg. 2C
LENGTH: 243 words
HEADLINE:
FROM THE LEADER-HERALD;
POSTAL SERVICE SHOULD PRIVATIZE NOW
DATELINE: GLOVERSVILLE
BODY:
Postmaster General William Henderson made an incredible admission to
reporters the other day. He declared the Postal Service to be a dinosaur, its
core business under heavy assault from the Internet and what's not under attack
ripe for "commercialization" -- a kinder, gentler sort of privatization. . . .
He makes a strong case: Bill payments account for a quarter of postal
revenues, and bill payments "eventually will go electronic." The early adopters
of PC technology already are using online bill payment services. Within five
years, there may be no more window envelopes in your mailbox. Magazines are the
next biggest chunk of postal business, and they, too, are moving toward the
Internet.
The uncertainties ahead for the Postal Service argue well for
commercialization -- someday, Henderson says. But why wait? If the Postal
Service were privatized now, then the new owners would at least have the benefit
of taking control of management when the service is not in the midst of a deep
crisis. The new owners could cut dead wood, get rid of outmoded operations and
otherwise reap savings and prepare the organization for the disappearance of
bills from the mail.
The alternative is to wait until the moment of
ultimate crisis presents itself, when few people would want to touch it. . . .
The Postal Service has claimed it operates a lot like a private business. Maybe
it's time to make the service live up to its rhetoric. . . .
LOAD-DATE: June 5, 2000 
