Page Eight THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, May 17, 1977
5-day mail service likely by '78
WASHINGTON (AP) - You
probably will pay higher post-
age charges and receive mail
only five days per week by ear-
ly next year, the Postal Service
said yesterday.
Postmaster General Benjamin
Bailar said the price of a stamp
for first-class letters will rise
from the current 13 cents to at
least 15 cents. It will be 16 cents
if six-day delivery is maintain-
ed, he warned.
BAILER TOLD a Senate pan-
el that the Postal Service board
of governors probably will act
within two months on the pro-
posals.
Both steps have been under
consideration for months, but
Bailar's pronouncement was
more definite than previous
statements and shed new light
on the timing of the proposed
changes.
Several procedures still must
be carried out before the moves
could be put into effect, Bailar
said.
AFTER APPROVAL by the
governors, both prdposals would
have to be considered by the
Postal Rate Commission, an in- ,
dependent agency that makes
recommendations on' mail rates
and services.
With time allowed for commis-
sion deliberation, the higher
rates would not take effect un-
til "the second quarter of cal-
endar 1978" and the reduced de-
liveries would not be in effect
until after the next Christmas
mailing season, Bailar said.
He said the Postal Service will
not wait for Congress to express
its collective opinion on the
moves before putting them into
effect.
BUT THERE "would be gen-
erous time for Congress to take
whatever action it wanted," said
Bailar after recounting the time-
table for the reduction of deliv-
eries. "After that, we would
act."
Several key House members
have complained that the Pos-
tal Service is considering elim-
inating one delivery day-prob-
ably Saturday - on the basis
of recommendations made last
month by a federal study com-
mission without giving Congress
time to consider the whole pack-
age.,
Baiilar also said that the mail
agency soon would resume slow-
ly closing rural post offices in
areas where it feels it could do
so without hurting service.
"THESE SMALL post offices
are in many cases redundant
services. We have rural letter
carriers that go down almost
every rural road in the coun-
try. They deliver mail and they
sell stamps. They are like hav-
ing a post office on wheels,"
Bailar said.
An internal Postal Service
study released this month said
$49 million could be saved by
closing post offices in 17,000 of
the 30,000 communities that have
them now.
Bailar said no such large-
scale closings are contemplated
now. The rate for closings would
be similar to the previous rate
of about 300 post office closings
per year, he added.
The Postal Service has not
been shutting down offices since
Congress passed a law last year
forbidding closings while the
study commission deliberated.
Since the study commission fin-
ished its work last month, the
Postal Service is now free to
close offices again.
The Postal Service recently re-
ported a surplus of $5 million
over the year ending March 25,
the first surplus in its six-year
history.
Basques
paralyze
northern
Spain
BILBAO, Spain (AP) - Re-
bellious Basques paralyzed
much of northern Spain yester-
day for the fifth straight day,
battling police riot guns and
smoke grenades in the largest
strike since the Spanish civil
war 40 years ago.
The violence, which threatened
to spill into the rest of the na-
tion, came as the government
prepared to receive Vice Presi-
dent Walter Mondale today. The
visit was planned as a show of
U.S. support for the efforts of
King Juan Carlos and Premier
Adolfo Suarez to bring demo-
cracy to Spain.
Scores were hurt in bloody
clashes with police in half a
dozen Basque cities. Labor sour-
ces said 600,000 persons had
participated in a general strike
to protest "police repression."
"This is my kind of light workout:"
(Joe Palooka, Heavyweight Champ)
96 calories, approximately one third fewer than our other fine beer.
It took Schlitz to bring the taste to light.
.01977 JMS SCHUITZ BREWING CO, MLWAUKMEE, WIS., AND OTHER CITIES.
Ut
U-Cellar