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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1963)
o MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON THURSDAY. AUGUST 29, 1983 B Occupant' Delivered Steady Stream of 6 Junk' Mail Editor' note: Thit is the fourth of a five part series discussing the function and operation of the U.S. post office. O By HABRY FEHGUSOM United Press latcrna-ticaal Washington -IDP1I- The most popular fellow in the whole United States is named "occu pant." He gets a steady stream ot mail, most of which he tiuickly conveys without open ing to the waste basket. This is what many embitter ed persons call "junk mail." The U.S. Post Office Depart ment prefers to call it "bulk mail" and can advance several valid reasons why it is a good thing for the country. Eighteen billion pieces of this third class mail flow into the mail boxes of Americans each year and a good bit of it does not even have their name in the address, ft simply is addressed to "occupant." Most Americans are re signed to their fate and do said. nnthincr about the things i from revolts and takes up arms , literature. It was from an or- against the government. Such ; ganizalion I'd never heard of a one is Mr.. Robert L. Rich-i and 1 would never dream ol contributing to it Mrs. Richard invited her neighbors to help and they re sponded by filling up her clothes basket, her garbage can, several cardboard cartons and a large box. Off went the "junk mail" to Washington where it landed with a dull thud. Nothing happened. Mrs. It came all the way Richard is still getting "junk Alabama to Palo Alto, mail" and will continue to do ard of Ualo Alto, Calif., a sort of .lnr. -if Arc who or ganized a crusade against "junk mail" by collecting 100 pounds ot it and shipping it to the Post Office Department here in Washington. Starts With Letter "ft all started with a beg ging letter I received," she stuffed into their mail boxes. but occasionally a bold spirit It contained a letter, a return envelope and two pieces ol so. Like death is inevitable. and taxes, it The Post Office Depart-1 men! takes in $94 million a year in third class mail rev enue. It charges 28 cents a piece and next year the cost will go up lo 2-1 cents. It probably could go much high er without discouraging Ilio. people who send out bulk mail. The whole thing has be come firmly built into the structure of the American economy and its removal would result in chaos and j probably a sizeable number i of bankruptcies. It works this way: There' are firms such as R. L. Polk ( & Co , which keeps lists ofi persons by classification au- ( (omobiie owners, pet lovers J fishermen, goffers, chefs, do-1 it-yourself carpenters, motor-j r.vcle riders and anything else) you care to mine. Say a man-) utneturcr ol fishing rods comes up with a new product.' He goes to R. L. Polk and Co., and rents their fisherman list and subsequently the adver tising matter goes forward. In this case the third class mail is addressed lo persons by name. But a soap company, tor instance, may blanket the country with thirri-ctass mail addressed only to "occupant." The size of a mailing by a business concern can vary widely, A firm selling bull dozers may send out only 5.000 leiiers, A candy manij. iacUirev may send out 80 miV lion. And what about the re sponse'! Many charitable and non-profit organizations use third-class mail and they get flic highest ratio of responses, sometimes as much as 75 per cent. Business lirms which en close coupons to "dc returned PIGGLY WIGGLY PIGGLY WIGGLY GRADE A FRESH FROSTED FRYERS Mb. 2-oi. to 79 2-lb. 2-oi. to 2-lb. 6-oi. I each ARMOUR STAR FRANKS 12-oi. Package. 39 I ui r rr SWIFT PREMIUM JUMBO BOLOGNA By th Piece 39 lb. Fancy Swift Premium Twpy i : . , &mf mi 590 U.S. CHOICE OR SWIFT PREMIUM WELL TrtlMMED RIB ROAST FLAVORFUL BOILING BEEF , 29c YOUNG BEEF LIVER 49c U.S. CHOICE OR SWIFT PREMIUM RIB STEAKS a 89c 79 ... HALEYS I Beans I I Full of Flavor All the Way Through f v3 'J FULL-CUT BEEF ROUND STEAKS ,. U.S. CHOICE OR SWIFT PREMIUM BONELESS TOP ROUND STEAKS 93c U.S. CHOICE OR SWIFT PREMIUM T-BONE STEAK , $1.19 CHEDDAR CHEESE FRESH rltttlS RED SNAPPER , 39c RAINBOW TROUT 3for69c U.S. CHOICE OR SWIrT PREMIUM fcONtttSS TOP SIRLOINS , 51.39 U.S. CHOICE OR SWIFT PREMIUM CLOB STEAKS ffa 51.19 have achieved results as. lush, as 20 per cent. But almost, every user of third cfass mail considers it is a worth while investment il live per cent of the people respond in some fashion. The Post ritiwo no. - CfSXtC' merit, ot course. sirirti., der the control o Congress wmtn accioes now much money shad be appropriated each year. And Congress itself s a great lover ol bulk mail because Its members can flood constituents with letters at no personal cost. I Get Lump Sum lWs is known as Crank ing" and it is unnecessary to describe the contents ot mail from congressmen hivanu ... crybody das had experience n-'tn n, especially in the weeks leading up to an elec tion. In return Sor the priv ilege ol irankins mail. Con gress votes a lump sum each year to the Post OHice. That makes it unnecessary tot the individual congressman to stand up and be counted as to how many pieces of maii he is dumping on the voters. is there anv umu n,i . ...... .r s si i Appavcvvtly not without con- sincraoie utconvenrence to yourseff. Maxwell Sm-khpim of Cfearwatcr, Fta., was ad- visca oy ttte St. Petersburg, ria.. Vast Oltice to write to the mailrrs and ask them to eliminate his name. In his reply. Sackheim gave the Post Ottice Department both barrels; "V'ou reveal a shocking ig norance 0f modern business i'.''l?s- mefftods. To remove my mime !rom mailing lists I would have lo: "Cancel my subscriplion lo Time Magazine, Fortune, t'ovoes. Reader's Digest, Sat urday Evening Post, Advertis ing Age, American Home, Bet ter Homes & Gardens, the flower Grower and a dozen olhrr publications. "Order my name removed Irom Who's Who in Amrrins Commerce & Industry, Rotary i Club o? Clearwater, the Chamber. o Commerce, Poor's Directory o Directors, Tie and Accepted Masons, Mecca TempJe, East Bay Country Club, YMCA, The Red Cross the Cancer Fund, the Clear water City Directory and the telephone directory, American Express credit card, Standard Oil credit card, several iirian cial institutions and banks, the Book of the Month Club., the Literary Guild and the Co lumbia Record Club." In case you are wondering how your name gets on ma! ing lists. Sackheim has pro vided the answer. Tomorrxowi Drtecllvtt ol in U.S. MliTh Wu Againit PoinogTiphy. Escapee Held for Robbery of Ban SaJem m - An escapee troro the Ohio State prison was reported in custody in Los Angeles Wednesday on a charge o robbing the C-ervais branch ot the Bank oi Ore gon July 11, 1962. The FBI identified him. as Donald Jay Nichols, Downey, Call., who escaped from the I Ohio State prison in Colum I bus in 1948. I Nichols is the third man lo jbe charged with the SS.au ! robbery. Clarence Emmett Voung and Sidney Albert. Thomas pleaded guilty in. 1 Los Angeles earlier this imonllj. and received seven i year prison sentences. I They were both serving i terras ot tive years to liie lor artnea totiocyy m Calitomia. BJG WALLOON BURSTS Palesline, Tex. - WPS -Massachusetts Jnsliluie ot Tech nology scientists al tempted today to determine what caused a huje balloon carrying instruments to study cosmic rays lo hurst at IQ", 000 feet. The bailoon's 325 pound instrument payfoad UI n c niitnmalinqll.i . 1" " Huttfriraiiteillj (JUL fttllUl ed to earth and recovered by W PLYMOUTH POTATO CHIPS Triple Pak Package 55 Reg. 69c BLUB BEU POTATO CHIPS Triple Pak Package Reg. 69c 59 AJAX flORIENT DILL PICKLES 32 0I 45c LIQUID 2.,, b,u 75c 69c 89c unic none COFFEE 1lB in 49c 97c ROOM DEODORANT HIUS BROS. .lL.U' COFFEE 3 .b tin AWFUU RegUla Assortment FAB DETERGENT VEL LIQUID ... giant pkg. . 22-01- bottle r $l.00-7-oi UlT HOME 65c PERMANENT Reg. $1.59 ... S1.39 COLGATE 59c TOOTHPASTE Le 2 fc, 89c Siv n You Spend With S&H GREEN STAMPS II Napkins jfj I I Wh'ite or Assorted. Package o SO. I I y, j feSIInf''' I PSymoyth .H iMaiiiiaiseSj if Smooth A '" f P ' I UJ-)(0 111 j Full Qurt f I P j 1 i ) ) tti I IS! Your Money's Worth By SYLVIA. PORTER Copyright, Hall Syndicatv tnc (4th in a Seiiet ol & Celumm) Although there is no possibility that the United States devalue the dollar at this stage, talk, about It will not be downed, and for tfie first lime In my experience I'm receiving a steady trickle of fetters asking, "What woud devaluation mean to ?.''" II wc did raisp the price at which the U.S. Government .stands ready )o sell gold on demand lo any niialHicd loreign holder ol dollars Irom, say, $35 to $70 an ounce, and thereby tut the roW value ot the dollar irom l35vh oi an ounce to 1 "JQUi oC an ounce, heve is what this devaluation ot out currency would mean to you; As a Consumer: V'ou would pay more for a ff imported goods and services for tftc value of our doifar to a foreigner wouid have been cut in hall, and tiieoretically this would mean the cost of goods thai we import would double. There's no doubt that many commonplace imporled Joods would go up in price cnllee, tea, sugar, neppcr, olive oil, to name a lew, Vou'd have to nav move Iot clothes made ol VmpoTted materials Vm novtctt silk, linen, wool, late. Imported household ivrrnishinss (Persian ruftsl would he more expensive. So would foteisn. cars or any foreign equipment. Vou'd pay more for anything made of or including gofd. You would not pay more, though, tot goods and serv ice produced and isld within our borders. The dollar wouid ba devalued in leans oi gold and other currencies and that's all. Over a period, Jhe pul) slmoji surely would be toward generally higher prices, but there would be no dirtxt impart on the thouianii ot items Made-tn-'J.S.fi. As an mmi ol cash, bsnVi deposits, insurants, a house-. The dollar iu your pockctbook or bank or invested in insurance or a house would be the same after devaluation, as before devaluation for f repeat, the key point is that its value would be diminished only in terms of goid and other currencies. Logically, tltere should be no immediate impact on the value oi these assets. As a slockholder; This is guesswork. U could he that the shock ol a dollar devaluation a linal admission ot weakness in the currency vihieh is tlw pivot ot the tree world's economies would send stock prices into a tallspin. U could be that the act would cause a trade breakdown of such, enormity that nil securities markets wouid be convulsed, ft could be that foreigners wouid fiee from our markets and add to the slump. It alfft could be thai any eventual inllation set ol! by drvfllijaijoj) would boosl slock prices later. This is so "illy" that the only sound advice Is; Dnn'l oase any investment decision on anticipation oi this catastrophe. As an xpost ot qoods-. Theoretically, a devaluation ot the dollar in halt would cut the cosl of U.S. goods to foreigners In haU stimulate your export business. As an importer of goods: Theoretically, this devaluation would double the price tl goods we imiwrt, make many ol these goods much less attractive lo U.S. customers. There would be little compeii tion lell lor American roanulacturers ol such products as cars, cameras, "wines. As a loreign holdT ot doUaiv You'd b bdlv, phapi critically , Kvnt. th il feu. had the day hetoi devaluation would ha watth only 50. cents to you in the world markets the day after. The value of your doiiar assets in your own currency would be slash ed in haif overnight end you migftf be forced into bank ruptcy. As a tourist abroad when devaluation occurred: You'd or ))il hard loo. Say you had arrived 3d Paris with M.ftOO the day it happened, four suddenly is worth, only S5tM in terms ot tranes. You're stuck. It's all so academic. We could not devalue the dollar by ourselves. Other countries would take similar, action at once. The gold-producing countries South Africa, Canada, Russia would then be the only primary gainers. . The free world has riismissecf unilateral devaluation of (itc dofiar practical move. Instead Is groping toward other ways to anlve tlie prebiem of financin Jhe prosperity o! the West n faitejtwut 3 flW ?. A report on hi.i tomorrojr. lTisiribtvd a T!5t, nt. P?ii: Effective AugaiM 29 Thru Sunday, September 1-Limtt Rights Reserved Stewgfit i ng 0 Air-Conditioned o
