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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
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