
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 8, 1990                   TAG: 9005080523
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LOWER, DON'T RAISE PRICE OF STAMPS

I OPPOSE Ms. Austin's statement (letter April 15) that the price of stamps should increase to 30 cents.

If the Postal Service wants to make more money, it should lower the price of stamps. It is the simple law of economics that as the price goes up, demand goes down.

Even lowering the price back to 18 cents would still earn the Postal Service an extra 60 cents for just 10 more stamps. I believe if the service offers only 10 stamps for $3 it will have very few takers indeed, and thereby lose any hoped-for profits. Even at 25 cents per stamp, AT&T is now making more money off of me than is the post office.

If the Postal Service really wants to make money, it should raise (even double) the rates it charges "charities" (now only 8 cents!), junk mailings, credit-card companies and stores pushing their credit cards, insurance companies, and even environmental organizations. All of them seem to have enough extra money to fill my mailbox weekly with not only triplicate but also increasingly large and bulky mailings on a weekly basis, which contributes to the ridiculous waste of our precious resources.

\ TINA DIETZ\ BLUE RIDGE

by CNB