POSTAL SERVICE IS GETTING ITS ACT TOGETHER

The U.S. Postal Service, whose fiscal record through the years has been dismal at best, appears to be on the verge of turning things around.

After three years of surprise billion-dollar profits, the Postal Service is expected to be debt-free by 1999. It finished 1997 with a $1.26 billion profit. That follows profits of $1.77 billion in 1995 and $1.57 billion in 1996. That three-year performance trimmed the agency's long-term financial deficiency from $5.9 billion to $1.36 billion.

Postal money manager Michael J. Riley attributes the turnaround to a renewed sense of pride among postal workers in trying to keep costs down and making budgets. After a terrible 1993, the agency instituted a short-term incentive system to spur better performance by managers and mail carriers alike. Bonus pay was instituted, providing further incentive to keep costs in tow, and it worked.

The Postal Service has managed to reverse itself, but the cost of postage keeps going up. The cost of mailing a letter in the United States will climb to 33 cents when a penny increase goes into effect later this year.

The improved fiscal condition of the Postal Service is evidence of what can happen when an agency takes upon itself the responsibility to make ends meet and still provide the reliable service Americans have grown to become accustomed to from the U.S. Postal Service.

Now the agency should look at ways to hold the line on postage so Americans who still rely on the Postal Service can enjoy the benefits of efficiency and cost controls.