Mr. Blount, WFB begins, "finds himself in the extraordinary position of seeking to liquidate his empire; for this, one assumes, President Nixon appointed him," since Mr. Blount had proposed to convert the Post Office into a public corporation. A perhaps surprisingly interesting discussion of this problem, which, as we know now, Mr. Blount's efforts were not sufficient to solve. Although some of the specifics he tells us about have been remedied-the Post Office no longer sorts mail with the technology Benjamin Franklin put in place when he was the fourth Postmaster General-Congress still sets the prices and makes the rules. "I note here that in 1789, which was the first year of the operation of the Post Office under the more or less present system, you ran a deficit of $40, thereby, somebody put it, establishing a venerable American tradition."