On Friday afternoon, September 10th, I presented myself at the Post-Office Department and joined a party who were just leaving the building to go over to the American Bank Note Co.'s building, a couple of blocks away. Arriving, we were conducted to the top floor by the manager. The plates, dies, etc., were brought out by those in charge, and the seventeen original dies after inspection by those present were placed one by one under a press and an obliterating roller passed over them several times; proofs were then pulled which faintly showed the outlines of the ovals, etc., but the words showing the values could not even be made out. Next, the rolls for transferring the impression from the dies to the plates came in for their share of attention. There were nineteen of them, and a few burns from an emery wheel quickly put each one “out of sight.” The plates, 31 in number, were subjected to the same treatment as the dies, and the total time occupied in the destruction of the various parts occupied almost two hours.
Chapter XIV.—The “Maple Leaf” Issue of 1897.
Soon after the printing contract was awarded to the American Bank Note Company it was rumoured that a new series of stamps would be issued, but for a time public expectations of the new stamps were overshadowed by the appearance of the Diamond Jubilee issue. A cutting from an Ottawa paper dated September 28th, 1897, shows, however, that preparations for a new set were well in hand, viz.:—
The design for a new postage stamp has been approved by the Postmaster-General. There is a portrait of Her Majesty as she appeared at the coronation, except that a coronet is substituted for a crown. The portrait has been engraved from a photo procured during the Jubilee ceremonies, and upon which was the Queen's own autograph, so that it is authentic. The corners of the stamp will be decorated with maple leaves, which were pulled from maple trees on Parliament Hill and engraved directly from them. Everything indeed is correct and up to date, and the new issue will reflect credit on Mr. Mulock's good taste. The engravers will take care to make this permanent and ordinary issue a tribute to their skill. The present stock of stamps it will take some months to exhaust, and not till they are done will the new stamps be issued. It may be about November of this year.
About a month later a circular was addressed to postmasters announcing the issue of the new stamps as follows:
Circular to Postmaster.
The Postmaster-General has made arrangements for a new issue of postage stamps, letter cards, stamped envelopes, post cards, and post bands. These will be supplied to postmasters in the usual way. Postmasters are, however, instructed not to sell the stamps of any denomination of the new issue until the stamps of the corresponding denomination of the present issue are disposed of. The filling of requisitions by the Postage Stamp Branch will be regulated by the same principle—that is to say, no item of the proposed issue will be sent out until the corresponding item of the present issue has been exhausted.
To conform to the requirements of the International Postal Union the color of the new 1c stamp will be green and that of the 5c stamp a deep blue.
R. M. Coulter,
Deputy Postmaster-General.
Post-Office Department, Canada.
Ottawa, 25th October, 1897.
The Postmaster-General's Report for 1897, issued after the stamps had made their appearance, also refers to the new issue and to add completeness to our history we extract the following:—
Owing to the change of contract for the manufacture and supply of postage stamps, a new series of stamps became necessary at the beginning of the present fiscal year. New stamps ranging in value from the ½c to the 10c denomination (inclusive) were printed, and the first supplies thereof sent out to postmasters as the corresponding denominations of the old stamps became exhausted. A considerable quantity of the higher values of that series (15 cents, 20 cents and 50 cents) remaining over from the late contract, these three stamps continued to be issued, so that the department, previous to the introduction of the same denominations in the new series, might, in accordance with the universal practice, dispose of the old stamps in each case, before issuing any of the new. The design of the new stamps is of a uniform character, and consists of an engraved copy (reduced) of an authorized photograph of Her Majesty taken during the Diamond Jubilee year. This, placed within an oval bearing the usual inscriptions, is enclosed within a rectangular frame, a maple leaf on a lined ground occupying each of the triangular spaces between the two frames. To conform to the regulations of the Universal Postal Union, the color of the new 1 cent stamp is green, and that of the 5 cents a deep blue. This necessitated corresponding changes in the colors of the other stamps of the new series; for example, purple instead of green being selected for the 2 cent denomination, and orange instead of slate for the 8 cent.
The first denomination of the new series—the ½ cent—was placed on sale on November 9th, 1897. About the end of the same month the 6c made its appearance, and this was quickly followed by the 1c, 2c, 5c and 8c in December. The 3c and 10c were issued early in January, 1898, so that official instructions that the new stamps were not to be issued until the supplies of the old issue were exhausted were fully carried out, though all values were on sale within the space of about three months.
The design of the new stamps is at once simple and effective. In the central oval is a three-quarter face portrait of Her Majesty, with head to left, which was copied from a photograph taken by W. & D. Downey, of London, at the time of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Around the oval is a band of solid color containing the words CANADA POSTAGE above and the value in words below, all being in Egyptian capitals. The spandrels are filled with a ground of horizontal lines on which maple leaves rest. While, as Mr. Howes observes, “much criticism was engendered by the fact that the portrait was too large for its frame, making the design appear cramped,” public verdict, as a whole, expressed unqualified approval of the new design.
The stamps, like those of the preceding issues, were printed from line-engraved plates and, with one exception, these plates contained one hundred impressions arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten each. The exception referred to occurred in the ½c, the first plate for which contained 200 stamps, arranged in ten rows of twenty stamps each. This is mentioned in the Weekly Philatelic Era as follows:—
By some misunderstanding the contractors, the American Bank Note Co., set the sheet up with 200 stamps, and the first five hundred sheets were so printed. The sheets were afterwards cut in two through the imprint, and we have these half sheets with a close imperforated margin on either the left or right edge. Afterwards sheets of 100 stamps were issued, all the stamps perforated on all four sides. Plate number collectors will find the earliest sheets difficult to obtain. Both sheets bear the plate number 1.
The imprint on the sheets followed the plan originated with the Jubilee series, “OTTAWA—No—1,” etc., being placed in the centre of the top margin. Each value began with No. 1 and apparently for the 5c, 6c, 8c, and 10c the one plate sufficed. For the ½c, as we have already shown, there were two plates, both numbered “1”; while for the 1c there were two plates, for the 2c, three plates, and for the 3c, six plates.
The stamps were printed on stout white wove paper, similar to that used for the Jubilee stamps and at some time or other a slightly thinner and more brittle paper seems to have been used. The paper for the 5c is of a distinctly bluish color—this being the first occasion on which colored paper was used for any of the postage stamps of the Dominion.
The perforation was the regulation gauge of 12, which has been in continuous use since 1858, and, as the Philatelic Record stated when first chronicling the issue, “many of the stamp are badly centered, a characteristic defect of the American Bank Note Company's work.” The 5c is known entirely imperforate.
Chapter XV.—The “Numeral” Issue of 1898.
The “maple-leaf” issue had not been long in use before complaints were made that owing to the lack of plain numerals it was a difficult matter to distinguish the various denominations. In its issue for April 2nd, 1898, the Metropolitan Philatelist stated another ground for complaint and also referred to a forthcoming change, viz.:—
Much dissatisfaction is expressed by the French speaking inhabitants of the rural parts at the lack of figures of value on the stamps, the denomination in all cases being printed in English which they are unable to understand. It has, therefore, been decided to alter the new stamps by removing the maple leaves from the lower corners and inserting large numerals of value in their place. The space occupied by the head will also be somewhat enlarged and the value will be placed on a straight band below.
A few months later the redrawn stamps made their appearance, for the Monthly Journal for July 30th, 1898, records the issue of the 1c and 3c denominations as follows:—
The design is certainly improved, the oval being enlarged so that its outer line covers the outer line of the rectangle at each side and at top and bottom. The band being the same width as before, this allows a larger space for the head, which no longer appears so closely “cribbed, cabined and confined.” The inscriptions remain unchanged, but in each of the lower corners is a plain rectangular block, containing a colored numeral.
Mr. Howes states that these two values were issued on June 21st, 1898, and, following its usual custom, the Canadian Post-office did not place the other denominations on sale until the corresponding values of the old series were all used up. Thus, the ½c, 2c and 6c did not appear until early in September, the 8c was placed on sale in the first few days of October, the 10c was issued in the early part of November, while the 5c, which was the laggard of the series, was not on sale until July 3rd, 1899.
Although the design was entirely redrawn and the wider oval gave the portrait a less cramped effect, it did not satisfy all the critics—though, so far as this fact is concerned, it is doubtful if any stamp issued anywhere at any time has met with universal approbation!
The stamps were produced by the usual method of steel engraved plates and they were printed in sheets of 100, in ten rows of ten, as had now become the regular custom. The imprint is like that on the sheets of the “maple leaf” issue and, again as with that series, the numbering of the plates started with “1” for each denomination. So little interest seems to have been taken in these marginal varieties that no authoritative record of the several plates employed has been kept. Mr. Howes gives but one plate for the ½c, 6c, 8c and 10c values, three for the 5c, four each for the 2c and 3c, and six for the 1c but it seems highly probable there were many more especially for such values as the 1c and 2c which were used in very large quantities.
In 1901 there were rumours that some of the stamps of this type had been re-engraved, the foundation for the canard being the following paragraph from the Weekly:—
Mr. H. A. Chapman has sent me a specimen of a re-engraved 1c Canada numeral, in which the differences from the first issue demand recognition. The re-engraved type is shorter and wider than the one preceding it. I note also that the 2c is said to exist in the same condition.
In reprinting this statement the Philatelic Record observed “Can this be true; or is it only another case of a slight difference caused by the shrinkage after wetting the sheets for printing purposes?”
The Monthly Journal for September. 1901, soon set the matter at rest as shown by the following extract:—
Miss A. L. Swift very kindly informs us that a friend of hers made enquiries at headquarters in Ottawa, and was assured that no re-engraving whatever has taken place, and that any differences that exist must be due to shrinkage or expansion of the paper during the process of printing. Our correspondent, who is a well-known American writer upon philatelic subjects and a careful philatelist, tells us that the ½c, 1c and 2c of the numeral type and several values of the Maple Leaf type, show these variations, and adds that in the case of the ½c of both issues one size is found in grey-black only, and the other in deep black only. It is possible that the amount or thickness of the ink employed may have some effect upon the varying shrinkage of the paper.
The same journal refers to the matter again in the following month, viz.:—
In reference to the question of the variations in the size of the stamps of the last two issues of this Colony, a correspondent tells us that he has been studying these stamps, and has come to the conclusion, no doubt correctly, that the variations are due to differences in the quality and thickness of the paper. As in the old case of the Ceylon stamps the longer copies are on thicker paper than the short ones. All stamps that are printed on damp paper, and especially those from plates engraved in taille-douce, are liable to vary in this way.
The above seems to be the most reasonable explanation of the differences for the measurements of the so-called long and short stamps are practically constant, which one would naturally expect to find if two sorts of paper, differing slightly in thickness and quality, were used.
Chapter XVI.—The “Map” Stamp of 1898.
Shortly after Great Britain adopted penny postage for internal use in 1840 postal reformers began to dream of Ocean Penny Postage, and although universal penny postage is not yet an accomplished fact it is within reasonable distance of being so. A great step in this direction was made in 1898 when at an Imperial Convention on Postal Rates held in London the mother country and various colonies agreed to adopt the rate of one penny per half ounce on letters sent to or from Britain or one another. The following extract from the London Standard for July 13th shows in an interesting manner how far the movement had then progressed:—
We are authorised by the Postmaster-General to state that, as the result of the Imperial Conference on Postal Rates, it has been agreed, on the proposal of the Representative of the Dominion of Canada, that letter postage of one penny per half-ounce should be established between the United Kingdom, Canada, Newfoundland, the Cape Colony, Natal, and such of the Crown Colonies as may, after communication with, and approval of, Her Majesty's Government, be willing to adopt it. The date on which the reduction will come into effect will be announced later on. The question of a uniform reduced rate for the whole Empire was carefully considered; but it was not found possible to fix upon a rate acceptable to all the Governments concerned. A resolution was therefore adopted, leaving it to those parts of the Empire which were prepared for penny postage to make the necessary arrangements among themselves.
Since then other portions of the British Empire have fallen into line and the ties binding the English speaking peoples have been further strengthened by the adoption of penny postage between the United States and Great Britain as well as with many of her Colonies.
Elihu Burritt, the “learned blacksmith” of New Britain, Connecticut, was one of the earliest advocates of Ocean Penny Postage and late in 1848 he issued a pamphlet setting forth his views on the subject. Exactly fifty years later Imperial Penny Postage was inaugurated though it was on a much broader and more liberal basis than Burritt had dared to hope in his fondest imaginings.
Canada, as will be noted from the preceding extract, was the leader in the movement for Imperial Penny Postage and marked the culmination of its ambitious plans by issuing a special two cents stamp. Mr. Mulock, the then Postmaster-General of the Dominion, was responsible for the idea of issuing a special stamp as well as the sponsor for its design. The new stamp was first mentioned by the Ottawa correspondent of the Outlook as follows:—
Mr. Mulock, the Postmaster-General, has chosen the new inaugurating stamp. It is in the form of a miniature map of the world distinguishing British possessions and illustrating the relative vastness of the Empire, in which Canada, of course, plays a prominent part.
In commenting on this paragraph the Philatelic Record, for December, 1898, stated “A poster stamp even of the large plaster type, which ‘distinguishes British possessions and illustrates the vastness of the Empire’, will indeed be a multum in parvo, and probably the less said the better in anticipation of the realisation of such an apparently absurd idea for a design on such a small engraving as a postage stamp needs to be.”
The Ottawa Evening Journal gave further particulars about the forthcoming stamp, viz.:—
The new Imperial Penny Postage Stamp, to be used between Great Britain and a number of her colonies after Christmas Day next, has been designed by the Postmaster-General and ready to be issued. It is not to be a special issue, but will take its place among the regular issues. When Mr. Mulock was in Britain he was surprised to notice that the great mass of the people did not appreciate the value or the greatness of the British possessions abroad. This was especially true of Canada. The idea, therefore, suggested itself to him when he was considering a new stamp, to prepare something that would show the dimensions of Greater Britain compared with all other countries. Mr. Mulock asked for some designs from a few artists when he came back to Canada, but they did not meet with his views, and he roughly sketched out something himself and passed it over to an artist to have it touched up.
The feature of the new stamp is a neatly executed map in miniature of the world, showing the British possessions as compared with all other countries. The empire is distinguished from the possessions of the other powers by being in red. Surmounting this map is a representation of the crown, underneath which is a bunch of oak and maple leaves, symbolizing the unity of the Mother Country and Canada. At the upper edge of the stamp are the words “Canada Postage” in a neat letter. Underneath the map is placed “Xmas, 1898”, so that the date of the inauguration of Imperial Penny Postage shall be a matter of record. On the lower corners are the figures “2,” indicating the denomination of the stamp, and at the lower edge is this suggestive passage taken from the works of one of our patriotic poets: “We hold a vaster Empire than has been.” Mr. Mulock will be able to claim the credit of giving the public the cheapest map of the world ever issued. The size of the stamp is about the same as the Jubilee issue.
The printing of the new stamps began on December 1st, both the Governor-General and Postmaster-General being present while the first sheets were run off the presses. Although it was originally intended to issue the stamp on Christmas Day it was actually placed on sale quite early in the month as explained in the following extract from the Weekly:
Ottawa, Dec. 5th.—It having been stated in some newspapers that the new two-cent Imperial stamp would not become available until Christmas Day, inquiry made at the Post Office Department today to ascertain the truth of this statement elicits the fact that, although it was the original intention of the department that the new stamp should not come into use until the 25th inst., the demand from the public for it has become so pressing that the department has decided to issue it at once, and permit its immediate use to the extent of its face value for all postage purposes. In other words, as soon as it reaches the public it may, if preferred by the purchaser, be used instead of the ordinary two-cent stamp. The two-cent inter-Imperial rate does not, of course, come into effect until Christmas Day.
Under date of December 7th the Canadian correspondent of the Weekly Philatelic Era refers to the actual issue of the stamp, viz.:—
The new Imperial stamps referred to in past numbers of the Era were issued this morning, and although the new Imperial rate does not come into effect until Xmas-day, and they bear that inscription, they are receivable for ordinary postage now.
The general design has already been described, but it may be well to say that the stamps are printed in three colors. The frame is in black with white letters, the seas are in a pale blue, or rather a lavender, and the British possessions are in a bright red. The map of the world is on Mercator's projection, which magnifies high latitudes; consequently the Dominion of Canada, which occupies the middle of the upper part of the stamp, looks bigger than all the other British possessions put together. The border of the stamp is of cable pattern and measures 32 mm. in width by 22½ in height. The stamp is printed on medium, machine-wove, white paper, similar to that used for the Jubilee and subsequent Canadian issues, and is perforated 12.
The design is well-known to all our readers and as it has already been extensively dissected in the above quotations, further comment is hardly necessary. The new stamps naturally caused lots of criticism on account of their somewhat bombastic legend “We hold a vaster Empire than has been”. This was taken from the jubilee ode written by Sir Lewis Morris on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the last stanza of which reads as follows:—
Yet never shall our England's power decrease!
Whoever guides our helm of state,
Let all men know it, England shall be great!
We hold a vaster empire than has been!
Nigh half the race of man is subject to our Queen!
Nigh half the wide, wide earth is ours in fee!
And where her rule comes all are free.
And therefore 'tis, O Queen, than we,
Knit fast in bonds of temperate liberty,
Rejoice today, and make our solemn jubilee!
The stamps were printed in the usual sheet arrangement of one hundred, arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten. The black portion was printed from line-engraved plates but the colored portions were, apparently, printed by lithography. Consequently, three operations were necessary before the stamps were completed and, as may readily be understood, a three color process in such a small compass made exact register a matter of difficulty. Thus on many stamps portions of the Empire are found much out of place, sometimes wandering into the sea and sometimes encroaching in an altogether too familiar manner on their neighbours. The new stamps came in for much criticism, of which the following extract from the Monthly Journal for January, 1899, is a fair sample:—
It is not quite an occasion for captious criticism, and when we get a beautiful colored map of the world for a penny perhaps we ought not to criticise; but we cannot think that the design is a very appropriate one for a postage stamp. The blobs of red are not always quite correctly placed; we have even heard of cases in which a little irregularity of “register” has resulted in the annexation of the greater part of the United States, while England invaded France, and the Cape of Good Hope went out to sea!
The Canadian newspapers are not quite happy about it, but that is natural, as they are to pay extra postage in future to make up any deficiency in the budget caused by the reduction in the Imperial rate; we hear that even a Ministerial organ at Ontario complains that the new stamp is too large to lick and too small for wall paper! Some people are never satisfied.
The color chosen for the sea portion of the map was lavender at first, but as this was not considered altogether appropriate it was soon afterwards changed to sea-green. In addition to these two tints it also comes in a very pronounced blue.
The line-engraved plates from which the black portion of the design was printed have four marginal imprints consisting of AMERICAN BANK NOTE CO. OTTAWA in Roman capitals ½ mm. high, the whole inscription being 29 mm. long. These are placed above the third and eighth stamps of the top row and below the corresponding stamps of the bottom row. In addition a plate number, in hair-line figures about 4 mm. high, is shown above the division between the two central stamps of the top row, these figures being placed higher on the margin than the imprints. Mr. Howes tells us that plates 1, 2, 3, and 5 are known but that plate 4 does not seem to have been recorded though, presumably, it exists. All four plates are known with the lavender sea and this is known to indicate the first printings, it would appear that all the plates were at press together.
The late Mr. H. L. Ewen wrote an exhaustive article on the numerous varieties of this stamp but as most of these were simply due to errors of register their philatelic importance is slight. One variety, however, which is constant is worthy of note. In this two small dots representing two islands in mid-pacific are shown side by side instead of one above the other as on the normal stamps. Mr. Ewen also referred to a slight retouching of one of the plates, viz.:—
Readers will have noted that the stamps are each surrounded by what appears to be a rope. On the sheet of plate 3 before us, the outer edge of this rope on the stamps at the end of each row (right hand side of each sheet) has worn away and has been replaced by a straight line engraved on the plate, except on stamp No. 80, which still shows the very defective nature of the rope.
Mr. Howes states that the stamp, with all three colors for the sea, is known imperforate.
How many were issued is not known for certain as these Imperial stamps were reckoned together with the ordinary 2c in the postal accounts but according to the London Philatelist the total issue was about sixteen millions. In concluding this chapter we have only to add that the cost of manufacturing the stamps, on account of the three processes necessary, was the relatively high one of 45 cents per thousand.
Chapter XVII.—The “2 Cents” Provisionals.
One result of the Imperial Conference on Postal Rates held in London, in addition to the inauguration of Imperial Penny Postage, was to revive the agitation for the reduction of the domestic rate on postage in Canada from 3c to 2c on letters weighing one ounce or less. Indeed just prior to this Convention a bill in amendment of the Post Office Act had been assented to by Parliament under which it was agreed the reduced rate of postage should prevail, but no immediate steps were taken to enforce the reduction, it being left to the Governor General to name a date when the change should take effect. The establishment of Imperial Penny Postage, however, brought matters to a head, for it was a ridiculous state of affairs under which a charge of 3c had to be levied in carrying a letter from one town to another in Canada while 2c would carry a similar letter (if under half an ounce in weight) to any point in the British Isles. Consequently the Governor General named New Year's Day as the date when the reduced rate of domestic postage should come into force as shown by the following “Order in Council”:—
By Proclamation dated the 29th day of December, 1898, in virtue of the Act further to amend the Post Office Act (61 Victoria, Chapter 20) and of an Order in Council in accordance therewith, it was declared that the postage rate payable on all letters originating in and transmitted by post for any distance in Canada for delivery in Canada, should be one uniform rate of two cents per ounce weight, from the 1st January, 1899.
The immediate effect of this change of rates was a vast increase in the demand for 2c stamps and a corresponding decrease in the use of the 3c. Also, to fall in line with Postal Union requirements a change of color was necessary, but this did not take place at once, the postal authorities preferring to follow their usual precedent of using up the old stamps first.
The 3c, which had been printed in large quantities, moved so slowly that the Post-Office Department decided that the only way the stock could be used up within a reasonable time would be to reduce the stamps to the value of 2c by means of a surcharge. This intention, as well as a change in the color of the regular 2c stamps, was set forth in a circular issued on July 1st, 1899, from which we extract the following:—
Owing to the reduction in the Domestic letter rate of postage, the issue of the 3c letter-card, the 3c stamped envelope, and the 3c postage stamp from the Department has ceased. Any unused 3c letter-cards, 3c stamped envelopes or 3c stamps, still extant, will, however, continue available for postal purposes, or may be exchanged at any Post Office, at their full face value, for postage stamps of other denominations.
The color of the Domestic-rate postage stamp, as prescribed by the Universal Postal Union, is red, and it is intended to discontinue the issue of the ordinary two-cents purple colored stamps as soon as the present supply on hand is exhausted. This will be about the 20th July, 1899. Thereafter the Department will issue two cents stamps in red, first, however, surcharging down to two cents the unissued remnant of the three cents stamps in red, now in the possession of the Department, and as soon as the supply of such surcharged threes is exhausted, the issue of two cents stamps in red will begin. The surcharged stamps will be issued to Postmasters as 2c postage stamps and be recognised as postage stamps of that denomination.
The official estimate of the time the then existing stock of 2c purple stamps would last was not far wrong for on July 20th the first of the surcharged labels were issued. The surcharge follows a somewhat peculiar arrangement the numeral “2” and “S” of CENTS being larger than the rest of the inscription, which is flat at the bottom and concave at the top. This distinctive type is said to have been adopted to make counterfeiting difficult, though it is hardly likely anyone would have reduced a 3c stamp to the value of 2c with the idea of defrauding the Government! Evidently the inscription was specially engraved and from it a plate was constructed so that a sheet of one hundred stamps could be overprinted at one operation. Some little variation will be found in the thickness of the type of the surcharge though whether this is due to the use of more than one plate or simply to overinking or wear is a doubtful matter. The normal position of the surcharge is horizontally across the bottom of the stamps but owing to poor register it is sometimes found much out of position, and specimens with the overprint across the centre of the labels have been recorded.
The surcharge was, at first, applied only to the 3c stamps of the numeral type but it was soon decided to also use up the unissued remainders of the 3c “maple-leaf” design by surcharging them in the same manner. These stamps were first issued on August 8th. Both varieties are known with inverted surcharge. How many of each of these three cent stamps were surcharged is not known for certain as the official figures dealing with the issue of stamps makes no distinction between the two varieties. It is stated that altogether 4,120,000 were surcharged and as the varieties are equally plentiful it is only reasonable to suppose that approximately equal numbers of both types were used up.
Chapter XVIII.—The Bi-sected Provisionals.
The somewhat sudden reduction of the domestic postal rate from 3c to 2c on single letters led to the production of a few provisional stamps of peculiar character at Port Hood, N. S., the postmaster of that town dividing some of his 3c stamps into two unequal portions and using the smaller parts as 1c and the larger ones as 2c. In the Monthly Journal for January, 1899, they are referred to as follows:—
In some offices 1c and 2c stamps ran short, and their places were supplied by one-third and two-thirds portions of 3c stamps divided vertically. In some places our correspondent says, these divided stamps were employed without further alteration, but in others we regret to hear that they were surcharged with a figure “2” in purple, upon the figure “3” of the larger portion or the word “one” in green, upon the smaller part; or, to further complicate matters, when thirds of two adjoining stamps were used for 2c each part was impressed with a figure “2.” Our informant's letter is franked in part by 2/3 of a 3c stamp surcharged “2” so we fear that this horrible tale is founded on fact.
In the same journal for March further reference is made to these provisionals, viz.:—
The surcharged fractions appear to have been used only at Port Hood, N. S., where the Postmaster apparently did not consider it safe to use divided stamps without some distinguishing mark. We have seen other copies since, and find that a figure “1” was struck upon the smaller portion; not the word “one” as previously stated.
Again in the April number of the same paper these split stamps are referred to:—
In reference to the cut and surcharged 3c stamps, a correspondent sends us the following extract from a letter from the postmaster of Port Hood:—“When the change in Canadian postage was made—of which we got notice by wire—I had only a very few two cent stamps in stock, so that before I got my supply from Ottawa I ran completely out of them, and, to keep my account straight, I was compelled to cut threes. This was for one day only, and not over 300 stamps were cut. I would say about 200 '2' and 100 '1' were used. About 100 '2' and probably nearly as many '1' were marked with the figures '2' and '1' as you describe, and were placed on letters for delivery in towns throughout the Dominion. Those were the only provisional stamps used by this office.”
Once more, in June, the Monthly Journal refers to the philatelically notorious Port Hood office:—
A correspondent tells us that the surcharged provisionals were not the first instances of the use of the scissors at Port Hood, an envelope emanating from that office and bearing the half of the 2c stamp, divided diagonally, having been found with the date July 27th, 1898. We do not know what the regulations are in Canada on the subject of receiving postage in cash, but we should suppose that if a postmaster runs out of 1c stamps, receives postage on certain letters, in cash, and then, to save an entry in his accounts, cuts 2c stamps in half and affixes the halves to the letters, it would not be considered a very heinous offence, and it would account for curiosities of this kind occasionally turning up.
But Port Hood does not seem to have been the only office in which the scissors were used, for the following letter from the Montreal Philatelist shows that stamps were bi-sected at at least one other office. In this instance the postmaster divided 5c stamps as well as the 3c though, apparently, he did not apply any surcharge to the fractions:—
Cross Road, Country Harbor,
April 17th, 1900.
Dear Sir,—Your enquiry re stamps to hand. At the time you mention the 2c postage was given us so suddenly that I was about out and all my neighbour P. M. was also out and as I could only charge the public 2c I could not afford to put on a 3c stamp so cut 3c and 5c to about even the thing up and sent them along. Three or four days' letters were mailed in this way, but I do not know where they went to.
E. S. Sweet, Postmaster.
The same journal in referring to the Port Hood provisionals makes some interesting comments which are worth reproduction, viz.:—
This postmaster must be a relic of the anti-confederation regime, when such mutilations were allowed, as even an entire absence of the required values would not warrant, under present regulations, this antiquated process. In such cases the postmaster should forward the money to the office on which his mail is forwarded with a request to affix the necessary stamps; he can handstamp or write the amount paid on each letter if desired, but that is not necessary. As these fractional provisionals of the Port Hood P. O. were never issued to the public, but were affixed by the postmaster and the amount paid stamped on them, they are no more deserving of collection as postage stamps than the hand stamp or pen mark on an envelope would be if no stamp or portion of a stamp had been affixed. If it is asked “Why cut up and affix the stamps then?” the answer is the postmaster knew no better and wanted to make his cash account correspond with the total of stamps sold and on hand. He tried to simplify his book-keeping—nothing more—but went about it in an antiquated and unlawful way.
While genuine copies of these splits on original covers are interesting curiosities their philatelic value is not of the greatest importance, for they were, seemingly, never sold to the public but simply affixed by the postmaster after he had received payment in cash, to simplify his accounts. They were certainly not authorised and if they had been detected at the larger offices they would not have passed as valid for postage.
In concluding our notes with regard to these cut stamps we reproduce a letter from the Post Office Department in reply to a collector who had made enquiry about the validity of the splits:
P. O. Dept., Ottawa,
March 30th, 1904.
In reply to your letter of the 24th March, re stamps '1' in blue, on 1/3 of 3, and '2' in violet on 2/3 of 3 cents, I beg to say that the Superintendent of the Stamp Branch assures me that no such stamps were ever issued or recognised by this Department, and if affixed to letters would be treated as ordinary mutilated stamps of no value. It appears that the Postmaster of Port Hood, N. S., at the time of the change of rate found himself short of 2 cents stamps, and, acting on the advice of some stamp fiend apparently, cut up a sheet or so of stamps to make twos and ones. He nearly lost his job over it, but the Department never got hold of any of the mutilated stamps. Anybody could make similar stamps by cutting up and marking old threes. Hoping this may be satisfactory to you,
W. H. Harrington.
Chapter XIX.—The 2c Carmine.
According to the Post Office circular quoted in our last chapter the issue of the 2c stamp in carmine—or red, as the color was officially termed—was to begin when the supply of surcharged 3c stamps was exhausted. The new 2c stamp was eventually placed on sale on August 20th, 1899, and it is, of course, exactly like the same value previously issued in purple in all respects except that of color. The same plates were used and later many new ones were put to press. No accurate record of the different plates used for this denomination has been kept but, in addition to plates 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 listed by Mr. Howes, there were probably many others.
In 1900 Canada followed the lead of many other countries by issuing the 2c value in convenient booklet form. The Postmaster-General's Report for 1900 refers to these booklets as follows:—