The attention of postmasters is drawn to the fact that the postal necessity for the ½ cent stamp, as such, is now confined to one purpose—prepayment of newspapers and periodicals posted singly, and weighing not more than one ounce each (see Postal Guide, page xii, section 47). As publications of the kind referred to must, in the nature of things, be few, and as in the case of their being mailed to subscribers by the office of publication, the bulk rate of postage would be far cheaper and more convenient for the publisher, the demand for the ½ cent stamp throughout the Dominion must be appreciably diminished as a result of this restriction of its use. While, of course, any number of ½ cent stamps on an article of correspondence will be recognized to the full extent of their aggregate face value, it is not the wish of the Department to supply them except for the sole specific purpose above mentioned, and an intimation to that effect should be given by postmasters to patrons of their office who are in the habit of buying ½ cent stamps for other postal purposes.

We are enabled to report the existence of the two-cent Canada, current issue, imperforate, a reader having-shown us a sheet of one hundred of these varieties bearing the plate number 18. This is a discovery of momentous interest which must attract much attention not alone from specialists but from collectors, as we may say for the sake of distinction, as well. The fact that the pane bears so early a plate number removes it from any inclusion in the theory that the Canadian authorities propose to issue stamps in imperforate sheets in the manner that has been employed by the United States. Without doubt, the sheet under notice was regularly prepared for issue in the accepted way and it is the belief from information at hand that a sheet of four hundred of the stamps was printed and reached the public.

The sheet as found was not of 400 stamps but of over 200 stamps, as the right hand half of the sheet on which our report was based and which was not before us when we wrote, contained a pane of 100 stamps, plate number 14 and an irregularly torn part of plate number 13, showing about fifteen whole stamps and parts of others. Assuming that the lower pane in the left half was torn approximately in the manner of the right lower pane, or plate number 13, the find consisted originally of 230 stamps, more or less. This reckoning agrees, we believe, with the recollection of the person who rescued the imperforates from oblivion, in a philatelic sense. The plate numbers on the sheet that gave authority for the chronicling of the stamps by the Weekly are 13 and 14, respectively, and not 18 as first printed.

A. N. Lemieux of Chicago is the man who found the stamps. While in Ottawa five years ago or so[183], when he was in business in that city, he saw the stamps just within the iron fence that has been described as surrounding the establishment of the bank note company that prints the Canadian stamps. The day was a rainy one and the sheet had evidently been blown out of the window. Mr. Lemieux apparently attached no value to the sheet of over two hundred stamps which was in a wet, crumpled condition and without gum. Mr. Lemieux was under the impression, no doubt, that, gum had been on the sheet but had been washed off by the rain.... Before he showed the stamps to the Weekly, Mr. Lemieux had disposed of the left half of the sheet or about 115 whole stamps to a collector ... on an exchange basis.... Mr. Lemieux was informed that the stamps still in his possession had no little philatelic interest as curiosities and he sold the specimens to Mr. Severn.

It may be of interest to know that the last supplement to the Canadian Post Office Guide contains the following: "In view of representations which have been made to the Department, it has been decided to permit the sale of the 2-cent denomination of Canadian postage stamps of the current issue, in sheets of 100, without the usual perforation." I at once asked for a sheet of 2-cent and incidentally said I would take a sheet of the other denominations if available. A reply came today informing me that only the 2-cent would be available, and then, not for some time, as the department intends to make a separate printing of these stamps, to supply whatever demand may occur.

Some changes have been made in the regulations respecting newspapers and periodicals posted from the office of publication addressed to regular subscribers and newsdealers. (1) The former rate of ½ cent per pound applicable to newspapers and periodicals which required to be transmitted a distance in Canada exceeding three hundred miles, or which were addressed for delivery in a place having Free Letter Carrier Delivery service has been abolished; and now all newspapers and periodicals published not less frequently than once a month can be posted from the place of publication to any place in Canada at the bulk rate of a quarter of a cent per pound. (2) The extent of the circular area in Canada within which newspapers and periodicals published no more frequently than weekly and no less frequently than monthly can be sent free of postage to regular subscribers has been increased from an area having a radius of 20 miles to an area having a radius of 40 miles, the center of which may either be the place of publication or some place not more than 40 miles distant therefrom, according to the wish of the publisher.

Ottawa, July 3, (Special).—Postmaster-General Lemieux has given instructions to issue a series of postage stamps commemorating the tercentenary.

They are eight in number. Four of them bear portraits of persons dear to Canada, or whose names recall great events. The first represents the Prince and Princess of Wales; the second the King and Queen. Next come Cartier and Champlain, and then, in connection with the battlefields park scheme, Wolfe and Montcalm.

The second part of the issue represents Cartier's arrival before Quebec. On the calm waters of the mighty St. Lawrence stand in bold relief three ships of the discoverer of Canada, flying the fleur-de-lys.

As a sequel to the above is a very picturesque tableau. In Champlain's narrative of his third voyage to Canada is found the following passage:

"With our canoes laden with provisions, our arms and some merchandise to be given as presents to the Indians, I started on Monday, May 27, from the Isle of Saincte Hélaine, accompanied by four Frenchmen and one Indian. A salute was given in my honor from some small pieces of artillery."

The artist, under the inspiration of these few lines, has depicted Champlain's departure for the west. There stand two canoes. In one Champlain's companions have already taken their places, paddle in hand, whilst the great explorer is still on shore, bidding good-bye to a few friends. The picture is full of life. The legend underneath reads as follows: "Partement de Champlain pour L'ouest." The word "partement", now obsolete, is the one used by Champlain for the modern one "départ."

The same note of old France is used in connection with a view of the first house in Quebec, indeed in Canada, Champlain's habitation, which is called in his narrative "l'abitation de Québecq." This stamp is a clear reproduction of a cut from Champlain's work.

Quebec as it was in 1700 is the next view, copied from Bacqueville de la Potherie's "Histoire de la Nouvelle France." It is a quaint picture of the old city, showing steeples here and there, the fort on the river front and in faint lines the Laurentide Mountains in the background.

All stamps bear with the words "Canada Postage" the line "IIIe centenaire de Québec."

The postmaster-general has given special attention to the selection of portraits and historical scenes to be represented. His choice has been an excellent one.

The carrying out of the engraving part of the plan has been entrusted to Mr. Machado, of the American Bank Note Co., who, with keen artistic sense, has performed his part of the work with great success.

In 1533 Jacques Cartier obtained from Philippe de Chabot, Admiral of France, authority to arm ships "to voyage, discover and conquer in New France, as well as to find, by the North-west, the passage to Cathay." On his first voyage he touched Newfoundland, but the advanced season obliged him to return to France. King Francis I thereupon ordered him, as a "royal pilot", to arm three vessels for a second voyage. On the 19th of May, 1535, the flotilla set out from St. Malo. It was composed of two ships, the Grande-Hermine of 120 tons and the Petit-Hermine of 80 tons, and a galley, the Hémerillon, of 40 tons. These are the ones shown on the stamp. The ships were built with the high bows and sterns of those days, and were armed with "falconets" (small cannon) along the sides and "culverins" (long cannon) in a battery on the bridge. The galley was long and narrow, low in the water, and was propelled both by sails and oars; it was armed with two small cannon forward and a dozen large arquebuses. The complement of the three ships comprised in all—officers, gentlemen, volunteers, chaplains, sailors, workmen, servants—a hundred and ten men.

On the 14th September, Cartier arrived at an Indian village, Stadaconé, called also by the natives Canada (or the town), the residence of the chief Donnacona. This village was built on the bay which the river St. Charles forms where it flows into the St. Lawrence, against the steep flank of a mountain, on the spot where now is built the south-eastern section of Quebec. The 20-cent stamp represents this arrival of Cartier at Stadaconé, the future Quebec.

Samuel de Champlain, whose effigy figures on the 1 cent stamp beside that of Cartier, was sent by Henri IV in 1603 to found a settlement in Canada. On his first voyage he sailed up the St. Lawrence river and established friendly relations with the native chiefs. On the second expedition, in 1608, he disembarked on the 3d July at the foot of the promontory of Stadaconé, accompanied by only thirty men.

His first care was to find a favorable place to built a "habitation" with a view to wintering there. "I could find nothing more convenient or better situated, said he, than the point of Québecq, so called by the savages, which was filled with walnut trees." It was on the same spot where, seventy-three years before, Cartier had constructed a fort of tree trunks.

Thanks to the activity displayed by all, the "habitation" was quickly finished. It was composed of three main houses of two stories, each measuring fifteen by eighteen feet. The magazine was thirty-six by eighteen feet, with a six foot cellar. Champlain lodged in the same building with part of the workmen, but on the first story. The other buildings served for the workmen and for storing the arms and munitions. In an ell back of Champlain's quarters, several artisans slept beside their forge. All around the buildings a gallery six feet wide served as a promenade. A ditch fifteen feet wide and six feet deep served to protect the colonists from the aggressions of the savages. Champlain had several breastworks thrown up outside the ditch where he placed his cannon. There remained, between the habitation and the river, only a strip of land about twenty-five feet wide, and behind, on the side of the cape, a plot of cultivated ground about 100 to 120 paces by 60 paces. There Champlain had wheat and rye planted and also set out vines.

As the Prince of Wales is an enthusiastic collector of stamps, His Royal Highness will no doubt be very pleased to receive the set of the special tercentenary stamps which will be presented to him at Quebec. The stamps will be held in small gold boxes, enclosed in a handsome large box of Morocco leather. A second set accompanies the gift in a special gold box. On the cover of the large box is the Prince's crest and a gold plate inscribed as follows: "Set of Canadian postage stamps issued upon the occasion of the Quebec tercentenary, 1908. Presented to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales by Hon Rodolphe Lemieux, Postmaster-General of Canada." Sets of these stamps, in boxes with appropriate crests and monograms, will be presented to Earl Grey, Sir Wilfred Laurier and Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux.

Mr. McKechnie sends us information regarding the issue, indicating that there is to be no such vexatious limits set upon the number to be printed as was the case with the Jubilee ½c. Postmaster-General Lemieux is reported, in the Canadian Hansard, to have said in answer to a query as to the number printed of each denomination: "Since the arrangements as to the respective quantities comprising the series are thus far of a necessarily tentative character, being largely dependent upon the demand therefor that may arise, no final estimate has been made of the number to be issued in each denomination."

1. What was the total amount received by the Post Office Department from the sale of the special Tercentenary stamps? 2. What part of this sum would probably have been received as ordinary revenue if there had been no special issue of stamps?

To these questions the Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, Postmaster-General, responded: The following was the issue to Postmasters of the Tercentenary postage stamps:

The department has no knowledge whether the stamps in question have all been sold, as during their issue the ordinary postage stamps were also on sale, both issues being in use as preferred by the public. The proceeds derived from the sale of stamps of the two issues were not kept separately, but treated as arising from a common source. It is, therefore, impossible to state to what extent the issue of the Tercentenary postage stamps may have affected the ordinary revenue.

To meet what appeared to be a general wish a special series of postage stamps, which has come to be known as the Tercentenary Series, was introduced as a feature of the celebration in July, 1908, of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of Quebec by Champlain. The first supply of these stamps was sent out to Postmasters about the middle of that month, and was on sale to the public by the time His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales reached Quebec for the celebration. The demand for the new stamps was extraordinary, and for the better part of a month was steadily kept up. The interest taken in them was, in no small measure, due to the historic associations with which in design they were so happily linked, the subjects depicted in the several denominations of the series being in variety and appropriateness admirably adapted to the end in view,—popular recognition of an epoch-making event.

A rate of charge for Registration so low as, in no probable degree, to operate as a motive, with persons posting letters of value, to deny themselves the advantage of securing from the Post Office an acknowledgement of the receipt of the specific letter, has always been considered to be a cardinal point in the Canadian Registration System.

The Registration fee, or charge, has, therefore, under the influence of this consideration, been maintained at 2 cents, though it is doubtful whether such a rate of charge covers the actual cost of the process; the address of the Registered Letter having, in the course of transmission, to be entered on an average not less than six times, and forms of certificate or receipt, and Books in which to preserve permanent records at each Post Office, to to supplied.

When a letter is registered, that is to say marked and recorded in the Post Office so as to individualize it from the bulk of ordinary letter correspondence, its presence in the Post Office can be identified and its course of transmission traced, and a registered letter is thus secured from the chance of abstraction by an unfaithful messenger employed to post it (as it is always open to proof whether the letter was posted for registration or not), from risk of loss by accidental misdirection on the part of the sender, and from mistakes in the Post Office—such as mis-sending or delivery to a wrong party. Against actual dishonesty on the part of the Post Office employés, a registered letter is incomparably more secure than an unregistered one, for an unregistered money-letter leaves no trace behind it whilst passing in the great stream of ordinary correspondence, though its presence as a money-letter and the nature of its contents are, to any person accustomed to handle letters, as manifest as though the letter had been singled out and marked by the registered stamp. Moreover, the safety of an unregistered letter in dependent on the integrity of a Post Office Clerk during the whole time that it remains in his custody, frequently for hours or even days; whilst a registered letter will almost invariably have to be acknowledged at the moment of its passing into an officer's hands, and cannot thereafter be suppressed without leaving him individually accountable for its disposal.

REGISTRATION OF LETTERS.

The charge for Registration, in addition to the Postage, is as follows, viz.: