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Transcriber's note:

      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

      Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).

      Small caps typeface is shown as ALL UPPER CASE.

      Footnotes are presented after the paragraph in which the
      anchor appears.

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CANADA
ITS POSTAGE STAMPS AND POSTAL STATIONERY

by

CLIFTON A. HOWES, B. Sc., F. R. P. S. L.

Published by
The New England Stamp Co.
Boston, U. S. A.
1911

[Illustration: 1852-1857

THICK HARD WOVE PAPER. DULL PURPLE. IMPERF.

THICK SOFT WOVE PAPER RED-VIOLET.

Specimen Page From the Collection of Charles Lathrop Pack Esq.]

CANADA
ITS POSTAGE STAMPS AND POSTAL STATIONERY

by

CLIFTON A. HOWES, B. Sc., F. R. P. S. L.

Published by
The New England Stamp Co.
Boston, U. S. A.
1911

Copyright 1911
By the New England Stamp Co.
Boston, Mass.

Press of
Newcomb & Gauss
Salem, Mass.

CONTENTS

                                                                  Page
  KEY TO PLATES                                                      4
  FOREWORD                                                           9
  INTRODUCTION                                                      11
  CHAPTER       I. Preliminary Matters                              18
      "        II. The Issue of 1851                                28
      "       III. The Remaining Pence Issues                       46
      "        IV. The Perforated Pence Issues                      68
      "         V. The Cancellations of the Early Issues            77
      "        VI. The Issue of 1859                                82
      "       VII. The Dominion of Canada--Preliminary              94
      "      VIII. The Issue of 1868                               106
      "        IX. The Small "Cents" Issue, 1870-1882              122
      "         X. The Supplementary Values of 1893                138
      "        XI. The Jubilee Issue of 1897                       145
      "       XII. The "Maple Leaf" Issue of 1897                  161
      "      XIII. The "Numerals" Issue of 1898-1902               167
      "       XIV. The "Christmas" Stamp of 1898                   179
      "        XV. The "King's Head" Issue of 1903-1908            188
      "       XVI. The "Tercentenary" Issue of 1908                199
      "      XVII. The "Registration" Stamps                       205
      "     XVIII. The Postage Due Stamps                          215
      "       XIX. The Special Delivery Stamp                      217
      "        XX. The Officially Sealed Labels                    221
      "       XXI. The Stamped Envelopes                           224
      "      XXII. The Wrappers                                    243
      "     XXIII. The Post Cards                                  249
      "      XXIV. The Letter Cards                                263
      "       XXV. Official Stationery                             267
      "      XXVI. Precancellation and Permits                     272
  REFERENCE LIST                                                   277

KEY TO PLATES

PLATE I.

  No. 1.  6 pence,     1851.
      2. 12   "          "
      3. 10   "        1855.
      4.  1/2 penny,   1857.
      5.  7-1/2 pence, 1857.
      6.  3       "    1851.
      7.  1/2 penny,   1859.
      8.  6 pence,       "
      9.  3   "          "
     10.  1 cent,        "
     11.  2 cents,       "
     12. 10   "          "
     13. 12-1/2 "        "
     14. 17   "          "
     15.  5   "          "
     16.  1 cent,      1868.
     17.  1/2 "          "
     18.  2 cents,       "
     19.  5   "        1859, variety.
     20.  3   "        1868.
     21.  5   "        1875.
     22.  6   "        1868.
     23. 12-1/2  "       "
     24. 15   "          "

PLATE II.

  No. 25. 1 cent,       1870.
      26. 2 cents,      1872.
      27. 1/2 cent,     1882.
      28. 3 cents,      1870.
      29. 5   "         1876.
      30. 6   "         1872.
      31. 8   "         1893.
      32. 10 cents,     1874.
      33. 20  "         1893.
      34. 1/2 cent,     1897, "Jubilee."
      35. 50 cents,     1893.
      36. 1/2 cent,     1897, "Maple Leaf."
      37. 2 cents on 3 cents, "Port Hood Provisional."
      38. 2 cents,      1898, "Map."
      39. 1 cent on 3 cents (pair), "Port Hood Provisional."
      40. 1/2 cent, 1898, "Numeral."
      41. 2 cents on 3 cents, 1899, "Maple Leaf."
      42. 2   "   "  3   "      "   "Numeral."
      43. 1 cent, 1903, "King's Head."
      44. 2 cents on 3 cents, 1899, inverted, "Numeral."
      45. 2   "   "  3   "      "      "      "Maple Leaf."

PLATE III.

  No. 46. 1/2 cent, 1908, "Tercentenary."
      47.  1    "     "          "
      48.  2  cents,  "          "
      49.  5    "     "          "
      50.  7    "     "          "
      51. 10    "     "          "
      52. 15    "     "          "
      53. 20    "     "          "
      54.  2    "   1875, Registration.
      55.  5    "     "          "
      56.  8    "     "          "
      57. 10    "   1898, Special Delivery.
      58.  1  cent, 1906, Postage Due.
      59.  2  cents,  "      "     "
      60.  5    "     "      "     "

PLATE IV.

  No. 61.  6 pence,     1851, pair.
      62. 12   "          "   pair from Pack collection.
      63.  6 pence,     1851, pair.
      64.  6   "          "    "
      65. 12   "          "   from Worthington collection.
      66.  6 pence,     1851, thick soft paper, from Pack collection.
      67.  7-1/2 pence, 1857, wide oval.
      68.  7-1/2   "      "   narrow oval.
      69.  7-1/2   "      "   pair.
      70. 10       "    1855, pair, wide oval.
      71. 10       "      "    "    narrow oval.
      72.  6       "    1859, from Pack collection.
      73.  6       "    1851, strip of 3 on very thick soft paper,
                                from Worthington collection.
      74. 10 cents,     1859, black brown, from Pack collection.

PLATE V.

  No. 75.  6 pence, 1851.
      76.  6   "      "
      77.  3   "      "  pair.
      78.  6   "      "
      79.  6   "      "
      80.  6   "      "  strip of 3 on very thick hard paper,
                           from Pack collection.
      81.  7-1/2 pence, 1857, strip of three.
      82. 12       "    1851, pair from Pack collection.
      83. 12       "      "     "    "    "       "
      84. 12       "      "   from Pack collection.
      85. 12       "      "   pair from Worthington collection.
      86. 12       "    1851, wove paper, from Pack collection.
      87.  6     pence, 1851, split, used on piece, from Pack collection.
      88.  3     pence, 1851, ribbed paper, from Pack collection.
      89. 12-1/2 cents, small, from Worthington collection.

PLATE VI.

  No. 90. 12 pence, 1851, on cover, from Worthington collection.
      91. 12 pence, 1851, on cover, from Pack collection (originally in
                              Seybold collection.)

PLATE VII.

  No. 92.   6 pence, 1851, very thick soft paper, split, used on cover,
                             from Pack collection.
      93.  10 pence, 1855, pair, narrow oval.
      94.  10   "      "   block of 4, wide oval.
      95.  10   "      "   strip of 3, narrow oval.
      96.   5 cents, 1859, block of 7, upper right corner stamp is
                             variety. From Pack collection.
      97.   5 cents, 1859, pair and split, used on piece,
                             from Worthington collection.

PLATE VIII.

  No. 98.   6 cents, 1868, split, used on cover,
                             from Worthington collection.
      99.  10 cents, 1859, black brown, split, used on cover,
                             from Worthington collection.

PLATE IX.

  No. 100.  1     cent, 1859, block of 4 imperforate.
      101.  5     cents,  "     "   "  4     "
      102.  2       "     "     "   "  4     "
      103. 12-1/2   "     "     "   "  4     "
      104. 10       "     "     "   "  4     "
      105. 17       "     "     "   "  4     "
      106. 20       "   1893,   "   "  4     "
      107. 15       "   1868,   "   "  4     "
      108. 50       "   1893,   "   "  4     "

    The above blocks were selected from the Pack and Worthington
    collections and some in the possession of the New England Stamp Co.

PLATE X.

  No. 109. 10 cents, 1874, block of 4 imperforate.
      110.  8   "    1893,   "   "  4    "
      111.  6   "    1872,   "   "  4    "
      112.  5   "    1897, "Maple Leaf," block of 4, imperforate.
      113.  2   "    1898, "Map,"          "   "  4      "
      114.  2   "    1903, block of 4 imperforate.
      115.  5   "    Registered, pair imperforate.
      116. "Officially Sealed" Label, 1905.
      117.     "         "       "    1879.

    The above blocks of imperforates were from the same sources as noted
    for Plate IX.

PLATE XI.

  No. 118. 10  cents, 1874, strip of 10, marginal imprints.
      119. 1/2 cent,  1868,   "   "  3,     "       "
      120.  3  cents, 1870,   "   "  3,     "       "
      121.  1  cent,  1870, block of 8,     "       "
      122.  3  cents, 1870, strip of 3,     "       "

    The above are all from the Worthington collection.

PLATE XII.

  No. 123.   1  cent,  1870, block of 12  imperforate.
      124.   2  cents, 1872,   "   "   4      "
      125.   3    "    1870,   "   "   4      "
      126.   5    "    1876,   "   "   4      "
      127. 1/2 cent,   1882,   "   "  12      "

    Nos. 123 and 127 are from the Worthington collection and the other
    three from the Pack collection.

PLATE XIII.

  No. 128. 3 pence, 1875 (?) perforated 14, pair used on cover,
                               from Pack collection.
      129. 2 cents, 1872, pair imperforate used on cover,
                               in possession of New England Stamp Co.

PLATE XIV.

  No. 130. Stamped Envelope,  5 cents, 1860.
      131.    "        "     10   "      "

    Both the above were in the Seybold collection.

PLATE XV. (Frontispiece).

A page of six pennies from the collection of Charles Lathrop Pack.

FOREWORD

Twenty years ago the Philatelic Society, London, brought out their work
on "The Postage Stamps, Envelopes, Wrappers and Post Cards of the North
American Colonies of Great Britain." This, of course, included Canada,
but since that time no special work, treating exhaustively of the postal
emissions of this important Colony, has been placed before the
philatelic public. It seems opportune, therefore, particularly in view
of the general popularity of the stamps of the Dominion, to present this
volume for the favor of the stamp collecting fraternity and especially
of that considerable portion which is interested to the extent of
specializing in the beautiful issues that Canada has given us.

This work had its inception in the now popular handbook idea, but in
looking over the ground it was soon realized by the author that there
was need of and material enough for a much more extended treatment of
the subject than could be encompassed in the limits of the usual
brochure. Plans were therefore laid for a thorough study of all
available material, and in furtherance of this it was found necessary to
make a special trip to Ottawa, where, in the library of the House of
Commons, is to be found the only complete set available of the Reports
of the Postmasters General of Canada. These naturally proved a mine of
first hand information which was availed of to its full extent; and in
this connection must be expressed the deep appreciation of the
assistance rendered the author by his friend M. Henri R. Landry, through
whose influence and untiring interest the way was made easy for
convenient and rapid examination of these invaluable files. Thanks are
also due Mr. Edward Y. Parker of Toronto, for notes and specimens
furnished, as well as Mr. A. McKechnie of Ottawa.

But documents and descriptions are not enough for the thorough study of
any subject which concerns tangible objects, and three famous
collections were inspected for first hand information upon the stamps
themselves. To Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack of Lakewood, N. J., Mr. George
H. Worthington of Cleveland, Ohio, and the lamented Mr. John F. Seybold,
late of Syracuse, N. Y., are due not only the author's fullest thanks
for opportunities freely given to examine their magnificent collections
of Canada, but the debt extends to philatelists in general for thus
being enabled to share, through study, description, listing and
pictorial reproduction, in the results of their specializing. Mr. Pack's
wonderful array of rarities, beautiful copies and remarkable series of
shades has been largely used in the compilation of the stamp lists. This
collection though since much enlarged and improved, obtained the gold
medal at the International Philatelic Exhibition in London, 1906. Mr.
Worthington's fine collection has also been used in the same way and has
furnished much information concerning plate numbers and marginal
imprints. Mr. Seybold's covers were particularly interesting in showing
the actual use of the stamps, the cancellations employed, and various
other features to be gleaned from the study of original covers,
particularly of early date. Selections for illustrative purposes were
made from all three collections, as will be noted.

Mr. John N. Morse and Mr. Edwin F. Sawyer, both of Boston, have very
kindly placed their collections of post cards and envelopes,
respectively, at our disposal for purposes of study.

Again, the philatelic press has been diligently searched for articles,
stray notes, etc., which would illumine the pathway, particularly by
throwing side lights on various phases of the subject. Prominent among
these were the articles on Canada by Messrs. C. B. Corwin, D. A. King
and J. R. Hooper in the _Metropolitan Philatelist_ for 1890-91, and by
Mr. Donald A. King in Stanley Gibbons' _Monthly Journal_ for 1896-97.

It can readily be seen from the foregoing that the limits of a handbook
were soon passed, and the question really became one of a pretentious
volume which should be all that thorough research could offer and ample
means produce. A glance at the present work shows that this was no small
proposition, and to any one with experience in philatelic publishing it
was apparent that the desired production would mean a heavy balance on
the wrong side of the ledger. The author does not pose as a
philanthropist, but he feels he has discovered such in the publishers of
this volume. With the broad-minded policy that whatever helps Philately
benefits all, even indirectly, the New England Stamp Company of Boston,
having become greatly interested in the monograph, accepted the burden
and became responsible for the publication of the work. The advantages
of the co-operation of such a well-known firm are manifest, and the
author takes great pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to this
Company, through whose munificence it has been possible to produce this
volume in its present form.

                                     C. A. HOWES, B. Sc., F. R. P. S. L.

  Boston, U. S. A.
    December, 1910.

INTRODUCTION

The Dominion of Canada, as we know it to-day, is a confederation of the
former British Colonies and unorganized territories of North America
which lie to the northward of the United States. The single exception is
the Colony of Newfoundland, which so far has resisted all overtures
looking to its absorption. The Dominion was formed in 1867 by the union
of the then Colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to which
the others were added subsequently. At that time the Colony of Canada
consisted of two provinces, Ontario and Quebec, known also as Upper and
Lower Canada respectively. It is with these two provinces that our
philatelic story of Canada begins.

But first let us delve a bit into earlier times and trace the
development of the territory we are going to consider, as it may prove
interesting for its historical value. Passing by the claims of the
Norsemen in the tenth century to a somewhat vague exploration of the
eastern American coast, we come to the discovery of Newfoundland by John
Cabot in 1497, and it is upon this fact, in part, that England
subsequently based her claim to the whole of North America. But for the
most part the territory included within the well populated portion of
the present Dominion was explored and settled by the French. In 1534
Jacques Cartier entered the St. Lawrence River and took possession of
the country in the name of France, and in 1608 the first permanent
settlement was made at Quebec by Samuel de Champlain. The name of the
colony was apparently furnished by the Indians, for in the manuscript
narrative of Cartier's second voyage,[1] under "Vocabulary of the
natives," is found: "They call a town--Canada." Baxter says: "There can
be no doubt that the word Canada is derived from _Kannata_, which in
Iroquois signifies a collection of dwellings, in other words a
settlement."[2] French control continued until the middle of the
eighteenth century when, in the war with England, the decisive victory
of Wolfe over Montcalm at Quebec, in 1759, practically brought it to a
close, and by the treaty of Paris in 1763 Canada was permanently ceded
to Great Britain.

[1] In the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

[2] =A Memoir of Jacques Cartier=, by J. P. Baxter, p. 135.

Tracing the development of the Colony under English rule, we find that
by the so-called "Quebec Act" of 1774 it was placed under the
administration of a Governor and Legislative Council appointed by the
Crown. Following the American Revolution, however, there was a large
immigration of former colonists into Ontario, and because of their
English stock, while Quebec was French, a separation was deemed
advisable. By the "Constitutional Act" of 1791 this was effected and two
Colonies, Upper Canada (or Canada West) and Lower Canada (or Canada
East) were constituted, each with its own separate government. Just
fifty years later, in 1841, they were reunited under the single name of
Canada. This brings us near the opening of our philatelic history. The
united provinces had an area of about 350,000 square miles and a
population, in 1850, of some 1,800,000 people. The Governor was
appointed by the Crown and chose his own Executive Council; a
Legislative Council of life members was also appointed by the Crown; and
a Legislative Assembly was elected consisting of an equal number of
representatives for each province. The Governor was made
Governor-General of British North America.

The advantages of the union of Upper and Lower Canada gradually became
so manifest, that a convention was held at Quebec in 1864 for the
purpose of considering the advisability of uniting all the provinces.
The result bore fruit in the passage of an Act of Union by the British
Parliament on March 29, 1867, under which Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia were formally united as the Dominion of Canada, the
actual event being consummated on July 1, 1867. Subsequently, on July
20, 1871, the Colony of British Columbia, and on July 1, 1873, the
Colony of Prince Edward Island, were added to the Dominion. In 1869 the
vast territories of the Hudson's Bay Company were acquired by purchase,
and out of them the province of Manitoba was formed and admitted to full
privileges in the Dominion on July 15, 1870.

The absorption of the Company's Territories is interesting for, as we
all know, this was a trading concern whose sole commodity was fur. The
Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of the continent were the mecca of hunters
and trappers, and their chief prey from the time the first French
explorers began to search the Canadian lakes, and later when the
Hudson's Bay Company succeeded to the French domain, was the beaver. In
fact the early history of Canada was largely bound up with beaver
catching and the sale of the skins, and for nearly a century the
northern territories, both under French and English rule, were
organized with a view to this traffic. In the early days of the Company
the "standard of trade" of the Northwest was a beaver skin. Thus the
beaver naturally became emblematic, which resulted later in its use as
the "crest" of the Canadian coat-of-arms, a place that it retains to the
present day over those of the Dominion. In this connection it would be
unjust to omit a mention of that other symbol dear to the Canadian
heart--the maple leaf. Like the rose, the thistle and the shamrock of
the Mother land, the beautiful tree of the Colony, so widespread, so
useful, and so gorgeous in its autumn coloring of red and gold--the
blazon of the English arms--became a favorite emblem of the people. The
particular variety that is so used is of course the rock or sugar maple
(_acer saccharinum_).

Turning now to early postal history, it is necessary to go back to the
reign of Queen Anne, although Canada was not then under British
dominion. In the year 1710 an Act was passed by the British Parliament
"For establishing a General Post-Office in all Her Majesty's Dominions,"
which not only repealed all previous enactments but placed the
postoffice establishment on a new basis. A "General Post and
Letter-Office" was established in London "from whence all letters and
packets whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part
of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to North America and the
West Indies, or any other of Her Majesty's dominions, or any country or
kingdom beyond the seas," and "at which office all returns and answers
may be likewise received." For the better "managing, ordering,
collecting, and improving the revenue," and also for the better
"computing and settling the rates of letters according to distance, a
chief office is established in Edinburgh, one in Dublin, one at New
York, and other chief offices in convenient places in Her Majesty's
colonies of America, and one in the islands of the West Indies, called
the Leeward Islands." "The whole of these chief offices shall be under
the control of an officer who shall be appointed by the Queen's Majesty,
her heirs and successors, to be made and constituted by letters patent
under the Great Seal, by the name and stile of Her Majesty's
_Postmaster-General_." "The Postmaster-General shall appoint deputies
for the chief offices in the places named above." The rates to New York
under this Act were fixed at 1 shilling per single letter. Other rates
were charged to other parts of the American continent according to the
distance from New York.

In 1753 Benjamin Franklin received the royal commission as Deputy
Postmaster-General for the American Colonies. No man in America had
been so identified with the interests of the Colonial postoffice as he,
and from 1737 he had been postmaster of Philadelphia. All his energies
were devoted to his new work and when Canada passed by treaty to Great
Britain in 1763, as already mentioned, his jurisdiction was extended to
cover the new territory. It is thus curious to record that the
(afterwards) first Postmaster-General of the United States was also the
first Postmaster-General of Canada.

In the evidence given by Franklin before the House of Commons in the
year 1766, in regard to the extent of the post-office accommodation in
North America, he made the following statement:--

    The posts generally travel along the sea coasts, and only in a few
    cases do they go back into the country. Between Quebec and Montreal
    there is only one post per month. The inhabitants live so scattered
    and remote from each other in that vast country, that the posts
    cannot be supported amongst them. The English Colonies, too, along
    the frontier, are very thinly settled.

By 1774, however, Franklin, then in England as the Representative of the
Colonies, had become obnoxious to the British Government, and on January
31st of that year was removed from his office. After the Declaration of
Independence, Mr. Hugh Finlay, who had previously been postmaster at
Quebec, received the appointment of "Deputy Postmaster-General of His
Majesty's Province of Canada." He had in 1791 eleven post-offices under
his management, one as far west as Mackinaw and one as far east as the
Baie des Chaleurs. There was a weekly mail between Quebec and Montreal
and a monthly mail for the Western country. From a Quebec almanac of
1796 it appears that there were seven post-offices in Upper Canada and
five in Lower Canada. At that time mails were despatched monthly to
England, and semi-weekly between Quebec and Montreal, or Halifax. At the
Baie des Chaleurs the visits of the postman must have been few and far
between, as they were only favored with a mail "as occasion offered."

In 1800 Mr. George Heriot succeeded Mr. Finlay. At this time New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were all under the
authority of the Canadian administration. The number of post-offices was
increased to twenty-six.

The following is taken from the advertising column of the _Upper Canada
Gazette_ in 1807:--

    The mail for Upper Canada will be despatched from the post-office at
    Montreal, on the following days, to wit:

    Monday, 14th January.

    Monday, 12th February.

    Monday, 10th March.

    Monday, 7th April--the last trip.

    A courier from Kingston may be looked for here in 14 or 15 days from
    the above periods, where he will remain 2 or 3 days, and then return
    to Kingston.

    Another courier will proceed from this with the Niagara mail, via
    Messrs. Hatts', where the Sandwich [So. Essex] letters will be left,
    both from Niagara and this, 'till the courier comes from there to
    return with them.

    Letters put into the post-office will be forwarded any time by

             W. ALLAN,
  Acting Deputy-Postmaster.

Mr. Heriot resigned in 1816 and was succeeded by Mr. Daniel Sutherland
who, on his accession to office found Nova Scotia and Prince Edward
Island withdrawn from Canadian charge. New Brunswick, however, continued
to be included, but appears to have been withdrawn in 1824, so that from
that year until the federation of the Provinces in 1867 the
Postmaster-General was concerned only with Canada proper. Mr. Sutherland
established a daily mail between Quebec and Montreal and a weekly mail
between Montreal and Toronto. In 1827 there were 101 post-offices and
2,368 miles of established post-route, the number of miles of
mail-travel being 455,000 per annum. The letters that year were
estimated at 340,000 and the newspapers at 400,000.

The following extract from the _Quebec Mercury_, published on July 18,
1829, conveys some idea of the postal communication with England at that
period:--

    No later advices have been received from Europe since our last. Some
    further extracts from the London papers, to 31st May, inclusive,
    brought to New York by the _Corinthian_, will be found in another
    part of this number.

In the _Montreal Courant_, dated September 2nd, 1829, was the following
paragraph, showing the improvement which had been effected in the
communication between Prescott and that city:--

    EXPEDITIOUS TRAVELLING:--On Saturday last, the Upper Canada line of
    stages performed the journey from Prescott to this city in about 17
    hours, leaving the former place at a little before 3 a. m., and
    arriving here a few minutes before 8 in the evening. Not many years
    ago this journey occupied two, and sometimes three days, but owing
    to the great improvements made by Mr. Dickinson, the enterprising
    proprietor, by putting steam-boats on the lakes St. Francis and St.
    Louis, and keeping his horses in excellent condition, it is now
    performed in little more than one-third of the time.

Even so late as 1833, newspaper proprietors found it (particularly in
the Upper Province) better to employ their own couriers. As a proof of
this we transcribe from the _Queenstown_ (Niagara) _Colonial Advocate_
of that year, the following advertisement:--

    POST-RIDER WANTED IMMEDIATELY.

    The proprietor of this newspaper wishes to contract with a steady
    man (who can find and uphold his own horse) to deliver it to the
    subscribers once a week during the winter, on the route between York
    and Niagara, viâ Ancaster.

Mr. Thos. A. Stayner succeeded Mr. Sutherland in 1831, at which time
there were 151 post-offices. Through Mr. Stayner's recommendation a
uniform rate of 1s. 2d. sterling, per half ounce, was adopted in 1841
between any place in Canada and the mother country. This resulted from
the establishment of regular steam communication across the Atlantic in
1840, by means of the Cunard Line between Liverpool and Halifax.

During all this period the carrying of letters was a profitable
business. There was, for example, a profit of $21,000 in 1824 and of
$47,000 in 1831, all which sums were duly remitted to England to swell
the Imperial revenue. The rates, however, were exceedingly high. It cost
eighteen cents to send a letter from Toronto to Kingston, and thirty
cents to send one to Montreal. The charge for sending a weekly paper
through the mails was a dollar a year, as much as the paper now costs,
and the postage on a daily was over two dollars a year.[3]

[3] Most of the foregoing information is taken from extracts from the
Canadian Postal Guide, published in the =Stamp Collector's Magazine= for
Aug. 1, 1868, and the Halifax Philatelist, II: 138.

The net revenues of the post-office given for 1831 must have dropped
considerably, for we find that in 1845 the surplus of the Canadian
Post-office was but £7184 ($35,000) against the $47,000 given above for
fourteen years earlier. This amount rose to £22,188 ($110,000) in 1848,
fell to £15,725 ($78,500) the next year, and had risen again to a basis
of £20,000 ($100,000) in the year previous to the introduction of
postage stamps and the reduction of rates. The inland postage rates then
in force, as charged under the Imperial Laws, were, for a letter not
exceeding 1/2 ounce in weight:

  For any distance not exceeding 60 miles,                            4d.
  For any distance exceeding 60 miles and not exceeding 100 miles     6d.
  For any distance exceeding 100 miles and not exceeding 200 miles    8d.
  And for every additional 100 miles or fraction an additional        2d.

For one hundred and forty years Great Britain had managed her colonial
posts, or at least directed them, when on 28th July, 1849, the British
Parliament passed an "Act for enabling Colonial Legislatures to
establish Inland Posts."[4] This was the signal for the voluntary
withdrawal of most of the colonial postal systems then under Imperial
direction, and for the establishment of local systems where none had
previously existed. Because of its historical interest we quote from the
provisions of the Act as follows:--

    Whereas under or by virtue of [_various Acts_] Her Majesty's Post
    Master General has, by himself or his Deputies, the exclusive
    Privilege of establishing Posts, collecting, conveying, and
    delivering Letters, and collecting Postage, within Her Majesty's
    Colonies, and the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have
    Authority from Time to Time to fix the Rates of Postage to be
    charged within such Colonies: And whereas the said Postmaster
    General and Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury respectively
    have, in exercise of such Privilege and Authority, established Posts
    and fixed Rates of Postage in certain of such Colonies: And whereas
    it is expedient to Authorize the Establishment of Posts and Postage
    Rates in Her Majesty's Colonies by the Legislatures of such
    Colonies: Be it enacted, therefore.... That it shall be lawful for
    the Legislatures or proper Legislative Authorities of Her Majesty's
    Colonies, or any of them, by Acts, Laws, or Ordinances to be from
    Time to Time for that Purpose made and enacted in the Manner and
    subject to the Conditions by Law required in respect of Acts, Laws,
    or Ordinances of such Legislatures or Legislative Authorities, to
    make such provisions as such Legislatures or Legislative Authorities
    may think fit for and concerning the Establishment, Maintenance, and
    Regulation of Posts or Post Communications within such Colonies
    respectively, and for charging Rates of Postage for the Conveyance
    of Letters by such Posts or Post Communications, and for
    appropriating the Revenue to be derived therefrom.

    II. [_Where the Postmaster General has actually established posts
    and his power has not "determined," such colonial acts, etc., shall
    not take effect until approved by Her Majesty and Privy Council, nor
    until such time as the assent may be proclaimed in the Colony, or
    such subsequent time as may be signified._]

    III. [_After the establishment of Posts by Colonial Legislatures the
    powers of the Postmaster General shall cease._]

    IV. [_The Acts of Colonial Legislatures are to apply only to Posts
    within the limits of the Colony and to rates of postage within such
    limits._]

[4] 12^o & 13^o Vict. Cap. LXVI.

Canada lost no time in taking advantage of the above Act, and in the
next year (1850) passed the required ordinances for the transfer of its
domestic postal system to the control of its own Government. The next
chapter will therefore start the Canadian postal history proper.

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY MATTERS

The most important of the British North American Colonies in 1850 were
Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Though not united politically,
they yet had the common bonds of fatherland, of race, of mercantile
interest, and the mutual dependence that comes, or should come, from
propinquity under these conditions. It is not surprising, therefore,
that all three should make provision for assuming control of their
domestic postal systems in the same year, nor that they should adopt
practically identical ordinances for this purpose, and should make
common postal rates for their internal and inter-colonial mail matter.
Still less surprising is it when we recall that it was but the breaking
up into sections of what had previously been a homogeneous postal system
for the whole of British North America, operated under the Imperial Laws
as detailed in the last chapter.

While the project of turning over local postal systems to the colonies
was taking shape in the British Parliament, Canada "took time by the
forelock" and made preparations for obtaining its own postage stamps.

    "In the Journal of May 21, 1849, there is a message to the
    legislative assembly of Canada relating to the establishing of a
    general post-office for the Province, when handed over by the
    Imperial government. A resolution was brought up in the assembly on
    May 22, 1849, 'That postage stamps for prepayment be allowed and
    that Colonial stamps be engraved.' This finally passed the assembly
    on May 25, 1849, and received the assent of the legislative council
    on the 26th."[5]

[5] =Metropolitan Philatelist=, I: 253.

A year later, after the passage of the enabling act by the British
Parliament, which has been already quoted, the Canadian Parliament took
up the consideration of the main subject and on the 10th August, 1850,
passed what is known briefly as _The Post Office Act_, the provisions of
which that are of most interest to us being such as follow:--

    13^o & 14^o Victoriae., Cap. XVII.

    An Act to provide for the transfer of the management of the Inland
    Posts to the Provincial Government, and for the regulation of the
    said Department.

    Whereas by the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed
    in the Session held in the twelfth and thirteenth years of Her
    Majesty's Reign, and intituled, _An Act for enabling Colonial
    Legislatures to establish Inland Posts_, the Legislatures or proper
    legislative authorities of Her Majesty's Colonies are empowered ...
    to make such provisions as [they] may think fit for and concerning
    the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of Posts and Post
    Communications within such Colonies respectively, and for charging
    rates of postage for the conveyance of letters by such Posts and
    Post Communications, and for appropriating the Revenue to be derived
    therefrom: ... And whereas it is expedient that a uniform and cheap
    rate of postage should be established throughout the several
    Colonies of British North America, and with a view to the
    establishment thereof, the Local Governments of the said Colonies
    have agreed upon certain conditions hereinafter mentioned and
    forming a part of the provisions of this Act, and it is therefore
    expedient to exercise the powers so vested as aforesaid in the
    Legislature of this Province: ...

    II. And be it enacted, That the Inland Posts and Post Communications
    in the Province shall, so far as may be consistent with the Acts of
    the Parliament of the United Kingdom in force in this Province, be
    exclusively under Provincial management and control; the Revenue
    arising from the duties of postage and other dues receivable by the
    Officers employed in managing such Posts and Post Communications
    shall form part of the Provincial Revenue, unless such moneys belong
    of right to the United Kingdom or to some other Colony, or to some
    foreign state; and the expenses of management shall be defrayed out
    of Provincial Funds....

    V. And be it enacted, That the Provincial Post Master General shall
    be appointed by Commission under the Great Seal of the Province, and
    to hold his office during pleasure, but the Post Masters and other
    Officers of the Department shall be appointed and may be removed by
    letter from the proper Officer communicating the Governor's
    pleasure.

    VI. [_All privileges, powers and authority of Her Majesty's Deputy
    Post Master General are transferred to and vested in the Provincial
    Post Master General._]

    VIII. And in conformity to the agreement made as aforesaid between
    the Local Governments of the several Colonies of British North
    America, Be it enacted, That the Provincial Postage on letters and
    packets not being of Newspapers or Printed Pamphlets, Magazines or
    Books, entitled to pass at lower rate, shall not exceed the rate of
    three pence currency, per half ounce, for any distance whatsoever
    within this Province, any fraction of a half ounce being chargeable
    as a half ounce: that no transit postage shall be charged on any
    letter or packet passing through this Province or any part thereof
    to any other Colony in British North America, unless it be posted in
    this Province and the sender choose to pre-pay it; nor on any letter
    or packet from any such Colony if pre-paid there: that two pence
    sterling the half ounce shall remain as the rate in operation as
    regards letters by British Mails, to be extended to Countries having
    postal conventions with the United Kingdom, unless Her Majesty's
    Government in the United Kingdom shall see fit to allow this rate to
    be changed to three pence currency:

    That the pre-payment of Provincial Postage shall be optional:

    That all Provincial Postage received within the Province shall be
    retained as belonging to it, and that all Provincial Postage
    received within any other of the British North American Colonies,
    may be retained as belonging to such Colony:

    That the British Packet Postage and other British Postage collected
    in this Province shall be accounted for and paid over to the proper
    authorities in the United Kingdom; but the Colonial Postage on the
    same letters or packets shall belong to the Colony collecting it, or
    if pre-paid to the British Post Office, it may be credited to the
    Colony to which such letters or packets are addressed:

    That no privilege of franking shall be allowed as regards Provincial
    Postage:

    That Provincial Stamps for the pre-payment of postage may be
    prepared under the orders of the Governor in Council, which stamps
    shall be evidence of the pre-payment of Provincial Postage to the
    amount mentioned on such stamp, and that such stamps prepared under
    the direction of the proper authorities in the other British North
    American Colonies, shall be allowed in this Province as evidence of
    the pre-payment of Provincial Postage in such other Colonies
    respectively, on the letters or packets to which they are affixed,
    and which have been mailed there:

    That the Provincial Postage on Newspapers, Pamphlets, Magazines and
    Printed Books, shall remain such as it now is until it be altered by
    regulation under this Act.... Provided always, that one copy of each
    newspaper published in this Province may be sent free from postage
    to any Publisher of another Newspaper in this Province, that all
    printed documents addressed to the Publisher of any Newspaper in
    this Province shall be delivered to him free, and that all
    Newspapers published in this Province and addressed to Subscribers
    in the United States, shall pass free to the Provincial line, under
    such regulations as the Governor in Council shall make to prevent
    the abuse of the privileges hereby granted:

    And, subject to the foregoing provisions of this section and to the
    other express provisions of this Act, the Governor in Council shall
    have full power and authority ... for establishing the rates of
    postage on Newspapers and Printed Pamphlets, Magazines and Books,
    and for declaring what shall be deemed such, or directing that in
    any case or class of cases they be free of postage, either in the
    first instance or the case of their being re-mailed, ... for the
    preparing and distributing of Provincial stamps for pre-payment, for
    limiting the weight and dimensions of letters or packets to be sent
    by Post ... for prescribing the conditions and circumstances under
    which letters, accounts and papers relating solely to the business
    of the Post Office, and addressed to or sent by some officer
    thereof, shall be free from Provincial Postage, ... for providing,
    when he shall think it expedient, means for avoiding the risk of
    transmitting small sums of money through the Post, by establishing a
    system of money orders to be granted by one Post Master or officer
    of the Department on another, and fixing the terms on which such
    orders may be obtained, for establishing a system for the
    Registering of letters and the charge[6] be made for such
    registration, ... for the delivery of letters and packets in the
    larger and more populous Cities and Towns, at the residences of
    parties to whom they are addressed, and fixing the limits within
    which such delivery shall take place, and the rates to be paid by
    the parties who shall prefer to have their letters and packets so
    delivered, rather than apply for them at the Post Office: ... and
    generally to make such regulations as may be deemed necessary for
    the due and effective working of the Post and Postal business and
    arrangements, and for carrying this Act fully into effect:

    IX. And be it enacted, That subject always to the provisions and
    regulations aforesaid, the Provincial Post Master General shall have
    the sole and exclusive privilege of conveying, receiving,
    collecting, sending and delivering letters within this Province; and
    that any person or party who shall (except in the cases hereinafter
    excepted) collect, send, convey or deliver, or undertake to convey
    or deliver any letter within this Province, or who shall receive or
    have in his possession any letter for the purpose of conveying or
    delivering it, otherwise than in conformity with this Act, shall for
    each and every letter so unlawfully conveyed or undertaken to be
    conveyed, received, delivered or found in his possession, incur a
    penalty not exceeding five pounds currency: [_exceptions are letters
    taken by friends journeying, by special messengers, Court
    Commissions, etc._]

    XI. And be it enacted, That as well the Colonial, British or Foreign
    as the Provincial Postage on any letter or packet shall (if not
    pre-paid) be payable to the Provincial Post Master General by the
    party to whom the same shall be addressed, or who may lawfully
    receive such a letter or packet, which may be detained until the
    same be paid: ... and if any letter or packet be refused, or if the
    party to whom it is addressed cannot be found, then such postage
    shall be recoverable by the Provincial Post Master General from the
    sender of such letter or packet: ... and that all postage may be
    recovered with costs, by civil action in any Court having
    jurisdiction to the amount, or in any way in which duties are
    recoverable.

    XII. And for avoiding doubts, and preventing inconvenient delay in
    the delivery of letters, Be it declared and enacted, That no Post
    Master shall be bound to give change, but the exact amount of the
    postage on any letter or packet shall be tendered or paid to him in
    current coin or in Provincial Postage stamps.

    XIV. [_Letters of Soldiers, Seamen, etc., shall be charged a certain
    fixed sum in place of all British or Provincial postage._]

    XV. [_Posted letters to be property of party addressed._]

    XVI.... To forge, counterfeit or imitate any Postage Stamp issued or
    used under the authority of this Act, or by or under the authority
    of the Government or proper authority of the United Kingdom, or of
    any British North American Province, or of any Foreign Country, or
    knowingly to use any such forged, counterfeit or imitated stamp, or
    to engrave, cut, sink or make any plate, die or other thing whereby
    to forge, counterfeit or imitate such stamp or any part or portion
    thereof, except by the permission in writing of the Provincial Post
    Master General, or of some officer or person who under the
    regulations to be made in that behalf, may lawfully grant such
    permission, or to have possession of any such plate, die or other
    thing as aforesaid, without such permission as aforesaid, or to
    forge, counterfeit or unlawfully imitate, use or affix to or upon
    any letter or packet, any stamp, signature, initials, or other mark
    or sign purporting that such letter or packet ought to pass free of
    postage, or at a lower rate of postage, or that the postage thereon
    or any part thereof hath been pre-paid or ought to be paid by or
    charged to any person, department or party whomsoever, shall be
    felony, punishable by imprisonment in the Provincial Penitentiary
    for life.

[6] sic.

The passage of the above Act and its approval by the Queen in Council
gave opportunity for preparations to be made to carry out its
provisions, the date being set for the 6th April, 1851. Three weeks
previous to the appointed time the following notice was sent out to
postmasters in anticipation of the transfer.

NOTICE TO POSTMASTERS.

  GENERAL POST OFFICE,
  MONTREAL, 14TH MARCH, 1851.

    SIR:--

    I am commanded by His Excellency the Governor General, to
    communicate to you the following Instructions, for your guidance in
    the performance of your duties, under the New Post Office Law of the
    13th and 14th Vict., chap. 17, passed at the last Session of the
    Provincial Parliament, which will take effect, and supersede the
    Imperial Post Office Acts, hitherto in force in Canada, on and from
    the 6th day of April next:

    1. From the above date, all Letters transmitted by the Post in
    Canada, with the exception of Packet Letters to and from the United
    Kingdom, will be liable to a uniform rate of _Three_ Pence,
    currency, per half-ounce, for whatever distance conveyed:
    pre-payment will be optional: the charge increasing according to the
    weight of the Letter, one single rate for every additional
    half-ounce, counting the fraction of a half-ounce as a full rate,
    thus:

    A Letter, weighing not exceeding 1/2 ounce, will be liable to 3d.
    Postage.

    A Letter, weighing more than 1/2 ounce, and not exceeding 1 ounce,
    will be liable to 6 d. Postage.

    A Letter, weighing more than 1 ounce, and not exceeding 1-1/2
    ounces, will be liable to 9d. Postage.

    A Letter, weighing more than 1-1/2 ounces, and not exceeding 2
    ounces, will be liable to 1 s. Postage.

    A Letter, weighing more than 2 ounces, and not exceeding 2-1/2
    ounces, will be liable to 1 s., 3 d. Postage, and so on.

    It will be observed that the above scale differs from that now
    followed, in advancing one rate for each half-ounce after the first
    ounce.

    2. The single Packet rate for Letters by the Atlantic Steam Packet
    Mails to and from England, viâ the United States, of 1s. 2d.
    sterling, if _un-paid_, and 1s. 4d. currency if _pre-paid_, as also
    the rate on Letters by those mails, viâ Halifax, of 1s. [missing
    value] sterling, if _un-paid_, and 1s. 1-1/2 d. currency, if
    _pre-paid_, remain unaltered, and the present scale of weights is to
    remain in force as regards such Letters.

    Post Masters must be very careful to observe this distinction when
    taxing Letters, weighing over one ounce, intended for the English
    Mails.

    3. The regulations now in force with regard to Letters to and from
    Soldiers and Sailors in Her Majesty's Service, by which under
    certain conditions such Letters pass through the Post on pre-payment
    of a penny only, will remain unaltered.

    5. Letters addressed to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward's
    Island, or Newfoundland, are to be rated with the uniform rate of
    3d. per half-ounce.

    6. Letters to and from the United States will be liable to the
    uniform rate of 3d. per half-ounce, between the Frontier Line and
    the place of posting or place of destination in Canada; and until
    further arrangements can be made, this charge on Letters from Canada
    to the United States must be pre-paid at the time of posting.

    7. [_Rates and regulations for Newspapers, Pamphlets, etc., to
    remain as at present._]

    8. [_Printed matter addressed to Editors is free._]

    9. The charge on Letters posted at an Office for delivery in the
    same City, Town, or Place, and any additional charge made on Letters
    delivered at the residences of parties to whom they are addressed,
    are to remain as at present, until further instructions.

    10. No Franking Privilege is allowed under the New Act except with
    regard to Letters and Packets on the business of the Post Office,
    addressed to or transmitted by the Post Master General.

    13. Stamps for the pre-payment of Postage are being prepared, and
    will be distributed for the use of the public at an early date.

    16. [_Letters, etc., to Deputy Post Master General to pass free._]

         T. A. STAYNER.
  _Deputy Post Master General._

[*] [Transcriber's Note: 2 or 3 characters here are unreadable.]

Meanwhile, under the authority given the Governor in Council by _The
Post Office Act_, an agreement had been drawn up between the post office
Departments of Canada and the United States for the purpose of
establishing and regulating the interchange of mails between the two
countries. This was signed on the 25th March, 1851, and was communicated
to the Canadian post-masters by the first department order, as
follows:--

    DEPARTMENT ORDER [NO. 1.]

    LETTERS, ETC., BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING
    CALIFORNIA AND OREGON.

  POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
            TORONTO, _2nd April_, 1851.

    Commencing on and from the 6th instant, Letters, Newspapers, &c.,
    will pass through the Mails between Canada and the United States,
    including California and Oregon, at the Rates of Postage and under
    the Regulations herein mentioned.

    1. Letters posted at any Office in Canada, addressed to any place in
    the United States, except California and Oregon, are to be rated
    with a uniform rate of six-pence, currency, per half-ounce.

    2. Letters posted in any part of the United States, except
    California and Oregon, addressed to Canada, will be rated there with
    a uniform charge of ten cents, equal to six-pence, currency, per
    half-ounce.

    3. The Postage Rate on Letters passing between Canada and California
    and Oregon, will be a uniform charge of nine-pence, currency, equal
    to fifteen cents per half-ounce.

    4. It is to be understood that the above rates include the whole
    charge for the transmission of a Letter between any place in Canada
    and any place within the United States, including California and
    Oregon.

    5. The scale for computing the charge upon Letters weighing more
    than 1/2 ounce, will be the same as that for Letters passing within
    the Province.

    6. Pre-payment of Letters passing between Canada and any place
    within the United States, including California and Oregon, will, in
    all cases, be optional.

    7. Newspapers, Pamphlets, &c., posted in Canada, addressed to the
    United States, including California and Oregon, are, ... to be
    forwarded through the Post at the same rates of charge as if
    addressed to a place within the Province; the said rates must,
    however, be _pre-paid_--as, if the ordinary Canada Rate is not paid
    at the time of posting a Newspaper or Pamphlet, &c., it cannot be
    forwarded to the United States.

    8. United States Newspapers, Pamphlets, &c., addressed to places in
    Canada, will be received in the Province with the American Postage
    thereon pre-paid--leaving the ordinary Canada Rate of charge from
    the Frontier Line to the place of destination, to be ... collected
    by the Post Master who may deliver the same in Canada.

    9.-10.-11. [_Copies of newspapers or printed documents sent by or to
    publishers or editors are free of Canadian postage._]

    12. The Canada Postage Stamps, when used, will be taken in the
    United States as evidence of pre-payment of Postage on Letters going
    from Canada to the United States, and in like manner the United
    States Postage Stamps on Letters coming into Canada, are to be taken
    by Post Masters in this Province as evidence of pre-payment having
    been made in the United States.

    13. The following are appointed to be the Offices in Canada through
    which the Post communication with the United States will be
    maintained, and to which Post Masters are to forward their Mail
    matter for the United States, according to the relative position of
    their several Offices:

  PORT SARNIA,                                         |
  WINDSOR,                                             | KINGSTON,
  FORT ERIE,                                           |
                                                       | BROCKVILLE,
  QUEENSTON,       { Intended in the mean time to      |
                   { be the Channel of Communication   | PRESCOTT,
                   { with the United States for the    |
                   { Country West of Toronto.          | MONTREAL,
  NIAGARA,                                             | ST. JOHN'S,
  TORONTO,                                             |
                                                       | DUNDEE,
  COBOURG,         { A Communication during Summer     |
                   { only, by Steamer to Rochester.    | STANSTEAD,

  By Command,
    W. H. GRIFFIN.

Both the _Post Office Act_ and the above Department Order treat of the
disposition of periodicals and other printed matter without giving the
rates of postage required thereon. A subsequent Order gives us these
rates:--

    DEPARTMENT ORDER, [NO. 3.]

  POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
       TORONTO. _17th April_, 1851.

    _Printed Circulars, Price Currents, Handbills, Pamphlets,
    Periodicals, Books, and other Printed Matter transmitted by Post in
    Canada._

    1. Upon each Printed Circular, Price Current or Handbill, and other
    Printed matter of a like description, when unconnected with any
    manuscript or written communication and of no greater weight than
    one ounce, there shall be charged One penny; and for each additional
    ounce or fraction of an ounce, One penny additional.

    2. Upon each Periodical or Magazine, Pamphlet and Book, bound or
    unbound, there shall be charged a rate of One half-penny per ounce.

    3. Pre-payment of the foregoing rates will be optional, except when
    the Printed matter is addressed to the United States, and in that
    case the charge must invariably be pre-paid.

    4. On such Printed matter received into Canada by Mail from the
    United States, the above Canada Rates will always remain to be
    collected on delivery in this Province.

    5.[_Exchange of one copy between publishers is free._]

    6. [_Must be unsealed; if writing is enclosed will be treated as a
    letter._]

    7. No Book or packet of Periodicals, Magazines, &c., can be
    forwarded through the Post, if exceeding the weight of forty-eight
    ounces.

  JAMES MORRIS. _Post Master General._

It is of course understood that the above does not apply to newspapers,
which were charged to a nominal rate of 1/2d. each, the term _newspaper_
being considered to aply to periodicals issued not less often than once
a week.

A supplementary order was issued, a couple of days later than the
preceding, which announces a book post with England. It is a bit curious
as prohibiting the use of postage stamps in prepayment of the charges,
at a time when their introduction was supposed to be an improvement in
the postal service.

    SUPPLEMENTARY ORDER.

    POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.

    TORONTO, 19_th April_, 1851.

    _Book Post with England._

    Under the authority of Her Majesty's Government, an arrangement will
    take effect on the fifteenth day of May next, under which Printed
    Books, Magazines, Reviews, or Pamphlets, whether British, Colonial,
    or Foreign, may be sent through the Post, between Canada and the
    United Kingdom, at the Following Rates of Postage:

  [S] = Sterling
                                                    | [S] |   Currency
  For a single volume,                              |     |
    _i.e._, Book, Magazine, Review, or Pamphlet,    |     |
    not exceeding half lb. in weight                | 6d. | Equal to 7-1/2d.
                                                    |     |
  For a single volume, &c.,                         |     |
    exceeding half lb. and not exceeding one lb.    | 1s. |   "   to 1s. 3d.
                                                    |     |
  For a single volume, &c.,                         |     |
    exceeding one lb. and not exceeding two lbs.    | 2s. |   "   "  2s. 6d.
                                                    |     |
  For a single volume, &c.,                         |     |
    exceeding two lbs. and not exceeding three lbs. | 3s. |   "   "  3s. 9d.

    The above charge must always be pre-paid, on printed Books, &c.,
    &c., sent to the United Kingdom under this Regulation, at the time
    of posting in Canada; and the pre-payment must be made in money, and
    cannot be taken in Canada Postage Stamps.

    Postmasters, as with pre-paid Letters for England must rate the
    Books, &c., posted under this Regulation, in _red ink_, with both
    the sterling rate and its equivalent in currency, ...--thus, a Book,
    &c., weighing 3-1/2 pounds, will be rated:--

    "Paid 4s. sterling--equal to 5s. currency."

    JAMES MORRIS, _Post Master General._

The Department Circular No. 5, published from Toronto on 20th June,
1851, contains but one paragraph of interest to us.

    Post Masters are informed that the transfer of the Post Office in
    the Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to Provincial
    control, will take place on the 6th July next, and that from that
    date the uniform rate of 3d. per 1/2 ounce will form the sole charge
    on a Letter transmitted between any place in Canada and any place in
    New Brunswick, or Nova Scotia. Pre-payment will be optional.

On the 30th August, 1851, the Canadian Parliament passed an _Act to
Amend the Post Office Act_. The only section of any particular interest
to us is the following:--

    14^o & 15^o Vict. Cap. LXXI.

    XV. And be it enacted, That the Post Master General shall be
    authorized, whenever the same may be proper for the accommodation of
    the public in any city, to employ Letter Carriers for the delivery
    of letters received at the Post Office in such city, excepting such
    as the persons to whom they are addressed may have requested, in
    writing addressed to the Postmaster, to be retained in the Post
    Office, and for the receipt of letters at such places in the said
    city as the Postmaster General may direct, and for the deposit of
    the same in the Post Office; and for the delivery by Carrier of each
    letter received from the Post Office, the person to whom the same is
    delivered shall pay not exceeding One Penny, and for the delivery of
    each newspaper and pamphlet One Halfpenny, and for every letter
    received by a Carrier to be deposited in the Post Office, there
    shall be paid to him, at the time of the receipt, not exceeding One
    Half-penny:--all of which receipts, by the Carriers in any city,
    shall, if the Postmaster General so direct, be accounted for to the
    Postmaster of the said city, to constitute a fund for the
    compensation of the said Carriers, and to be paid to them in such
    proportions and manner as the Postmaster General may direct.

But in the meantime the postage stamps, which will now be our main
study, were issued to the public, and we will therefore turn back to the
period of their birth and trace their history, together with the
development of the post that accompanies it, through the nearly sixty
years that have since elapsed.

CHAPTER II

THE ISSUE OF 1851

According to all good catalogues, the date of the first issue of stamps
for Canada is the year 1851. If we find some more precise statement put
forth in a special article on the subject, the date is apt to be given
as the 6th April, 1851. If we go back into the dusty archives of the
Canadian Post Office Department, we find the circular announcing the
forthcoming stamps is dated a fortnight later than the hitherto supposed
correct date for their issue. We reproduce it here in its entirety:--

    DEPARTMENT ORDER [NO. 4.]

  POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
       TORONTO, _21st April_, 1851.

    _Stamps for the pre-payment of Postage on Letters._

    Postage Stamps are about to be issued, one representing the Beaver,
    of the denomination of Three pence; the second representing the head
    of Prince Albert, of the denomination of Six pence; and the third,
    representing the head of Her Majesty, of the denomination of One
    shilling; which will shortly be transmitted to the Post Masters at
    important points, for sale.

    Any Post Master receiving Stamps from this Department will, by the
    next mail, acknowledge the receipt of the amount. At the expiration
    of each Quarter, and with his Quarterly Postage Accounts, he will
    render an account of Stamps on a form which will be hereafter
    supplied, charging himself therein with any amount which remained on
    hand at the close of the preceding Quarter, and with the amounts
    received during the Quarter just ended, and crediting himself with
    the amount then remaining on hand. The balance of the account so
    stated, representing the amount of Stamps he has sold or disposed
    of, the Post Master will add to the balance due on his Return for
    the same Quarter of Postages.

    Any Letter or Packet, with one or more Stamps affixed, equal in
    amount to the Postage properly chargeable thereon, may be mailed and
    forwarded from any office as a pre-paid Letter or Packet; but if the
    Stamps affixed be not adequate to the proper Postage, the Post
    Master receiving the Letter or Packet for transmission will rate it
    with the amount deficient in addition.--This Regulation concerning
    Letters short paid has reference only to Letters passing within the
    Province.

    Stamps so affixed are to be immediately _cancelled_ in the office in
    which the Letter or Packet may be deposited, with an instrument to
    be furnished for that purpose. In Post Offices not so furnished, the
    stamps must be cancelled by making a cross [X] on each with a pen.
    If the cancelling has been omitted on the mailing of the Letter, the
    Post Master delivering it will cancel the stamp in the manner
    directed, and immediately report the Post Master who may have been
    delinquent, to the Department. Bear in mind that Stamps must
    invariably be cancelled before mailing the Letters to which they are
    affixed.

    Letters and Packets pre-paid by Stamps must be entered in the
    Letter-Bill separately from other pre-paid Letters,--and in like
    manner in the Monthly Sheets.

  J. MORRIS, _Post Master General_.

From the above it is plainly evident that the new stamps were _not_
placed in use on April 6th, the day of the transfer of the Post Office
to Provincial control, as is usually stated. Furthermore, as this order
announcing them states that the stamps are "about to be issued," it is
evident that they did not appear concurrently with the order, which is
dated April 21st.[7] As a matter of fact the first supply of the 3 pence
stamps was only received by the Department from the manufacturers on
April 5th, the day before the transfer, and the second supply on April
20th, the day before the above circular was issued; while the 6 pence
and 12 pence stamps did not arrive until May 2nd and May 4th,
respectively.[8] In a letter to Mr. Donald A. King,[9] dated 2d March,
1904, from Mr. William Smith, Secretary of the Department at Ottawa, the
latter states "that postage stamps were issued to the public for the
first time on 23rd April, 1851." This agrees with the other known facts,
and can doubtless be taken as the correct date for the 3d. stamp. The
6d. stamp we have no further details for, but it was doubtless in use by
the middle of May. For the 12d. stamp we have, fortunately, all the
details, as will appear subsequently, and can give the exact date of
issue as June 14, 1851.

[7] This correction of the date must be noted, for in Mr. King's article
in the Monthly Journal, VII: 7, it is wrongly given as 1st April, which
might lead to erroneous conclusions. In the Article by Messrs. Corwin
and King, (Metropolitan Philatelist, I: 149), the date is correctly
given.

[8] Metropolitan Philatelist, XVII: 83.

[9] London Philatelist, XIII: 153.

At the time of the transfer, the Postmaster General issued a lengthy set
of _Regulations and Instructions for the Government of the Post Office
Department in Canada_, and it is perhaps best to reproduce here such
sections as may prove of interest in connection with the use of the
stamps, various rates of postage, etc., etc.

    20. Letters posted to be sent by Mail are to be carefully postmarked
    on the face or address side, with the name of the Post Office, the
    month and the day of the month in which they are posted, and, except
    when they are Prepaid by Postage stamps, with the Rate of Postage in
    plain figures. In performing these operations great care must be
    used to avoid interference with the address.

    22. If the Postage is Paid in Money when the Letter is posted, stamp
    or write the word "_Paid_" against the Postage rate, and mark the
    rate in _red ink_; but if the Letter is "_Unpaid_" the rate is to be
    marked in _black ink_.

    42. Should the Receiving Postmaster find that any of the Letters
    have been under-rated, that is, not charged with sufficient
    Postage,--if for example, a Letter weighing an ounce has only been
    charged with one rate, he will mark the additional Postage with the
    words "_More to pay_," and his initials on the Letter.

    44.... Letters are to be postmarked on the back or seal side with
    the date of the day on which they arrive....

    58. On Letters not exceeding 1/2 oz. in weight between any place in
    Canada and any other place in British North America, including
    Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Cape
    Breton, the rate is a uniform charge of 3d.

    For every additional weight of half an oz., or any fractional excess
    of half an oz., there shall be charged an additional rate of 3d.

    59. On Letters deposited at an Office for delivery in the same
    place, called Drop or Box Letters, the rate is One half-penny each,
    to be brought to account by Postmasters.

    60. On Letters between any place in Canada and any part of Great
    Britain or Ireland, if conveyed in the Weekly closed Mails through
    the United States, the rate is a uniform charge of 1s. 2d. sterling,
    equal to 1s. 4d. currency, on a Letter not exceeding 1/2 oz., in
    weight.

    62. On Letters between Canada and the United Kingdom, conveyed by
    the semi-monthly Mails by way of Quebec, New Brunswick and Halifax,
    the rate is:

    On Letters not exceeding 1/2 oz., 1s. 0d. sterling equal to 1s.
    1-1/2d. currency.

    On Letters not exceeding 1 oz., 2s. 0d. sterling equal to 2s. 3d.
    currency.

    On Letters not exceeding 2 oz., 4s. 0d. sterling equal to 4s. 6d.
    currency.

    63. On Letters between any place in Canada and any part of the
    United States, except California and Oregon, the rate is a uniform
    charge of 6d., equal to 10c. per 1/2 oz. weight.

    64. On Letters to California and Oregon, the rate is 9d., equal to
    15c. per 1/2 oz.

    67. Letters to Newfoundland may be sent via Quebec and Halifax at a
    Postage rate of 7-1/2d. per 1/2 oz.

    68. Letters to British West Indies via Quebec, Halifax and Bermuda
    will be charged the Canada rate of 3d. and in addition the Packet
    rate for sea conveyance between Halifax and Bermuda of 4-1/2d.
    currency, making on a letter not weighing more than 1/2 oz. a rate
    of 7-1/2d.

    69. Letters may also be sent from Canada to the British West Indies
    and Havanah by the ordinary United States Mails to New York, and
    from thence by British Steam Packet to destination, on Prepayment in
    Canada of 9d. equal to 15c. per 1/2 oz.

    70. Mails are made up at Montreal every fortnight for Halifax, Nova
    Scotia, and despatched for conveyance to Halifax with the Mails by
    the Royal Mail Steamers from Boston to Halifax and Liverpool by
    which Letters may be sent to the following places at the rates
    mentioned:

    Letters to Halifax and Nova Scotia         7-1/2d. currency.
    Letters to Newfoundland                        1s. currency.
    Letters to Bermuda and British West Indies     1s. currency.

    74--75--76. [_Almost identical with first three paragraphs of_
    Department Order No. 4. _describing and prescribing use of postage
    stamps_. Vide supra.]

    77. If the Stamps affixed to a Letter addressed to any place in
    British North America or to the United Kingdom be not adequate to
    the proper Postage, the Post Master receiving the Letter for
    transmission will rate it with the amount deficient in addition.

    78. On Letters for the United States when Stamps are affixed
    representing less than the amount of Postage to which the Letters
    are liable, the Stamps are to be cancelled and the Letters rated
    with the full rate as Unpaid.

    79--80--81. [_Identical with last two paragraphs of_ Department
    Order No. 4. _concerning cancelling, omission of same, and accounts
    of stamped letters_.]

    82. Stamps affixed to Letters coming from either of the British
    North American Provinces, the United Kingdom or the United States,
    and recognized as equivalent to pre-payment at the Office where the
    Letter has been posted--are to be allowed in Canada as evidence of
    pre-payment accordingly, on the Letters to which they have been
    affixed.

    84. [_Postage Stamps must be taken when offered in payment of
    postage on delivery of Unpaid Letters._]

    88. [_Non-Commissioned Officers, Embodied Pensioners, Seamen and
    Soldiers, while employed in Her Majesty's Service, can send and
    receive letters at a rate of 1d. each, which must be paid at time of
    posting, and letter must not exceed 1/2 oz. in weight._]

    95. [_Rate on circulars, price currents, hand bills, etc., 1d. per
    ounce or fraction._]

    96. [_Rate on pamphlets, periodicals, magazines and books, 1/2d. per
    ounce._]

    100. [_Limit of weight for periodicals, etc., (§96) is 48 oz._]

    103. [_Book post to England is 6d. sterling (7-1/2d. currency) for
    1/2lb., 1s. sterling (1s. 3d. currency) for 1 lb., and at 1s. per
    lb., rate thereafter._]

    112. [_Postage on newspapers in Canada is 1/2d. except on exchange
    copies, which are free._]

It strikes one as curious, in glancing over the above, to note the
several half penny and one penny rates, as well as two at 7-1/2 pence,
and to realize that no stamp of the lowest value, at least, should have
been arranged for whereby these amounts could have been prepaid by means
of stamps. To be sure, the 7-1/2d. rate could be obtained by halving a
three penny stamp in conjunction with a 6d. stamp as was the common
practice in Nova Scotia, but no such combination is known on a Canada
cover.

Of the three stamps issued, the first and most typical of Canada was the
3d. which was designed, so Mr. C. N. Robertson of Ottawa tells us, by
Sir Sanford Fleming, a civil engineer and draughtsman. The central
feature is a representation of the beaver in its native haunts, above
which is the royal crown of England resting on a rose, thistle and
shamrock, with the letters V and R (_Victoria Regina_) at either side. A
reference to figure 6 on Plate I makes further description unnecessary.
The normal color was a bright red.

A quite marked variety of this stamp occurs in what is generally known
as a "double strike" or "shifted transfer." It is _not_ due to
accidental light contact of the sheet in printing, previous to the
heavier impression in a slightly changed position, as is often
suggested, but is a true plate variety, caused by a slight impression of
the transfer roller in the wrong position on the plate previous to the
heavy impression sunk in the proper position. This fact is shown by its
being found in pairs and blocks with the normal stamp. It is recognized
by the letters EE PEN being "doubled" at the top, making it appear as if
a line had been drawn through the words and giving it the name,
occasionally used of the "line through threepence" variety. The figure 3
also appears doubled at the bottom. Its position in the sheet has not
been determined, but it occurs on all papers.

The 6d. stamp is in the usual upright form, containing a portrait of
Albert, the Prince Consort. It has been impossible to trace the original
of the picture, though diligent search has been made. The rose, thistle
and shamrock again appear on the stamp, at either side of the oval frame
and separating the inscriptions. Figure 1 of Plate I gives an excellent
reproduction of this value. The normal color may be said to have been a
slate violet.

The 12d. stamp is very similar in design to the 6d. stamp, but contains
a portrait of Queen Victoria. This beautiful head, so often seen upon
the early British Colonial stamps, was taken from the full length
painting by Alfred Edward Chalon, R. A., which was ordered by the Queen
for her mother, the Duchess of Kent, as a souvenir of Her Majesty's
first visit to the House of Lords. The occasion was the prorogation of
Parliament, on July 17, 1837, and the Queen is portrayed in her robes of
state, because of which fact the painting is sometimes described as "in
Coronation Robes," but this is erroneous.[10] The stamp is illustrated
as figure 2 on Plate I, and it will be noticed that the inscriptions in
the oval frame are this time separated on either side by the royal
crown. The color is black.

[10] London Philatelist, VI: 147.

The peculiarity in the expression of the value of this stamp as "Twelve
Pence" instead of "One Shilling," which would seem to be the natural
form for such an amount in English money, was long a moot question
amongst collectors. It was even suggested as an "error" of the American
manufacturers of the stamp! But the controversy has been practically
settled by reference to the monetary conditions of the period. A glance
back at the rates of postage we have already quoted will show that it
was generally necessary to give them in two forms, "currency" and
"sterling." The somewhat depreciated Canadian currency required fifteen
pence, as will be noted, to equal the shilling sterling--a point that is
brought out on the two stamps issued subsequently for the British Packet
rates. Add to this the fact that in New England the "shilling" was a
current expression for 16-2/3 cents (10 pence currency), while in New
York it represented 12-1/2 cents (7-1/2 pence currency) and we can
readily see that in Canadian territory contiguous to these sections the
number of pence to a "shilling" might often be a debatable quantity. As
a matter of fact the French Canadians of Lower Canada made general use
of the "shilling" as reckoned at 10 pence (20 cents) in the old
currency, while the "York shilling" was extensively used in Upper
Canada.[11] "Twelve pence" was without doubt wholly intentional,
therefore, as the designation of the stamp, and was a happy solution of
any ambiguity in its use, even if it has proved a stumbling block to the
understanding of latter day collectors.

[11] Metropolitan Philatelist, I: 170.

An interesting essay for this stamp is in existence, being a companion
for the 3 pence "beaver," inasmuch as the shape of the stamp and the
central design are the same, though on a larger scale; the inscriptions,
however, are on an octagonal frame around the picture instead of an
elliptical one, and the value is expressed as "one shilling," with "1s"
in each spandrel. It was doubtless also a conception of Sir Sanford
Fleming, the designer of the 3 pence, and it would be interesting to
know what the companion 6 pence may have been.

The three issued stamps were ordered from and engraved on steel by
Messrs. Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson of New York, who, it will be
interesting to note, were the engravers of the 1847 issue of United
States stamps--a fact which very likely may have had its influence on
the Canadian authorities. The stamps were printed in sheets of 100, ten
rows of ten, and had eight marginal imprints, two on each side. The
imprint reads, "Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New York.", in minute
letters of the size known as "diamond" in the printing office, and it is
placed opposite the third and eighth stamps of the horizontal or
vertical row, as the case may be, but always with the bottom of the
imprint next the stamps. This causes the imprints to read up on the
left, down on the right, and upside down on the bottom margins of the
sheets.

We have found but one item in the departmental accounts for the fiscal
year 1851-2 referring to the stamps. This reads:--

    Rawdon, Wright & Co., for engraving postage stamps, £31.8.2

This was doubtless simply a bill for printing, as it is altogether too
small an amount to account for the engraving of three stamp dies and the
making of three printing plates.

The first delivery of the stamps from the manufacturers took place on
April 5, 1851, according to a valuable summary from official records,
published in the _Metropolitan Philatelist_,[12] when 100,000 of the 3
pence value were received by the Canadian Government. A second lot,
numbering 150,200 of the 3 pence, arrived on April 20th. The 6 pence
value followed on May 2nd, to the number of 100,400; and the 12 pence
two days later, on May 4th, when the only consignment ever received from
the printers, numbering 51,400, was delivered.

[12] =Metropolitan Philatelist, XVII=: 83.

The paper on which the stamps were printed was a thin, tough, grayish
white variety which we should probably call bond paper, but which at
that time is said to have been known as bank note paper. It was
doubtless handmade, and therefore varies considerably in thickness, the
two extremes being usually listed as _medium_ or _ordinary_, and _very
thin_ or _almost pelure_.

It has been the custom to assume that the first deliveries of the stamps
were probably all upon _laid_ paper, which was borne out by dates on
covers or postmarked specimens of the stamps used during the first year
of issue. But by June of 1852, at least, according to Messrs. Corwin and
King,[13] the stamps were beginning to appear on paper which was simply
_wove_, without any trace of the laid lines, though in all other
respects similar to the first supplies. Of course a minor detail of
manufacture like this would have no official cognizance, so there is
nothing for us to go by in determining the quantities printed on one or
the other kind of paper, or the dates of issue, save for what can be
gleaned from dated covers and deductions to be drawn from them. The two
varieties of paper, however, have been as productive of controversy in
the case of the 12 pence stamp as the peculiar expression of its value
proved.

[13] =Metropolitan Philatelist, I=: 149.

But before discussing this question, let us see what we have to work on.
The first annual report of the Postmaster General, for the year ending
5th April, 1852, contains the following information concerning the new
stamps:--

    Postage Stamps for the pre-payment of letters of the respective
    values of 3d., 6d. and 1s. were procured and issued immediately
    after the transfer, and have been kept for sale to the public at all
    the principal Post Offices in the Province; the demand, however, has
    not been great, as will be seen by the following statement, and the
    sales of the last quarter of the year would seem to demonstrate that
    the use of these Stamps in pre-payment of letters, is rather
    diminishing than gaining ground in the community. There were
    procured from the manufacturers, Messrs. Rawdon, Wright, Hatch &
    Co., of New York, during the year ended 5th April 1852:

                             Value.
      250,200 3d. Stamps   £3127 10 0
      100,400 6d. Stamps    2510  0 0
       51,000 1s. Stamps    2550  0 0
      _______              __________
      401,600              £8187 10 0

    Of these have been issued to Postmasters for sale, to the same date:

                            Value.
      217,300 3d. Stamps   £2716 5 0
       63,400 6d. Stamps    1585 0 0
          820 1s. Stamps      41 0 0
      _______               ________
      281,520              £4342 5 0

The succeeding annual reports of the Postmaster General, for the years
ending 31st March, 1853-6, give the following table of postage stamp
statistics:--

Postage stamps issued for sale as follows:--

  REPORT OF 31ST. MARCH, 1853.

                                      3d. Stamps  6d. Stamps   1s. Stamps

    On hand 5th April, 1852              32,900      37,000        50,180
    Since received from Manufacturers   250,000
                                        _________________________________
                                        282,900      37,000        50,180
    Issued for sale during year         163,000       2,575           100
                                        _________________________________
    On hand 31st March, 1853            119,900       34,425       50,080

  REPORT OF 31ST. MARCH, 1854.

    Received from Manufacturers         250,000          ...          ...
                                        _________________________________
                                        369,900       34,425       50,080
    Issued for sale during year         240,700       10,825          325
                                        _________________________________
    On hand 31st March, 1854            129,200       23,600       49,755

  REPORT OF 31ST. MARCH, 1855.

    Received from Manufacturers         250,000       50,000          ...
                                        _________________________________
                                        379,200       73,600       49,755
    Issued for sale during year         355,000       25,800          265

    On hand 31st. March, 1855            24,200       47,800       49,490

  REPORT OF 31ST. MARCH, 1856.

    Received from Manufacturers         600,300          ...          ...
                                        _________________________________
                                        624,500       47,800       49,490
    Issued for sale during year         368,700       38,419          ...
                                        _________________________________
    On hand 31st. March, 1856           255,800        9,381       49,490

In this annual report of 31st March, 1856, is the last account of the
12d. stamp, from which it appears that none were issued to postmasters
during the fiscal year. It does not mean that none were sold or used
during that period, however, for with the increasing use of stamps this
was quite probable. But it is evident from the tables given that the
stamp was disbursed from headquarters in very limited quantities during
the four years from 1851 to 1855 only; and we are quite fortunate in
being able to give the exact details of this distribution. An anonymous
article was published in the _Metropolitan Philatelist_ in 1902,[14]
from which we have already quoted, that contained a "_Valuable summary
of the first issue of postage stamps used in this Colony._" The
statement is made that "it is taken from official records and is
absolutely accurate." We quote here the information concerning the

    CANADA ONE SHILLING POSTAGE STAMP.

      Total number rec'd. from Contractors          51,000
      Total number issued to postmasters             1,510
      Balance (destroyed)                           49,490

    NOTE.--On May 4, 1851, the first and only consignment of the Canada
    1 shilling postage stamp, to the number of 51,000 (value £2,550),
    was received by the Post Office Department, Canada, from the
    Contractors, Messrs. Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New York.

    The issue of this stamp began on June 14, 1851, and concluded on
    December 4, 1854, when the stamp was discontinued. During its issue
    1510 stamps of that denomination were sent out to postmasters,
    leaving a balance on hand of 49,490, which, on May 1st. 1857, were,
    in accordance with the practice of the Department in cases of the
    discontinuance of stamps, destroyed. As has already been observed,
    there was only the one lot of this stamp received from the
    contractors.

    DETAILS OF ISSUE.

      Date of Issue.      Name of Office.  Name of P. M.    No.

      June  14, 1851      Hamilton         E. Ritchie       300
      Oct.  17, 1851      Chippewa         W. Hepburn       100
      Nov.  13, 1851      Thorold          J. Keefer         20
      Nov.  25, 1851      Toronto          C. Berchy        200
      Mar.   8, 1852      Montreal         J. Porteous      200
      Sept. 14, 1852      Ingersoll        D. Phelan        100
      Apr.   5, 1853  [15]Bytown           G. W. Baker      100
      Oct.  20, 1853      Sherbrooke       Wm. Brooks        15
      Jan.  13, 1854      Smith's Falls    Jas. Shaw         50
      Jan.  20, 1854      Bytown           G. W. Baker      100
      Feb.   8, 1854      L'Islet          Ballantyne        15
      Feb.  27, 1854      Ingersoll        Chadwick          20
      Mar.  22, 1854      Sault S. Marie   Jos. Wilson       25
      May   15, 1854      Port. du Fort    McLaren           15
      Oct.  21, 1854      Rowan Mills      de Blaquiere      50
      Oct.  26, 1854      Melbourne        Thos. Tait        50
      Oct.  27, 1854      Montreal         A. La Rocque     100
      Dec.   4, 1854      Smith's Falls    Jas. Shaw         50
                                                          -----
                                     Total number issued, 1,510

[14] =Metropolitan Philatelist, XVII=: 83.

[15] Now Ottawa, Capital of Dominion of Canada.

From the above it is seen that Hamilton and Montreal each received a
total of 300 copies, Toronto and Bytown each 200, Ingersoll 120,
Chippewa and Smith's Falls each 100, and so on down.

So much for the 12d. stamp. The tables of the Post Office reports tell
us also that the issues of the 6d. stamp to postmasters for these same
four years totalled 102,600, or only 2200 more than the original number
delivered, the second delivery of the 6d. not having taken place until
March 21, 1855,[16] at the end of the last fiscal year of the four. If,
then, the entire first printings of the 6d. and 12d. stamps were on laid
paper, as is usually claimed, there would be no such thing as a 12d. on
wove paper, and the 6d. stamp in the same state would not be found
_used_ (provided proper postmark evidence were forthcoming) before the
end of March, 1855. During the same period there were at least five
deliveries of the 3d. stamp, so that several things may have happened to
that value. But, curiously enough, it is the other two stamps that
furnish us with our best evidence.

[16] Metropolitan Philatelist, XVII: 83.

We now come literally to the "nigger in the wood-pile." The 12d. stamp
_does_ exist on the _wove_ paper! Mr. Worthington and Mr. Pack each
possess an unused copy, and careful examination by the writer has failed
to disclose any appreciable difference in the color, quality or
appearance of the paper, save for the impossibility of discovering the
laid lines, between these copies and those possessing proper credentials
as the regular laid paper 12d. of 1851. The color of the stamp and its
general appearance give no hint of the supposed irregularity, and a
letter to Mr. Worthington from the well known expert, Mr. John N. Luff,
gives his approval to the specimen in Mr. Worthington's collection. It
was formerly considered that the supposed 12d. on wove paper was merely
a proof, and in the "_Catalogue for Advanced Collectors_" we find the
following note concerning it under Canada.[17]

[17] American Journal of Philately, 2d. Series, III: 121.

    Although the 12p is catalogued by some as existing on thin wove
    paper, we do not believe in it as in every copy on wove paper sent
    to us for examination some traces of the word _specimen_ were to be
    discovered thus showing them all to be merely proofs.

As far as the writer has seen them, specimen copies have been on India
paper, which is quite distinct from the regular paper of the issue, and
they have been overprinted with the word "SPECIMEN" in carmine ink,
either diagonally or vertically upward. The copies referred to in the
paragraph just quoted probably had been treated with chemicals to remove
the red ink overprint.

Of course the desideratum for the settlement of the whole question is
to find a copy of the stamp used on cover; but inasmuch as up to the
present time but three copies of the 12d. on laid paper are known in
this condition, it seems a hopeless quest. Nevertheless there appear to
be several _used_ copies of the wove paper 12d. known, the first mention
we find of one being in the report of the proceedings of the Philatelic
Society of London for 4th May, 1888,[18] which reads: "The business of
the evening consisted in the revision of the Society's reference list of
the Stamps of Canada, which was concluded, Mr. F. Ransom showing an
undoubted postmarked specimen of the 12d. first issue, printed upon
stout wove paper." Mr. W. H. Brouse, the eminent Canadian philatelist,
also possessed a cancelled copy of this stamp, which later adorned the
Ayer collection, it is understood. An editorial in the _Dominion
Philatelist_ thus speaks of it:[19]--"We have received from W. H.
Brouse, of Toronto, a photograph of ... 12 pence Canada on _wove paper_
[which] appears to be a beautiful specimen with fine margin and light
cancellation." Two fine copies, one unused and one used, were sold in
the auction of the Mirabaud collection at Paris, in April, 1909.

[18] Philatelic Record, X: 124.

[19] Dominion Philatelist, No. 34, p. 8.

From the above it is plainly evident that the 12d. on wove paper
properly exists, in spite of the "first [and only] printing on laid
paper" theory, which is usually laid down as an _a priori_
consideration. Also it appears that it is found in a used condition,
though this cannot be taken as an absolute test, because of the
uncertainty that may lurk in a cancellation on a detached specimen of a
stamp. Only the discovery of a copy properly used on the original cover,
as already intimated, can effectually settle the question of its actual
issue and use. But there is a fact which doubtless furnishes the clue to
the seeming mystery of its being. We have already noted that the laid
paper first used varied considerably in thickness, and also that the
wove paper next used was in all respects similar to the former, but of
course without the laid lines. Now it happens sometimes that it is quite
difficult to distinguish the laid paper, a very careful scrutiny or even
the extreme resort to the benzine cup being necessary to bring out the
watermarked lines, and perhaps then only in a half suspicious way. If
such be the case, it is only a step further to the entire disappearance
of these "laid lines," and lo, the wove paper!

Writing to Mr. F. C. Young concerning the 12d. stamp, Mr. John N. Luff
says:[20]--"It is my opinion that both the wove and laid papers are
quite genuine and I think it is possible that both varieties might
occur though there was only one lot sent out by the printers. It does
not, of course, follow that the entire batch was printed on the same day
or that two varieties of paper might not have been used. The early
printers were not always very particular about their paper, provided it
was somewhat alike in a general way. Some collectors claim that laid
paper is often of such nature that the lines do not show in some parts
of the sheet, and I believe there is evidence to support this theory."
Finally Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack, in some notes sent the _London
Philatelist_, sums matters up in these words:[21]--"After a very careful
investigation I believe that the 12d., on wove paper, was issued, and
that the stamp was on sale at the Post Office, in Hamilton, Canada
West." Mr. Pack writes us further:--"When I was a boy I went to school
at St. Catherines, Ontario. There were keen stamp collectors in St.
Catherines at that time, not only among boys, but among grown people.
That was about 1869 or 1870. I was told that part of the 12d. Canada
which had been on sale at the Hamilton post office were on wove paper
and I was convinced that that was the case."

[20] Canada Stamp Sheet, IV: 142.

[21] London Philatelist, XVI: 144.

Concerning the laid and wove papers of this issue Mr. King writes as
follows:[22]--"The texture of these papers is virtually the same, and it
is indeed often difficult, particularly in the case of the 6d., to
distinguish between the _laid_ and _wove_ papers. The lines in the
_laid_ paper are of a most peculiar character, and cannot, as a rule, be
brought fairly out by holding the stamp between one's eyes and the
light. The best way to test these two papers is to lay the stamps, face
down, on a black surface, and let the light strike them at about an
angle of fifteen degrees, when the _laid_ lines are brought most plainly
into view. It is necessary, however, to place the specimens so that the
light will strike them parallel to their length, as the _laid_ lines run
horizontally in the 3d., and vertically in the 6d. and 12d."

[22] Monthly Journal, VII: 9.

We now come to the most interesting and confirmatory part of our
evidence. We have already referred to the fact that Messrs. Corwin &
King give June, 1852, as the date when the wove paper appeared, and 1852
is given in all catalogues and lists as the year of issue for all three
stamps on this paper. In their article on British North America, the
above gentlemen, in discussing early dates established by entire covers
for the varieties of paper that they describe, remark under the caption
"_Series IV_." (the _thin wove_ paper): "We took a six-pence from a
letter dated June 25th, 1852."[23] This statement can hardly be
questioned, after the careful and minute study that they gave to the
papers of this issue, and it therefore means just one thing: _the 6d. on
wove paper came in the first lot delivered_, for we have seen that the
second supply did not arrive until 1855. The fact is therefore
established that the first deliveries of stamps in April and May, 1851,
included the wove paper, and we therefore have here what amounts to the
proper credentials for the appearance and even use of the 12d. on wove
paper.

[23] Metropolitan Philatelist, I: 149.

As the 3d., having been delivered first, was undoubtedly printed first,
this value may have been entirely upon the laid paper, particularly as
it seems to be not especially rare on this paper and has not been
recorded on wove paper used earlier than the receipt of the 1852
supplies. But this of course is negative evidence, and this value may
yet be found to have been printed upon the wove paper along with the
other two values in 1851.

We have remarked that there were but three covers known bearing copies
of the 12d. stamp. It is with great satisfaction, therefore, that we are
able to present reproductions of two of them for the benefit of our
readers. The earliest date is on the cover numbered 90 on Plate VI,
which is in the Worthington collection. This bears the postmark of
"Montreal, L. C. JY 21, 1852" in red. The stamp is a little heavily
cancelled by the concentric rings type of obliteration in black. The
word CANADA within the curved frame and the word PAID are stamped in red
on the cover. This was a requirement of the first postal convention
between Canada and the United States, signed on March 25, 1851. Section
9 reads:--

    "The Offices designated for the despatch and receipt of Canadian
    Mails on the side of the United States will stamp 'U. States' upon
    all letters sent into Canada for delivery; and the Offices
    designated for the despatch and receipt of United States mails on
    the side of Canada will stamp 'Canada' upon all letters sent into
    the United States for delivery."

The other two covers were both the property of the late John F. Seybold,
but the one upon which the stamp appears in finest condition now
ornaments the collection of Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack. This is
illustrated as No. 91 on Plate VI and bears the postmark of "Hamilton,
C. W. NO 23, 1853." The stamp is cancelled with the concentric rings in
blue, and an additional handstamp appears in red reading "CANADA--PAID
20 Cts" in two lines. The "20" is made over from "10" by the use of a
pen in changing the first figure. In this connection it will be
remembered that 6d. currency, equal to 10 cents, was the single rate for
1/2oz. letters between Canada and the United States.[24]

[24] See 63 on page 30.

The third cover is in all respects a companion piece of the second,
bearing the same marks and (probably) the same address originally, but
dated from Hamilton on "DE 8, 1853."

All three of these covers show the particular use of the 12d.
stamp--simply as a multiple of the 3d. and 6d. in currency rates. That
it was _not_ issued with any intention of being especially used for the
British packet rate must be evident, as we have seen that this was 1s.
4d. currency if prepaid and sent via the United States, or 1s. 1-1/2d.
currency if prepaid and sent via Halifax[25]--rates that could not be
made up by means of the three stamps first issued.

[25] See Secs. 60 and 62 on page 30.

On the other hand the stamp was quadruple the domestic rate, double the
rate to the United States, and the single rate for the fortnightly mails
from Montreal viâ Boston to Newfoundland, Bermuda and the British West
Indies.[26] Probably letters in the first category were not common, and,
as it happens, all our specimens fall in the second. The third category
doubtless did not entail a large correspondence, particularly as the
more direct route to the places mentioned, viâ Quebec and Halifax, was
at the lesser rate of 7-1/2d.[27] For the above reasons, then, the
covers as we find them evidently exemplify the usual use to which the
12d. stamp was put, and explain why more were not used, as surely would
have been the case had the stamp been convenient for prepaying the
packet rate to England, with which there was a large correspondence.

[26] See Sec. 70 on page 31.

[27] See Secs. 67 and 68 on page 30.

Having now described the two main varieties of paper common to the three
values of this issue, let us look at some further varieties of the stock
used for the 3d. and 6d. values, which, because of their long term of
use, were subject to quite a number of printings and therefore gave
opportunity for the variation in paper which is a characteristic of this
issue. We have already given the statistics of the receipt and issue of
3d. and 6d. stamps for the five years from 1851 to 1856,[28] and find
they total 1,600,500 for the 3d. and 150,400 for the 6d. From succeeding
reports of the Postmaster General we cull the following:--

[28] See pages 35-36.

  REPORT OF 30TH SEPT., 1857, [including 1 year 6 months, by statute.][29]

                                                     3d. stamps  6d. stamps

    Balance on hand 31st March, 1856                    255,800       9,381
    Received from Mfrs. in half-year to 30th. Sept.                  50,000
                                                      ---------   ---------
      Total                                             255,800      59,381
    Issued for sale during half-year                    186,200      24,781
                                                      ---------   ---------
    Balance 1st October, 1856                            69,600      34,600
    Received from Mfrs. year ending 30th Sept., 1857    600,000      50,078
                                                      ---------   ---------
      Total                                             669,600      84,678
    Issued for sale during yr. ending 30th Sept., 1857  587,900      60,600
                                                      ---------   ---------
    Balance on hand                                      81,700      24,078

  REPORT OF 30TH. SEPT., 1858.

    Received from Mfrs. year ending 30th Sept., 1858    900,000     100,000
                                                      ---------   ---------
      Total                                             981,700     124,078
    Issued for sale during year                         717,200      82,500
                                                      ---------   ---------
    Balance on hand 30th Sept., 1858                    264,500      41,578

  REPORT OF 30TH. SEPT., 1859.

    Rec'd from Mfrs. during 9 mos. to 30th June, 1859   449,900      70,000
                                                      ---------   ---------
      Total                                             714,400     111,578
    Issued for sale during above 9 months               692,700      94,000
                                                      ---------   ---------
    Balance on hand 30th June, 1859                      21,700      17,578

[29] 20^o Vict. cap. XXV. Sec. VII; see page 61.

On July 1, 1859 the stamps in decimal currency were issued, so the above
remainders represent the last of the 3d. and 6d. stamps. Adding the
receipts from the manufacturers in the above tables, therefore, to the
totals already given for the years 1851-6, and then deducting the
remainders (which were later destroyed), we have for the total issue of
the 3d. stamp 3,528,700, and of the 6d. stamp 402,900. In these figures
are of course included the perforated stamps, which we will consider
later.

It will be seen from the tables that there were at least eight
deliveries of the 3d. stamps and at least six deliveries of the 6d.
stamps, but inasmuch as these are totalled by years, and as some of the
amounts are quite large (_e. g._ 900,000 of the 3d. in 1858), it seems
certain that there were even more deliveries and consequently more
printings of the stamps than is indicated. In no other way can we
account for the variety in the paper used, and also the variety in the
color of the 6d. stamp. The 3d. does not vary so much, probably because
its shade of red did not require much mixing of inks and the ingredients
were such that slight variations in the proportions did not greatly
affect the tone. The normal color being a bright red, we find it running
to a deeper, almost brick red in one direction, and to a vermilion in
the other. As to the normal color of the 6d. it would be almost
impossible to hazard a guess, if we had simply a series of one stamp of
each distinct variation in color or shade in which it is found. The
common run of shades is from a slate violet to a slate or "near black"
with a "cast" of violet, of brown, or even green. What can one do in
trying to describe the "color" of such a chameleon stamp with such an
uncertain basis to work upon? The check list gives the nearest
approximation to the various shades that we have been able to translate
into color names, but it is almost impossible to so describe some of
them as to convey the proper idea of the exact shade to the reader.

For papers used, Mr. King describes no less than fourteen.[30] Four of
these are the two grades of the laid and wove "bank-note" paper already
mentioned. A third variety of laid paper is described by him as entirely
different, being a stout white paper in which "the _laid_ lines are most
distinct, while the paper is of a different texture and color from the
regular grey shade." Mr. Pack states: "This paper is very rare, and I
have never seen but very few copies."[31] Mr. King's sixth variety is
described as "hard, stout, grayish wove," but we have included it with
the ordinary wove paper in the check list, of which it is but a little
heavier manifestation. The same may be said of his varieties XII and
XIII, described as "medium" and "thick, hard, white wove paper, very
slightly ribbed," respectively, which we have classed under "stout,
hard, white wove paper." There is an extreme case in the 6d. stamp,
which comes on a _very_ thick hard paper, concerning which Mr. Pack
says:--"The unused 6d. on very thick, hard paper is one of the greatest
rarities of Canada. It is as rare as the 12d. unused. Curiously enough,
this stamp in used condition is very rare in a pair or strip. So far as
I know there are only two or three strips or pairs in existence. It is
my understanding that the very thick _hard_ paper stamps were printed
previous to those on the _soft_ paper." The last remark refers to the
very thick, soft paper, almost a card board (Mr. King's variety XIV)
which is now well known as an exceedingly rare variety. It is distinct,
both in paper and color, from any other variety of the 6d. stamp, the
shade being a dull purple. The same may be said of the thick _hard_
paper stamp, which appears to be in a very even shade of slate violet.

[30] Monthly Journal, VII: 9.

[31] London Philatelist, XVI: 144.

Mr. King's varieties X and XI are both peculiar, the former being a
"very soft, thin, cream wove which is quite fragile and will not bear
much handling," and the latter a "soft, thick, coarse white wove paper;
the surface presents a sort of hairy appearance, and the quality is
better than series X." The 3d. is the only value occurring in these two
varieties, which we have placed under "soft white wove paper" in the
check list.

Lastly comes the ribbed paper. The first variety is a very soft, thin
paper on which the 3d. appears. This is Mr. King's variety VII, and he
makes a variety VIII of the same paper in a "cream" tone. The same value
comes on a thicker, hard paper, Mr. King's variety IX, and he lists a
6d. in violet black as well.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the first issue of Canadian
stamps furnishes plenty of material for study, and is an extremely
difficult series to work out and put into proper form for a reference
list. Mr. King truly says:--"If the papers and shades of this series of
stamps are thoroughly studied, there are more varieties than in all the
other British North American stamps put together; in many cases they are
minute, in others more decided, but in every case distinct." Some
criticism may be made of our not using _in extenso_, the excellent
"Reference List"[32] prepared by Messrs. King and Corwin, but it has
seemed wise, in working with the specialized collections already alluded
to, to condense this list to some extent; nor do we think its
correctness and usefulness have been impaired thereby.

[32] Monthly Journal, VII: 9.

We have spoken of the three values of stamps already treated as the
"first issue" of Canada. Some may cavil at this, for there are three
more values belonging to the pence series which may be regarded as part
of the "first issue," inasmuch as they were complementary as well as
supplementary to the original three. But they did not appear until
nearly four or more years later, and therefore escaped the laid paper
varieties. For this reason, and because there appears another important
question to solve in connection with two of them, we have reserved a
separate chapter for these three. We may also say that as one of them
appears in the perforated series of pence values we have left the
consideration of these latter stamps until the next following chapter.

THE REMAINING PENCE ISSUES

A resume of the chief happenings of the year and other items of interest
is given in the annual reports of the Postmasters General, and a brief
summary of these first few years will not be without its importance
here. It will be recalled that the Provincial Government took over the
control of its posts on the 6th April, 1851, and by the _Act to Amend
The Post Office Act_, passed 30th August, 1851,[33] the Postmaster
General was required by statute to "report to the Governor General of
the Province annually, for the purpose of being laid before Parliament
at each Session, _First_. A report of Finances, Receipts and Expenditure
of the Post Office Department for the year ending on the fifth day of
April previous," etc., etc. Accordingly the first annual report of the
Postmaster General was rendered on the 5th April, 1852. In it we find
the following information:--

[33] 14^o & 15^o Vict., cap. LXXI, sec. 12.

    Upon the transfer of the control of the Post Office Department in
    this Province, by the Imperial Post Office Authorities to the
    Provincial Government, on the 6th April, 1851, the number of Post
    Offices in operation was found to be 601--the number of miles of
    established Post Route, 7595--over which the annual transportation
    of the Mails was 2,487,000 miles--and the Gross Revenue raised under
    the authority of the Imperial Post Office, at the high tariff of
    rates then prevailing, had been for the year preceding the transfer
    £93,802 currency, including in that sum the collections in Canada of
    British Packet Postage, estimated to have amounted to £10,000
    sterling.

    The Provincial Act of the 12th and 13th Vic. cap. 66, providing for
    the management of the Department after the transfer, reduced the
    Postage charges in Canada upon all letters passing between places
    within the Province, or within British North America generally, to a
    uniform rate of 3d. per 1/2 oz.; whereas under the tariff in force
    previous to the transfer, the average charge on each letter was
    computed to have been as nearly as possible 9d. per 1/2 oz.; the
    reduction therefore consequent upon the introduction of the uniform
    3d. rate was equivalent to 2/3, or 66-2/3 per cent, on the former
    average letter Postage charge.

    The Postage charge on Box or Drop Letters, and the additional charge
    on letters delivered in the Cities by Letter Carriers, have in each
    case been reduced to one half penny, being one half the former
    rates.

    With regard to newspapers, the Postage charge has been altogether
    taken off upon several important branches of newspaper circulation,
    and papers to and from the other British North American Provinces,
    papers sent to the United States, and Editors' exchange papers, pass
    free of all Postage charge whatever. The rates on printed papers,
    circulars, pamphlets, books, &c., have also been modified and
    reduced.

The gross receipts of the Department for the year under review are given
as £71,788 18s. 5d. currency, a drop of over £20,000 from the previous
year; but this is a good showing after all, for when it is remembered
that the new uniform rate of postage was but one third the former
average rate, it is readily figured out that correspondence nearly
doubled under the new tariffs. This is confirmed by the following
comparative statement of pieces mailed:--

One week preceding 5th April, 1851, No. of letters, 41,000; papers,
90,000.

One week preceding 5th April, 1852, No. of letters, 86,051[34]; papers,
101,000.

[34] This is explained in the report for 1853 as being "a clerical error
for 71,726."

There were 243 new post offices added during the year and 1023 miles of
post routes.

"An agreement was concluded with the Post Master General of the United
States, which has continued in satisfactory operation since April, 1851,
under which letters pass between any place in Canada, and any place in
the United States, at a Postage rate of 6d. currency, per half oz.,
except to and from California and Oregon, when, the distance being over
3,000 miles, the rate is 9d. per half oz. Letters are posted on either
side, paid or unpaid, at the option of the sender."

The total correspondence passing between the two countries is given as
having a postage rating of $85,636.97.

The second annual report of the Postmaster General is dated the 31st
March, 1853, and contains little of interest but statistics. 176 new
post offices were established and 504 miles of new post routes added.
The gross revenue of the Department for the fiscal year is given as
£84,866.6.11-1/2. and the total postage on the correspondence passing
between Canada and the United States was $104,966.40.

The third report, of 31st March, 1854, speaks of a large reduction in
the postal charges upon newspapers circulating within the Province and
on certain classes of periodical prints, which took place on Feb. 1,
1854, but gives no further details. Concerning the British packet
postage, however, the report says:--

    In March, 1854, the charge on packet letters passing between Canada
    and the United Kingdom and most foreign countries was reduced by the
    Imperial Government from 1s. 2d. sterling to 8d. sterling per 1/2
    oz. when sent in closed mails through the United States, and from
    1s. to 6d. when sent direct from a Provincial Port, Quebec or
    Halifax.

Further on are the following recommendations:--

    Should no further change be likely soon to take place in the charges
    on the correspondence with England, it would promote the public
    convenience to procure Postage stamps of the value of 10d. and 7-1/2
    d. respectively to correspond with the present packet letter
    charges.

And again:--

    Much unnecessary labor and waste of time is occasioned to this
    Department by the practice now followed of rating and collecting
    Postage on all Government and Legislative correspondence, and it
    would be an improvement, in my belief, very worthy of adoption, to
    authorize by enactment the transmission of all such matter through
    the mails, under proper regulations, free of Postage charge, and
    that in lieu thereof, a certain fixed annual sum estimated to be
    equivalent to the aggregate of the Postage arising upon such
    correspondence, should be paid by the Receiver General to the Post
    Office, to be accounted for as Post Office Revenue.

Perhaps the most pregnant remark is one short statement:--"The use of
stamps has materially increased"; for it will be remembered that the
first annual report of the Postmaster General was pessimistic with
regard to the employment of stamps, fearing that their use was
diminishing.

The accounts accompanying the report contain but one item concerning
stamps:--

  Rawdon, Wright & Co., Postage Stamps furnished Post Office
  Department                                        £12.11.3

This amount was of course only for printing supplies, evidently for the
250,000 3d. stamps received during the fiscal year.

In the fourth report, of 31st March, 1855, there are several items of
interest. The lowering of the British packet rates proved a popular
step, naturally, and the report states that "Notwithstanding the
important reduction granted by the Imperial Government in the postage
rate between this country and the United Kingdom in March, 1854," the
results were as follows:--

British Packet Postage collected in Canada in year ending 31 March, 1855
(postage rate 8d. sterling) £16,449.14.3-1/2.

British Packet Postage collected in Canada in year ending 31 March, 1854
(postage rate 1s. 2d. sterling) £17,495.1.4-1/2. which was a drop of but
six per cent. in receipts upon a reduction of over forty per cent. in
the postal charge.

Again:--

    In March, 1855 the Imperial Post Office authorized a reduction in
    the charge on letters passing through the English Posts between
    Canada and France, from 2s. 8-1/2d. Currency to 1s. 8d. Currency per
    1/4 oz. letter.

The suggestions contained in the report for 1854 concerning the franking
of official mail matter, and the payment of a fixed annual sum to the
Post Office Department on this account, were acted upon, and the report
states:--

    In July last the Act of last Session came into effect, removing
    altogether the Postage charge on the circulation of Provincial
    Newspapers and according a franking privilege to the correspondence
    of the Legislature and of the Public Departments of the Government.

The Act referred to was doubtless the following:--

    18^o Vict. Cap. LXXIX.

    An act to abolish Postage on Newspapers published within the
    Province of Canada, and for other purposes connected with the Post
    Office Department of this Province.

    [_Assented to_ 19th May, 1855.]

    WHEREAS papers devoted to the advancement of Education, Temperance,
    Science, Agriculture and other special objects, are now exempt from
    postage; And whereas it would further materially aid the diffusion
    of useful knowledge to remove all postal restrictions on the
    transmission of Newspapers in general, published within this
    Province, and of all documents printed by order of either House of
    Parliament: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent
    Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative
    Council and the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, * *
    * * and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, as
    follows:

    I. All Newspapers published within the Province of Canada, shall be
    transmitted by mail free of Postage.

    IV. All Letters and other mailable matter addressed to or sent by
    the Governor of this Province, or sent to or by any Public
    Department at the seat of Government, shall be free of Provincial
    Postage under such regulations as may be directed by the Governor in
    Council.

    V. All Letters and other mailable matter addressed to or sent by the
    Speaker or Chief Clerk of the Legislative Council or of the
    Legislative Assembly, or by or to any Member of either of said
    branches of the Legislature during any Session of the Legislature,
    shall be free of Provincial Postage.

    VI. All public documents and printed papers may be sent by the
    Speaker or Chief Clerk of the Legislative Council or of the
    Legislative Assembly, to any Member of either of the said branches
    of the Legislature of Canada, during the recess of Parliament, free
    of Postage.

    VII. Members of either branch of the Legislature of Canada may send
    during the recess of Parliament by mail, free of Postage, all papers
    printed by order of either branch of the Legislature of Canada.

    IX. This Act shall come into effect on and after the first day of
    July, eighteen hundred and fifty-five.

There is a bit of conflict here. The "enactment clause" of the above Act
makes it operative unequivocally on July 1, 1855. Yet the Postmaster
General's report, just quoted, which is supposed to be for the fiscal
year ending 31st March, 1855, distinctly states that the provisions of
the above Act came into effect "in July last," which would seem to be
July, 1854. The Act itself is not in error, so the discrepancy must lie
in the Postmaster General's report. Probably the report was written much
later in the year than March 31st, as it was not presented to Parliament
until the fall session, and therefore gave opportunity to refer back to
happenings in July.

The growth of the Department during the first four years under
Provincial control is illustrated by the following table:--

                  Post       Miles    Letters                    Correspondence
        Date      Offices    of       mailed  Gross Revenue           with
                  in         Routes.  per                           the U. S.
                  operation.          week

  6th April, 1851    601     7,595    41,000  £ 93,802
  5th April, 1852    840     8,618    71,726  £ 71,788.18. 5       $ 85,636.97
  31st Mar., 1853  1,016     9,122    81,896  £ 84,866. 6. 11-1/2  $104,966.40
  31st Mar., 1854  1,166    10,027    98,350  £ 98,495. 6. 7       $129,921.67
  31st Mar., 1855  1,293    11,192   116,671  £110,747.12. 9-1/2   $145,377.69

The number of post offices had more than doubled; the length of the post
routes had increased by fifty per cent; and although the revenue had
dropped one quarter during the first year, owing to the reduction in
postage rates, it had increased by half in the next three years; while
the total correspondence between Canada and the United States had
increased by two thirds in the same three years.

But the item that interests us particularly in this report reads:--

    To promote the general convenience in prepaying letters to the
    United Kingdom at the new rate, postage stamps of the value of 10d.
    Currency, equal to 8d. sterling, were procured and issued for sale
    to the public.

Thus part of the recommendation contained in the report for the
preceding year was carried out.

In the accounts for the fiscal year we find the following entries:--

  1st. Quarter, Rawdon, Wright & Co., Postage Stamps
    for P. O. Dept.                                  £12.12.6

  3rd. Quarter, Rawdon, Wright & Co., Making Stamps   42.18.6

  4th. Quarter, Rawdon, Wright & Co., Postage Stamps
    for P. O. Dept.                                   17.13.6

From this it would appear that the bill for engraving ("making") the new
10d. stamp was paid in the third quarter of the fiscal year,
corresponding to the last quarter of 1854. According to the table of
receipts from manufacturers in the "summary" already quoted,[35] the
10d. stamp was first received by the Post Office Department on Jan. 2,
1855. In Mr. King's "Reference List,"[36] however, the date "Dec. 5,
1854" is given as being "taken from used stamps on the original covers,"
but this must certainly be a mistake. The "summary" also gives the
quantities issued to postmasters by quarters, and there were none issued
(naturally) in the quarter ending Dec. 31, 1854. In the next quarter,
ending Mar. 31, 1855, there were 16,200 issued to postmasters, so that
the first issue probably took place soon after receipt, that is, in
January, 1855. The total number received from the manufacturers in this
first delivery was 100,080.

[35] Metropolitan Philatelist, XVII: 83.

[36] Monthly Journal, VII: 9.

The plate for this stamp is stated to have been made up for printing
sheets of 100 impressions in ten rows of ten, like the three values of
1851, and also to have had the eight marginal imprints. But there are
reasons for thinking it may have been made to print 120 impressions,
ten rows of twelve each, concerning which more will be said later.
Suffice it to remark here that the number delivered (100,080) is exactly
divisible by 120, making 834 full sheets, which is not the case if 100
is used. The normal color of the stamp is a very deep blue.

The design of the new 10d., illustrated as No. 3 on Plate I, corresponds
in general style to the 6d. and 12d. of 1851, but the portrait in the
central oval is of Jacques Cartier, the explorer and founder of Canada.
There has been some discussion over the identity of the original, it
having been claimed that the subject was Sebastian Cabot, the
discoverer, just as the portrait on the 6d. stamp has been assigned to
Lord Elgin, Governor-General of Canada from 1846 to 1854.[37]
Unfortunately no circular announcing the issue of the stamp has come to
hand, and, as seen from the quotation already given, the report of the
Postmaster General does not give us the information. It is nevertheless
a fact that the portrait represents Cartier, the original being a
three-quarter length painting in the Hotel de Ville at St. Malo, France,
the birthplace of Cartier. The inscriptions in the oval frame are in
this case separated by a small picture of the beaver at the right, and
three maple leaves at the left. The value is expressed as TEN PENCE,
with the numerals "10" in the lower spandrels, followed by the letters
"cy" for "currency." In the upper spandrels is the corresponding value
in sterling money, expressed as "8d stg". The relation between sterling
and currency values and their equivalents in the decimal coinage of the