WEALTHY AMERICAN REPUBLIC

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23429, 19 August 1939, Page 9 (Supplement)

WEALTHY AMERICAN REPUBLIC

By RONALD YOUNGER

EVEN TE EN new pictorial stamps have been issued by tire Republic of Bolivia, a wild and mountainous country of South America. Eight are for ordinary postage, and nine are airmails. It has been said that, "as the veins of a man are full of. blood, so are the veins of Bolivia full of precious metals." The gold and silver mines of tho coun-

try have for centuries been' producing: fabulous wealth. And as vet, experts say, the extent of the mineral wealth of Bolivia is hardly known! The mining industry is represented on one of the new stamps—the 30 cents (grey) air-mail, a copy of which is illustrated here. The design shows a miner working underground with a pneumatic drill. Not much gold is mined now, but Bolivia produces onequarter of the world's output of tin, much silver and antimony and .lead. Oil which is also found in Bolivia is represented on the 10 c. (orange), jvhicli shows derricks which are erected over oil wells. The country has other valuable resources also. In its valleys can be cultivated almost every fruitful plant known to South America. The yield of rubber is immense; wheat, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, maize and sugar-cane all flourish. The 2-holiva value of the postage set shows a farm scene, and a

Story of Bolivia Depicted on Stamps

fine picture, of wheat harvesting by tractor-drawn machinery is used on th*> 50 c. air-mail. Bolivia, however, remains an unhappy State in spite of its wealth. Agriculture still remains backward; roads are rough—and there arc very few of them. The population of about 3,000,000 is made up of three races—the Mestizos, who are descendants of the original Spanish settlers, and the Quechua and Ayinara, who are native Indian peoples. The 60 c. postage stamp of new series boars a symbolical design which suggests that to-day the natives are keenly seeking education. The new stamps form a very attractive and educational series, and collectors should make every effort to obtain copies.