PHILATELY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2455, 3 April 1901, Page 54

PHILATELY.

By Pjslure. Mr Ehrenbach, a leading English collector, says of unpaid letter stamps : — "A mere glance through any of the leading catalogues will show that between. 50 and 60 countries or possessions thereof have issued such stamps, and this to the tune of about 800, and leaving out practically all varieties of types, shades, and perforations, as I think a question like the present one is likely to bear only on the subject of general collections ; in fact, it can hardly have any influence on specialists' collections in any way. The chief argument which should be put forth to decide their status one way or the other iis, I take it, 'Do they defray postage, or do they not?' I say they do ; I others say che contrary. My view is, that it is de fac*,o quite immaterial whether postage or freight or carriage of any kind is 2)aid in advance or on delivery; it Ims to be paid somehow or other. Ko firm , whether it be the Post Office or a railway company, or a steamship company or any other company, would undertake the work of a carrier without remuneration. If they were not paid they would decline the business. But thf Post Office cannot, in accordance with the Convention of the Postal Union, decline to carry letters or cards, whether they are franked in advance or not." Quality, not quantity, is the great desideratum in stamp collecting. In proof of this a collection of 1297 varieties was recently sold at a London auction for £16, whereas another containing 2526 varieties only fetched 255. In reply to an inquiry respecting the places of issue of the stamps of Austrian Italy, the editor of the Monthly Journal gives the following interesting history of these stamps: "All the issues given under Austrian Italy were also used in the Austrian post offices in foreign countries, but the title orieinally given to them has been adhered to for the earlier series. In 1866 Austrian Italy ceased to exist, those provinces having become part of the Kingdom of Italy, and it was therefore impossible to give that title to later issues. The soldi sets of 1867 and 1883 were used, according to Mr Westoby's book, in the Austrian offices in the Danubian Principalities, in Turkey, and in Egypt. The Italian 'Estero' stamps, in the same way, aie used in all foreign countries where there are Italian post offices. The Russian Levant stamps are used by the Russian Steam Navigation Company, carving mails between Odessa and Russian and Tuikish ports on the Black Sea and some parts of the Mediterranean. The company has offices, no doubt, in the Turkish ports, as well as in Russian ports. There was an English Office, we believe, using ordinary English stamps, long before the surcharged stamps were issued." The reason why a letter may be received from Hawaii franked with the stamps of the States is that these islands have now been annexed to the U.S.A., and though the old issue may not have been exhausted, the Postal department, now under the sole control of the State* Government, would have no objection if U.S.A. stamps were used, in the same way as British stamps pass, or have passed, as a legitimate postage fee in South Africa and elsewhere. The Hawaiian Islands, until 1893, enjoyed the peaceful rule of Queen Lilioukalani ; then came the bloodless revolution of '93, followed by the dethronement of the Queen and the establishment of a provisional government under the presidency of Sandford B. Dole. Since then the islands have been annexed by the Stars and Stripes, and at the end of the presidency (which lasted six years) the current stamps were changed m colour (le, 2c, sc, 10c, 12c, and 25c) ; but soon gave way to the United States labels —The Captain. After careful inquiry into the matter, the following would appear to be the facts, so far as can be asceitained, in connection with the overprinting, surcharging, and reissue of the stamps now known as "Mafeking Siege Stamps.'' Shortly before the 23rd of March, 1900, it vas found possible to forward despatches by runners from Mafeking both by the north and south routes, and a service was accordingly established by the military authorities. Owing to the high amounts which had to be paid to the runners it was decided to charge special rates for any private letters conveyed, and the following tariff was adopted — viz., via the north, Is per £oz ; via the south, 6d per From a statement made by the military authorities it would appear that, in order to provide a sufficiency of stamps to admit of the prepayment of private letters, it was further decided to surcharge all the unsold stamps in the possession of the local postmaster, and Lieutenant-colonel Lord Edward Cecil, under whose supervision the post office was carried on during the siege, accordingly purchased the stamps at their face value and caused them to be overt printed and surcharged at the work-> of Messrs Townshend and Son, the publishers of the Mafeking Mail newspaper. On the 23rd of March the stamps as over-printed were issued for the first time at their enhanced value?, and ifc is understood the whole of tiij

disposed of before the relief of the town was effected. Owing to the interruption of communication the postal authorities at Capetown could not be consulted in the matter, either as regards the sale or the over-printing, and from the time the stamps originally passed out of the hands of the civil postmaster the Colonial Post Office department ceased to have any control whatsoever over their treatment. In view of these circumstances, and of the fact that the whole of the additional revenue derived from the sale of the stamps at their surcharged value was retained by the military authorities, the Postal Administration of the Cape Colony and the Bechuanaland Protectorate have decided to regard the stamps in question as purely military issues, and (in the month of November last) official notices have consequently been published in the Government Gazette proclaiming their nonavailability for the prepayment of mail matter posted either in the Cape Colony or in the Protectorate. The average number of letters per week forwarded via the north from March 23 was approximately 60, a runner leaving JVlafe- j king twice per week, and via the south 30, once per week. It is, however, more than probable that many of the runners were captured by the Boer forces, and that the letters being conveyed by them never reached a British post office. The local stamps — viz., those actually manufactured in Mafeking and bearing representations of the bust of Major-general Baden-Powell and Sergeant-major Goodyear, of the Cadet Corps, on a bicycle — -were used entirely for a postal service which was s *M^ ranged within the town and between the various outposts. The whole of the three varieties of these stamps were printed by means of photography, the photograph being taken by Dr D. Taylor, and the gumming and perforating being executed by Me?«rs Townshend and Son. The two varieties of the "Ba-den-Powell" pattern were designed by Captain Greener, the chief paymaster ; while the one of the bicycle pattern was designed by Dr VV. A. Hayes. NEW ISSUES. Finland. — After all, Finland is to have a set of postage stamps of its own. The design of the new stamps will be exactly the same as that of the current Russian set, but the values will be expressed in Finnish currency (penni and marks), instead of Russian. The new stamps are all ready and were to have been issued to the public ere this appears in print. The full set will contain the following values • — 2, 5, 10, and ; 20 penni, and 1 and 10 marks. Eritrea. — La Revista del Francobollo learns that the Italian Government have the intention of making a special issue for this colony. The stamps "will probably be of larger size than usual, and in two different tvvjes, one representing a lion, the other an e^phant. | Switzerland is to have a new issue, and 1 the Government has offered "prizes for the I best designs for new stamps of the values ! of 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, and 15 centimes. A I new type of postage dues will also probably ; be issued. • Russia. — Following the example of Ger- ' many, Austria, France, Spain, Greece, Italy, ! Finland, and Switzerland, announcements now come that Russia is thinking of having a new issue. The Cont'nent generalty seems to be going ir> for a new i«sue. ( Canada. — Another value has recently been ' added to the current set with numeral'; in i the lower cornerr — viz. , %20 cents sagegreen. This information appears in the Metropolitan Philatelist.