CHAPTER XXI

THE STAMPED ENVELOPES

In its issue for June, 1904, the _London Philatelist_[204] illustrated a cover, submitted by Mr. E. B. Greenshields of Montreal, which had the appearance of a provisional 3d. envelope. Concerning it Mr. Greenshields said:--"This letter was posted in New Carlisle, Gaspé, Lower Canada, on April 7th, 1851, and was stamped 'Three Pence' in two lines, inside a square, with a black border of neat design round the sides. Across this was written 'Letter R. W. Kelly Apl. 1851'. The letter was addressed to Toronto, C. W., and on the other side was stamped the date the letter was received, 'Apl. 16, 1851.'" The design was printed on the right upper corner of the envelope, "Three Pence" being in script type of a style then in vogue, and the border being a common type of loops. No stamp appeared on the cover nor the word PAID.

[204] =London Philatelist=, XIII: 153.

On enquiry of the Post Office Department at Ottawa the following reply was sent:--

OTTAWA, _2nd. March_, 1904.

SIR,--I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your communication of the 26th ultimo, inquiring whether R. W. Kelly was Postmaster of New Carlisle, Co. Gaspé, Quebec, in 1851, and in reply am directed to inform you that R. W. Kelly, doubtless the same man, was Postmaster of New Carlisle in 1851....

As regards your inquiry as to whether postage stamps were used on the 7th April, 1851, and your statement that you have an envelope sent on that date from New Carlisle to Toronto with "Three Pence" printed on it, inside a fancy border, I have to say that postage stamps were issued to the public for the first time on the 23d April, 1851, and that stamped envelopes were not issued until some years later. The stamped envelope to which you refer may have been an envelope so stamped on the prepayment in the New Carlisle Post Office of three pence, the required charge for postage.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM SMITH, _Secretary_.

Inasmuch as the impression is type-set and printed, it was doubtless a scheme of the Postmaster to prepare the envelopes and save stamping them with the office seals afterwards, as would be necessary if no adhesive stamp were attached. The cover in question was evidently used for his own convenience, but its use as a stamped envelope would depend upon whether it was sold to the public for their convenience as a prepaid cover. Under such conditions it would assume a character akin to the Postmaster's Provisionals of the United States, but no such evidence has been forthcoming, nor are other copies known. It is an interesting cover, particularly because of the lack of the word PAID, which should have been stamped upon it as well as the indication of the amount, according to the rules in force before adhesive stamps were used to indicate prepayment in themselves; but it had no government sanction, and has not yet been shown to have even the rank of a "semi-official issue."

Although following closely upon the heels of the United States in issuing postage stamps, less than four years having intervened, Canada was not so eager to introduce the stamped envelope, for she waited over six years before following the example of her big neighbor. The first reference to the innovation is found in the Postmaster General's Report for 30th September, 1859 (although the Report is actually dated 20th February, 1860), and reads as follows:--

For the promotion of public convenience by facilitating the prepayment of letters, Stamped Envelopes bearing Medallion Stamps of the postage value of 5c. and of 10c. respectively have been procured and issued for sale to the public, at an advance of 1/2 a cent on the value of each stamp, to cover the cost of the envelope, and of engraving the stamp, &c.

The precise date of issue does not seem to be on record, but the year 1860 is always given. From the stamp accounts, quoted below, we find the quantity issued for sale is qualified by the remark "during 8 months to Sept. 30", which would indicate that the envelopes were issued about the 1st February, 1860; and we have therefore assigned this date to them until a more authoritative one is produced.

The next reference to the envelopes, including the accounts, appears in the Report for the year ending 30th September, 1860, as follows:--

STAMPED ENVELOPES. 5c. 10c. Value Received from Mfrs. 200,000 100,000 21,500.00 Issued for sale during 8 months to Sept. 30, 136,177 45,651 12,283.09 ------- ------- --------- Remaining, 63,823 54,349 9,216.91

The number of Stamped Envelopes, actually used by the public, has been but small, as a considerable proportion of those issued remain in the hands of Postmasters.

The cost of manufacture of the stamped envelopes was included, as we have already seen,[205] in the payments made to the American Bank Note Co. for stamps, etc., in 1860, so that they were obtained from that firm. They were not manufactured by them, however, but by George F. Nesbitt & Co. of New York, who at that time held the contract for supplying the United States Government with stamped envelopes. The similarity of the stamped impression, both in size and general arrangement, to the United States envelope dies of 1860 will be noted, and the paper used for the envelopes will be found to be similar, even to the watermark, while the two "knives" used for cutting the envelope blanks will be found to agree with numbers 2 and 11 of the Tiffany, Bogert and Rechert catalog. It was evidently a case of the Bank Note Co. subletting the contract to Nesbitt, who was regularly in the business.

[205] See page 90.

Nothing further appears in the Reports in regard to the stamped envelopes, except the tables of statistics, until the Report of 30th June, 1864, which says:--"In order to promote the use of the Stamped Envelopes a reduction in the price to the public was made from 1st October, 1864, from $5.50 per 100 for the five cent and $10.50 per 100 for the ten cent envelopes, to $5.30 and $10.30 per 100 respectively." But even this bait did not attract, for the next year's Report remarks:--"The recent reduction in the price of stamped envelopes has not led to any material increase in the demand." For two years longer the accounts are given, but with the first Report of the Dominion of Canada, for the year ending 30th June, 1868, they disappear, the envelopes evidently having been given up as a bad investment at the close of the accounts of the Province of Canada, when it was merged into the Dominion.

We have already quoted the figures for the first supplies received and the quantities first issued to postmasters. It may be well to give the entire record for its historical value:--

5 cent. 10 cent. Balance on hand, 30th Sept. 1860, 63,823 54,349 Returned by Post Masters, unsold, 1,529 1,905 ------ ------ 65,352 56,254 Issued for sale during year, 20,700 806 ------ ------ Balance on hand, 30th Sept. 1861, 44,652 55,448 Returned by Post Masters, unsold, 251 314 ------ ------ 44,903 55,762 Issued for sale during year, 9,595 844 ------ ------ Balance on hand, 30th Sept. 1862, 35,308 54,918 Returned by Post Masters, unsold, 4 ------ ------ 35,308 54,922 Issued for sale during year, 15,200 900 ------ ------ Balance on hand, 30th Sept. 1863, 20,108 54,022 Returned by Post Masters, unsold, 5,000 2,997 ------ ------ 25,108 57,019 Issued during 9 months, 14,800 850 ------ ------ Balance on hand, 30th June, 1864, 10,308 56,169 Returned by Post Masters, unsold, 6,444 5,632 Received from manufacturers, 25,000 ------ ------ 41,752 61,801 Issued for sale during year, 23,583 5,698

Balance on hand 30th June, 1865, 18,169 56,103 Returned by Post Masters, unsold, 382 225 ------ ------ 18,551 56,328 Issued to 30th June, 1866, 16,225 625 ------ ------ Balance 30th June, 1866, 2,326 55,703 Returned by Post Masters, unsold, 193 ------ ------ 2,326 55,896 Deduct envelopes short received, 10 ------ ------ 2,316 55,896 Issued to 30th. June, 1867, 2,270 172 ------ ------ Balance 30th. June, 1867, 46 55,724

These figures are the last that appear concerning the first issue of envelopes, the next Report, as already stated, having no mention of them at all. It was very probably because there were not enough to supply the added Provinces of the Dominion, in the case of the 5 cent envelopes, and principally because they did not seem to be popular enough to warrant continuing their use that the envelopes did not remain in issue under the Dominion Government.

An inspection of the above table shows that the 5 cent envelopes were apparently issued at an average rate of perhaps 15,000 a year, while 800 only of the 10 cent were ordinarily put forth. This might indicate a fair consumption of the lower value by the public, particularly as the total receipt from the manufacturers was 225,000 and but 46 remainders are given at the close of the account. But it must be remembered that the table gives the quantities "issued to postmasters" and not the sales to the public by the postmasters. We know the public did not take particularly to the use of the envelopes, so that there were doubtless large quantities of them in postmaster's hands when their sale was discontinued. These would naturally be returned to the Department and destroyed, which would of course materially reduce the quantity issued as taken from the tables. Unfortunately these latter figures have not been obtainable; but it is certain from the rarity of used copies that nothing like 224,954 of the 5 cent and 44,276 of the 10 cent envelopes could have been sold to the public. We are able to illustrate an entire used copy of each value as Numbers 130 and 131 on Plate XIV.

As already stated, the envelope stamps were very similar in size and style to the United States envelope dies of 1860. The inscription CANADA POSTAGE is in the frame above the head and the value below, reversing the United States arrangement, and there are no stars separating the legends. The embossed head of Queen Victoria was evidently copied from the profile used on the 1 cent stamp of 1859. The 5 cent stamp is printed in vermilion and the 10 cent in dark brown. There was but one size of envelope, 5-1/2 × 3-1/4 inches (140 × 83 mm.), and but one quality of paper for the first order--a white laid paper with a slightly yellowish tone, watermarked with the letters Ca over POD (Canada Post Office Department) which appears about twice in each envelope. The paper was cut so that the laid lines run diagonally, and the knife used was that numbered 2 in the Tiffany, Bogert and Rechert catalog of United States envelopes, with rounded flap and yellowish gum, extending nearly the length of the flap.

In the table given it will be noticed that 25,000 more 5 cent envelopes were received from the manufacturers in 1865. These latter were on a white paper of similar quality with a slightly bluish tone, and a slightly different knife had been used in cutting the blanks, which corresponds to that numbered 11 in the catalog quoted. The difference consists mainly in a more pointed flap than the first knife.

The _London Philatelist_ for December, 1896, contained the following startling announcement under the head of CANADA:[206]--

Mr. L. Gibb, of Montreal, kindly submitted to his fellow members of the London Philatelic Society, at a recent meeting, a curious variety among the stamps of the Colony he resides in. The specimen in question was the 10 c. envelope of 1860 impressed in vermilion, instead of its normal colour--brown, and being presumably printed in error in the color of the 5c. The stamp was unfortunately cut round, but was on the diagonally laid paper usual to the Issue, duly postmarked, and, in the opinion of the members present, had every appearance of authenticity, although surprise was expressed that so marked a variety should never have been noted before.

[206] =London Philatelist=, V: 345.

Nothing further has apparently been learned about it since, but in the face of the above statements and opinions it seems necessary to record it.

Both values were reprinted[207] by the Nesbitt Company in 1868 on pieces of white wove paper and also vertically laid buff paper, the 5 cent copying the color of the original, but the 10 cent being in a dark red brown instead of black brown. They were also printed in the same colors on entire envelopes of white and buff laid paper with the POD over US watermark of the regular United States stationery. These were a size smaller than the regular Canadian envelopes, being 137×77 mm. A further variety is noted in the _Catalogue for Advanced Collectors_,[208] as follows:--"There is also a second type of the 5c to be found on the same papers as above reprints which was probably struck off in the same year. The stamp is a trifle larger and the head smaller than on the accepted die; this is probably a die prepared by Nesbitt but refused by the Canadian Government."

[207] =American Journal of Philately=, 2nd Series, III: 165.

[208] =Ibid.=

The Dominion Government, which discarded the Provincial stamped envelopes from the beginning, did not essay anything in that line for nearly ten years. Finally the following notice was sent out:--

POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, CANADA

OTTAWA, 6th October, 1877.

STAMPED ENVELOPES.

1. Letter envelopes bearing an impressed postage stamp of one cent, and three cents respectively, are ready for issue to Postmasters and through their agency to Stamp Vendors for sale to the public.

2. These envelopes when issued to Postmasters will be charged to them, and will have to be accounted for by them at the following rates:

One cent envelopes, $1.30 Three cent do No. 1 size, 3.30 do do No. 2 size, 3.35

3. The three-cent envelopes are of two sizes, No. 2 being larger than No. 1 and Postmasters, when asking at any time for a supply, will be careful to state how many of each size they want.

4. Postmasters and Stamp Vendors will be required to sell these envelopes at the above rates per hundred to the public, and when a request is made for a single envelope, or for any number less than a hundred, the charge for the same must be made by the Postmaster or Stamp Vendor, as near the exact proportionate value, as compared with the above rates per hundred, as the fraction will permit without loss to the Postmaster or Stamp Vendor, thus ten of the three-cent envelopes, No. 1 size, should be sold for thirty-three cents, five for seventeen cents, and two for seven cents.

5. When used these envelopes will represent the pre-payment of postage to the amount of the stamp impressed thereon, and when used for letters weighing more than 1/2 an oz., or on which the pre-payment is required of more than is represented by the impressed stamp, the difference may be affixed by ordinary postage stamps.

6. The impressed stamp must be carefully cancelled by Postmasters when the envelopes are posted.

7. An impressed stamp cut from an envelope cannot be used for pre-payment of postage in any shape, and when detached from the envelope on which it was impressed, it loses all value as a postage stamp.

8. In the accounts rendered by Postmasters, the amounts of stamped envelopes received from the Department and sold to the public or to Vendors, are to be added to the postage stamp items.

* * * * *

L. S. HUNTINGTON, _Postmaster General._ */

/# _Memo._--Stamped Envelopes are to be sold to the public at the following prices by Postmasters and Stamp Vendors:-- #/

Per Hundred. Per Ten. For Single Envelopes.

1 Cent Envelopes $1.30 13 cents 2 cents, or 3 cents for 2 3 do do No. 1 size $3.30 33 cents 4 cents, or 7 cents for 2 do do No. 2 size $3.35 34 cents 4 cents, or 7 cents for 2

Curiously enough no mention is made in the Postmaster General's Report of either the issue of the stamped envelopes or their reception by the public, such as was the case with their predecessors in 1860. We find from the stamp accounts, however, that the first supplies received from the manufactures were 554,250 of the 1 cent; 1,257,000 of the 3 cent size 1; and 564,250 of the 3 cent size 2. Further supplies of the 1 cent were not needed until two years later, of the 3 cent size 1 until three years later, and of the 3 cent size 2 until four years later, so it is evident that no great popular demand sprang up for them.

The 1 cent envelope, which was intended for the local or "drop letter" rate, was issued in numbers averaging about 150,000 a year up to 1889, when the Post Office Act of that year, which increased the limit of weight of the single rate letter from 1/2 to 1 ounce and fixed the drop letter rate at 2 cents per ounce for cities having a free delivery service,[209] caused a falling off in the issue to 62,000 in the 1890 Report, and this gradually diminished to about 25,000 per annum in the Report for 1897, when the stamp under discussion was superseded by a new design.

[209] See page 136.

The 3 cent envelopes, being the regular letter rate, had a larger use; nevertheless the issue of the No. 1 size fell gradually from some 250,000 in 1879 to about 50,000 in 1897. The No. 2 size proved more popular, though the demand was somewhat erratic. The issue went from 78,000 in 1879 to 116,000 in 1884; then averaged about 85,000 for three years; next averaged about 120,000 for four years; and finally returned to the 85,000 mark for the next six years, when a new issue took its place.

The design of these envelope stamps is in all respects similar to the early type, but they are about half again as large. The embossed head of the Queen is copied from the profile on the "large" cent stamps of 1868 and is tilted forward rather awkwardly in the frame. The 3 cent is printed in bright red varying to rose, but the 1 cent instead of following the yellow color of the adhesive is printed in blue, which varies from quite pale to very dark. The envelopes were manufactured by the British American Bank Note Co. from white laid unwatermarked paper, and have a pointed flap with gum extending nearly the whole length. The smaller sized envelope was also issued with the flap rounded into a tongue, but the larger sized envelope is not known in this form. These "tongued flap" envelopes were apparently an early variety, as the _Philatelic Monthly_ records the 3 cent in its issue for April, 1878. The 1 cent, however, does not seem to have been noted until the June, 1884 issue of _Le Timbre-Poste_.

The earlier printings of the envelopes were upon a laid paper that had the "cross vergures", or single laid lines that regularly cross the general run, at a spacing of 18 mm. from each other. About 1888 another paper came into use which had these "cross vergures" spaced 24 mm. apart, and in some cases 27 mm. The two papers can be told at a glance as they varied in tone, the latter variety having a slight cream tint and the former being a pure white. These two varieties are of course more noticeable in the entire envelope than in cut squares, and have been listed as "rosy white" and "bluish white" papers, but we feel unable to distinguish them thus as the terms seem wholly inapplicable.

The 1 cent envelope was chronicled in ultramarine in April, 1897, of course on the small sized envelope and the cream toned laid paper.[210]

[210] =Monthly Journal=, VII: 175.

In May, 1896, the _Philatelic Record_ stated[211] that "Our publishers have the envelope of the 3 cents red value with stamp roughly lithographed instead of being embossed. Mr. J. B. Lewis, of Ottawa, says only 110 were printed." This was a somewhat startling statement, and Major Evans thus comments on it:[212]--

There have been reports of late, in various quarters, of a certain number of the 3c. envelopes, of the current type, having had the stamp impressed upon them by lithography instead of in the usual manner.

The story goes that the embossing die was lost, or mislaid, that a small supply of envelopes was wanted immediately by a business firm, and that a few hundreds were lithographed to fill this demand. The whole story sounds somewhat doubtful, to any one who knows how stamped envelopes are produced, but until quite recently we had not seen a specimen of the supposed lithographed envelopes, and therefore would not express any opinion upon them. A copy has lately been sent to our publishers, and we find it to be practically identical, as far as _almost_ entire absence of embossing is concerned, with some specimens which we obtained in Canada a few years ago; the embossing, in the copy shown us, is not absolutely invisible, there being slight traces of it about the head, and especially the chignon; and if any envelopes have been lithographed, which we greatly doubt, this is not one of them.

[211] =Philatelic Record=, XVIII: 135.

[212] =Monthly Journal=, VI: 188.

The lithographing of a comparatively few envelopes by a country like Canada appears somewhat incredulous on the face of it, and even more so does the "loss" or "misplacing" of the embossing die; the true explanation of the occurrence is doubtless found in the use of a much worn die, or more likely a defective "counter-die" or "bed-plate" which backs the paper.

In the issue for January 1895, the _American Journal of Philately_ had this statement:--"Mr. G. A. Lowe informs us that the 3c envelope exists on wove paper and was issued in 1891, probably in error." Referring to this, the _Monthly Journal_ for May 1895, states:--

Mr. King tells us that he found some packets of this variety in the Post-office at Halifax, and that he thinks that they may be a new edition, on a better paper than the last. He is not certain yet about this, as the great majority of the stock consisted of the _laid_ paper envelopes, and therefore the use of the wove may have been unintentional or temporary.

Again in the August 1895 issue, the last quoted paper says:--

In further reference to the 3c envelopes on _wove_ paper, Mr. King sends us replies which he received from the P. O. Department to his enquiries on the subject. The replies are vague, if not evasive, but show plainly that no intentional change was made in the paper used; they seemed to indicate, however, that the contractors are not restricted to a particular nature of paper, so long as the envelopes supplied are of sufficiently good quality.

The references to Mr. King in 1895 seem to show that he discovered the envelopes at about that time, so if the first statement about their appearing in 1891 is correct there must have been two lots issued at two different periods. That they were errors seems to admit of no doubt, as the usual paper for these envelopes was of the laid variety. They were only found in the large size envelope, known officially as No. 2.

In the issue for September 1899, the _American Journal of Philately_ noted two unusual varieties:--

Mr. Charles A. Benedict of Brantford has sent us samples of two envelopes with stamp of the 1877 type, which have not as yet been chronicled and which should probably be classed as printed-to-order envelopes. They are said to be used by a certain firm in Brantford for circulars and letters, and are printed on large manila amber envelopes.

The size of the envelopes is given as 265×113 mm., and both the 1 cent and 3 cent stamps were impressed upon them. No further information seems to have been obtained concerning these curiosities, which must have been issued previous to the termination of the contract with the British American Bank Note Co. in 1897.

Although the rate on "drop letters" at free delivery offices was fixed at 2 cents per ounce by the Post Office Act of 1889, in place of the previous 1 cent per half ounce, it did not occur that a 2 cent envelope might be desirable until about five years later. In the Postmaster General's Report of 30th June, 1894, we read:--"It is proposed to issue for use for drop letters, that is for letters passing within the limits of a free delivery in cities, a 2 cent envelope which will no doubt be found a convenience to the public."

In the next year's Report we find:--"The 2 cent envelopes, used mainly for drop letters, that is, for letters passing within the limits of a free delivery in cities, and referred to in the report for last year, have been issued during the year. Judging from the demand made for these envelopes already, they are likely to prove a convenience to the public."

The new denomination was issued on the 14th June, 1895,[213] on the larger sized envelope, the paper being the cream toned laid. It is a rather bizarre production, being circular in form with a medallion of the Queen's head in the center, and a beaver perched outside the design at the top, while the sides are broken by maple leaves. The inscriptions are in colored letters, and the numeral of value appears for the only time on a Canadian envelope stamp. In spite of the "demand" for these envelopes, a total supply of 94,970 received from the manufacturers was found sufficient to last until the new type was issued from the Government Printing Bureau in 1899, after the contract with the British American Bank Note Co. had expired.

[213] =American Journal of Philately=, 2nd Series, VIII: 365.

The Postmaster General's Report for 30th June, 1898, says:--

New stamped envelopes also came into use, and the price thereof _above the face value_ as compared with the old envelopes of the same size, was reduced by 10 cents per 100, a reduction of 33-1/3 %. A further concession given the public was that a blank form of request (to return letter if not delivered within the specified time) is printed without extra charge on the envelope, so that at the option of the purchaser stamped envelopes with or without this form of request may be obtained. Whilst the three denominations of stamped envelopes (1 cent, 2 cents and 3 cents) are retained, it was deemed advisable to have only one size instead of two as was the case with the old envelopes,--the small size of the latter (known as No. 1) being discontinued because of the tendency on the part of the mercantile community to use envelopes of the larger size (known officially as No. 2) or what in the commercial world is classed as No. 7. The latter is now the uniform size of the new stamped envelopes.

The stamped envelopes referred to at the beginning of the above quotation were the 3 cent envelopes, the first value to appear in a new design, and the price, as stated, was reduced from the former rate of $3.30 per hundred to $3.20 per hundred. But this apparently applied only to the new style, for the old style envelopes returned to the department as "unfit for use" in 1898, 1899 and 1900 were credited at the old rates, while the new style envelopes in the same condition were credited at the new rates in these same years. The Report for 1899 states that the old style envelopes in their two sizes were discontinued on 31st March, 1898.

The new stamp, while perhaps not as bizarre as the 2 cent of 1895, was yet a conspicuously ugly production by reason of the profile portrait of Queen Victoria that was employed. The die was engraved by Messrs. De La Rue & Co., of London, and outside of the embossed head is a very neat design of engine turned work, with POSTAGE in small white letters above the inner oval and THREE CENTS beneath. The word CANADA was added, apparently as an afterthought, in colored letters _outside_ the design at the top of the stamp, where it breaks the colored line surrounding the oval! The impression is in a bright red on a white wove paper of a slightly cream tone, and the flap is rounded, with gum extending its full length. The return request referred to in the Report is printed in black in the upper left hand corner and reads:--

If not called for in ten days return to....

It seems that the American Bank Note Co., upon taking the contract for supplying the Canadian stamps in 1897, asked to be excused from printing the stamped envelopes as well, because such a small number were used. This work was therefore given to the Government Printing Bureau at Ottawa,[214] which accounts for the dies having been furnished by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. The stamp accounts give the number of 3 cent envelopes furnished in the new type as 110,000 in 1898 and 70,000 in 1899, a total of 180,000; but the reduction of the domestic letter rate from 3 cents to 2 cents on the 1st January, 1899, made the 3 cent envelope useless, and large quantities were surcharged with the new rate, so that it is impossible to tell what proportion of the amount given is now represented by each variety. If catalog pricing is any criterion, the unsurcharged issue of the envelope should be perhaps 80,000.

[214] =Weekly Philatelic Era=, XI: 308.

The Report for 1899 states:--

As a result of the reduction in the Domestic Letter rate of postage, the issue of the 3c. letter card, 3c. stamped envelope and 3c. postage stamp has been discontinued, unused quantities of these, however, continuing available for postage purposes, or exchangeable at any post office for their equivalent in postage stamps of other denominations.

The Report does not give the date of issue of the 3 cent stamped envelope, but it was chronicled in _Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News_ for May 5, 1898, and therefore was probably issued sometime in April. The date of discontinuance is given, however, as December, 1898, so that it had a life, unsurcharged, of only about nine months.

But meanwhile the 1 cent envelope was being prepared, and evidently because of the dissatisfaction expressed over the embossed head of the Queen on the 3 cent value, the new envelope appeared with the familiar youthful profile similar to that used on the British envelope dies for so many years. This improved the appearance of the stamp, which otherwise corresponded in design with the 3 cent and was likewise engraved by Messrs. De La Rue & Co. It was printed in a dark green on paper like that of the 3 cent value, and in the same size and cut of envelope. The new type was issued on July 22, 1898, according to the 1899 Report, and was sold at $1.20 per hundred. The distribution of the old style 1 cent envelopes was discontinued in the same month, according to the stamp accounts.

Following the 1 cent envelope came the 2 cent, being identical in every respect save the expressed value and color, and emanating from the same source as its two predecessors. The Report of 1899 gives the date of issue of this envelope as the 2nd January, 1899, and, as the corresponding value in the adhesive set was a deep violet, we should expect the envelope stamp to follow suit. This it did, but was almost immediately followed by an issue in bright red, because of the reduction of the domestic letter rate from 3 cents to 2 cents. It will be remembered that when Imperial Penny Postage was inaugurated on December 25, 1898, it was almost immediately announced that the internal postage in Canada would be reduced to the 2 cent rate on and from the 1st January, 1899. As the Postal Union requirements called for carmine as the color of the stamp for the domestic letter rate, the change from violet was necessary in the Canadian 2 cent stamp, but owing to the large stock of the violet stamps on hand and the surcharging of the 3 cent stamps down to 2 cent value, the change in color from violet to carmine did not take place in the adhesives for some eight months. Not so with the envelopes; the new 2 cent ones were about to be issued and had been printed to the amount of 10,000 in dark violet. But with the change in rates and therefore in color requirements, orders were given to print further supplies of the 2 cent envelope in red, and the latter color therefore appeared about a week after the violet stamp.

We have gone thus into detail in the matter in order to make it evident why the violet stamp was so short lived, and why the change was made. This seems necessary because such a furor was created at the time, when it became known that the issue of violet envelopes was small, and speculation ran high; the Government was accused of speculating in them and of putting them in the hands of favored ones, and finally, as in the case of the alleged speculation in the Jubilee stamps, the matter came up in Parliament. The following is an extract from the official report of the debates in the House of Commons at Ottawa:[215]--

ISSUE OF STAMPED ENVELOPES.

Mr. Hughes asked: 1. When will the present 2 cent purple stamped envelope cease to be issued, and the red issued in its place? 2. How many 2 cent purple envelopes were issued, and how many distributed? At what offices were they distributed, how many at each office? Are there any more to be distributed, and if so, where will they be distributed? 3. Is it the intention of the Government to issue an entire new set of stamped envelopes to replace those at present in use? If so, when? * * *

The Postmaster-General (Mr. Mulock): The issue of 2 cent purple-stamp envelopes ceased when the supply thereof in the department became exhausted, the last issue having been made on the 7th January, 1899. The subsequent issue of 2-cent stamped envelopes was in red, in accordance with the recommendation of the Postal Convention. *

* * The schedule hereto annexed shows the names of the post offices supplied with such purple-stamp envelopes and the respective quantities so supplied them.

List of Post Offices to which 2c. purple envelopes were issued, and the quantity in each case.

Post Office. Quantity. Belleville, Ont. 500 St. Catherine's, Ont. 500 Toronto, Ont. 2000 Corinth, Ont. 100 Haliburton, Ont. 100 Mount Albert, Ont. 100 Tamworth, Ont. 500 Hagersville, Ont. 100 Hamilton, Ont. 500 Loring, Ont. 100 Newton, Ont. 100 Ottawa, Ont. 700 St. Casimir, Que. 100 Sherbrooke, Que. 500 Montreal, Que. 1000 Rigaud, Que. 100 Maitland, N. S. 100 Truro, N. S. 100 Yarmouth, N. S. 100 Andover, N. B. 200 Centreville, N. B. 100 Shoal Lake, Man. 100 Winnipeg, Man. 2000 New Westminster, B. C. 100 Greenwood, B. C. 200

[215] =Weekly Philatelic Era=, XIII: 285.

Further questioning by the same gentleman, in an effort to show that "inside" information had been given concerning the remainder of the 2 cent green envelopes at Toronto and the limited issue of the so-called "purple" ones, in order that favored parties might "corner" them, resulted in nothing definite except that in replying to the question "Was the issue of the 2c. purple stamped envelopes done by mistake?" the Postmaster-General said: "There was no mistake whatever made in the issue of said envelopes, but, on the contrary, the issue took place in the ordinary course of business, and was made on requisitions in the usual way, coming from postmasters." Considering the date of their issue, the cause of the change in color and the above reply of the Postmaster-General, in connection with an examination of the table of distribution of the 2c. violet envelopes, we must say that it seems clear that the whole business, as far as the Department was concerned, was legitimate and straightforward, and the aspersions cast upon the issue of this envelope were only animated by a spirit of jealousy or revenge on the part of those who unfortunately did not happen to get any, whether "tipped off" by friends in or out of the post-office, or not.

The 2 cent envelope in red may have been issued on the 8th January, 1899, or within a day or two of that date, and corresponds of course with the one in violet and the 1 cent envelope in all respects. It was sold at $2.20 per hundred.

We have already spoken of the 3 cent envelope, issued in April, 1898, as having been surcharged. This was due, of course, to the same reduction in the domestic rate of postage that operated to change the 2 cent envelope from violet to red, and which also rendered the 3 cent envelope practically useless. In order to utilize the stock of the latter envelopes, therefore, the Department decided on surcharging them down to a 2 cent value. This was done sometime during the week of 6-11 February, 1899, and we can do no better than quote the letter of a Canadian correspondent in the _Weekly Philatelic Era_[216] for details concerning it.

[216] =Weekly Philatelic Era=, XIII: 204.

OTTAWA, 17th Feb'y, 1899.

Our weekly sensation was duly on tap last week, in the shape of surcharges, Canada's first offence, but an aggravated case. The Post Office Department announced that any holders of 3c. envelopes or letter cards might send them in to the postage stamp branch, and have them surcharged, and re-issued as 2c. emissions, the difference in value being made good by an additional supply of surcharged stationery or in some other equivalent stamps.

It was not anticipated that a very large supply of 3c. stationery was on hand, and consequently the arrangements for surcharging are of the most primitive description. Stamps of soft rubber bearing the figures 2c. are provided, and the surcharge is put on by hand, the stamps being inked on black pads. The consequence is that the work is ill done, and we have as many varieties of surcharge as there are impressions, with quantities[217] of ink varying from a black blue to a light grey. I have seen one envelope with the surcharge on sidewise reading from bottom to top.

Independently of the variations in printing, there are two types of surcharge. In the first, which I shall christen the "capital surcharge", the figure 2 is 10-1/2 mm. high by 8 wide, the heavy parts of the figure being 2 mm. thick, the thin parts 3/4 mm. The C is a capital letter 4-1/2 × 3-1/2 mm. There was only one stamp of this type, and when it had been in use for two or three days the difference in type was noticed and the stamp was destroyed. Any stationery surcharged with it will be exceedingly rare.

The other type, which I suggest should be called the "lower case surcharge", has a similar figure 2 but the C is a heavy face lower case letter 4 × 3-1/2 mm. It is possible that there may be varieties of this type, as there are several stamps in use, but the printing is so badly done, and the stamps so subject to distortion by pressure, that one cannot depend on either inspection or measurement, a change in pressure in printing altering the appearance of the surcharge very materially.

[217] Query: "qualities"?

In the same issue of the _Era_ appeared further notes from another correspondent. In regard to the then current 3 cent envelopes (the so-called "Bureau print") he says:--"The P. O. Department has surcharged the stock on hand, a few thousand. * * * Some of the old British American Bank Note 3c envelopes were also surcharged, but it is understood that there were very few of them on hand,--less than a thousand."

The opportunity given the public, however, to have 3 cent envelopes in their possession surcharged, as well as the stock held by postmasters, which was returned to a considerable extent (15,848 of the 3c. 1898 returned 1899-1901; 6,788 of the 3c. No. 1, 1877, returned 1899-1900; and 3,081 of the 3c. No. 2, 1877, returned 1899) and doubtless reissued in surcharged condition, has made these provisional envelopes fairly common. No details of the numbers so treated are available, but if the catalogue value is any criterion the 3 cent of 1898 surcharged is half again as common as the unsurcharged variety, or, as before remarked, the numbers issued may be divided up roughly as perhaps 100,000 of the former to 80,000 of the latter. Of the old envelopes of 1877, both sizes of which are found surcharged, it is impossible to hazard any guesses, save that a considerable number--several thousands of each size at least--must have been operated upon to render them as reasonable in catalogue price as we find them.

The surcharge in its first type, as described in the quotation given, with the capital C, has only been found on the 3 cent envelope of 1898, which was the one in the reserve stock of the Department when the reduction in postage took effect; but the second type, with the "lower case" C is found not only on this envelope but also on both sizes of the old "Burland & Co." envelopes of the 1877 issue.

It will be remembered that it took considerably more than two years after the death of Queen Victoria before the change to King's head adhesives was made in Canada. It took even longer for the change in the envelope dies, as the first one to appear, the 2 cent, was not issued until the beginning of 1905. It was thus described in _Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News_:[218]--

Mr. Wm. P. Anderson writes that the 2c Canada envelope, Queen's Head, is now obsolete, and that a new issue bearing the King's Head was first sent out Jan. 12. It is very similar to the existing type--same colour, shape and size and same description of paper and size of envelope. The bust of the King, a profile to the left, is larger, filling more of the central oval than did that of the young Queen. It is a very beautifully cut piece of embossing, the work of Wyon, the celebrated London die sinker. The engine turned border is not, Mr. Anderson thinks, so neat as that on the old stamp, from which it differs in detail. The word Canada has been removed from outside the frame to the upper label, which now reads Canada Postage. This and the value, two cents, on a label below the bust, are in white letters on a ground of solid colour. The lettering is very thin, which is the only blemish in a very neat and effective design.

[218] =Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News=, XIX: 22.

The size of the envelope was not exactly the same as the previous issue, for it measures 152 × 90 mm., about 4 mm. longer than before and 3 mm. wider, the rough measurements being 6 × 3-5/8 inches. The paper is a very white wove variety, and the color of the impression is in carmine.

The 1 cent envelope did not appear until about two months later, the exact date not being available, but being very close to the 1st March, 1905. It is in all respects the same as the 2 cent envelope except that it is printed in a deep green.

The use of stamped envelopes in Canada, though never so popular as in the United States, yet seems to be largely on the increase in the last twelve years, the 1 cent having risen in number from 85,500 in 1899 to 1,360,100 in 1910, and the 2 cent from 262,000 to 2,928,400 during the same period.