In my pamphlet entitled "Sir Rowland Hill and James Chalmers, the
Inventor of the Adhesive Stamp," I have already proved from overwhelming
evidence, both general and specific, the invention of the adhesive stamp
for postage purposes by the late James Chalmers, bookseller, Dundee, in
the month of August, 1834. In addition to friends and fellow-townsmen,
several of those in his employment at that period have, unknown to me,
come forward from various quarters to describe the process and to fix
the date. The setting up of the form with a number of stamps having a
printed device--the printing of the sheets--the melting of the gum--the
gumming the backs of the sheets--the drying and the pressing--are all
described, and the date already named is conclusively fixed.[2] That
this was the first instance of such invention is clear; earlier
instances of an _impressed_ stamp proposed for postage purposes are on
record, but not one of a proposed adhesive stamp--while Sir Rowland Hill
himself has left it on record, in his "Life," referring to the same
period and occasion when an impressed stamp was proposed in 1834 for
newspaper covers by Mr. Knight, "of course, adhesive stamps were yet
undreamt of." (See page 69 of my pamphlet above named).
I have further shown that Mr. Chalmers was one of the early postal
reformers prior to the period of Mr. Rowland Hill, that he had done
great service in the way of accelerating the mails betwixt London and
the north, and that he was in communication with several of those early
reformers, such as Mr. Hume, Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Knight--the publisher
subsequently of Mr. Rowland Hill's pamphlet of 1837--so that his
proposal of an adhesive stamp for postage purposes, a matter of
notoriety in his own locality, would further have become well known in
the general circle of postal reformers, amongst whom, and from whom, on
joining same in the year 1835, Mr. Rowland Hill obtained the information
which enabled him to draw up and publish his Penny Postage Scheme of
1837. (See page 5 of my pamphlet named.)
One of those pioneers of postal reform, the Rev. Samuel Roberts, M.A.,
of Conway, gives his personal testimony of the adhesive stamp having
been originated by James Chalmers. (Page 42.)[3]
My pamphlet goes on to show (page 44) that on the appointment of the
House of Commons Committee of 1837-38 on the proposed uniform Penny
Postage Scheme, Mr. Chalmers sent in his plan of an adhesive stamp to
Mr. Wallace, the Chairman, and to another Member of that Committee. Mr.
Wallace's reply, stating that he will lay the plan before the Committee,
is of date 9th December, 1837. In the dilemma in which the Government
found itself (upon introducing on the 5th July, 1839, the Resolution
preliminary to the Bill) as to _how_ to carry out the Penny Postage
Scheme in practice (page 21) Mr. Wallace favourably suggested the plan
of the adhesive stamp. The statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
upon this occasion, with the interposition of Mr. Wallace in the
Commons, and of Lord Ashburton in the Lords, in favour of the adhesive
stamp have already been given, conclusively showing that, up to this
period, Mr. Hill had not included the adhesive stamp in his proposals.
On the passing of the Bill in August, Mr. Hill was relegated to the
Treasury for the purpose of carrying out the scheme. The first step
taken was to invite plans, by Treasury Circular of 23rd August, from the
public; some time was taken up in receiving and considering these plans,
until, by Treasury Minute of December 26th, 1839, the adhesive stamp was
at length officially adopted, in conjunction with Mr. Hill's stamped
covers, or stamp impressed upon the sheet of letter paper itself. (See
page 46.) But the adhesive stamp, indeed, had been practically adopted
by Mr. Hill before the plans were received, considered, and nothing
better found, a concurrence of opinion having set in in favour of same.
It will be seen that Mr. Chalmers, in his published statement of date
February, 1838, now produced from Sir Henry Cole's papers, called for
petitions towards the adoption of the adhesive stamp. In August, 1839,
both the Associated Body of Paper-Makers and certain Merchants and
Bankers of the City of London pressed for the adoption of this stamp;
Mr. Rowland Hill himself, in a paper entitled "On the Collection of
Postage by means of Stamps," circulated by him about the period of the
Bill being before Parliament, included the adoption of the adhesive
stamp, in conjunction with his own impressed stamp. Mr. Cole also drew
up an able paper on the stamp question, including the advocacy of the
adhesive stamp. So general, indeed, had then become opinion in its
favour, that of the plans sent in no less than forty-nine others besides
Mr. Chalmers, who again sent in his plan, recommended the adoption of
the adhesive stamp, invented by Mr. Chalmers in 1834, laid by him before
the Committee of the House of Commons in December, 1837, and further, as
we shall now see, sent in to Mr. Cole as Secretary to the Mercantile
Committee of the City of London, in February, 1838, and acknowledged by
Mr. Rowland Hill in a letter to Mr. Chalmers of date 3rd March, 1838. In
this letter Mr. Hill makes no pretension to the merit or proposed
adoption of the adhesive stamp on his part, for, as will be seen, Mr.
Chalmers subsequently returned to Mr. Hill a copy of this very letter
for the purpose of pointing out this fact to Mr. Hill. It was not until
the propriety, and indeed necessity, of adopting Mr. Chalmers' plan--not
until its final official acceptance--that, in a letter dated 18th
January, 1840, Mr. Hill, then in despotic power, putting Mr. Chalmers
aside upon the pretext afterwards mentioned, assumed the whole merit to
himself.