OFFICIAL STATIONERY
Outside of the Dead Letter Office seals the Canadian Government has
issued no official adhesive stamps. An attempt, however, to foist a
series of official stationery upon an unsuspecting philatelic public was
made by one Henry Hechler, a stamp collector and dealer, who thought he
saw his opportunity in the Indian troubles which broke out in the
Canadian Northwest in 1884-5. Mr. Hechler belonged to the Militia and
accompanied the troops that were sent to quell the disturbance. He took
it upon himself to have a quantity of envelopes, post cards and wrappers
surcharged OFFICIAL or SERVICE and evidently expected they would be
accepted without question.
The first news of these surcharges seems to have come, very strangely,
from Germany. The _Philatelic Record_ for December, 1884,[241] says:--
_Der Philatelist_ chronicles, on the faith of a correspondent, Herr
Von Jerzabek, of Temesvar, a set of the adhesives with Queen's head
..., two envelopes, and the 1 cent post card, all surcharged in
black, with the word OFFICIAL. It is alleged that they were prepared
and issued in 1877, but after a short time were called in again. The
surcharges are in some cases oblique, and in others perpendicular.
It is at least strange that, considering our intercourse with
Canada, our first knowledge of the issue of official stamps so far
back as 1877 should reach us from Temesvar, wherever that may be.
[241] =Philatelic Record=, VI: 210.
The Secretary of the Philatelic Society, London, whose official journal
the _Philatelic Record_ then was, wrote direct to the Canadian
Government to inquire into the authenticity of these so-called official
issues, and received the following reply:[242]--
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, CANADA.
OTTAWA, _18th May_, 1885.
SIR:--I am directed by the Postmaster-General to acknowledge receipt
of your letter of the 29th ult., inquiring whether postage stamps
bearing the word "_Official_" on their face are in circulation in
the Dominion of Canada, and beg, in reply, to say that no such
stamp, card, newspaper wrapper, or envelope has _ever_ been issued
by this department.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
(_Signed_) Wm. White, _Secretary_.
[242] =Ibid.=, VII: 84.
This would ordinarily seem to have been enough of a disclaimer, but like
Banquo's ghost the official stationery would not down, though the stamps
seem to have been lost sight of. Not only were the envelopes of 1 cent
and 3 cents of the 1877 issue, but the newspaper wrappers of 1875 and
1882, and the post card of 1882, surcharged across the stamp with the
word "OFFICIAL" or "Service" in black, blue or red ink, but sometimes
the arms of Great Britain were added at the left of the stamp, and also,
in the lower left corner, the words
"63RD. RIFLES" or HEADQUARTERS, }
63RD. RIFLES. }
The lack of uniformity, or rather attempt at variety, was enough in
itself to condemn the articles. Yet in the _American Philatelist_ for
June, 1888, we find an attempted defence of them. We quote:[243]--
Henry Hechler writes us as follows: "When the Indian outbreak in the
Northwest occurred in 1885, and some of the militia of the various
provinces were hurriedly ordered out for active service, stringent
measures for notifying the men calling for prompt attention had to
be adopted. To distinguish them from ordinary mail matter by showing
their official character they were stamped across the "adhesive"
with the word _Service_ and at the lower left corner _O. [H.] M. S.
only_. Some were thus printed in black, others in blue, and yet
others in red. They served for that purpose only, until an Act of
Parliament was passed to carry all military mail matter on active
service free."
Mr. Hechler was captain of one of the companies of the Halifax
Battalion, and, therefore, in a position to obtain definite
information.
[243] =American Philatelist=, II: 207.
In other words Mr. Hechler knew all about these "official" stamps and
the Postmaster-General and his secretary, as we have seen, knew
absolutely nothing about them! This seems to tell its own story. In fact
another letter from the Post Office Department, dated 13th April, 1888,
and published in this same volume of the _American Philatelist_,[244]
reiterates the denials of the previous letter which we have already
quoted. The _Philatelic Record_ received later,[245] from the
Postmaster of Halifax, the information that Mr. Hechler had had this
stationery surcharged and that it was neither issued nor recognized by
the Government of Canada. The _Record_ says:--"It was a smart notion of
Mr. Hechler to turn his military duties into the direction of his
business as a stamp dealer." Mr. Hechler "came back" at this in the
columns of the _Philatelic Journal of America_[246] with the statement
that "the Post Office Inspector here referred the question to
headquarters, and, in reply, was instructed to allow such matter to pass
through the mails without question or delay." The communication was
enclosed in one of the envelopes in question, but the Editor's remarks
on this are conclusive:--
The surcharging has not impaired the postal value of the envelope
and they are permitted to pass through the Canadian mails, but as to
their value from a philatelic standpoint it is quite another thing.
The printing in this case is of no more importance than any notice
or inscription that might be placed on an envelope bearing a regular
government stamp that in itself is sufficient to pay the postage.
In fact the above writer admits that the surcharge had no other
value than to enable the recipient to distinguish the letter from
his other mail. They are of no philatelic value whatever.
[244] =Ibid.=, II: 173.
[245] =Philatelic Record=, XI: 44.
[246] =Philatelic Journal of America=, V: 202.
It was a private speculation, pure and simple, in spite of any claims of
"recognition", and of the fact that copies passed the post. The only
other quotation to make in the case is from Shakespeare--_Exeunt_.
We now come to an actual official issue in the shape of a newspaper
wrapper. It seems to have been first noted in _Le Timbre-Poste_ for
February, 1883, but is stated to have been issued in 1879. The stamp is
of the 1875 issue (type 1) and at its left is printed in blue the
following:--
[Illustration:
Inland Revenue, Canada.
WEIGHTS & MEASURES SERVICE.
_Official Circular._
_To_
This band is to be used =On Her Majesty's Service= only and must have
no writing thereon but the name and address.
]
Above the English inscription is its counterpart in French. The wrapper
itself is of a cream tone and measures 280 x 132 mm.
The history of this wrapper does not seem to be known, save that it is
accredited to be what it purports to be. It is quite rare, and as far as
we have been able to find out is not known used. No mention is made of
it in the Department reports, but it happens that the stamp accounts for
1879, the year of its supposed issue, give only 8,000 wrappers as
received from the manufacturers. None had been received the two years
previously, as there were plenty on hand, and 192,000 were received the
next year. It would thus appear, on the face of it, that this small lot
of 8,000 was quite probably the order of the Inland Revenue wrappers. If
so, it was probably the only lot ever received and though they may have
been used, the chances seem somewhat against any such number having
actually been issued.
One other official issue comes in the form of a Customs' post card
notice. It was first chronicled in the _American Philatelist_ for 10th
May, 1888, as having been issued in connection with the parcel post
system just then inaugurated with the United States. Postmasters
received instructions to forward these cards free through the mails,
although there was no stamp or notice on the address side. It is of
manila card, 130 x 88 mm., blank on one side and having printed on the
other:--
Customs Postal Package Office.
...........................188
_There has arrived at this office by mail from the United States,
addressed to you as over, the following dutiable package, which will
be delivered or forwarded to you on the receipt of the duty payable
and the return of this card._
==============================================================
NO. OF | NO. OF | DESCRIPTION. | DUTY
MANIFEST. | PACKAGE. | | PAYABLE.
----------+-------------+---------------------+-------+-------
| | | $ | cts.
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------
E. 14. ................_Collector_.
In its September, 1888, number the _Halifax Philatelist_ notes that the
blank address side has been supplied with three dotted lines for the
address, and inscriptions reading, in the upper left corner, "_Advice
Note_", and in the upper right corner, "_Free, by order of the Post
Master General_."
One further official variety is somewhat unusual. The _American
Philatelist_ for September, 1889,[247] says:--
"We are indebted to Donald A. King ... for information concerning
what is certainly a novelty in the postal line, namely, an unpaid
letter stamped envelope. When a letter is returned from the
dead-letter office the sender is required to pay the regular postage
and these envelopes have been prepared of various values. The only
one we have seen is the 3 cent value. It is about 175 x 120 mm., and
is made of manila paper. In the place for the stamp is a figure 3
about 23 mm. high. In the left hand upper corner RETURNED DEAD
LETTER; in the lower corner--
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, CANADA,
DEAD LETTER OFFICE.
On the reverse, _The enclosed Dead Letter is returned by order of
the Postmaster-General for the reasons thereon assigned_. The
following values are said to exist:
3 cents, black on manila.
6 " " " ?
9 " " " ?
12 " " " ?
18 " " " ?
We have no further information concerning them.
[247] =American Philatelist=, III: 350.