The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 19, July 1915 - April, 1916 Page: 123
452 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Problems of the Confederate Post Office Department 123
the parties consulted could ascertain the cost of machinery and
paper.
A proposal was received in due time from the Charleston firm,
who said that ninety days would be required for the preparation
of the machinery and plates. Concerning this firm the postmas-
ter-general further reported:
This engraver proposes to furnish the stamps gummed, but not
perforated, at a cost of one dollar per thousand, the paper to be
furnished by the Department, whereas the United States Govern-
ment paid but eighteen cents per thousand stamps gummed, per-
forated, and put up in tin and paper boxes and envelopes.
The engraver in Savannah says it will take sixty days to pre-
pare the plates for each denomination, and the delivery of 400,000
stamps, and with his present force, he can only furnish 80,000
stamps daily, while the estimated number needed daily is 260,000.
Meanwhile an agent has been sent to Europe [to procure the
manufacture of steel dies and plates for printing stamps] . . .
and for procuring for use, as soon as practicable, fifteen million
stamps, and to forward the dies, plates, and stamps to this city.
The small supplies now being received from the contractors in
this city only serve to increase the public discontent, as they are
insufficient to meet the demands of even the principal cities.
. . . When prepared and supplied as they should be, to all
post offices, they will represent the entire revenues of the Depart-
ment.
There is a popular delusion, resting on the minds of many,
that almost any character of engraving will answer for postage
stamps, and in support of this opinion, reference is frequently
made to the fact that postmasters of different cities and towns
have procured stamps for their offices. These are made upon
wood, or stone, or lead, or are electro-typed. Stamps prepared
by either of these modes can be counterfeited with great facility
by a mere tyro in the art of engraving; and the Department could
not risk its revenues on such a slender security without disre-
garding the public interest.
Interesting in this connection is a Philadelphia newspaper's ad-
vertisement of Confederate stamps for sale to the trade at fifty
cents per hundred, or four dollars per thousand.33
"Semi-Weekly Richmond Enquirer, Nov. 11, 1862, editorial comment
on an advertisement quoted from the Philadelphia Enquirer.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 19, July 1915 - April, 1916, periodical, 1916; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101067/m1/138/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.