The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-10-09
POSTAGE STAMPS.
AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR INTRoouo
TloN THIRTY-EiGHT YEARS AGO.
An Innovation Proposed by John M.
Mes, Of Connscticut-Ths First Two
Postage Stamps Issued In the
United States
Hartford Tinaa.l

Tpfty-sight years ago the nrst postage
stamis were used in the United States. For
H5 years postage had been collected entirely
In money, and In all cases prepay ment was
opti.nal Good old John Hay wood, who I'm
l6sJ became the Iworthy master of the
posts" ut Boston, and the first postmaster In
America, employed chance conveyance in
stead Of postage, with "by the kindness Of"
some traveller as his postal service; and
nothing was thought about stamping until
lS4l, though such men as Franklin, Bachs,
Pickering and Kendall had been at the head
OF the postofiice department., and though
the number of Offices had come to be
nearly 14,00O On the 25th Of March, lS40,
John II. Niles, of Hartford, became post
master general and signalizsd his admins
tration by many reforms He turned the
wrong side out Of Is predecessors work,
and convinced his party and the president
that Amos Kendall wa' not such o great
nan as had been imagined.
1t was necessary to cap all by genuine
innovation, and he performed this by sug.
gssting the postage stamp. Ths suggestion
wa resolved with ridicule, and Mr.. Niles
so,n after retired. His successor, Charles
A. Wickliffe, put the department into the
ancient ruts again, and when Cave
Johnson assumed the portfolio on the
Ola OF nhTCu, lOfD uo Aouuu ~
herculsan task to reinstate the re-
form measures of DIR. Niles During Wick
lifls's administration the number Of post
Offices hal increased by only 695, but John
son saw in his term Of Office 2S7 offices
added to the rolls, and witnessed other
ttkens OF prosperity. Among the measures
of Mr.. Niles that he adopted was the post
aye-stamp idea. The president had con-
vsrtsd his postmaster general from cppposs
inc the reduction Of postage TO a champion
ship of the lowest pay ing rates, and johnson
garniShel his conversion with fathsring the
suggestion orig mated six years before. The
matter took form as bill before
congress- and though 1t was quite
the fashion to oppose any cab
met suggestions, the act authorizing
the issue OF stamps Of and 10 cent dsnom
nations was passed and approved March s,
147. The date Of the issue was appointed
a. July l, but there was a delay In the con-
tractors work and the time ran over q
month.
On the 9Th day OF August, soon after the
opening Of the postmaster generals Office for
the day, an old gentleman called to see Mr.
johnson on business. The gentleman was
the Hon. Henry Shaw, New Yorker, who
was not q stranger in Washington In those
days, and whose home was In Lanesborough,
Mass He was Berkshire county mag
hate, a politician Of no mean qualifications
and the father Of the we'll known Henry
Shaw, Jr., t4Josh Billings'0. Twsnty-thrss
years before Mr.. Shaw had recognized In q
youth Of ia tanners boy who came to
Lanesborough to study law-ths germs OF
great life. He assisted the lad in obtain.
ing q library, and thus inaugurated friend
snip that death could only sever.
After twelve years Of practice, in the fall
OF 1880, the young lawyer was elected to
congress from the Eleventh congressional
district Of Massachusetts,. When George
II. Briggs took his seat in December, 1881,
he was determined to work, and he carried
out bis determina ton so well that his con.
stitusnts kept him in congress twelve years.
During that time LIE did long and laborioua
service as chairman OF the committee OF the
postoffice and post-roads, and was both In
the committee and in Mr. Niles Office the
advocate Of the reforms above alluded to.
In the Twenty y-seventh congress he crowned
his series Of reforms by inaugurating a
movement for reducing the rates Of postage
to 10 and 8 cents. The house passed tbs
bill, but the senate did not reach it, and 1t
failed Of becoming law until the following
year.
1uT oohhsoh Sutuc hhkO ohuCct oCSoni~
panied by the printer Of the new stamps, q
few minutes after Mr.. Shaw had arrived,
on that August morning. Sheets OF the
stamps were laid before the postmaster gem
eral, who. after receipting for them, handed
them to his visitor to inspect Mr.. Shaw
returned them after a hasty glance, and
then drawing out his wallet, he counted out
Is cents. with which he purchased two OF
the stampS-the first two ever issued. The
scent stamp lie kept as q curiosity. and the
l0-cent stamp he presented to Governor
Briggs as an appropriate gift
The two denominations Of stamps re-
NAMED In use four years In July, 1851, ap-
peared a new series Of / and cents and
soon after q subsequent issue OF the addi-
tional denomination OF 5. 10, l2, "a. 80 ami
90 cents In ,S6l this series was called
in by Montgomery Blair, Lincoln's
postmaster general, and new series
issued. July l, 1858, the first 2-cent stamp
appeared, and was to accommodate local
postage. April 1 1855. newspaper stamps of
8, 10 and 25 cents were issued, but fell into
early disuse. In March, 1859, J. A ]. Cres-
well, Grants postmaster general, brought
out a new series, but they did not come into
favor, and after two months were super
sedei by series of the denominations OF /,
q, T. o, 10, Is, 80 and 90 cents
In 1873 the repeal Of the franking privilege
made necessary the departmental stamps Of
special design They are as follows: Exscu-
tive, /, Q, 8, o and 10 cents; state, /, 2, g. Q,
!, 10. 10. 15. "a, 81 and W cents, and 2. 5, ~
ami 20 dollars; treasury, war and navy.
EACH ], ., 3, Q. Q. 1O, 10, Is. "A. b and 90
cents, and interior, justice AMI postoffice.
each, the sams excepting the . cent stamp.
Since Dec IL, 1875, prepayment stamps for
newspapers and periodicals from publication
Office have been issued. The denominatio
are >. 8. 4, q, T. y. TO- L.. "a. 80, A., 90, "a.
" and % cents, and l.oa, J. q. .. IL, "a, SO.
z6 and 20 dollars