The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-07-04
REDEMPTION OF REVENUE STAMPS,
Methods of Procedure TO Get Your
Money Back-Why Many Will
Make No Effort.

NAOhSy Dam why many VIII
Make No Effort.
Monday last the use of internal
revenue stamps in checks, drafts
telegraph messages and warehouse
receipts will be unnecessary. AL
though the treasury department has
made arrangements for the redemp-
ton of unused stamps, it is not
thought that Uncle Sam will be
called upon to return much of the
money he has collected to defray the
expenses of the Spanish war. The
whole procedure for obtaining what
has been expended for stamps that
will not be used has been so extrava-
gantly wound in red tape that most
business men will be discouraged from
making an attempt to get any return
at all.
First, you must have two dollars
worth of stamps or you will not be
able to get any rebate. In addition
to this there must be an affidavit,
made not only by the owner of the
stamps, stating from whom they were
bought, but also by the agent, and a
certificate from the collector, so that
the authorities may be as sured that
the stamps were bought from Uncle
Sam and are not counterfeits. If,
however, the stamps were bought two
years ago, you cannot get the rebate.
This is the time limit fixed by the de-
partment. In transmitting the
stamps or stamped matter to Wash
ington for redemption by express or
registered mail the expense is to be
borne by the sender, and thus deliv-
cred to the department, whether the
rebate is paid or not, they cannot be
returned. Affidavits are to be made
on forms furnished by the treasury
department.
In many cases where stamps have
been imprinted on checks, no effort
will be made at redemption, as the
expense of engraving has exceeded
the price of the stamp. Many checks
are very finely engraved and it would
cost great deal more to haye new
checks made than would be obtained
in rebate. In addition to this, the
rule preventing the return of stamped
matter after it has been sent to the
department will cause many to re-
frain from sending their checks be-
cause, being numbered serially, they
will not care to give them up entirely.
This will result in checks with the
stamps printed thereon remaining in
circulation long after the first of
July. All such checks will have to
be returned to Washington for re-
demption and claim filed with the
Collector of Internal Revenue in the
department in which they were
printed. This must be done because
of the fact that record of all stamps
printed is kept in the office of the
collector. On receipt of the claim
the collector will proceed to investi
gate it's record, and will then forward
the claim, properly certified if he
finds it to be correct, to the treasury
department in Washington.
When claims are presented by any
person or firm other than the one for
whom the order for imprinting was
issued and whose name does not APP
pear on the papers on which the
stamps are imprinted, the claimant,
in addition to the certificate of the
collector or deputy collector, must
satisfactorily establish ownership of
the stamps and furnish certificate
of sale by each owner of them from
the time of their purchase from the
person or firm for whom the order for
imprinting was issued.