Evening star., 1935-11-03
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.

The Treasury Department. in ont
OF the most important philatelic rul'
ings ever handed down, has declared
that it is lawful to reproduce stamps
Of governments which no longer exist
In September last, 1t has been dis.
closed, the collector of customs al
Philadelphia seized a catalogue import
ed from Europe by Eugene Klein. pres
ident of the American Philatelic So
ciety. The booklet contained illustra-
tions showing Cancelled stamps of the
defunt Kingdom of Sardinia and was
held to be illegal for that reason. But
Mr.. Klein, acting on principle. ap-
pealed the question to Washington
His case was presented by Albert F,
Kunze, past president OF the WASH
ington Philatelic Society and National
Capital correspondent of Weekly Phila-
telic Gossip.
after thorough inquiry and careful
consideration, Commissioner of Gus
toms James H. Moyle ordered delivery
of the sequestered pamphlet to its
owner The decision. dated October
25, by which the case was closed, reads
in part as follows: "All of the stamp
reproductions are of the former
Kingdom of Sardinia, which is now
a part of the Italian Kingdom. The
chief of the secret service division OF
the Treasury Department has also ad-
vised informally. that he is Of the
opinion that these stamp reproduc-
tions are not prohibited.
I'm view of these facts, it is the
bureaus opinion that the stamp re-
productions contained in the cata'
logue in question are not reproductions
Of the obligations Of a foreign coun
try and you are authorized to re-
lease the catalogue to Mr.. Klein"
The ruling reverses the previou!
attitude of the Government ane
opens the door to the unmarried rep
resentation of the stamps of Ions
list Of dead" nations, colonial sta
tions and other postal subdivisions. i
now is entirely legal to reproduce al
the philatelic material available from
the Confederate States of America
ANutaki, Alaouites, Allenstein, Angra
Anjouan, AMMAN and Tonkin, Ar
menia. Azerbaijan, Baden, Batum
Bavaria, Benin, Bergedorf, Bosnis
and Herzegovina, Bremen, British
Central Africa, British Columbia ant
Vancouver Island, British East Africa
Brunswick, Cape of Good Hope. Cap
JUDY, Carinthia, Caroline Islands
Castellorizo. Central Lithuania. Cilicia
Cochin China, Corea, Corfu, Crete
Danish West Indies. Diego Suarez
East Africa and Uganda Protectorate
Eastern Roumelia. Eastern Silesia
Elobey, Annobon and CoriSco, Epirus
Far Eastern Republic, Fernando Po
Fiume, Funchal, Georgia, German Eas
Africa, German New Guinea, German
Southwest Africa. Grand Comoro Is
lands, Hamburg, Hanover, Hawai-
u851-1896), Hejaz, Helisoland. Horta
Inhambane, Ionian Islands, Karella
Kiauchau, Kinoga, Kuwait, Labuan
Lagos. Lourenzo Marques, Lubbock
Mariana Islands, Marienwerder. Mar
shall Islands, Mayotte. Mecklenburi
Schwerin, Memel, Mesopotamia, Mo
dena, Moheli, Montenegro, Natal
Nevis, New Britain, New Brunswick
New Republic, New South Wales
Niger Coast Protectorate, Northern
Nigeria, North Ingermanland, North
west Pacific Islands. Nova Scotia
Also Obock, Oldenburg, Oltre Giuba
Orange River Colony. Parma, Pen
rhyn Island. Pota Delgada, Portu
guese Africa, Portuguese Congo
Prince Edward Island, Puerto Rico
Prussia, Queensland. Quelimane, Rho
desia, Rio de Orc, Roman States
Rouad, Saar, st. Christopher. Ste
Marie de Madagascar, Samo (kingdon
and GERMANY, SaSeno, SaXony. Schles'
wig -Holstein, Schleswig u920), Sen
egambia and Niger. Serbia. Shanghai
Siberia. South Australia. South Rus.
sia, Stellaland. Swaziland OS89.
1922. Switzerland (cantonal issues
1845-1850. Tahiti, Tasmania, Tete
Thrace. Tobago 0879-l896), Togo
German, 1897-1914, Transcaucasian
Federation Republics, Transvaal, Trim
idad Q851-l9l0), Turks Islands 1867-
1880. Tuscany, Uganda Q895-l902)
Ukrainia. Upper Senegal and Niger
Upper Silesia. Upper Volta, Victoria
Western Australia, Western Ukrainia
White Russia, Wurtemberg and Zu-
luland.
BY logical inference, likewise, the
stamps of the German Empire, the
Russian Empire and the Chinese En-
pire should be exempt from deface-
ment in the philatelic press. The
former kingdoms of Hungary. Portu-
gal and Spain. it would seem. should
be similarly classified. and in the
same category a collector would an
ticipate finding the Russian dominion
Of Poland and the Spanish regimes In
Cuba and the Philippines prior to
1898, not to mention the erstwhile
empires of Brazil and Mexico In
deed, 1t Is indicated that all stamps
which have been devaluated and no
longer have the status of obligations"
should be free from interference under
the existing regulations. The prin-
ciple of the Treasury Departments
position appears to be that a stamp
which is not valid for postal duty is
not entitled to protection.
Actually, then, it seems that large
and exceedingly important concession
has been made by the Government
to scientific philately. Collectors
should be grateful to all persons con-
cerned, especially to Mr.. Moyle, Mr..
Klein and Mr.. Kunze.
The initial trans Pacific airmail
flight from San Francisco to Manila,
via Honolulu and Guam, has been