The Washington times., 1936-05-06
R00SEVELT'S
| STAMP PLAN
FACESR0W
BY EARL GOODWIN

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time Is coming when the old
American adage, I'D rather be
right than be President" as
spoken by Henry Clay, will give
way to the wishful announcement,
''Td rather have my picture on a
postage stamp than nave a scent
cigar named after me-"
The President, who is the ma
lions No. stamp collector, is said
to be fully aware of the fact that
no Second-rater ever had nickel
cigar christened in his honor and
he believes that the time has now
come to make the lowly Scent
stamp a sort of circulating Hall
Of Fame.
Famous Faces
For that reason, the postage
stamps issued from now on, for a
time, at least, will bear famous
Americans who are famous be-
cause they have done something,
rather than because they have
been elected to office. In fact, he
made just that statement at a
recent press conference when he
was talking about the forthcom-
ing series Of postage stamps bear
Ing military and naval heroes.
He thinks that after the mill
tary and naval stamps which will
be issued later this year, probably
starting about August /, there
should be a series of stamps de-
plcting famous American writers;
and after that he suggests that
possibly famous American women
should be celebrated on the
stamps. So far as recalled,
Martha Washington is the only
woman on American stamps, and
those who have had experience in
choosing lists Of women to be
honored look forward to a lively
session when the lists is up for
pruning.
Military and naval heroes will
be distributed over eight stamps
to come this year while two
stamps, both Of five-cent denomi-
nation, bear respectively scenes
from West Point and Annapolis.
"StOnewall" HOnOred
The military heroes and their
stamps are: Generals George
Washington and Nathaniel Greene
Tor the one cent; Andrew Jackson
and Winfield Scott, two cent; Gen
erals Grant and Sherman, three
cent, and Robert e. Lee and
"Stonewall'' Jackson for the four
cent stamp. This latter selection
has aroused tremendous contro-
yerSy, it being the first time these
Confederate military leaders have
been accorded any such honor by
the Federal Government.
The naval heroes selected and
the stamps are: John Paul Jones
and Commodore John Barry, one
cent: Thomas MacDonogh and
Stephen Decatur, two cent; David
G. Farragut and David D. Porter,
for the three-cent stamp, and the
three Spanish War admirals,
Schley, Sampson and Dewey, for
the four cent.
Stamp Fans Ignored
No sooner had the announce
naent been made than stamp col
1ectorS the country over were ex-
cited over the fact that the Post
Office had not followed the sug-
gestions made by national argani-
cations Of philatelists that the his
&oric stamps be illustrated with
episodes and events rather than
personalities. However, the Ad-
ministration leaders here seemed
to feel that the time has come to
start a personality series and the
idea gained favor at the White
House. There are about 5000, 900
philateliStS in the country and
they are getting to be as impor.
tant politically as the fishermen,
hunters, golf players and old-age
pension planners. Hence, II they
all get to kicking against the Ad-
miniStration's stamp ideas there
will be just that much more trou-
BILE for the Administration. Post
master General Farley will have
to deal with the philatelistS not
only as stamp collectors but sS
voters.