Evening star., 1937-01-17
ny JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.

The philatelic policy of President
Roosevelt is to collect the stamps Of
those portions Of the world in which
interesting political and economic his
tory is being made. He recently has
been specializing in the postal issues
of South America, Ethiopia, Italy
Germany, Russia, France and Spain
Covers from the last-named of these
countries are his particular concern
at the present moment. He also Is
reported to have arranged for adding
to his albums the stamps to be Is
sued by Great Britain and the various
territorial divisions of the British En-
pire at the time Of the coronation OF
King George vi in May.
Photographs for the proposed series
of stamps showing American Indian
heroes, settlements, industries, arts
and crafts have been assembled in
the Office of Indian Affairs. They
will be studied by Secretary OF the
Interior Harold L. Ickes. and when
he has made a selection the whole
plan will be submitted to Postmaster
General James A. Farley.
The 2-cent Army and Navy stamps
went on sale Friday morning last
without official ceremony. The quality
of paper used by the Bureau of En-
craving and Printing for the new
values appears improved.
Stamps Magazine for January 1e
says editorially: 1.-THE growing ten
dency to speculate in stamps, which
is so prevalent at the present time,
is one that is being viewed with con-
siderable alarm by those who have
the welfare of the hobby at heart.
There, of course, always has been
q certain amount Of speculating,
which started almost as soon as there
were stamps to speculate in, but the
practice was not general and col
lectors were little affected by it. In
fact, if it had not been for the early
spectators and hoarders, many Of
our early issues would be unobtain-
able today.
"At the time of the Columbian
Worlds Fair in Chicago in 1893, specu-
1ation was rife in the Columbian is
sues. One pool attempted to corner
the 81 Columbians, and with some
little success, for this particular value
was one of the most difficult to obtain
for several years following its issue.
Most Of the SPECTATORS, however, suf-
fered substantial losses. So many Of
the stamps existed that there was no
immediate market for them, and for
nearly 20 years after their issue the
higher values could be bought at a
discount from face. They were used
by banks and large mercantile estab-
lishments for postage and that Is the
reason that many Of the high values
are becoming increasingly scarce to-
day, and why they are now so desir-
able.
THE failure of this attempt to spec
ulate in the Columbian series had a
very beneficial effect, which was ap-
parent for many years following the
Worlds Fair. Collectors bought only
stamps for their collections and not
with any thought Of speculative profit.
With few exceptions, no large stocks
were put away. AS result Of this, all
of the issues from 1893 to about 1925
are available in such small quantities
that little speculative opportunity ex-
lists.
However, with the rise Of values in
~a,lxx Scrtr ,yo% fyyn fp1
stinct was again aroused, and collec-
tors began putting aside few sheets
of every issue that appeared. Some
of these advanced in price so rapidly
that it encouraged them to put larger