Evening star., 1941-01-05
AMONG THE STAMP COLLECTORS
the Phaec World Its and Peope-Revlew of
The Stamp Press-List of Local Meetings
By James Waldo Favcen

| postmaster General FRANK y.
Walker made his debut speech to
stamp collectors yesterday after
noon. Speaking over a coast-to-
coast network of the National Broad
casting Co. and under the auspices
Of the National Federation Of Stamp
Clubs. the new director of "the
worlds largest business institution"
said, in part:
ut is interesting to learn that
conservative estimates of the num-
ber of stamp collectors in the United
States place the figure at 10000 ,000
Frank confession is good for the soul,
so, honestly and apologetically, I say
to you I am not collector. I am,
however, mindful of the fact that
many of our best citizens have made
stamp collecting their avocation and
have real appreciation of what
the stamp collector has done and is
doing for our education and culture.
1T was but a short time after be-
coming Postmaster General that I
came to realize that the little
postage stamp and the legion of
stamp collectors played very i'm
portant role in the daily activities
of the postal service. have come to
| look upon the postage stamp, small
and Insignificant as it may seem, as
the very pulse of the postal service,
for it is around these little pieces of
gummed paper that the great VOL
ume Of postal business revolves.
During the past fiscal year. sales
of postage stamps, postal cards and
stamped envelopes accounted for SO
per cent of all postal revenues,
amounting to the sum OF more than
s521 100000 OF this figure, approx
mately 100000 represents sales of
stamps to collectors through the
Philatelic Agency and at post Offices
throughout the country.
Stamps thus sold represent prac-
tlcally a 100 per cent profit to the
Government. Aside from the small
cost attached to their manufacture
no postal service is required mas
| much as they are purchased for
collection purposes only and as such
are filed away in stamp books and
/ albums of various kinds.
Interest in stamp collecting in
| the United States has increased by
/ leaps and bounds during the past
/ few years. During the few
/ months in which I have served as
Postmaster General there has been
a total Of u new postage stamps
! issued. The issuance of the
National Defense stamps was most
/ significant. Release of these three
| stamps on October Is last. the day
set aside by the President as national
/ registration day, under the Selective
/ Service Act. marked the first time
/ that the United States Government
had issued a series Of postage stamps
contemplated to acquaint its citizens
with a current national undertaking
Of this nature The motifs OF
these three stamps, as you will recall,
were Industry and Agriculture on
the 1-cent. Army and Navy on the
2~cent and Security, Education,
1 Conservation and Health on the
Scent issue. Circulation of these
three postage stamps has already
accomplished much in the way of
bringing home to individuals, young
and old, in all walks of life, the
| underlying motives and ideals of
| the great national defense program
on which We are now embarked. q.
These stamps have been exceedingly
] yNNr0rIIor op0i a o1roa Cjy- Yoi1linr7c
Of the respective denominations have
been sold.
"Inasmuch as we are now enter
/ ing upon a new calendar year, am
| going to take this opportunity to
touch upon the subject of the Post
Office Departments stamp program
for the year 1941. 1t is not going to
be possible for me to give you much
in the way of advance information
on new stamps that are likely TO be
issued III the next II months. I shall
state. however, that consideration is
now being given to the possibility Of
a new airmail series to replace the
several airmail stamps now in cur
rent use. There is also a likelihood
that the stamped envelope designs
may be altered, since there has been
no change in these since 1916. Sug-
gestionS of every conceivable type
are now being received and are on
file at the Post Office Department
relating to subject matter for new
commemorative stamps, but stamp
| collectors have my assurance that
! only those relating to affairs of out
standing national significance and
| interest will receive serious conSid-
Grafton.
1T is interesting to note that in
spite of the grave international
situation with which we are con-
! fronted at this time there appears
/ to be no cessation whatsoever in the
public's interest in stamps and stamp
collecting. The records of orders
being received at the Philatelic
Agency daily as well as the continual
| flow of correspondence between the
| department and stamp collectors
throughout the country indicate that
stamp collecting is ever increasing
in popularity. This is good, not only
from postal and philatelic stand
point, but also from the standpoint
of our national welfare A nation
with frequent time-out periods for
relaxation and avocational indul-
gence is far less likely to feel the
strain of international turmoil and
strife than one committed to a single
objective.
las for the future, may I assure
stamp collectors throughout the land
that they may always count upon
the same fine spirit of cooperation
and kindly interest that the Post
Office Department has displayed in
recent years?"
Pitcairn Islands now is said to
be the correct designation of the
colony established by the mutineers
from the Bounty, but use of the
plural form of the word is justified
only on the theory that Henderson,
Ducie and CeTlu Islands are part of
the Pitcairn group" these dots upon
the boundleSs Pacific having been
! declared "anneYe6v in 1919