180 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [ Vot. Dae 
which must be taken to the stamps in use to-day throughout the 
Dominion is on the ground of the inherent defect which I have pointed 
out, a defect which they have inherited from the parent stamp of 1851. 
Frankly acknowledging my own responsibility with regard to the 
objectionable feature referred to, I feel that a peculiar moral obligatign 
is imposed upon me to endeavour to make such reparation as may be in 
my power, for the evils which have been transmitted to the present day 
through successive generations of stamps. Accordingly I take upon my- 
self the duty of respectfully recommending that the design of our 
Canadian postage stamps be reconsidered and remodelled. With this 
in view I beg leave to offer two suggestions, viz.:— 
First.—That the Queen’s Head be retained but on a reduced scale 
and so placed that it will occupy the upper half of the stamp, leaving in 
the lower half ample space for a single large figure to denote the 
value. This course is now followed in some of the more recent English 
stamps, and I would instance the two pence half-penny stamp, used’ for 
foreign postage. If all our Canadian stamps were designed on this 
principle, the defects which have been mentioned would be removed. 
Second.— Another course would be to substitute the Imperial Crown for 
the Queen’s Head, placing it over a panel or shield on which would be 
inscribed in large plain figures the denomination of the stamp, in some 
such manner as shown in the sketch. 
For those who fortunately can distinguish colours, no doubt much 
benefit is to be found in their use, in printing stamps of different values, 
but I hold that the employment of colours should be secondary as a 
means of distinguishing one stamp from another. I humbly submit that 
it should be held to be an essential feature of all stamps hereafter issued, 
that the distinctive number be so plain and so conspicuous and so un- 
mistakable, as to be easily recognized by all persons under ordinary 
circumstances. 
With great respect I submit these remarks for the consideration of the 
members of the Canadian Institute. If they commend themselves to the 
approval of this Society, the Council will, I do not doubt, deal with them 
in the mode which they conceive will generally best serve the public 
interests. 
