STAMP 



5522 



STAMP ACT 



with b, p, i and d. In other cases certain 

 sounds are slurred or omitted altogether, or one 

 sound is used in place of another. Some per- 

 sons are afflicted with a silent form of stam- 

 mering, in which speech fails them entirely. 

 The trouble is frequently caused by nervous- 

 ness, and is often associated with Saint Vitus's 

 dance (which see). It may be inherited, and 

 statistics show that it is much more common 

 in males than in females. If proper treatment 

 is not applied, a person who begins to stammer 

 in early childhood may continue to do so all 

 his life. 



Modern authorities believe that one of the 

 best means of treating the disorder is teaching 

 breath control. Cures have been effected by 

 the use of singing lessons, as rhythm has been 

 found an aid in teaching correct breathing and 

 enunciation. Such conditions as eyestrain, dis- 

 eased tonsils, nasal catarrh and the like are 

 often predisposing causes, and should receive 

 the attention of a reliable physician. 



By exercising patience and persistence, a 

 mother can often cure her child of stammering 

 if the case is not too serious. Scolding or ridi- 

 cule will never accomplish the slightest good 

 result. The child should be directed to breathe 

 slowly and deeply and to repeat carefully the 

 syllables that give him trouble in articulation. 



See EDUCATION, subtitle Hygiene of Educa- 

 tion. C.B.B. 



Consult Scripture's Stuttering and Lisping. 



STAMP, an adhesive paper bearing an im- 

 pression or device authorized by law and 

 adopted for attachment to some subject of 

 duty or excise; also, an impression on paper 

 made by order of government, to be used for 

 the purpose of raising revenue. The presence 

 of such a paper or impression on a document 

 of any kind is evidence that the laws respecting 

 it have been complied with. 



Stamp duties were first imposed by the 

 Dutch in 1624. In England the plan was first 

 resorted to in 1694, to raise money for carrying 

 on a war with France. The subject of stamp 

 duties is of great historical interest to the 

 United States, as it was the passing of the 

 Stamp Act of 1765 by the English Parliament 

 that led directly to the Revolutionary War. 



In 1862 the Congress of the United States 

 passed a law requiring that stamps, especially 

 prepared for the purpose, should be affixed to 

 legal papers and documents, and to packages of 

 many different kinds of merchandise. This was 

 done to raise funds to pay in part the expenses 



of the War of Secession, and the law was re- 

 pealed when the necessity was removed. Again, 

 in 1898, a similar law was passed, on account of 

 the war with Spain. These stamps, called in- 

 ternal revenue stamps, are now required on 

 tobacco, cigarettes, liquors, etc., and on such 

 articles as oleomargarine, filled cheese, opium, 

 mixed flour, and the like. 



The form of stamp with which peoples of all 

 countries are most familiar is the postage 

 stamp ; it is fully described in these volumes. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Internal Revenue Stamp Act 



Postage and Postage Tax and Taxes 



Stamps 



STAMP ACT. The growing prosperity of 

 the colonies in America and the increasing debt 

 of the mother country induced the British 

 ministers in 1764 to attempt to raise revenue in 

 America to meet home expenses, and partially 



USED UNDER THE STAMP ACT 

 Three of the stamps of the British government 

 imposed on the American colonies. 



to make the colonies self-sustaining. In March, 

 1765, the Stamp Act was passed, imposing a 

 stamp duty on all commercial papers, legal 

 documents and newspapers. Although the colo- 

 nies had signified their willingness to raise 

 money to assist in paying the debt incurred by 

 England in the French and Indian Wars, they 

 denied that Parliament had the right, arbitra- 

 rily, to impose a tax upon them, since they were 

 not represented in that body. Therefore the 

 publication of the act "operated in America like 

 a spark dropped on a tinder," although the cost 

 of each stamp was trifling. 



By acts of violence the stamp distributor, 

 admiralty deputy and lieutenant-governor in 

 Massachusetts were forced to resign. Patrick 

 Henry denounced the British government and 

 influenced the Virginia assembly to pass resolu- 

 tions against taxation by Parliament, and at 

 the request of Massachusetts, a congress in 

 which nine of the colonies were represented, the 

 first colonial congress in America, met at New 

 York and drew up a statement of the position 

 of the colonies. This was called the Stamp Act 



