Tag: British Guiana stamp

A late colonial era stamp displaying Sugar cane production facilities. This is quite poignant to the choices facing Guyana upon independence. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today is from the last decade of colonial rule in what was then British Guiana. So we get to see Queen Elizabeth, still the Queen so many years later. She looks down on a sugar cane production facility. The sugar cane industry was 70 percent of the economy at the time. There was probably some taking pride in what we bequeathed to the colony but it really shows the difficult choices facing the people.

The stamp today is issue A60, an 8 cent stamp issued by the crown colony of British Guiana on December 1st, 1954. It was part of a 16 stamp issue displaying interesting sites around Guiana.  The most expensive individual stamp in the world sold in 2014 for $9.5 million was from British Guiana. According to the Scott catalog, this stamp is worth 25 cents. Too low, this is an interesting stamp. The country never really got going though, so there is little local demand that should be pushing values up.

British Guiana was a territory that the British were probably happy to unload. The sugar cane industry is very labor intensive. So many African slaves were brought in. Also many Indians who were brought in as contract labourers after slavery ended to replace their labour and stayed as the economy’s merchants and traders. These two groups far outnumbered British colonists and indigenous natives. The outlawing of slavery made the economics of the industry less lucrative and introduced labour strife, where the workers understandably wanted to improve their poor lot. The industry was nationalized in 1970, and now accounts for just 4% of Guyana’s low GDP. It is still a vehicle to employ a lot of people and Guyana has worked a deal with the EU to pay 3 times the world price for sugar to keep it going. An inefficient government run outfit as seen output continually drop. The Chinese have recently made an investment, I doubt they will see a return.

The politics of the country extended colonial rule for a decade or more. Parties were formed on racial lines with the Indian party being openly communist and the African party feigning capitalism. The Indian party kept winning elections and the British would then delay, gerrymander, and reschedule to try to avoid Guiana becoming communist immediately upon independence. Independence was finally achieved in 1966 with the African party in charge. A 1968 election saw the African party also going communist  and ending ties to the Commonwealth.

The country, now spelled Guyana never really became successful. Over 1 percent of the population emigrates every year, mostly to the USA and Canada. I already described the massive subsidy from the EU. There is also much generosity from the USA. Debts have been forgiven and the entire wheat supply of Guyana is an annual gift of the USA. So much is given that Guyana sells excess on the world market. It is still one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

As I stated above, Guyana’s sugar cane output is down, about 2/3rds since independence. The cost structure in country is unable to compete at market prices. There are things that could be done to automate both in the fields and in the processing. These advances are coming out of India. To do so would require a great deal of investment from outside. It would also however reduce employment levels and transfer that wealth to the outside owners. Remember that was the very powerful indictment of slave times. The transfer of wealth even further to Indians leaves the black residents in the lurch. No wonder the black political party came out as communist once in power. How else to keep their people employed?

Well my drink is empty. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018

Another story of an ex British colony being left with demographics  that make it hard to form a cohesive country. Well perhaps the nation can learn from the East Indian still then majority how to make a new start in spring. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Guyana is derived from the old Portuguese word for black people. With the decline of colonialism, there have been as many as 6 nations basing their name on it. Neighboring Dutch Guyana now goes by Suriname. This is why South America in mentioned on the stamp, it does narrow 6 to three. After the end of slavery blacks were no longer interested in plantation work. Indian, called east Indians to differentiate from natives, were brought in to replace them and by independence were a slight majority of the population. This stamp shows the 1969 Phagwah Festival as something for the east Indians as you might expect. Today Guyana has repurposed the Hindu festival as multi racial celebration of getting along. Papering over troubles you may say, but would it be better to admit hatred? Here is a link to a government video of the 2019 festival, that doesn’t resemble the stamp much.. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=phagwah+in+guyana&qpvt=phagwah+in+guyana&FORM=VDRE

Todays stamp is issue A13, a 6 cent stamp issued by Guyana on February 26th, 1969. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations celebrating that years Phagwah festival. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused or which denomination.

As Britain started to wind down their colony in Guyana, a left wing party formed under east Indian Cheddi Jagan and a marketed as right wing party under black Forbes Burnham. Britain very much favored Burnham as they found it embarrassing when  a colony went communist immediately after independence. Taking sides was futile, as both parties were communist the difference was really racial. In the late 50s, Britain was trying to put together a federation of their old African majority Caribbean islands. It was hoped they would be stronger together and Canada could replace Britain as their protector. People of African heritage in Guyana were in favor of such an arrangement.  Cheddi Jagan was not, east Indians were a slim majority in Guyana and would be a small minority in such a federation. He vetoed Guyana’s involvement. From then on political parties were strictly on racial lines. Through gerrymandering Britain was able to turn Guyana over to Burnham as head of the black political party. After independence he declared himself also a communist and African style president for life. Guyana is quite poor and loses about one percent of it’s population a year to migration out. These are mostly East Indians, which are now a minority of the country. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/12/british-guiana-going-independant-means-choosing-between-the-indians-and-the-africans/  .

The Hindu Phagwah Festival is an annual event to celebrate spring. The Festival begins with a nighttime circle around a bonfire where prayers are offered that one’s evil spirits will be burned by the fire. The next day is one where caste, age, and class are put aside for frivolity and the friendly spraying of colored water on friend, foe, and stranger alike. You are also to partake of food and a drink called bhang that contains cannabis. The next day is more sober and involves visiting in ones best clothes to cement new friendships.

Well my drink is empty and I am more used to whiskey in my glass than cannabis, so perhaps I should stick to what I know. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

The sugar cane plantations were no longer making anyone rich. Diamonds and gold were also discovered but not in any great quantity. So why are we here again. To fight communism? So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The British must have loved this portrait of a local Lucayan Indian fishing with a bow and arrow. A version of this portrait lasted from George V through to Elizabeth II. It does have an exotic flair. Alas Guiana had been changed forever by the British. They had brought in first Africans and then post slavery contract worker Indians to work the sugar cane plantations. How the two groups interacted was the real story of Guiana, not the few and far between Lucayans.

Todays stamp is issue A41, a 2 cent stamp issued by the Crown Colony of British Guiana on October 1st, 1934. It was a thirteen stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.90 used.

British Guiana was first discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh, His settlements did not last though as they were soon taken over by the Dutch, who also started the large scale importation of African slaves to work on sugar cane plantations. The British retook the area during the Napoleonic wars when Holland was occupied by France and therefore distracted from defending their colonies. In 1834, the British Empire banned slavery and the freed blacks were not anxious to continue on the plantations at the meager pay offered.

Britain still had India though, and a large number of Indians came as contract laborers. The plantations were consolidated under the Booker group, a British food wholesaler. Most Indians stayed after their labor contract expired. The colony became half and half ethnically with only a few British and Lucayans. As the British rule was winding down, an African decent politician named Forbes Burnham was trained at the London School of Economics and groomed to take over the colony for independence. This ignored the large Indian community and an American educated, Hindu (Kurmi caste), dentist named Cheddi Jagan formed a rival political party. To the British shock and horror, the Indian party won the pre independence election. While in America, Jagan had married a Jewish communist wife and ran in Marxist circles. During the cold war it would not have done for the British to have a colony go immediately communist post independence. So after the election, a state of emergency was declared, and the British tried to figure a way to give the colony to Burnham. This was done but delayed independence for a decade. Ironically, but not surprisingly, once independent Burnham ruled in the African president for life style and surprise, he was also a communist and nationalized the Booker plantation system. The sugar cane production only continues in now Guyana as the European Union buys the sugar at double the market rate as an aid scheme. The USA provides for free a grain supply to keep the country fed. One and a half percent of the country immigrates out every year, mainly Indians and mainly to the USA and Canada. They are currently trying to attract the Chinese to come in and take over the sugar industry.

British Guiana is a famous place from a stamp collecting perspective. In the early 1850s there were a tiny number of stamps issued and printed poorly by the local newspaper publisher. The circular cottonreel stamps are quite valuable. A more professional stamp printed in London followed in 1852 but when these stamps ran out a local  badly printed copy became the most valuable of all. The 1 cent magenta stamp from this sold in 2014 for $9.5 million, the most valuable stamp in history.

Well my drink is empty and I will poor another to toast the Lucayan Indian fisherman. I hope he caught his families dinner. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting