Month: March 2018

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Ecuador’s Urvina frees the slaves but can’t stop the splintering

Another long ago portrait of one nobody remembers, until one asks a philatelist. 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.

There are a ton of these stamps from 100-150 years ago. A formal portrait of a leader. As time passes and memories fade, the portrait becomes ever more of a not relatable blank state. As I am writing this, the official portraits of President and Mrs. Obama are revealed. They have a more cartoonish background and are less true to life. Some are of course mocking but I think it was an attempt to set his presidency apart from those who came before and after. Over time we will see if the result is clownish or causes later generations to give a second look to Obama.

The stamp today is issue A74, a 5 centavo stamp issued by the republic of Ecuador in 1911. It displays past President Jose Maria Urvina. It was part of a long series of past president stamps that were issued by Ecuador in the first quarter of the 20th century. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere revolted against Spain at the time Spain was invaded by Napoleon who put his brother on the Spanish throne. There was a lot of resentment from natives of the privileged position of Peninsulars in the colonies. The Peninsulars were those that could directly trace their lineage to Spain. This anger was then harnessed to fuel rebellions against a weakened and distracted Spain. Ironically the leaders of the rebellion were not from the masses but themselves from an elite.

The rebellions were imagined to end in a large powerful country that would be free of Spain and could benefit from its own output. The results were somewhat different, Region after region broke away from a corrupt Gran Columbia after the death of revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar. Among the breakaway regions was Ecuador.

Ecuador itself was far from a united place. There were liberal minded intellectuals and businessmen from Guayaquil and a much more conservative group that was mainly in Quito. The divisions saw many changes in power and with an aggressive Peru to the south there was much tumult.

Jose Maria Urvina was president for 5 years in the 1850s. He was from the more liberal group in Ecuador. He was a military man who was put in power by a coup. He had one great accomplishment in ending the practice of slavery. Slavery in Ecuador was mainly an issue among the majority indian/native population. As the 1850s went along more conservative areas  began to pay less attention to the central government and by the end of the decade some local strongmen were pledging allegiance to Peru.

I mentioned earlier how much of a blank slate these portraits become over time. A later ex president stamp issue by Ecuador changes the spelling of his name. It seems his son was a prominent banker who changed his spelling probably so not to have his politics assumed. With such a blank slate this was then retroactively transferred to the father.

Well my drink is empty so I will open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Hungary climbs out of the trenches too soon

Hungary desperately tries to preserve itself by exiting the Empire at the end of World War I. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your fist sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The Central Powers were really suffering greatly fighting world war I. The expense and demands logistically of supporting large conscript armies fighting multi front wars was quickly impoverishing Hungary. One can sense the weariness on the stamp and the poor quality of the printing adds to the effect. Perhaps not what the issuer intended but the reality shows through.

The stamp today is issue A9, a 10 filler stamp issued by the Kingdom of Hungary in 1916. It displayed a soldier in a trench. It was part of a 19 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Hungary had been part of the Austria Hungary Empire since 1867 in which there were two realms under one monarch. During the period there were failed attempts at Germanifacation that tried to take advantage of the many ethnicities contained in the empire. World War I saw disaster by siding with the Central Powers. Serbia was conquered and some success was achieved against Russia but there was also endless fighting with Romania and Italy. Hungary sent 4 million conscripts off to fight.

At the end of October 1918 there was an Aster revolution where soldiers had a coup. They wore aster flowers to demonstrate peace and the King accepted the coup. The association with Austria was ended and the King gave up power but did not technically abdicate, Count Karolyi was named president. His goal was to create an Eastern Switzerland and disbanded the army. He tried to attract ethnic minorities to be loyal to Hungary by offering self rule but was unsuccessful. He also tried to redistribute land to the peasants but the only actual transfer was of his families own land.

Getting rid of the army proved a huge blunder. New country Czechoslovakia attacked as did Romania. The French decided that since Hungary was now independent that the peace treaty signed with Austria did not apply to Hungary. New territorial demands were made and President Karolyi some think foolishly agreed to them.

Six months later Karolyi was deposed by communists who declared a Soviet People’s Republic and sent Karolyi into exile in France. The Communists had the only armed force and it was implied that the were backed by the Soviet Red Army. These brand of Communists also only lasted about six months and soon Hungary was a much smaller kingdom again.

Karolyi’s reputation was somewhat rehabilitated under the post World War II  communist regime, and indeed the former Count/President served the new regime as ambassador to France in the late 40s. His reputation has dropped again since communism fell in Hungary with his statue removed and his name removed from several streets. His rule was short and disastrous but his intentions were good. For that I think the statue should have remained just being sure the full story is told.

Well my drink is empty so I will pour another and raise it to the end of the war and the Switzerland of the East. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Jamaica sends the regiment off to World War I

Here is one of those stamps celebrating a colony’s contribution to the war effort. 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 visuals of this stamp are inspiring. A very early commemorative  of soldiers in a far off colony marching off to fight World War I. a scene that played out over and over in Britain. The stamp, and those like it, had to be aimed at least somewhat at the home front. It is trying to imply that that there was equal sacrifice throughout the colonies. This was not true in the case of Jamaica.

The stamp today is issue A20, a one and one half penny stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Jamaica in 1919. The stamp honoured the service of Jamaicans in World War I. It was part of a 12 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.10 used. The one shilling stamp from this issue featuring a statue of Queen Victoria exists in a printing mistake inverted form. That stamp is worth $40,000. There was also a 6 penny issue commemorating the abolition of slavery that were ordered and printed but then the decision was taken locally not to issue them. These are worth $825 mint.

Jamaica was discovered by Christopher Columbus, who claimed it for Spain. Around 1650, Britain conquered it. At first is was an open refuge for pirates that received letters of marquis from Britain to attack Spanish shipping. Eventually sugar cane plantations were established and large numbers of African slaves were imported to work on the plantations. After slavery was outlawed in the British Empire, the sugar cane plantations failed. The freed blacks refused the work opting instead for small farms where they engaged in subsistence farming for their own benefit. The descendants of slaves outnumbered white colonists 20 to one. Sugar cane exports gradually dried up and although there was some success with bananas, the economy was in severe decline.

The black residents of Jamaica were increasingly thinking of independence. Unusually there was also a movement to go back to Africa. Marcus Garvey, a black Jamaican, was an important part of this movement both at home and in the USA. He proposed economic and literal segregation from whites. He is considered a prophet by Rastapharians and a hero in Jamaica history.

The contribution of Jamaica to World War I was fairly minimal. There was no conscription but a pre existing regimemt  with Black soldiers and regular army white British officers fought in some of the African campaigns against German colonies there. Since half of the regiment was stationed in Sierra Leone pre war. The regiment was under no local control and was never used for local policing. This pales compared to sacrafice in Britain itself. The colonies were getting much more controversial in Britain post World War I. The average Briton simply did not have much benefit from them.

Well, my drink is empty so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Fiji, where former indentured laborers complicate independence

Another story where minorities brought in by colonials complicate a country post 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.

Here is another attractive stamp showing native fauna and Queen Elizabeth. In other words directly aimed at commonwealth and specialty stamp collectors. This is fine and I am sure made sense from a revenue raising point of view. They do seem to take on a could be from anywhere feel.

Todays stamp is issue A55, a one penny stamp issued by the Dominion of Fiji on July 15th, 1968. It displays a passion fruit flower. It was part of a 17 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The colonization of Fiji went well with one caveat. The first Governor banned sales of land from native Fijians. He also ceded much local control to the chiefs under the proviso that they not fight each other. He also specified that they could not be made to work the fields.

The big caveat was the large sugar cane and cotton plantations that grew up. Not being allowed local labor, indentured laborers were brought in. The first brought in were from other Pacific islands. They fit in well on the island, took Fijian wives, and integrated. A notorious incident ended this though.

A white English doctor concocted a scheme where recruiters in New Guinea posed as missionaries with turned collars and small black bibles. Religious services where organized where guns were pulled out and the attendees were shanghied for work in Fiji. The captives rebelled on the ship and 140 were shot. The English Doctor got away with it by providing evidence against the ship’s captain, who was hung. The practice was banned and the Royal Navy increased patrols.

From then on Indians were brought in under 5 year contracts to work the plantations. As the laborers had to pay their own way back to India after 5 years many stayed. This practice ended in 1916, but not before creating a substantial Indian minority.

The Indians felt the restrictions on non native land ownership  punished them and pushed to end it or at least allow longer leases. They were also much more in favor of independence from Great Britain. Great Britain also wanted independence for Fiji and forced it to happen in 1970.

The struggle between the Indians and the native Fijians continued post independence. The Indians had gradually took more and more control of the government. One thing they did not control was the armed forces. Great Britain during World War II created volunteer Fijian regiments that fought bravely attached to the New Zealand military. Since almost none of the Indians volunteered, the force was entirely native. Fiji chose to maintain a large army post war. This army remained native and began staging coups when they felt the Indians were too powerful in government. After one such coup, in 2007 a large number of the Indians emigrated from Fiji.

Well my drink is empty and so I will open the discussion in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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A failed plan de redressement brings a revolt of Simbas in the Congo

Independence often does not go smoothly and the colonial power will be dammed for what it does and what it leaves undone. 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.

Todays stamp promotes a recovery plan in a new country that was devastated by unrest following independence. The stamp issue shows much needed sewer and road construction, paid for by the European Economic Community. In theory this is a good stamp, promising a better future shared by all Congolese. The mistake is only in admitting that it was being paid for by Europe. It would have been better if the Congo government had made at least a small contribution to the project. That way there would be some credibility in taking credit.

The stamp today is issue A104, a 30 centimes stamp issued by the Republic of the Congo on July 1st, 1963. It showed an earthmover and blueprints and was part of a seven stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents cancelled.

Congo got it’s independence from Belgium in 1960. There was an older more conservative President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and a younger left wing prime minister Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba only lasted a few months in office. He increased government pay for all except the army while trying to retain Belgian officers. The army then mutinied and started looting especially targeting the many whites that remained to work the mining industry. The province that contained the mines Katanga then declared independence and hired white mainly South African mercenaries to chase off the Congo army. Belgium recognized Katanga independence and sent troops. Prime Minister Lumumba then traveled to Washington to ask for a military force to retake Katanga. While staying at Blair House across from the White House he asked that a blond prostitute be brought to him. Request denied, all requests denied. Upon return to Congo, he asked for military help from the Soviet Union. He was not authorized to do this by President Kasa-Vubu, who then ordered him removed from office. Prime Minister Lumumba then got on Radio Congo and declared the President removed. The standoff ended when the army arrested Lumumba and turned him over to Katanga, who promptly shot him, killed him and dissolved his body in acid.

President Kasa-Vubu remained in office and was able to reintegrate Katanga by making its leader the new Prime Minister. Things settled down for a while and Belgian troops were withdrawn. Congo retained some of the South African mercenaries in the Congo army. It was this quiet period that is depicted on the stamp.

It was not to last. Lumumba followers recast themselves as Simbas, (lions) and rebelled. Rebels wore animal skins and were initiated with a black magic ceremony that they thought made them immune to bullets. Much land was taken and the whites found were rounded up and confined in a hotel. The Soviets sent help to the Simbas including Cuban troops and Che Guevera. The Belgians again sent troops but this time only took the hotel and evacuated the whites and left. It was up to the Congo government to round up the Simbas, mostly using the mercenaries. This discredited the government and it then fell to a military coup in 1965. Recovery was a while off, plan or no plan.

Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another in honor the bravery of those that go far way and try to make a living in one of the worlds heck holes. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Madame Chaing efforts to help Warphans

A woman who lived in 3 centuries and who was first lady of China deserves a stamp and that stamp has a story. 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 design of the stamp today is fairly austere. That made me hope that it was a stamp from mainland China. The reason to get excited by that is that stamp collecting is growing in China and as a result the mainland offerings are quite valuable in comparison with Taiwan. It is easy to test this hypothesis. Madame Chaing’s sister was the ceremonial head of state of Mainland China. A stamp with her from the same year is worth 50 times what my stamp is worth. If the hobby could pick up some steam in Taiwan the disparity could be made to disappear. Get to work Taiwan stamp collecting!

Todays stamp is issue A163, an 80 cent stamp issued by Taiwan on March 8th, 1961. The stamp features First Lady Chaing on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Woman’s Anti-Aggression League. It was part of a three stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

Madame Chaing was born Soong Mei-ling in Shanghai, the daughter of a wealthy American educated, Methodist, Chinese businessman in the printing field. Mei-Ling and her sisters were educated at Wesleyan College in Macon, GA USA. As she was only 13 she stayed with friends of her sister in Demarest, Georgia and enrolled in eighth grade. Wesleyan took her at age 15 and gave her tutors to help her get caught up. Both her and her sister, later Sun Yat-sen’s wife, afterward spoke English with a Georgia accent.

Back in China, her sister Ching-ling acted as Sun Tat Sen’s secretary and later his second wife. Upon Sun Yat-sen’s death, Chinese leader Chaing Kai-shek wooed Mei-Ling and married her. Becoming brother in law to Sun Yat-sen enhanced his position. The marriage lasted 48 years but there were no children. At the end of the civil war in China in 1949, Ching-ling  remained in China as she was a  much honored communist. Mei Ling went to Taiwan and continued as First Lady.

Todays stamp celebrates Madame Chaing’s charity work so lets talk about that. Her cause were the orphaned children of soldiers in the Chinese Civil War and that with Japan. She founded schools, one for boys and one for girls for such children that she referred to as warphans. She even picked the teachers in the schools. Many years after Madame Chaing left Taiwan, her organization was accused of being a front for political kickbacks to the political party and dissolved.

When Chaing Kai-shek died in 1975, he was succeeded by his son from a previous mairrage. Mei-ling did not have good relations with him and moved to New York. She lived quietly until her death in 2003 at the age of 105 years old. For the most part, by then she was remembered fondly in both Chinas for her accomplishments.

Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another to toast Madame Chaing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

 

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India suggests an anti communist aid program, that the USA should pay for, and Australia and Britain agree

Post Independence, using the cold war rivalry to extract aid was big business in Asia. 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 Australia. Australia was a founding, donor country to the aid program. Celebrating the anniversary of an aid program is a delicate thing to do on a stamp of a donor country. There is a natural tendency to help those in need at home first. In addition an anniversary naturally brings questions of what there is to show for the money spent. A difficult question to answer for the skeptical. The stamp designers get around it with a generic emblem and not telling you what the “Colombo Plan” is. Also notice that the denomination is too high for a regular letter, meaning fewer stamps in circulation. Figure it out for yourself stamp user. Or better yet read on.

The stamp today is issue A123, a one schilling stamp issued on June 30th, 1961. It was a single stamp issue celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Colombo Plan of economic development aid in Asia. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

In 1949, the Indian ambassador to China, K. M. Panikkar, went to his British and Australian counterparts and suggested an aid program. It was to be used to fight communism in the newly independent nations of Asia. Remember that India was newly independent and the Communists had just taken over mainland China. The main thrust was to be economic development and educational opportunities. In proposing the USA pay for the bulk of it, Amb. Panikkar was able to successfully make his case. The USA paid the lion’s share of the cost and the program began based in Colombo, Ceylon, (now Sri lanka), in 1951.

The most obvious benefit of the aid program were the educational opportunities afforded. Among those that benefited are national leaders of Singapore and Nepal, and several prominent Indian scientists. In Ceylon itself the main beneficiary seems to have been the multi-language Ceylon radio service that did much in the 50s and 60s to bring an Asian perspective to the region.

With the end of the cold war, Britain and Canada dropped out of the program but the USA stayed on. The program was reorganized to take on environmental and gender issues in addition to continuing the educational opportunities. It is interesting to contemplate that gender and environmental issues are energized mostly on the left end of the political spectrum. Yet the program was specifically designed to be anti communist. Another case where the people that populate the program decide what it actually does. The vast bulk of people that get into this line or work will be left of center. The Colombo Plan is still around today.

Well my drink is empty so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Malta, the one colony offered integration, decides to go it alone

A pleasant Commonwealth Christmas stamp from a country ever less comfortable in the Commonwealth. 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.

I think this is the only stamp that I possess that is of this shape. To make the shape doable, they were sold in sheets of 60 with every other row inverted. In this period there were many British Empire/Commonwealth stamp collectors. Their philatelic needs were handled by farmed out stamps, in which extra care was done to catch the eye. Any hard feelings toward Britain are also airbrushed out for the stamp offerings.

The stamp today is issue A85, a 1 penny stamp issued by Malta on October 3rd, 1968. The stamp celebrates Christmas with a view the Star of Bethlehem, shepherds and an angel. It was part of a three stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Malta is populated by people of mainly Sicilian heritage. They are mainly Catholic. During World War II, the island suffered greatly with German and Italian attacks on the British air and naval forces it was hosting. After the war, Britain was quick to grant self rule to the Colony. There was even a unique offer to allow Malta to integrate into Britain itself. Malta was the only colony this was ever offered to. A vote was taken and while the vote was substantially in favor, (77%). The vote was tainted by a boycott of the vote by one of the two main parties and the Church. A change in government in England also saw a cooling of the idea. The people of Malta would have been overwhelmingly Labour Party, perhaps enough to influence elections. The British Navy was also quickly shrinking, and with it the need for military bases on Malta.

When the British Navy laid off 40 dockworkers, this was used as an excuse by both sides to end the scheme of integration with Britain. Independence was granted in 1964. A small British military presence remained till 1979. The day they departed is celebrated as Freedom Day in Malta.

The newly independent government sought close ties with Italy and surprisingly Libya under Coronel Quadaffi . Muslims had before this mainly been thought of as pirates but were now being marketed as blood brothers. Quadaffi offered aid and built a mosque in a new country that was not having much success with it’s brand of socialism. This came to a sudden end when an American oil platform licensed by Malta to search for oil was approached by a Libyan gunboat. The case later went to the International Court of Justice. Malta was more successful later integrating with the European Union.

Well my drink is empty and so I will open the discussion in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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The ever widening canal brings trade to Ghent, Belgium

Belgium broke off from Holland and yet still finds a way to route trade through it. 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 shows a new piece of infrastructure in 1968. As we write this, there is construction going on to replace it. The new 1968 lock was designed to handle the new big ships as displayed on the stamp. 50 years on, ships have gotten even bigger and so a new lock is needed.

The stamp today is issue A232, a 6 Belgian Franc stamp issued by Belgium on December 14th, 1968. It shows a ship at a new lock on the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The Netherlands has a long coast on the North Sea and is considered a seafaring nation. Belgium only as a short coastline near the port of Antwerp. The industrial region of Ghent is closer to the sea if one goes through Netherlands. So a canal was built in the early 19th century terminating at Terneuzen on the sea. This was a straightforward thing to do as at the time Belgium was part of the Netherlands which paid for the canal.

Belgium became independent of the Netherlands after a long war in the 1830s. In response, the Netherlands cut off access to the canal for a 30 year period. Eventually relations improved and the canal was reopened.

A good deal of the canal is in modern day Netherlands and most of the benefit of the canal goes to Belgium. In the post World War II era commercial ships were much larger and a deal was struck that allowed a widening and new locks for the bigger ships. The cost this time was mainly bourn by Belgium.

50 years have passed since this stamp and ship size has continued to grow. The current expansion of the capacity of the Panama Canal showed the new standard in size. In 2015, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to jointly construct a new size lock in Terneuzen, Netherlands. The cost was projected at 920 million Euros. The Belgians have agreed to pay 80% of the cost. The Ghent port company’s contribution to the project is less than 2 %. No doubt charming taxpayers all over Euroland, Belgium and Holland have agreed to a joint application to the EU to subsidize the project. It remains to be seen if the high cost of the project will bring economic benefits or if time tables and cost projections of the project can be adhered to. Whenever completion happens, scheduled for 2021, perhaps Belgium will mark it with a new stamp.

Well my dink is empty so I will open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.