PRECANCELLED STAMPS.
(Amending Departmental Circulars of 11th March and 16th September.)
It is desired that the use of precancelled stamps should be attended with every possible degree of precaution and security and for that purpose only requisitions for precancelled stamps to cover mailings of 25,000 pieces at a time have been allowed. It is considered, however, in the light of experience, that this limit is somewhat high, and in future, therefore, postmasters will be allowed to make requisition for precancelled stamps for mailings of 10,000 pieces at a time.
R. M. COULTER,
Deputy Postmaster General.
The style of cancellation which is employed by the Department at Ottawa, where all the pre-cancelling is evidently done, is a three line one—the town name above and the province name below, separated by two parallel lines. It is applied in black ink. Evidently considerable mail is sent out under this method for the precancelled stamps are fairly common. One other variety comes from Montreal with "FOR-THIRD-CLASS-MATTER-ONLY", (a line for a word) beneath MONTREAL and separated from it by two thin parallel lines.
The issuing of "Permits" was an outgrowth of the precancelled stamp system, it being in effect a stamped cover fulfilling the same purpose as a
cover with a precancelled adhesive affixed to it. The idea was again borrowed from the United States. The circular issued to postmasters will fully explain the methods adopted under this new plan:[253]—
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, CANADA.
OTTAWA, 2nd February, 1903.
PREPAYMENT OF THIRD-CLASS (PRINTED) MATTER IN CASH.