The issue of stamps, however, began, as appointed, on the 1st of May. Great, I had the satisfaction of hearing, was the bustle at the Stamp Office; the sale on this one day amounting to £2,500. It was clear, therefore, that this practice, so “inconvenient and foreign to the habits of Englishmen,” was at least to have trial. So far all was well; but now began a series of troubles, against which I had striven to provide, but necessarily through the instrumentality of others little interested in their prevention.
Six days later, I received information that no stamps had been issued to any of the receiving-houses in London. On inquiring into the cause of this omission, I found that in the Treasury letter, giving instructions on the subject, the important word not had been omitted, so that whereas the minute directed that the issue should not be delayed on account of certain preliminaries, the letter directed that it should.
Two days later, a new difficulty appeared. The objection raised at the Stamp Office to perform the duty of cutting up into single covers the entire sheets which came from the press, had prevented the construction of proper machinery for the purpose; and now a contest arose between two departments, the Stamp Office persisting in issuing the sheets uncut, and the Post Office very properly refusing to supply its receivers with them until cut. The consequence of this antagonism was that the cutting had to be carried on throughout the following Sunday. I secured, however, an additional machine for the Monday, and the promise of another for the Wednesday. Nevertheless, the delay produced considerable dissatisfaction; the stamps issued having fallen, to a great extent, into the hands of private venders, who naturally took advantage of the demand to sell at a profit.
A week later, the issue threatened to come to a standstill; the Post Office, though it had in writing undertaken the duty of distributing the stamped covers, now declaring such distribution beyond its power. My inquiries merely produced a repetition of this declaration; the nature of the obstacle I failed to learn. As I was unwilling to call in the authority of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, indeed, at this time was so much occupied as to be almost inaccessible, I could but urge and remonstrate; and it was some time before this produced the desired effect. Even a month after the first issue, the London receivers remained still unsupplied, the Post Office alleging that it could not obtain stamps, and the Stamp Office declaring that it had complied, and more than complied, with all requisitions. The only thing beyond doubt was that blame rested somewhere; but where, it was hard to discover; the more so, as each department was too much out of temper to allow of easy interrogation. I scarcely need add that troubles more or less similar to these continued to arise from time to time.
Meanwhile, the actual production could scarcely keep pace with the public demand; the less so as this took the unexpected form already implied; adhesive stamps so fast rising in preference, that the great stock of covers which had been prepared proved of comparatively little value. The presses actually at work were producing more than half a million of stamps per day, but this was insufficient, and sudden addition was not practicable, since, by a relay of hands, the work was already carried on by night and by day without intermission. Of course, such pressure was not without its evils; some of the work being inaccurately and even carelessly executed, so that I began to fear that forgery might be successfully attempted. My apprehensions, however, happily proved groundless; only two attempts, so far as I know, ever having been made, and both of a very bungling character, though in one the author was cunning enough to escape personal detection. In the other, which occurred in Ireland, the offender was convicted and punished; the detection occurred through the fact that a young man had written to his sweetheart under one of the forged stamps, and enclosed another for her use in reply.
Amidst these anxieties another arose, which proved far more durable and more troublesome. This proceeded from the difficulty of making the obliteration of the stamp complete and effectual. All the penny stamps, it must be observed, were at this time printed in black; the obliterating ink being red; used, I suppose, because that colour had long been employed in the Post Office to indicate prepayment. Of course the danger was, first, lest obliteration should be omitted; and, secondly, lest the effacing marks should afterwards be removed. Even on the first point there was a good deal to complain of in the outset; so much so that a certain amount of discredit began to attach to stamps as a whole. The Post Office replied to complaints by saying that every care was taken; and no doubt serious difficulties would arise in introducing a new mode, where so many persons were concerned; these, too, being spread far and wide over the kingdom.
An extract from my Journal, a few days later, shows how matters were getting on:—
“May 21st.—Several more cases of stamps wholly unobliterated, or very nearly so, have come within my knowledge; and all sorts of tricks are being played by the public, who are exercising their ingenuity in devising contrivances for removing the obliterative stamp, by chemical agents and other means. One contrivance is to wash over the stamp, before the letter is posted, with isinglass, or something else which acts as a varnish, and as the obliterating stamp falls on this varnish, it is easily removed with soap and water. Tricks of this kind are quite sufficiently numerous to produce great annoyance; but I doubt whether it is more than the exercise of a little ingenuity which will speedily be directed to other objects. I am making every effort, however, with the aid of Phillips, the chemist,[297] and others, to prevent these frauds, and I trust I shall succeed.”