st who could design an
effective and acceptable postage stamp for the British Empire would
add materially to his own fame and to the art standard of the Empire
itself.

Brother Jonathan across the sea is not unmindful of art in the
production of his postage stamps, despite his commercial inclinations
and training. From the first he has put his patriotism into his
postage stamps. The portraits of the Presidents, from George
Washington to Lincoln, and from Lincoln to McKinley, who have ruled,
wisely and well, the destinies of the great Republic, Jonathan
engraves in his best style, in his own official engraving
establishment, and proudly places upon his postage stamps for the
admiration of all good citizens and the edification and envy of the
effete old countries beyond the seas.

We, with our richer memories and our stately galleries of great men
who have ruled or governed or fought through the centuries, must be
content with an Empire postage stamp that is little better, from an
art point of view, than an ordinary beer label, and we must be
content to be told that it is the penalty of success, of the dire
necessity of long numbers, and of a needy Treasury that sorely hungers
for still greater profits from the Post Office.

Meanwhile, small struggling states revel in beautiful stamps. The
latest trend is in the direction of miniature portraiture. The
Argentine Republic and Bolivia have in recent years issued some very
fine examples in this direction. A very useful innovation is the
addition of the name under the portrait. In this way thousands have
been familiarised with the names and faces of men who before were
almost unknown beyond their own country. Historic features, such as
those of Columbus and Pizarro, have occasionally been added to the
growingly interesting gallery of stamp portraits.

The recently issued New Zealand picture series, illustrating most
effectively some of the choicest bits of colonial scenery, and some of
the rarest birds of the colony, engraved by Messrs. Waterlow and Sons,
afforded an interesting and successful experiment in an art direction.
As a result it is said that a strong demand has been generated in
other colonies for similarly beautiful and localised designs in
preference to the stereotyped mediocrity supplied by the ordinary
label process.

[Illustration]

XIII.

Stamp Collecting as an Investment.

When a stamp collector is charged with being extravagant, with
spe