Concerning the postal changes we have been considering the report says:-- Owing to the change of contract for the manufacture and supply of postage stamps, a new series of stamps became necessary at the beginning of the present fiscal year. New stamps ranging in value from the 1/2 cent to the 10 cent denomination (inclusive) were printed, and the first supplies thereof sent out to postmasters as the corresponding denominations of the old stamps became exhausted. A considerable quantity of the higher values of that series (15 cents, 20 cents and 50 cents) remaining over from the late contract, these three stamps continued to be issued, so that the department, previous to the introduction of the same denominations in the new series, might, in accordance with the universal practice, dispose of the old stamps in each case before issuing any of the new. The design of the new stamps is of a uniform character, and consists of an engraved copy (reduced) of an authorized photograph of Her Majesty taken during the Diamond Jubilee year. This, placed within an oval bearing the usual inscriptions, is enclosed in a rectangular frame, a maple leaf on a lined ground occupying each of the triangular spaces between the two frames. To conform to the regulations of the Universal Postal Union, the colour of the new 1 cent stamp is green, and that of the 5 cents a deep blue. This necessitated corresponding changes in the colours of the other stamps of the new series; for example, purple, instead of green, being selected for the 2 cent denomination, and orange instead of slate for the 8 cent. The special delivery system was also introduced, and will be treated of later. CHAPTER XIII THE "NUMERALS" ISSUE, 1898-1902 Hardly had the "maple leaf" issue gotten generally into use before complaints began to be heard about the difficulty of distinguishing the different values. The _Weekly Philatelic Era_ for June 4, 1898, quotes a plaint of this character as follows:-- The Toronto _World_ says: "We take the liberty of suggesting to the Postmaster-General that we have a large figure indicating the value in cents of the various issues of Canadian stamps. It is hard to make them out at present." This is only one of the numerous complaints made daily against our new issue. Some changes ought to be made. But the _Metropolitan Philatelist_ in its issue for April 2, 1898, had already given information of an impending change which in the main proved correct. It says:--