New stamped envelopes also came into use, and the price thereof _above the face value_ as compared with the old envelopes of the same size, was reduced by 10 cents per 100, a reduction of 33-1/3 %. A further concession given the public was that a blank form of request (to return letter if not delivered within the specified time) is printed without extra charge on the envelope, so that at the option of the purchaser stamped envelopes with or without this form of request may be obtained. Whilst the three denominations of stamped envelopes (1 cent, 2 cents and 3 cents) are retained, it was deemed advisable to have only one size instead of two as was the case with the old envelopes,--the small size of the latter (known as No. 1) being discontinued because of the tendency on the part of the mercantile community to use envelopes of the larger size (known officially as No. 2) or what in the commercial world is classed as No. 7. The latter is now the uniform size of the new stamped envelopes. The stamped envelopes referred to at the beginning of the above quotation were the 3 cent envelopes, the first value to appear in a new design, and the price, as stated, was reduced from the former rate of $3.30 per hundred to $3.20 per hundred. But this apparently applied only to the new style, for the old style envelopes returned to the department as "unfit for use" in 1898, 1899 and 1900 were credited at the old rates, while the new style envelopes in the same condition were credited at the new rates in these same years. The Report for 1899 states that the old style envelopes in their two sizes were discontinued on 31st March, 1898. The new stamp, while perhaps not as bizarre as the 2 cent of 1895, was yet a conspicuously ugly production by reason of the profile portrait of Queen Victoria that was employed. The die was engraved by Messrs. De La Rue & Co., of London, and outside of the embossed head is a very neat design of engine turned work, with POSTAGE in small white letters above the inner oval and THREE CENTS beneath. The word CANADA was added, apparently as an afterthought, in colored letters _outside_ the design at the top of the stamp, where it breaks the colored line surrounding the oval! The impression is in a bright red on a white wove paper of a slightly cream tone, and the flap is rounded, with gum extending its full length. The return request referred to in the Report is printed in black in the upper left hand corner and reads:-- [Illustration] If not called for in ten days return to....