which was simply a printing bill. The last payment for the pence issue of stamps appears in the report for 30th Sept., 1859, and is for the deliveries during the nine months from 30th. Sept. 1858 to 30th June, 1859, when the pence stamps were retired. The charge is given in decimal currency:-- Rawdon, Wright & Co., supply of letter and newspaper stamps $238.69 The report for 1858 gives an interesting table showing the growth of the postal business by decades for the thirty years previous. The remarkable increase during the last period, within which the Province assumed control and the use of stamps was introduced, is to be noted:-- Number of Miles of Gross Letters Newspapers Year P. Offices P. Routes Postage Annually Annually 1828 101 2,368 £15,000 340,000 400,000 1838 380 5,486 35,000 1,000,000 1,250,000 1848 539 6,985 65,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 1858 1,566 13,600 151,000 9,800,000 13,500,000 The year 1859 brings us to the end of the pence issues, but before leaving them there is still one more question to consider, that of the perforated varieties, which will form the subject of the next chapter. CHAPTER IV THE PERFORATED PENCE ISSUES The perforated series of the pence issues of Canada furnishes another one of those knotty problems for which these stamps are noted. The first intimation of the improvement that was announced officially appears in the Report of the Postmaster General for 30th September, 1857, in these words:-- Moreover, the Department has been led, by the increasing use of Postage Stamps, to take measures for obtaining the Canadian Postage Stamps on sheets perforated in the dividing lines, in the manner adopted in England, to facilitate the separation of a single stamp from the others on a sheet when required for use.