::: INAUGURAL TREATY PERIOD :::

December 21, 1850 - June 30, 1851

Postal rates were high during the Inaugural Treaty Period. A letter to a San Francisco resident cost 6¢, but a letter for the East via Panama cost 40¢ plus a 2¢ ship fee (the latter charged once per letter but the 40¢ charged for each half ounce). Once the Honolulu Post Office was created, Hawaii charged 10¢ per half ounce in addition to these rates making the cost of a letter from Hawaii to New England 52¢. There was inconsistency in the way the 2¢ ship fee was applied in the Inaugural Treaty Period. For a more comprehensive look at postal rates during the Treaty Period, go to Mail Rates link.

On December 21, 1850, Hawaii opened a post office at Honolulu and Henry Whitney was appointed Postmaster of Honolulu. The location of the new post office stayed exactly where it had been during the preceding few weeks, at the office of the Polynesian. At first, one may have been unable to discern much difference. Whitney continued to use the straightline postmark put in use by early November, but changed the ink color to black. He also published information concerning rates and handling arrangements for mail to the United States and Europe.

Postmarked in black on the opening day of the Honolulu Post Office, December 21, 1850. The letter was carried to San Francisco on the Chameleon, sailing December 21 and arriving January 22, 1851. The red San Francisco postmark can be seen left of center. It is unclear whether the blue "PAID" mark was applied in San Francisco or in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The letter was rated "42" at San Francisco and then rated "5" at Harrisburg to indicate the charge for forwarding the letter to New Haven, Connecticut. My guess is the letter was sent collect with the postage and the forwarding fee paid at Harrisburg to spare the young William Alexander the cost.

COLLECT OR PREPAID? Allowing Hawaiian residents to send mail to the United States with United States postage prepaid was one significant aspect of the Treaty arrangement. Until then, all mail was send collect out of necessity. Once the Treaty arrangement was working, the sender could pay the United States postage in cash to the Honolulu post office. A way bill accompanied the letter bag to San Francisco indicating which letters were prepaid. San Francisco charged the proper amount of United States postage to the account of the Honolulu Post Office. The account was presented and paid on a quarterly basis. Figuring out whether a letter was collect or prepaid is sometimes difficult for letters in this Period. All of the recorded letters for delivery in San Francisco were sent collect (one may have been sent underpaid) and from various original sources we know Postmaster Whitney was at this time unaware of the 6¢ incoming ship rate. He also may have been unaware of the 2¢ ship fee on mail for delivery beyond San Francisco. In his first published rate, he listed the postage for a fully prepaid letter as 50¢, which was 2¢ short of the true rate (40¢ United States postage plus the 2¢ ship fee plus 10¢ Hawaiian postage on foreign mail). I tend to list a letter as prepaid if it fails to show the 2¢ ship fee and to list it as collect if it has a manuscript rate including the 2¢ ship fee. Thus, the November 16 letter shown above is listed as pre-paid and the December 21 letter shown above is listed as collect.

Private Express Service Between Honolulu and San Francisco:

Datelined January 11, 1851 at Honolulu, this letter probably was carried to San Francisco in the private mail bag of Gregory's Express, which had opened an office in Honolulu. At San Francisco, the Gregory's Express instruction, seen at the lower left of the image, was stricken and the letter was delivered to the post office to be picked up by Ellis & Crosby. If this analysis is accurate, the sender received little advantage by having the letter carried by Gregory's Express.

Other examples of Honolulu straightline postmarks:

A prepaid letter dated May 8, 1851 and indicating "Paid 40" (the Hawaiian postage was collected in cash so there was no need to show it was collected because the amount of Hawaiian postage was irrelevant to the San Francisco postmaster.

END OF THE INAUGURAL TREATY PERIOD: The first change in United States domestic postage following implementation of the Treaty arrangement was effective July 1, 1851, when the 40¢ rate on via Panama mail was reduced to 6¢ for prepaid or 10¢ for collect. This change put and end to what I term the Inaugural Treaty Period.

For a record of covers from the Inaugural Treaty Period

Please E-mail (scott31@hawaiianstamps.com) me if you have information about additional covers or can provide images of any recorded covers in the list.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wheeler, Frederic A., "The Honolulu Straight-Line and Its Historical Background", The American Philatelist, Vol. 99, No. 1 [1008], p. 21-35, January, 1985; untitled letter to editor, Vol. 99, No. 5 [1,012], p. 396, May, 1985; "An Addendum," The American Philatelist, Vol. 102, p. 873-874, Sept., 1988. A superb article with photographs of most of the 30 covers identified; quotes pertinent letters and newspaper notices; very well researched but ship rate analysis gets confused; essential for any student of early postal history.

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