Dangbo Dingbo: Bhutan’s Postage Stamps: The Early Days III

Although unsure as to when and where it happened, it can be said with certainty that a written agreement would have been reached between Burt Kerr Todd and the Royal Government of Bhutan - for the designing, printing and marketing of our postage stamps. Without such a written documentary proof that he represented Bhutanese interest, the security printers in the UK would have never agreed to print our postage stamps on the say so of Burt Todd. But it is not just this mystery that is galling – there is yet another that is even more provocative given that we are all clueless about it.

What were the terms of engagement and, even more importantly, how did Bhutan pay Burt Kerr Todd for his services, designing cost, printing cost and cost of carriage and delivery of the stamps to Bhutan? Burt was asked this question – he is supposed to have said that a financial arrangement had been worked out, but that the details were confidential.

I spoke to a senior historian of philately and he opined that in all likelihood Bhutan and Burt could have entered into a typical contract that was predominant then: Burt would print the stamps at his own cost and keep a percentage of the printed stamps, for sale to the international market – in order to recover his investment and make a profit at the same time. Bhutan would get a pre-agreed number of stamps, free of cost. This was the most common arrangement many countries had with their agents, including the US Postal Services. However, while other countries had better control over their agents – we seem to have had none – over ours. This becomes clear from events that came to light more than a decade later, resulting in the termination of the arrangement with Burt Todd and/or his Bahamas based agency that sold Bhutanese postage stamps.

By an official notice issued by Bhutan’s Director of Posts, all the collectors in their mailing list was notified that the Bhutan Stamp Agency, Ltd. in Nassau would cease to function as of 1st April, 1974. A short news item over the issue was also reported in the international arena, as follows:

'A 25-year-old report has surfaced in the archives of the Government of Bhutan that reveals some startling details of problems the government had with its former stamp agent in the Bahamas. The report was written in 1964 by K. Ramamurti, the former Indian Postal Adviser to Bhutan. The report revealed that the arrangements for an agent were made in the early 1960s between someone in the Bhutanese government (the contract copies couldn't be found) and Burt Kerr Todd of Pryce Machine and Manufacturing Co. of Derby, Pa.  Under the arrangement, an organization called the Bhutan Trust Ltd. was established by Todd in Nassau, Bahamas. The trust was given the responsibility to design, print and sell Bhutanese stamps outside of Bhutan, which it did from 1960 to 1974.'

Burt Todd had a company by the name Todd Trust Limited already established in Nassau, Bahamas. He changed the name of this company to Bhutan Trust Limited, in the Nassau Registry - in 1958. This is another clue that proves my contention that the deal with Burt would have been struck earlier to 1959. In my view, the change of the company name was obviously necessitated, as a consequence of his postage stamp deal with Bhutan. It is now clear that the deal with Burt would have been struck no later than 1957.

However, Burt Todd’s company Bhutan Trust Limited was not the one used for marketing Bhutanese stamps. For that he created another company – by the name of Bhutan Stamp Agency, Ltd. This was the company he used for marketing Bhutanese postage stamps to the global community of collectors. His company with the changed name of Bhutan Trust Limited was used solely for designing and printing stamps and dealing with the printers.

Stationery of Bhutan Stamp Agency, Ltd. that was used to sell Bhutanese postage stamps

Another interesting thing that has emerged is that another figure who is known to have played a role in the shaping of Bhutan’s nationhood – Edward St. George, turns out to be a very good friend of Burt Kerr Todd, along with another person named Paul Bower. All three of them studied together at the Oxford in London. Edward St. George held 51 shares of Burt’s agency involved in marketing Bhutan’s stamps.

Edward St. George not only contributed towards the drafting of our Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty, he also masterminded the production of our coins, in 1966.

Commenting on my blog post on Edward St. George (https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2013/08/bhutans-first-formal-modern-style-trail.html), a reader had to say the following about him:

Edward St. George was called in by His Late Majesty the Third King in order to have a fair trial as almost all the Bhutanese were involved somehow and tensions were at their height at the time and India's involvement in this highly sensitive case was not something Bhutan wanted.

Edward St. George also advised on obtaining the best constitutional lawyers such as the esteemed Sir Humphrey Waldock, an international lawyer at the UNILC. Mr. Waldock helped Bhutan with the Indo-Bhutan Friendship Treaty. If it weren't for their help, Bhutan would have had much difficultly in remaining a sovereign nation. They also assisted in developing Bhutan's court of law and initial legal systems.

My next post, which will perhaps be my last post on the postage stamps of Bhutan, I will briefly dwell in part on the role of Edward St. George in the production of Bhutan’s first non-circulating gold coins - known as SERTRUMS, or gold coins. Or, I could continue – because I have a lunch appointment with a primary source who might tell me something interesting that I would want to record here. I know of someone who knew a Postmaster who manned the India Post Office at Yatung – before he joined Bhutan P&T at Phuentsholing in the early 1960's. This Postmaster is supposed to have interacted with Bhutanese postal runners who traversed the route over the Nathu-La Pass, into and out of Bhutan House, Kalimpong.

But for that I need the lockdown to be lifted, a prospect I am not looking forward to.