Furthermore, it is evident from a statement which appears on page 54 of Major Palmer’s book that the story was told to Major Palmer by Mr. B. But, according to the story, it was Mr. A  who induced a high Spanish official to issue the decree which authorized the “Resellado” surcharge.  Thus, it is possible that Mr. B may not have reported the details of the story correctly and, in fact, may not have known the exact manner in which Mr. A induced the high Spanish official to issue the decree.  Because the Government had been defrauded of revenue by the use for postal and  telegraph purposes of forgeries of the surcharged stamps which were current between 1881 and 1889, Governor General Weyler issued a decree, which was finally made effective on August 1, 1889, forbidding the use thereafter of any stamp bearing a surcharge. [33]   While it is true that some surcharged stamps were issued subsequent to that date, surcharges were authorized only in case of some compelling emergency, and even then only by the Governor-General himself.

Major Palmer implies, but does not directly state, that Mr. A gave a possible impending  shortage of the current issue in Zamboanga as his reason for proposing to the officials of the Spanish Government  that the current issue of postage straps should be Surcharged  “Resellado Para 1898-99” for use in Zamboanga.  Thos does not seem to be a very plausible reason for  proposing that the stamps be surcharged and it does not seem probable that a decree authorizing the surcharge would be issued on such a flimsy pretext.  A shortage could be remedied by simply lending an additional supply of the current issue, without going to the trouble of affixing a surcharge.

There was, however, a valid reason for affixing a surcharge to any of the current Spanish -Philippines stamps which might continue to be used after the surrender of Manila in those portions of the Philippines where the local Spanish Governments still remained in control.  There was ample authority in Spanish law for holding that after the Central Spanish Government at Manila had fallen, the stamps which it had issued would no longer be valid. Spanish law required that whenever a new Sovereign ascended the throne of Spain the current stamped paper must be surcharged “Valid for the reign of ____”.  When Queen Isabel II was deposed by the revolution  of 1868, the provisional government which succeeded her caused all Philippine stamps to be surcharged “Made Valid by the Nation”,  Hence by analogy it might be held that after the Central Government of the Philippines had fallen, the surviving local Governments must  surcharge the current issue of stamps in order to make it valid for further use.  Such was evidently the opinion of the Spanish-Governor of the Marianas Islands, which were at that  time a dependency of the Philippines and used the Current issue of Philippine stamps.  When a ship reached Guam, the capital of the Marianas, with news that Manila had surrendered to the American forces, the Spanish-Governor immediately caused the current Philippine postage stamps to be surcharged “MARIANAS ESPANOLAS”. Stamps  bearing this surcharge were affixed to all mail which was dispatched from Guam to Manila by the same ship which had brought the news of the surrender of Manila.  The authenticity of this issue of postage stamps has never been questioned, although, because of the charge in the sovereignty of the Marianas which occurred shortly thereafter, these surcharged stamps were never again used for postal purposes.

In the Philippines, however, there were  several districts outside of Manila where Spanish garrisons were maintained and where the local-Spanish authorities might be expected to remain in control for some time after Manila had surrendered.  It would therefore be convenient to apply to the current issue of Philippine stamps a surcharge which would serve to make the stamps valid for use in any district where they might be required. This would seem to be the logical reason for omitting from the  “resellado” surcharge the name of the district where the stamps were to be used. Furthermore, since the dies for this surcharge probably could not be made outside of Manila, and in view of the impending fall of the Central Government in Manila, it would be of material assistance to the surviving local Governments to prepare the surcharged stamps in advance in Manila, to be forwarded to the local Governments as soon as the fall of Manila became an accomplished fact.  Under such conditions the dies might have been prepared several days in advance, but the issuance of the decree authorizing the surcharge, and hence the actual surcharging of the stamps, would be deferred until it became absolutely certain  that Manila must fall. This would explain the fact, if it is a fact, that the decree authorizing the surcharge was issued on August 12, the day before the fall of Manila, and that the surcharging was hastily done that night.  In the midst of such turmoil,  the  fact,  if  it  is  a fact,  that  the man who proposed  the  issue were permitted to  do the actual surcharging of the stamps, and that the stamps were committed to their care after the surcharging was done, is not particularly surprising.  They were undoubtedly men of good repute in the community and it appears that one of them, at least, was a business man who probably had access to the means of forwarding the stamps to Zamboanga without so much likelihood of their being intercepted by the American forces as would have  been the case if they had been dispatched by one of the Spanish officials.

It is of course possible that Mr. B may not have told the entire truth, and that Mr. A and Mr. B may have surcharged the stamps entirely upon their own initiative, without benefit of any official decree, and may have then forwarded the stamps to the postmaster of Zamboanga, who put them on sale in post offices there, either upon his own initiative or upon the initiative of the local Spanish Governor.

The manner in which the surcharging of the stamps was accomplished, however, would  appear to be immaterial, and the  fact, if it is a fact, that the surcharging was originally conceived by Mr. A and Mr. B primarily for personal gain, is also immaterial.  The essential fact is that these stamps, whatever the manner of their surcharge may have been, were subsequently used for legitimate postal purposes. This fact is generally conceded and there are quite a number of covers which the stamps are still affixed and which bear indisputable evidence of having passed through the mails. It is true that the number of stamps affixed to some of these covers was apparently in excess of the required postage and hence such covers were probably “philatelic” covers prepared by, or for, stamp collectors of that era. But the validity of this issue of postage stamps would not be thereby impugned.  The preparation and mailing of “philatelic” covers is much more common today than it was then and no one suggests that any of the current issues of the postage stamps are made less authentic today.  The vital fact in every case is whether or not the issues in question was actually used by the duly constituted postal authorities of the district where it was used for legitimate postal purposes.  And it does appear to be a fact that the “resellado” issue of Philippine postage stamps was actually used for legitimate postal purposes for a short time immediately following the surrender of Manila to  the American forces. Furthermore it  is worthy  of note in this  connection that this “Resellado”  issue has always been listed as a legitimate postal issue of the Philippines by the Cataloge Especial de los Sellos de Correos y Telegrafos de  España,  Colonias  y Ex-Colonias, published by Galvez in Madrid, Spain.