The definitive issues, that is the stamps in everyday use for postage purposes, have always portrayed the head of the Monarch, with three exceptions. These were the “Pictorial” issues of 1898, 1935, and 1960, which have had for their purpose the popularising of New Zealand and its attractions. The 1898 designs have deservedly been widely acclaimed. They showed a high standard of engraving, the subjects chosen lent themselves admirably for illustration, and they came at a time when there was little but monotony in the style of world stamps. The 2½d. stamp had an error in that the word “Wakatipu” was mis-spelt “Wakitipu” in the early printings, later corrected. These pictorial stamps marked a reversion in production from surface printing used in the two previous series to recess printing.

From October 1891 when New Zealand joined the Universal Postal Union, it was necessary to conform to certain colours for certain values of stamps. The object was to enable postal officers in various countries to recognise quickly the correct postage for certain classes of mail. This international colour selection on stamps was abolished on 1 July 1953 because, owing to inflation, some European countries were not observing the rules.

Many “special” or “commemorative” series of stamps have been issued from time to time. The first of these was the 1½d. stamp which commemorated the sending of troops to the Boer War and which was placed on sale on 7 December 1900. It is interesting to record that the die for this stamp was cut, and the plate prepared, in New York.

On 17 August 1900 the Colonial Treasurer reported to Parliament that on and after 1 January 1901 a penny postage system would be established within and without the colony. The “without” was rather premature as the Australian States and certain countries refused to reciprocate. But the rebuff did not prevent a “Universal Postage” stamp of 1d. from being issued on the turn of the century. This stamp, with the addition of “Dominion” in 1909 and subjected to numerous changes of paper and perforation, was in use for approximately 30 years although it was originally intended as a commemorative.

The visit of Queen Elizabeth II to New Zealand in 1953–54 was commemorated with a set of stamps as was the occasion of her Coronation and that of her father, King George VI. The Silver Jubilee of the reign of King George V was also marked with a special issue. Local events of national importance such as the centennial of a province, the centennial of New Zealand in 1940, the conclusion of the First and Second World Wars, and the centennial of the introduction of postage stamps into New Zealand, have also been the occasion of a special set of stamps.

From time to time the shortage of a particular stamp has occurred, possibly through a wartime emergency or because a change of postal rates has placed too heavy a demand upon a certain denomination. At such times a provisional issue is made, the normal value of a stamp being obliterated and a new value overprinted on the stamps. Two issues with a surcharge have been made, the best known being that of the Health Stamps which were first issued in 1929 and which have been a yearly feature ever since. On each stamp there is a surcharge, the proceeds of which are used to help maintain Children's Health Camps. These stamps remain on sale only for a short period each year. Although the earlier designs covered a wide range of subjects, New Zealand birds have been featured over the past few years. Since 1960, there has also been a special Christmas stamp, its primary use being postage on greetings cards, but there is no surcharge. They have depicted famous paintings. The other surcharged issue was in 1936 to commemorate the twenty-first anniversary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli. Both stamps in this issue carried a surcharge, the proceeds of which were handed to the Returned Soldiers' Association, as it was then known, for relief of distress among its members.

Airmail stamps were introduced into New Zealand from 10 November 1931 when three values were issued, but later two overprints in different colours were added. A new issue was placed on sale on 4 May 1935, but when stocks were exhausted they were not replaced.

As a result of differences of opinion between the Post Office and the Government Life Insurance Office over the annual postages, a set of Government Life Insurance Office Stamps was introduced in 1891, and though of different designs they remain in force today. They are valid only for use by the Office concerned for postage within New Zealand.

Stamps used by other Government Departments on official business have been of a special issue since 1891. Originally they were ordinary issues hand-stamped “O.P.S.O.”. From 2 January 1907 the then current issues were overprinted “Official” until the Queen Elizabeth definitives were brought into use, when a separate design was used for the official set, the word “Official” being incorporated therein.

Stamp duty stamps, those primarily issued for stamp duty purposes, were later accepted to prepay postage, but within recent years mechanised accounting has replaced the demand for these stamps and the denominations of definitive issues have been increased to pay the postage required on heavier mail matter.

New Zealand is also responsible for the supply of postage stamps for the Cook Islands, including Niue, and the Ross Dependency. From 1914 until it attained independence in 1962, Western Samoa was also dependent on this country for its stamps.

In the early years of the colony, stamps had to be cut from the sheets by means of scissors or a knife. As this was cumbersome, some postmasters employed a wheel with teeth which resulted in a simple roulette. From 1859 various means of separation were tried by numerous other types of roulettes and serrates. Ultimately a perforating machine was imported from England and brought into use about 1867. Since then many machines have been used in New Zealand and abroad to perforate our stamps. Similarly, our stamps have been printed on a wide variety of papers. For security purposes most papers have contained a watermark, the most popular one being N Z over a star, but in the early days it was the name, trade name, or initials of the firm making the paper.

Although postage stamps were introduced into Great Britain in 1840, the year when New Zealand became a British colony, it was not until 1855 that they came into use in this country. Before that time postage was paid in cash, either by the sender or the addressee. But the system was slow and unwieldy and complaints of corrupt practices were numerous. Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand, intended to have the stamps on sale on 1 April 1851 when a new postage proclamation came into force, but as there was no one in New Zealand capable of engraving the plates, they were ordered from Messrs Perkins, Bacon, and Co., stamp suppliers to the British Government. Three denominations were ordered, 1d., 2d., and 1s., and the sheets arrived in New Zealand in February 1855. The stamps were placed on sale in the different provinces at various times, but 18 July 1855, the day on which they were first sold at Auckland, then the capital, is recognised as the date of issue. These stamps were the famous “full faces” or “Chalon Head” which portrayed a full-face likeness of Queen Victoria in her coronation robes.

The next denomination was a 6d. “full face”. The plate was produced by Perkins, Bacon, and Co., but the stamps were printed in New Zealand and placed on sale on 8 August 1859 to meet a reduction in the postage rate to England. This beautiful rich, red-brown stamp has been regarded by many critics as the best ever issued by New Zealand. Later, on 1 January 1863, a 3d. stamp was added to the series because of further alterations in the postage rates to the United Kingdom, and on 1 June 1865 a 4d. value was issued. J. Richardson, of Auckland, printed the first stamps in this country, but in 1861 the Government decided to print its own stamps. John Davies was brought out from Perkins, Bacon, and Co., England, and served as the Government Stamp Printer from February 1862 until his death on Christmas Day, 1889. The stamps were first printed in the Post Office, Auckland, and many shades of colour and different types of paper were used. When the Government moved to Wellington in 1865, the Stamp Printing Branch was attached to the Government Printing Office and all stamps printed in New Zealand from 1865 have been produced there.

During the life of the “full face” set, the colours of the 1d., 2d., 4d., and 6d. were changed. The first stamp following the “full faces” was a humble halfpenny newspaper stamp which showed the Queen's head in profile. After 19 years the original plates began to wear. It therefore became necessary to issue a new set, ranging from 1d. to 1s., and was first sold on 2 January 1874. On 1 July 1878 the 2s. and 5s. denominations were added. In 1882 a set of “postage and revenue” stamps, also showing Her Majesty in profile, was introduced which did away with the need for special stamps for duty purposes up to 1s. A 2½d. value was added to the series in December, 1890, a 5d. in February, 1891, and a ½d. in April, 1895.

(1833–96).

Runholder and politician.

Robert Pharazyn was born on 31 August 1833 in London, the eldest son of Charles Johnson Pharazyn and his second wife, Mary Catherine, née Buckland. He came to New Zealand with his parents, arriving at Wellington on 24 May 1841, and was educated at St. John's College, Auckland. In the 1850s he acquired a portion of the Te Aute Block, Hawke's Bay, and was a successful sheep farmer for several years. He was a member of the Hawke's Bay Settlers' Association, campaigning actively in favour of the district's separation from Wellington Province, and was also warden of the Waipukurau Highways Board (1858). In 1863 he sold his Hawke's Bay property to Robert Stokes and for the next few years travelled widely in Europe. He returned to New Zealand shortly before Titokowaru's West Coast Campaign and purchased 5,000 acres of the Waitotara Block. From 1865 until 1876 he represented Wellington City and, latterly, the Waitotara – Kai Iwi constituencies on the Provincial Council and acted as Provincial Secretary for a short period in 1875–76. In the early 1860s he wrote a number of cogent newspaper articles in favour of the control of native affairs being transferred to the New Zealand Government, and represented Rangitikei in Parliament during Fox's absence abroad (1865–66). Pharazyn served as mayor of Wanganui for a few months in 1874 and was also chairman of the hospital board and of the Wanganui-Castlecliff Railway Co. In the following year he was elected to the Wellington City Council and unsuccessfully contested the Wanganui parliamentary constituency against Bryce. On 15 May 1885, following his father's retirement, Pharazyn was called to the Legislative Council. He soon became recognised as one of the most valuable members in the House, taking a prominent part in the debates and committee work. In 1894 he was a member of the Council's Banking Committee and, for many years, was chairman of the Joint Committee on the Parliamentary Library.

Although a keen debater and an excellent conversationalist, Pharazyn was of a studious disposition and preferred the society of books to the uncertainties of political life. He was a facile writer, but his only publication, apart from newspaper articles, was a brief history of the New Zealand Society – a short-lived forerunner of the Royal Society of New Zealand. On 29 March 1871, at St. Paul's Church, Wellington, Pharazyn married Emily Whitbread Lomax. He died at Hobson Street, Wellington, on 19 July 1896.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Wanganui, Chapple, L. J. B., and Veitch, H. C. (1939)
• Evening Post, 20 Jul 1896 (Obit)
• New Zealand Times, 20 Jul 1896 (Obit).

(1802–1903).

Businessman.

Charles Johnson Pharazyn was born on 11 October 1802 in London, the son of Henry Charles Pharazyn, a merchant there. He was educated at a private academy in London and, for a short time, held a desk at Lloyd's before joining his uncle as partner in an insurance brokerage business. About 1838, after meeting with Hindmarsh of the South Australian Association, he became interested in the colonisation schemes of E. G. Wakefield. He decided to emigrate to New Zealand and, on 24 May 1841, arrived at Wellington in the Jane after an adventurous voyage. The Jane had been disabled off Rio de Janiero and Pharazyn advanced sufficient money to pay for repairs. In New Zealand he experienced some difficulty in recovering this and, as a result, visited Sydney where he brought a successful action against the owners. He invested this money in merchandise which he shipped to Wellington, and set up as a merchant. Tiring of this a few years later, Pharazyn decided to take up land. The quest for grazing land took him at first to the South Island and, in October 1851, in conjunction with C. J. Nairn, he announced having discovered gold on the property of Charles Suisted, at Goodwood, Otago. During the remainder of the year Pharazyn and Nairn worked their way overland as far south as Foveaux Strait and, on New Year's Day 1852, proceeding from the Oreti River, they met Mantell and his party at Riverton. Later on Pharazyn prospected the lower Wairarapa district and, in partnership with Fitzherbert, leased a 5,000-acre sheep run on the shores of Palliser Bay. The venture proved so successful that several years later he closed the partnership and visited England. On his return he joined the Hon. John Johnston, M.L.C., in a mercantile business in Wellington. A few years later he entered into a successful partnership with Nathaniel Levin. In 1871 he retired from business in order to give full attention to his political career.

Pharazyn served on the Wellington Town Board in the late 1860s and, on 17 June 1869, Stafford arranged for him to be called to the Legislative Council. He remained a member until 11 March 1885, when he resigned in order to allow his son, Robert, to take his place. For several years he was chairman of the Wellington Education Board. Possessed of a shrewd business instinct and a capacity for hard work, Pharazyn was immensely successful in his various farming and commercial concerns. During his long years in retirement, he maintained his interest in commercial matters and also invested in numerous Wellington business ventures.

Pharazyn was three times married: first, in 1825, in London, to Harriet Maria; secondly, in 1832, in London, to Mary Catherine Buckland (died 1864); and, thirdly, on 24 December 1867, at St. Paul's Church, Wellington, to Jessica Rankin (1818-91), an English poetess who had come to New Zealand earlier in that year. He died at Seacroft, Hobson Street, Wellington, on 16 August 1903, having been predeceased by his four sons. One of these, Charles Pharazyn (1831–1903) farmed in the Wairarapa for many years and served a term on the Wellington Provincial Council.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Evening Post, 17 Aug 1903 (Obit)
• New Zealand Times, 18 Aug 1903 (Obit).

Peripatus is the general common name for members of a group of aberrant arthropods which exhibit some characteristics of the true worms and others of the true arthropods. The group is loosely described as being the “missing-link” between worms and arthropods. It is widespread throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and New Zealand has several species which occur in fairly strong populations throughout the country. These animals are caterpillar-like, approximately cylindrical in form, and not distinctly segmented. They are velvety bluish-black in colour, range from 1 in. to 3 in. in length, have a well-marked head with a pair of antennae, and many pairs of short, stumpy legs. They inhabit moist situations and shun light. Common habitats are moss on the forest floor, inside rotten logs, and within the shelter of leaf sheaths.

by Roy Alexander Harrison, D.SC., Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

Penguins, unlike other birds, are thickly and evenly covered with short, stiff feathers and have wings reduced to flippers for swimming. They are fast and agile swimmers, flightless, and confined to the Southern Hemisphere, with a circumpolar distribution almost entirely confined below 30° S. Of the world's 17 species, eight occur in New Zealand seas and the commonest of these around the coasts of the three main islands is the blue penguin, Eudyptula minor, known in Australia as the fairy penguin. There are two subspecies: the northern, which is found around the North Island and on the north and north-east coasts of the South Island, and the southern, which occurs on Stewart Island, on the south-eastern, southern, and western coasts of the South Island, and on the Chathams. Occasionally each race is found beyond these limits. The northern race is the one which is also native to southeastern Australia. Separation into subspecies depends upon minor colour differences, the northern bird being predominantly light-blue above and white below, the southern bird being dark-blue above. In both the bill is dark-brown, the eyes silver-grey, and the feet pale-pink. Males are slightly heavier than females and have a stouter and less-tapered bill.

Blue penguins occur in coastal waters and seldom wander far from their nesting areas. Daylight hours are spent at sea fishing; the only time that long periods are spent ashore is during the moult. The breeding season has its peak at times between August and November, depending upon the latitude – the further south the birds occur the later the peak occurs. Nests are usually made in natural holes or crevices, burrows, or even under buildings, and variable amounts of such nesting materials as dry grass, flax, seaweed, or sticks are used. The usual clutch size is two eggs. These are white and are incubated by both parents. The incubation time is between five and six weeks.

The call is a disyllabic wail or moan which starts on a low note and is repeated a number of times with the pitch rising throughout.

A closely related species, the white-flippered penguin, breeds on Banks Peninsula and may be found on the eastern coast of the South Island from Cook Strait to Otago Peninsula.

by Gordon Roy Williams, B.SC.(HONS.)(SYDNEY), Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

Modern emphasis in New Zealand, as elsewhere, is on the reformative aspect of punishment. This is most marked in the treatment of younger offenders. Some sentences, notably probation, are essentially reformative, but, except to some extent with fines at one extreme and preventive detention and life imprisonment at the other, reformation is an important element of all penal policy. It is false to see a conflict between reformation and the protection of society. A reformed criminal does not again offend and society is thus protected. Most crime in New Zealand is by recidivists – that is, by those who have already offended. The problem is to balance reformation and deterrence.

Deterrence has two purposes – to stop the commission of a crime and, when a crime is committed, to stop others by example. Some moralists claim that it is wrong to punish “A” in order to deter “B”, but this has found little acceptance in the practice of the Courts. Doubt, however, has been cast by some psychologists on the whole concept of deterrence. Most people obey the law, not because of its sanctions but because they accept it. If a law is not generally accepted it will be freely broken, as happened with land-sales controls in the forties. On the other hand, many who commit crimes do so from absence of forethought or because of self-persuasion that they will escape. Admittedly certainty of detection is needed if even severe penalties are to deter. It is also true that inability to look at consequences is characteristic of most criminals. Others commit crimes when intoxicated, in this country a stock plea by way of mitigation. Nevertheless, it does not follow that penalties have little deterrent value. By crystallising the aversion of the community to particular conduct, they have an important indirect effect. They may help conformity in cases of temptation. Statistics reveal the cases where deterrence fails, but not those where it succeeds. New Zealand history before 1840 and during the gold rushes shows well the value of sanctions that are enforced.

Prevention in this context means the removal of the offender from society. It is closely linked with deterrence, since, for example, imprisonment may deter others while removing the offender from harm's way for a time. This latter purpose is predominant in the sentence of preventive detention, an indeterminate sentence that may be imposed by the Supreme Court after the conviction of a person for a certain number of offences of specified gravity. It involves detention for at least three years, with a maximum of 14, save for sexual offenders, where there is no limit. Release is decided by the Prisons Parole Board, which is required to be satisfied that the inmate is unlikely to offend further.

Although the law exists to protect society, most would agree that there are limits to the means by which this may be sought. “Cruel and unusual punishments” are prohibited by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, even though they might be effective. Some forms of torture would certainly be regarded as in this class. Likewise, suggestions for castration as a punishment for sexual offences have been rejected. Flogging and whipping are much more controversial in New Zealand. Many who oppose reintroducing corporal punishment (abolished in 1941) do so simply on the ground that it has not been shown to have any special deterrent value.

by B.J.C. .

While the surest safeguard for society is the removal of the personal and social causes of crime, it is Utopian to imagine that in New Zealand or anywhere else this will be wholly achieved. Setting this aside, the protection of society may be sought through reformation, deterrence, and prevention. These are the chief motives of punishment today. Some authorities, among whom was the jurist Salmond, would add retribution as a fourth purpose of punishment. Others deny that retribution or expiation is a proper object of human law and consider that punishment for punishment's sake is impermissible. There is, however, increasing recognition among penal thinkers that the related concept of reparation has an important role in the process of reformation.

The purpose of the criminal law is not to punish vice but to protect society against conduct harmful to its members. Many acts condemned by the majority are not punishable. It was on this ground that some in New Zealand argued (successfully) that attempted suicide and (unsuccessfully) that homosexual acts between consenting adult males should not be offences. Moreover, mainly for reasons of expediency, even socially harmful conduct is not always criminal; as, for example, adultery.

In 1963 there was enacted a pioneer measure for compensating victims of crimes of violence. The Act sets up a tribunal to hear claims either by persons who have suffered bodily injury as a result of criminal acts or by the dependents of persons killed thereby, and to make awards. The principal heads of compensation are actual expenses and loss of wages, the amounts payable under the latter head being equated with the maxima payable under the Workers Compensation Act. The tribunal may also award up to £1,000 for other pecuniary loss and up to £500 for pain and suffering. The amount awarded is paid by the State but recovery may be sought from the offender at the discretion of the Secretary for Justice.

by Bruce James Cameron, B.A., LL.M., Legal Adviser, Department of Justice, Wellington.

• Crime, Law and the Community, Department of Justice (1964).