Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1863-04-11

count, and those who fail and do not pay at
all, come the class of counterfeiters who are
part Of the system, and who by means of it
rob the people more than the ether two. The
1900 regular banks and the 1000 broken
banks have created some 10000 plates, from
which as many different varieties Of notes are
struck, and with which it is impossible that
the most practiced expert can become familiar.
The counterfeiters have initiated and altered
$4,000 Of these plates, from which an amount
of Bills equal u the whole II the genuine Is.
sues has been struck, and which employ hun.
dreds Of persons, male and female, in all parts
Of the country passing them off upon the un-
wary. 1t has been estimated that $25,000,-
600 per annum is passed upon the people of
this fraudulent paper. The three classes then
sum up as follows: -ae .soa
1900 Bks issue S2OO 900 900 at dis. of $4,000 900
1000 :" broken, annual loss to people,. 100000
Total annual cost Of paper moncy...... 42, 900 900
10 guard against this system Of shaving, fail
ing and counterfeiting, the country is flooded
with detectors, which in some 80 closely
printed quarto pages attempt to describe a
portion Of the dangers. traps and cheats which
surround man who is about to take paper
money for his goods. Every dealer must, de-
tector in hand. scrutinize the paper, follow it's
description, and eye with suspicion every note
offered, and he does not then always escape
loss. There is also always more or less loss
of business by means Of the distrust which in
duces people to reject bills they do not know
to be good, but which in reality may be so.
They refuse the business rather than to run
the risk Such have been very few of the
evils that have beset the people Of this coun-
try through their adherence to the pernicious
system OF state bank issues but from which
there seems no escape. The events of the
war have now raised up the prospect Of re-
form. The sagcious head Of the Treasury de-
partment has grasped the opportunity to effect
permanent and lasting good. The compre-
hensive bank plan, which is now before Con-
gress, proposes to do away at one sweep with
shavers, counterftitcrs and detectors.
He proposes in effect that instead of 49,
900 different hank plates genuine and ooun-
terfrit, there shall be but 10-that from all
those plates notes shall besupplied to all banks
that will lodge tho necessary securities with
the Government TO make the holder perfectly
safe, and that in short time there shall be no
other paper money. 1t is evident at once
that the whole 80 pages Of bank note descrip-
tions, with the whole cloudy mass of bank
paper, will become useless. No man will take
any paper money but the we'll known and fa-
,miliar products Of the 10 Government plates.
The notes will soon become rs familiar to all
as to tho most expert bank note broker, and
that to pass alterations aud counterfets will
become impossible.
In cfftcting this great popular good the
Government will itself become the sponsor for
the sounlncss of the banks, since nj! the notes
issued will be secured upon the Government
stocks, and be as secure as the Government
itself. The bankers will no longer issue
without equivalent, but when any one desires
the products of industry for paper note, he
must first have paid the Government for the
stock that secures it. The money thus be-
comes a bond of union and a symbol Of patri-
otism. The whole circulation Of the country
will depend upon the integrity of the Gov
ernment binding all holders to its support,
while the demand which under the system
must grow up for the Government stocks, will
give it powerful support in this its hour OF
utmost need. .t-..
V The Richmond Dispatch continues to
occupy tho most ultra grounds. 1t says the
only road to reconstruction ise0ver the dead
body of every man, woman and child in the
Confederacy. and its only terms Of peace are
to be let alone. 1t argues by supposing that
"two men engaged in partnership fall out,
and ono of them, after violating every article
of the agreement of partnership. destroys the
property Of tho other. burns his house over
lis head, butchers his wife and children, and
then asks the other to renew their old part
nership and go In business again, as If moth
ing had happened. This is a faint image
tho Dispatch continues, "of what the North
ern reconstructionists ask of the South. II
we could agree to it, our folly would be only
equalled by their villainy." -
The Richmond paper does not state the
case fairly. and we can draw supposition
which will come much nearer to the truth.
Suppose two men engage in partnership. with
business arrangements extended to different
countries, where they have invested largely in
real estate, and accumulated personal prop
erty. One Of them saborns nm agent to re-
move all the valuables to distant location,
and then makes fnrcible entry upon portions
Of the common property. holds them for his
separate use. refuses his partner any access
and, instead Of sending forward consignments.
wantonly burns and destroys the products in
which they formerly traded. The remon.
strances Of the wronged partner are unheeded
though he il willing to forget the past, and 60
in business again a. If nothing had happened.
but the substance Of the firm is squandered
recklessly. and the aggressor assumes an air
Of injured innocence and declares that he has
been grisvously wrongsd, and that the efforts
Of his partner 10 make reclamation are out.