The sun., 1873-10-22
DANGERoUs UNTERFEJss.
The Failure Of the secret service efns 4. .
10 Hre"k w the Business Are they b..
tfagae with the Counferteicr.s

''SHhNnroN, DG IA number Of dan
s'r"u7 counterfeit LEGAL tcndcr notes OF various
u'""''lh' lions have been In steady circulation
several Wars. A $l0 note, a $50 note. and n
hity cent ."Ionnl currency note have been in
circulation Tor ~ least two vears. Then there
Is the 600 note oi the serios of 1859 which was
lately nut ort, and 'githln the last six weeks a
counterfeit Of the nov fifty cent note hAa made
It's appearance. All ~ these counterfeits are
finely executed the cnsrtyin, bcin, fully coual
u anything done In the eureau Of Engraving
ANA Irlnt'ug ot the TrcHsuri Department ar w
any oi the bank note Vumpaues Indeed. they
Hro sltth exact imitttioia pi hc Genuine tnnt
t1e Nssrtant Treasurer In NewHork wac una
W" l" decide whether they wcr, counterfeIta Sr
not, and forwarded them to the 1,css,irv nc.
par,'"cnt, wherc 1t Required whole dnv's ex
aminitius by two experts To- point ont n loo, ,,,t
nor defects, Nhich were of course curre"ted bv
tte countcfeitcrs as soon ~ thgy were IN. 20 ruL-
lie. All the efforts OF tho secret s8ryIcS dIyIs-
tcrleit notes were printed ~ to cause the arrest
n lily failed.
This fact is patent to tho close observer. Anv
one VINO wa about the court room In New York
I'VE or six veas g" and Witnessed the conyic-
tton of scores uf counterfeiters. can In a hhif
days walk about the city to-day recognize ar
teen or twenty OF these men whose terms have
expired and VINO have returned to- their III
haunt~. ihey are all W, II drcs ed. have plenty
~ money, and uuculy rdicule the idea Of beng
hruufht u stici hy the authorities. That some
aud "shoN ug ot the 81 uccrois couutc fcits
now anoat ti'cro Ia mt tho least doubt. why,
thtu, IRE they not hrourht to iusticcY Ia u be-
cause thrN have fulul means to sugar the chief
"l the secret sCtNirc md his assistautsY IL
u i~i hC iuc such cause. idr surely the Govern
mont officers viii not plead imhecility.
ltut Just now CrV TX raised. and the Nd -
Wnsiration newspapers simultaneously publ sh
q II WING account at riids ON couutcrlcitors IN
North Carolina and Tennessee. This is only .
ru-c To- deceive the public and create the i'm
lrr. -iou th tur tnNVrum,ut OH 'crs arc htcdk-
ihE up root, and branch, al Cuuutcriritiug. A
moro tr u-u rent fraud wd- never attempted on
the puNlic. Vhnt There his hrcn some counter
icit money "sh Vct " in the mount tins of LEM
hut u ui~tra,,'5 Avecutcd, pUGf autographed
stun The principal business in that s~"allty
has been the counterfeitiug ~ internal revenue
STAMPS for tobacco and distilled spirits. Nearly
all uf this has hc"u done toy phOtogrtphy Not
single plate will Toe captured I'm "a these raids.
and " there l. a single conviction If the sixty
alleged COuntcrl.iters arrested 1t will be by
sunurntd t's imony.
Something like $dg0OO are annually extended
in the secret service. and nf cour.c there must
bc great noise made occasionally In thc news
p1pcrs anout its efficiency. Daring the urc-cut
Administration this branch of the public service
has been pros s,itutcd ~ political Uses, ani cue
only work IL ha4 ever done has been outside uf
its legitimate functions. when the most noted
aud accomplished counierfciters in the world
daily lounge on tho streets within sight almost
uf the headquarters Of the secret service di-
vision In New York and are uumolc stcd, the
pphlic should cease to regard - Of any i'm
portance these periodical newsp per accounts
ut great raids ON CuuntVrfcttcr- made IN obscure,
out uf the way places where an accomplished
and dangerous rascal IA never seen.