Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-07-22
lhe Government Redemption Agency.

NduDHdI DuuhS III tiiC
states. and il will be readily understood
that the daily remittances are not only OF
xrcat value, but the number OF separate
notes 10 bc examined and counted is i'm
snense. The money thus forwarded by
National Banks is received by express in
sscaled packages, with the amount of each
rseparatc bundle marked upon the strap in
which il is bound by the forwarding bank
teller The counting at the Redemption
Agency is performed by ladies Of tried
honesty and large experience in handling
and counting money.
The packages are delivered to them
scaled, Ms received from the bank, and they
fign receipts for each package. A second
package is never given the same counter I'M
iii the first has been returned properly veri-
fed; nor is a counter permitted under any
circumstances to have more than one pack
age, or the straps Of more than one pack
age, on her desk at the same time. Notwo
counters are ever permitted TO work upon
ubc ssnc package When short is
discovered, the fact is reported to the teller
and the entire remittance is given another
counter for ycrifcation. The experience
of those employed in the Redemption
Agency and the great care and perfect
system with which its operations are con
Quoted render its countings absolutely
correct, il absolute correctness is possible.
" The honesty of the counters there
can I've no question. That is beyond all
speculation, and is recorded in the vol
umcS Of daily reports Of operations of the
agency. A glance at the daily record
shows that counters who have reported
packages to I've 81 short" have reported
Others TO be cover in various sums run
ming up to $1,000 and not unircquently
such shorts and overs are reported upon
che same day. Were they disposed to be
dishonest they would not make package
%'shor" by abstracting one note, with
danger Of detection imminent, when they
have daily opportunities of abstracting
one or more notes from packages that con
sain sums in excess of that claimed by the
bank forwarding the money The record
shows that the number Of overs. is far
,,reaia in number and value than the
=" shorts" and the fact is strong presump-
Give evidence Of the honesty Of the count
cys In addition TO the daily record of the
counters work, a record is kept agains,
each bank forwarding money which
shows whether the money forwarded was
found 90 be correct rs stated by the letter
OF advice and the marks on the straps A
consolidated report of the banks of New
TuSk city, according to that record, shows
Thai a few OF them invariably send their
packages "shon" The "shor,s" vary
from VI TO $l0p and sometimes they reach
"A 'mgcr sim The shorts" of 500 and
over are generally discovered and adj
mii,cd to be mistakes by the banks, but in
many instances the same banks will insist
ui0n the correctness Of their count when
sniormcd that their package is short IS,
$40 or $50.
While bank officers are no, slow to cas-,
suspicion upon the counters of the Re.
dcmption Agency they never suppose for
an instant that the tellcrs who put up
packages in their own banking houses
may be occasionally tilchlng a note or
number OF notes from the rcmttanccs be
fore they seal and forward them for re-
clemption. Bank tcllcrs, charged with |
oc duty OF preparing packages for re
~tempfion, If disposed to be dishonest |
: rNrs opportunity to make the remittance
q short and would be encouraged 10 do
~ by khe fact that there is no check on
Lkev count and the consideration that the |
= S-Nponsihihy may be charged upon the
redemption Agency, which is certain to be
done IL the bark has confidence in IFS |
Officer. Nuy recently u package, for
yyart.ed hy New York bank, was found |
so confirm S., 600 more than was claimed |
~ the lester of advice or the amount
marked on the package. The bank was
notified of the discrepancy and the amount
AT the excess was accepted without further
notice Shortly after that transaction u
package forwarded by the same bank was
sound 10 be $40 short and by the same
Vsunier who lr,d reported the 50 900 over.
Upon being notified of the short the
bank replied that they were confident the
package contained the exact amount
stated when it was forwarded Thus
an unlus, suspicion was cast upon a lady
of character and she was charged with
p,lierng note il face Of the fact that she
declined favorable opportunity to alb
SlraC, 81 900 or s. 900 q few days before
from package the exact amount of which
MAS known only to herself Here is an
o,hr instance which occurred with a New
YORK city bank; In aremitancea " short"
al $40 MAS discovered and reported to the
bank The teller of the bank immediate.
~ made affidavit that he knew the money
was carreCt when sent by him, aud de
Scrbcs in detail The manner in which he
had put the money up, An Investigation
nj tc Redemption Agency showed his
memory 10 be estirely ~ fault aS To the
manner in which that particular package
had been pu, up. The bank would not be
convinced that the package was short, and
declared that il teller could not be mis-
tahcn. A short time after this incident a
package put up 10y the same teller was re-.
cctvcd from the same bank, which was
discovered TO be $l,4j5 over. The fact
vas tclcgraphcd the bank by the agency,
and inquiry made whcthcS atiidavitS
would be required from the counters to
convince the bank of the error in their
packAgc. Tho bank Acknowledged the