, 1889-08-10

people. 1t is merely the money that lies
here in the Treasury of the United States.
One week ago tonight all the vaults, in
the Treasury were sealed. The balance.
sheet was struck and presented to the
new Treasurer of the United States, Mr..
j. n. Huston, of Indiana. Enough cash
was left outside in an unsealed vault to
carry on the daily business of the depart
ment. Then the great task began of
counting every one of these hundreds of
millions of dollars. The new Treasurer is
responsible to the Government for every
one of these dollars. He must be sure
that he receives every one of them from
his predecessor. The task of counting is
the only possible physical proof that the
existence of all these millions is q phy.
steal fact. Otherwise, somebody might
steal them all, or a few millions Of them,
II forever after. successive treasurers
would receipt to their predecessors for Il
myth.
The money in the United States Treasury
vaults may be classified as follows: United
States notes, 911,155, 1853 gold certificates,
$61l,16O; silver certificates, 9433, 123:
gold coin, $25,55l 1872: fractional silver,
S3,O92, III copper coins, $10,836 standard
silver dollars, S148, PA, 585 currency GER
~tiicates, $3.50, 1000; bonds deposited by
national banks and belonging to trust
funds, S2ll ,O0O, 900; paper money in re.
serve vaults ready to go into circulation
but held for seasoning and issued to re-
deem WORKOUT money, and silver and
gold certificates ready to issue upon the
deposit of coin, 1913, $50, 900 grand total,
S7l9,027, 700.
Of course, all this money is not on the
credit side, In other words, u large part
OF these deposits merely represent Obliga.
tiOnS. What is called the "Surplus' out
Of this vast sum, the "SurpluS' about
which Nj. Mills and his friends were 80
much worried during the last campaign,
or what would be left in the vaults were
all the debts and obligations of the Go.
vernment to he paid off ut once in cash,
would be only about $50, 900, 900: But for
the entire 100 0O, 900 millions in the vaults
the United States Treasurer is RESPONSE.
bic, and it must all be counted
The operation of the counting of this
vast treasure, which began last Monday
morning, will consume about FIVE months.
1t is all under the charge of a committee
composed of 1--WE Treasury employees,
Chiefs 0f Division DaScOm AMI Hunting.
don, and il personal representative of the
Treasurer, George w. Robertson, of
Indiana. Under the supervision of these
three men, thirty expert counters are ut
work every day, six days in every week,
for five months. Their fingers must han.
die every dollar of the treasure.
Nothing could DO more interesting than
to watch the process, and yet it is very
simple. TO see it the visitor must stand,
under Il vigilant escort detailed for the
purpose, in "a rallied gallery overlooking "a
hall. The gallery is much like one Of the
narrow platforms that circle the walls,
half way between floor and ceiling, of one
of the great banking houses in any large
city. On the floor below is a long row of
tables. At every table sit two women,
selected for their experiences in counting
big piles OF crisp greenbackS. Their deft
fingers fly to and fro and the Treasury
notes rustic softly and quickly between,
tens, twenties, hundreds, thousands. The
notes which are now being counted are
all done up into packages of 1000, aud on
the outside of each package is printed the
denomination of the notes. 1t makes no.
difference to one of the counters whether
she is handling a package of 81 notes or of
$4,000 notes. The packages are OF ex.
acrly the same size and contain exactly the
same number of notes, and yet what a
difference in possible value.
A package of 1000 81 notes represents a
value of just $4,000.
A package of four thousand $4,000 notes
represents a value of just $40, 600, 900.
But. iE makes no difference IN the oirl