Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-01-22
MEXICAN THRIFT" -"
Making Dads Dollars for Their
American Neighbors.
4 MINT STARTED OVER THE BORDER

business Men Bothered by a Sudden In
Investigation-The Coin Pure and
Full Weight, Properly Stamped. and
Twenty-eight Cents Profit in Every Dol
iar-Two Millions in Circulation.
NEW YORK, Jan. 2l.-A long article is
published i'll the The Evening Sun, describ-
ing what is suspected to be an extensive
,y>tem of counterfeiting which has been GO
pg on for some time in Mexico. 1t is said
certain people across the border have within
the past two years coined 81, 100 coo OF
American silver dollars, and after shipping
th,m across the border avedispOsad of them
with profit to themselves or - cents Oh
each dollar During the past few days
rumors to the effect have been afloat in
Wall street, but have carefully been con-
fined to a few prominent bankers and finan.
ciers, who have taken extraordinary precau.
tons to prevent the report from getting
beyond their own little circle Within the
past few months, or perhaps longer, it has
been noticed by bankers and other men W no
handle far-sized sums of money in the por-
ti0ns of the United States contiguous to
Mexico that there has been a large, an un.
wontedly large, number of United States
silver dollars in circulation This fact has
been noted 10y bankers in Texas, New Mexico
and Arizonia.
Tracing the Coins to Mexico.
As soon as attention was called to it the
bankers naturally began to speculate as to
the causes of il, and to attempt to trace
back payments made i'll silver dollars. Ger
fai vyas that lox
been shipped from the United States coinage
mints without the knowledge of the local
banks in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
1t was found that many of these coins could
be traced to Mexicans living across the
border, who had given them in exchange for
commodities purchased in this country
Then arose the question: Where did these
Mexicans get these United States silver dol
lars in such large quantitiesa Then begun "a
regular investigation, which led TO the dis
closure OF many suspicious circumstances
too small to be noticed by themselves, but
forming significant links in a chain of evil
ience pointing to one of the most remarkable
International crimes, if such it may be
termed, that the world has ever known.
Good Thing for the Bank
This is the conclusion which the bankers
in Texas New Mexico and Arizona have
hIflNeu dJ as u result Oh UuelT Investigations:
That a band of Mexicans calling themselves
a private bank" have been coming United
States silver dollars and uttering the same
to Mexicans, who gave them in return for
goods purchased on this side of the border.
Perhaps there is more than one OF these in
stitutions; perhaps half dozen. The gen
tlemen who are investigating this gigantic
plot, if such it proves to be- are of the opin-
ion deduced from minor details, that the
wholesale counterfeiting has been going on
for over two years, and that at least five
million counterfeit United States dollars
have thus been foisted upon the citizens Of
this country by the keen-witted Mexicans.
Showing the Queer. A"
How the dollars are uttered the investi-
gators do not know. 1t is possible that the
private banks,"or Mexican coiners of
United States money, utter the coins di-
rectly through their own employees to the
people across the border in the United
States. In that way they would secure to
themselves the whole of the profit of about
2S cents on each coin. Grand this idea
seems the most plausible-they utter the
coins to Mexicans at a compromise value
something between 72 cents and 81 The
Mexicans, who thus assume a risk in con-
nection with passing the dollars, although it
is small risk, get their coin for less than 81
in consequence of that risk The coin is
exactly like the American coin, is just as
good as to the silver it contains, and il
almost impossible OF detection.