New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-22

o,r
oho,t tba Bills circulated by the TWO ploh NIu
1n"nc having up to that time been actually 500,
bnt merely deposited as security LOT Ioans Lam
upon the Madame SOLAR rd ,Tof or sale and got
clear OH 70 st. Petersburg with inc Tro ;t 90
There was some question as to me co,pi,c! canc
the two brokers IN de irlt o Give az information
T., ,hn;r mower and to produce theliNpoohS; ,ie
cvidenrc against Smith and Rappailo was anom S
On the day before the trai a 5 an the London
Co,yoo House adjoining the sessions HOUSE. IVY"
,o,o IN case of our evidence being required, pu.
without il a Grand Jury found true Dill aS"iN'O
on he day of trial. November 4. we were all IN
court where we expected to be Kept an t"S ,;i *
Wilde was engaged rs counsel Tor iedunlo1G hin,
Zoo If ..30O having been paid to retain MN.
Rut to my great relief MalIle came ana loI'l inc
that il had been decided 10 admit k9pP.Lo, 40
Queens evidence, and in consequence .1hllCi nv I
determined to plead guilty. when aSktu II or no
Lod anvthing to say against sentence pelng PifG?-
nouncrd Smith read long paper aunii.mn3 en or
Guilt and stating his compunCtloh' Hc w." w.. Van
tenced 70 transportation for LIE, was S'ht ~ w.,
Dc;nens Land, and after several years rIud
nordon on condition of not returning 10 Id
IT, was nearly forty years aiterWaru tIao iiancaJ
of his death III Van Dlcnah I-aIiu aV "'i '''
age. p,. c,,itb drew up
statement detailing all the circumstances od ' t
forgery and he sent 1t as c4hnu'',ii but
Jord Nontcaglc. IL was kept very pTlNdMU' ,oJ
Mrs smith had a copy Of ii which she aioWcu
mo f. read and from it | give the following
p'T!'cLi' Smith was highly connected man, as /
have before mentioned. In his y0utn nc Na;'
often in pecunary cntangcments' ana Ms uo'V 80
ates Young men like himself, were often II, ,,;
same nrcdicamcnt They used TO tlde OWL NV,
JitIicultics by drawing accommodation DIS vi, vi,
each other. After his first marriage Smith i icu
a very different life. but he never got 4li'e, Nv
forehS nd i'm money matters. or quite Tree nun I'm
his old companions 1t was just before ,he
chances in the Exchequer in 1S34 that he ac-
cepted Bill for Gloo drawn by cousin ni 81 hT INTO
the hands of Rappallo When due it could not
be met. and was renewed for larger sum l., az
heavy interest. In about wv" years oml'n,n
debts and liabilities had increased 10 I thonS5
g. 600 and he saw no prospect of meeting them.
lie had borrowed ore sum Of c4OO from money
lender on n bond at 90 per cent thus nhEing
70 nav $50 n year to this man alone during
This ncriod Rappollo was continually coming 10
visit him at the office. | always dlsliked me
Icoks of the fellow but believed that ms
business was connected with Sir Sidney Smitn
affairs. which his nephew was arranging &.
Rnppao saw heaps of EXcheqner Bllls WING III
our two rooms, and his sharp eye soon ur,cc ,
that they were already signed ana se"irM, "s WIZ
i'm 1894: indeed. the Bills only required that
either Of Ms should write in the date 10 make
ments Accordingly Rappallo pointed out to Smith
that il would be easy 10 raise money on surn
Bills by merely deposinG them at bankers. ne
could then Use the money IN pr0nlaoe speT r,I
DESTROYED without anybody being hit the wiser,
and so they could both make thclr fortunes
Beaumont smith resisted for two years more,
Inn, his case became desperate. and in an evil hour
he consented TO do what RaPpallo urged, though
fine time had passed when he could have maze
uSc of signed Bills. Mr.. Edcn's new regulation
having been introduced. He was therefore obliged
TO forge the signature In all other respects
tie Bills genuine. 49,,
The first forgery in April, 1876, ten Bills
Of 81 900 each. bearing date "Mnrch 300.
These Bills were negotiated 10y SOLAR and pledged
to his bankers, Mcssrs. Ransom N Go. The bllls
were not prcsrntabe till March, 1887 Therefore
later in the wear n second batch for 10000 was
made n similar amount raised upon thcm with
which sum the former bills were redeemed ana
destroyed. By continuing this system larger
amounts were obtained from time 10 time from
different quarters, the forged Bill being always
redeemed and destroyed before the time Of presen
tation of Bills of a similar date. Meanwhile. in
trrest had he paid the loans, and the srccula
lions did not always succeed. In four years the
amount of forged Bills had risen 10 upwards OF
81 10000.
Of the money thus raised II became also more and
more difficult 10 find capitalists willing 10 advance
large sums of money on EXchequer bills 10 agents
of no very great crcd: like Rappallo, Morgan and
De Berckhcm II was this difficulty that led to tho
exposure Of the fraud The most inexpicabe part OF
the affair has always been 10 Inc how the money
got rid Of between Solari's death. IN October,
1870 and the discovery i'm October ls4l. More
than g 30 900 raised in those twelve months,
and the books of the brokers showed that there
during that period. There was the interest and
other charges to he paid, but those could not
have amounted 10 more than c2j.000 and Rap
pallo had lent cl2,000 10 Louis Napoleon for
his Boul0rnc expedition. During the whole four
years Smith himself got very little; he said he
had never had more than c@,O00 ont of the whole
amount OF ci00, 00O the value Of the forged Bills,
and he never had been able 10 redeem the Ei0O
bond. Rappallo was really the more guilty man
OF the two. but he escaped scot free, and must
have had good share Of the plumber.
In March. 1913 an Act Of Parliament WAS
passed to indemnify the holders Of the forged Bills
These holders divided into four classes. viz. :
!. Genuine holders in The usual course of bust
ness. 70 the amount of Ct $1,000.
=. Genuine holders. but who had perhaps not
used sufficient caution $4,000
,. Genuine holders as 10 whom greater doubt
was felt. fi1 900.
T. The brokers employed in negotiating the
Bills, and about whose honesty there might he
some suspicion.
Mr.. GoulbnTn proposed by resolution in the
House Of Commons that. as 10 the first three
classes Parliament should compensate the suffer
erl but that tho fourth class were not entitled TO
any compensation AZ all The general result was
that out Of 377 forged 81 900 Bills lof which
thirty-three hid been funded before the, forgery
was discovered. there IN amount of geo 900,
for which Mr. Goulburn thought the public might
he called upon 10 make compensation. And this
was done accordingly Mr. Goulburn also stated
that the precautions since taken were such as
he believed would place II beyond the skill OF the
most ingenious person 10 repeat the forgery
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