Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-18
FORGERs ARE A MENACE.
Grown So skiIlful as to Endanger National
Finance.

Grown So skilful as to Endanger National
Finance.
The chief engraver Of the bureau Of engrav.
| ing and printing was closeted the other day for
a long while with q high treasury official.
| Spread before them were two silver certif-
cates-one Of regular government issue and the
other . specimen Of the new O. counterfeit
| which has occasioned such sensation by reason
Of the perfection Of its execution. After
spending full hour examining the real and
the false notes with powerful magnifying
glasses, the famous expert in money designing
turned to the guardian Of Uncle Sans box and
| said:
There are no differences"
To such q point, in fact, has the art Of
| counterfeiting been developed. The work Of
the fraudulent money makers Is no Longer
| feebly initiative Year after year it has grown
| more difficult Of detection until at last it may
| be said that the swindler can make good 9
paper dollar as the government is able to pro
duce. A STAR reporter asked the treasury Of
fetal above referred to yesterday what was the
| chief difficulty that . counterfeiter had tc
overcome in the manufacture Of . successful
bank note or certificate.
He has no difficulties to encounter" wal
| the reply. 'The last Of them has been swep,
away by recent invention. while ago, al
though some Of the most skillful engrayers in
| the world belonged to the criminal class, thei,
work was nevertheless invariably distinguish.
able from the true by differences beyond
the power Of hands or tools to avoid
But the new photo-mschanical pro.
cesses have revolutionized counterfeit
ing. With no labor worth mentioning the
camera reproduces the design of note upon q
| metal plate, which, after passing through q
and purposes fac simile of the original steel
engraving. ready to print the money from
Thanks to late discoveries in photochromy, the
execution Of greenbacks and red seals in pre-.
cisey the proper shades is the easiest thing in the
world. Here is the last report Of the chief Of
the secret service. He says: The genuine
government notes nowadays, especially the
| series Of 1890, are marvels Of the engraver'l
art, aided by the wonderful geometric lathe.
| One would think it impossible to successfully
| counterfeit such work upon looking over the
complex area Of lines and patterns; and yet al
this moment counterfeiters ars reproducing i,
| 80 perfectly that the elaborate beauty Of this
paper money may be said to offer no protection
| to the public or defense against fraud"
But how about initiating the paper?"
That Is no obstacle to the counterfeiter
The special paper used by the treasury doesn't
| amount to q red cent as . protection. How
| should it? You can buy the same stuff &C.
,ording to quality, at any stationer's. No, Of
| course it lacks the threads, but Of
what use are they? II note ap.
ever thinks Of looking for the threads? Sup
pose. however. that one did; the swindler hal
| several ways Of supplying them. With q ruler
and a fine pen loaded with light blue ink he
can draw them to perfection across the face
Of the note. Or he creases the bill
! very hard lengthwise with his thumb
nail, SO that anybody who ia looking
| for thread will swear he sees one in the fold
| the illusion being caused by a breaking of the
| fiber in the paper. Possibly the suspicious per.
| son may try to lift out the thread at a point
with pin. If he does. it is a hundred to one
that the toughness of the papers fiber will lead
him to think the thread 10 there. Oh, no; the
paper is no safeguard"
What on earth is to be done then?'
Its hard to say. Something has certainly
| got to be done when the treasury engraveri
cannot tell counterfeits from the work they
have themselves executed. l would sugges,
| that radical changes shall be made respecting
the paper on which the money is printed. Oul
| designs are reproduced to perfection; therefore
we have nothing but the paper to fall back upon
| 1t should be made absolutely distinctive
legal enactment forbidding the manufacture
OF any paper like the money paper of the gov
eminent. Each denomination Of note or Ger
| tificate ought to have its own special variety Of
| this kind of paper, SO that one could tell a
one-dollar bill from a five by the feel merely
True, the paper could be initiated: but it is no,
possible to make fine paper without bulky
plant Of machinery, and all factories here and
abroad would be carefully watched"