New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-22
A STRANGE STORY.
Fl. W. CHISHOLM, IN TEMPLE EAR.

city that something was wrong about TX,
chcquer Bills. Two brokers MI. W. MORGAN ,n a. anu
| large amount on Exchcqucr Bills and Offering
| high rate Of interest. Neither of these brokers'
| was In much repute.
| There was stockiobbcr Of the name Of David
| Haas with whom subsequently became well ac,
| ouainted as We were both members OF the social
| Whist Club. From him ! learned the iollowln.
Haas was talking to a friend. another stock
| jobbcr: they were standing near the Bahki he
| Berckhem passed and spoke 70 his Trend iiaaS
| said DO YOU know that fellow? Yes, sald
| the other: he came 10 me tins morning anu
wanted 10 borrow on EXchcqucr BIS. offering me
6 per cent, and on my dcmurrlng, he ad1eu tna'
| he was not particular about another IL per cch'.
but | refused as | did not like my customer.
Hans replied, Depend upon it. there's sqme'ning
| smoky here: | had a transaction with him last
year, and determined then to have nothing more
| TO do with him"
Haas then went to his c9un'ing,house ana eN,
amincd his books, and took note Of The date
! and numbers Of some 81 600 EXchcquer bis on
which he had advanced money. 10 De H%rckhcm;
| He next called on Matthew Marshall. the chez
cashier of the Bank Of England TO consult him
abou, the matter. When Marshall hear &c mum
bers of the Bills, he said You could not have
that very time But Haas was quite certain that
| he had noted correctly the numbers and date, and
| his suspicious were confirmed.
| UaaSs next step was TO 90 10 Downing ST. ana
see Mr. Goulburn. the Chancellor Of the En-
| chequer 10 whom he rclatcd the circumstance,
and expressed bis suspicion Of there BENG some
|
said he could hardly imagine anything wrong
about Exchequer Bills, and after little more
conversation. he pulled ont his watch and SAID
Can YOU wait here for a short time; have
an appointment with Sir Robert Peel" 1.-THE Prime
Minister. but / will soon he back?' Haas
waited and when Mr. Goulburn came back he
the details and asked for iiaas's address.
At the whist club that evening Haas mentioned
his his friends asked, AT what hour?' At
o'clock he replied His friend exclaimed, I'm
possible! for / was passing down Whitehall as
the Horse Guards clock struc; 3. and overlook
Mr.. Goulburn walking with Sir Robert Peel. and
/ heard him say, i tell yon ! never net WIN
Q man 50 positive in all my me- No COUP aho
Iii1'' Immediately took steps for invcsti-
chcqucr Bills 10 Morgan. and these Bills they
placed AT Mr.. Goulburn's disposal. He sent his
private secretary to the Bank with these Bills,
and Matthew Marshall found that duplicates Of
| them were then held BY the bank. fofh sets
of bills were handed over TO Mr.. Mane, the Treas
On the morning Of October II Mr.. Maulc came
to the Issuing Office and asked Beaumont Smith ,t
20 explain how there could be duplicate BIS.
All this time there was no suspicioi' OF forgery.
The test OF the gcnuinencss Of an EXchequer Bill
apart from the peculiar paper. printing Signature
and seal. its comparison with The countcrtoil.
| The book Of countcrfoils produced. and the
Bills from the bank fitted accurately TO their coun
terfoils, while those from the private bankers
|
| there must 10 . mistake in the numbers. when
| at that time Were in writing. and In Beaumont
| Smiths own handwriting tour custom being that
the junior clerk. Blake. numbered the counter
| foils-thc Bills for $500. f?GO and 600 were
numbered by me. while Beaumont Smith mum
bcred the Ct 900 Bills HIMSELF: then he tried to
make the Bills fit the cOrnieri0lls OF nearly cor
| responding numbers, but in vain. At length he
turned TO Maue and snid, :" It's no nse trying
any more: it's all my doing" Good God! en-
claimed Maule. what do YOU mean -
Beaumont Smith then told him that be had
filed them up with number and date, sealed them,
and signed "M0ntcegle' TO them, and that he
had circulated them thronsh an Italian Jew
| the name Of SOLAR. Upon this, Manlc said he had
only one coune 70 pursue and caIied II police
before the magistrate. who rcmanded him after
hearing Maule's evidence.
The matter now became public. and as II was
known that large amount OF ENchequer Blils
had been deposited securities by the TWO brok-
ers. money having been raised on them the alarm
was very general. After consultation with Goul'
burn the ControllerGenernl issued notice call
ing in all outstanding Bills for examination,
those agreeing with the counterioiS TO be de-
red genuine. and those not agreeing 10 be de-
tanned. TO be dealt with as might thereafter he
determined
On my arrival at the Office | found the cx-
animation Of Bills i'll tall progress. and number
Of persons waiting 10 have theirs examined. The
total nIInbrr of Bills dated in March and June
1871, exceeded 80 OOo, and their amount was more
than $50 00O 900. The books OF countcrfoils were
divided into SIX parcels and nrusicd 10 sin
sets OF two. clerks each, who jointly compared
the Bills. took the direction Of this work
and the counterfoils of the 81 900 duplicate Bills
were among those compared by myself and Ed.
ward Wclch.
Beaumont Smith stated that the fraudulent Bills
would be found be all 81 900 Bills of the high
est numbers, as he knew that such bills were
! always held by the Bank OF England, and never
| came into the public market the result proved
| this TO be the truth. Bills 10 an amount exceed
ing 100000 had been forged by him, and on
these bills nearly 100000 had been actually
I advanced by different persons
The fraudulent Bills all bore the signature
"Montragle" apparently in the handwriting of the
Assistant Controller. Mr.. Dudley Percival. who had
{ taken Mr. Edens place for twelve months, with
the sanction Of the Treasury. Mr. Eden having
gone abroad for the sake of his health; The sig
, nature was very good imitation OF Mf Fer
cval's writing One person who brought in a
Bill for examination went with II INTO the room OF
Alr. Bully, the chief clerk, when Mr. Perciyal hap
1 pened 10 be there Mr. Percival of rather
| and most incautiousy said. Oh I'll swear that 5
my handwriting The bill was handed to nG
. | for examination, accompanied by printed EOtict
Of particulars signed BY the holder IL did not
: lit the counterfO; and as By that time had
seen large number OF the forged Bills, | per-
! ceved at once that the signature was Beaumont
{ Smiths and not Mr.. Perciyal's. The holder was
furious at the Bill being detained after Mr.. PEREZ
b walls own admission Of the signature being his
!, But il turned out thar this person had advanced
i money upon the Bill to one Of the two brokers
!. who were known to have dealt with fraudulent
! Bills and this was certainly one Of them.
The examination of EXchequer Bills took about
| n month, during which tine we were all obliged
10 be at the office every day from IA. III. 20 3 D. II.
The whole staff was engaged at this work, to,
| gether with Mr. Arthur Helps. who had been Lord
Montcagles private secretary. and MI Sampson
P from the Bank of England
I After his arrest | saw Beaumont Smith on three
occasions. On two of these | accompanied Mr..
Percival TO Bow-st. during smiths examinations,
when upon MIR. PcrcvaI's evidence lc was COM
5 mitted for trial Ny evidence was not then called
for, bu, Mr.. percival talked So carclessly during
! his examination that Mr. Maulc told me they
, intended 10 put as few questions as possible TO
: | him OH the trial and | must he prepared to give
full evidence Of all the facts necessary u be proved.
: In consequence of Beaumont Smiths confession
I.. .fllIa nd