Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-26
THE BOND RENEWALS.
How the Treasury is Extending the
Loan Which Natures Sept. |.
NO MORE COUPONS OF 1876.
Only Registered Bonds Will Be Issued IN
Exchange for Them.
SENDING IN THE PRECIOUS PAPER

| "ASHlNGION, ouly Ao.-W w lIlh ~ iio"
the first of the new bonds issued under Sec
retary Fosters proposition to extend the ~
per cent loan will have reached its owner
1t will be a new bond and it will bear the
serial number 81 " but it will differ very
little in design from the old bond which he
surrendered to the Treasury Department
when he applied for an extension at per
cent. The Treasury department has not got
up a new design and a new set of plates for
printing these bonds. They have been
printed from the plates which were pre-
pared at the Bureau of Engraving and
| Printing in 1876 for the original issue Of
the AZ per cent bonds. There was no time
to get up new plates if they had been
needed for this purpose-but they were not
| needed.
1t is always the custom of the Treasury
Department in extending loan to use the
old form of bonds, but to print across the
face of each an agreement for its extension
at the new rate of interest. The bonds
issued for the extension of the loan matur-
ing September 1, therefore, will call for
AZ per cent interest, and will bear on their
face the announcement that they mature in
| 1891, but across the face of each will be
printed in brown ink the following:
The Agreement for Extension.
AT the request of, and for value received
by the owner of this bond, the same is con-
tinued during the pleasure of the Govern
ment, to bear interest at the rate OK two (2)
| per cent per annum from Septem Der g. 1884,
as provided in Treasury circular No. 3d.
dated July 2, 1891.
1t takes some days to get out new set of
| bonds at the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing. There are three plate impressions
on each bond. There is the clint on the
face of the bond; the form printed in black
on the face, and the form on the back,
also in black. After these plate impressions
are taken there is still the form of agree
ment in brown to be printed across the face,
| but this work is done on Hoe press and is
| the quickest and easiest part of the job.
| The preparation of the paper is one source
| of delay. This last issue of bonds was
| printed on paper ten years old. 1t had been
stored away in the vaults of the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing to season, and when
it was taken out it had to be wet down and
prepared for the presses. This preliminary
work took some time, and so it was ten DAYS
after the order went over from the Treasury
Department when the bonds were ready for
delivery.
Denomination of the Bonds.
There were nearly 20, 900 of them ranging
in denominations from $50 to $40, 900. There
were originally bonds of 500, 900 and $50, 600
denomination; but the Department found so
little demand for these that they are no
longer issued. The 10000 forms just printed
at the Bureau are only the first order from
the Department. A new supply may be
needed before September 1.
Though the plates from which these bonds
were printed were made in 1876, to-day they
are almost as good as new. After the first
supply of bonds has been printed t is long
time, usually, before the Department calls
for any more. If the plates show under the
microscope the faintest indication of fdullness,
they are s're-entered The process of
preparing these plates is familiar one.
The intaglio of the plate is engraved by the
knife-like edges of the design in relief cut
on a steel cylinder Of remarkable hardness.
The machine which does this work is Won
derfully accurate 1t its grasp the roller
moves backward and forward across the
steel plate without varying hairs breadth,
for variation would blur the impression
and cause the spider web lines made by the
geometric lathe to cross each other These
steel cylinders are preserved after the
plates have been made, and they can be
used in making new plates if they should
be needed.
Cutting the Design Deeper.
The process of re-entering consists in
placing the old plates in the press and run
ming these cylinders over them under pres
sure. This cuts the design a little deeper
in the worn plate. The marvellous ac-
curacy of this machine is illustrated by the
fact that these plates when adjusted to the
machine keep so exactly their original rela-
ton to the steel cylinders that the cutting
edges penetrate with microscopic exactness
the lines which they cut originally in the
surface of the plate. Passing the plate un-
der the cylinder freshens it and makes it as
good as new. The plates for the bonds of
1891 have been under the cylinders several
times and they are quite as good to-day as
they were Is years ago when they were en-
graved.
There is another plate used in 1876 which
has not been brought into use in printing
the new bonds. At the time of the issue of
this loan there was SO refundng certifi-
cate printed, which bore interest at per
cent and was convertible into bonds. The
demand for these certificates was so great
that on the day of their issue line of peo-
pie extended from the Treasury to the
White House waiting their turn at the
cashiers window in the Treasurer's Office.
Security of Registered Bonds.
The bonds issued for the extension of this
loan are all registered bonds. The registered
bond is IA inches long by inches wide.
The coupon bond is frequently as large as 18
by "a inches. This is the size of the per
cent bond which was to run 30 years with in
terest payable every three months, and
which carried 120 coupons The Govern
ment prefers to issue registered bonds be-
cause of their greater security, and because
the Treasurer of the United States always
knows just where the registered bonds are
held, while the coupon bonds may be
scattered all over the universe, and he can |
only trace them as the coupons come in for |
the interest due.
There is an outstanding debt of 81 ,647,- |
5O5 26 on which the interest has ceased be- |
cause the bonds matured or were called in. |
In the case of called loans, if the bonds had !
all been registered the Treasurer would have |
been reasonably sure that the holders of all |
these securities would have known at the |
time of the call that interest on the loan had |
ceased, but where the bondholders let the |
interest coupons accumulate indefinitely, |
they very often do not hear that the loan
has been called. Of course some of this out
standing debt will never be collected from
the Government, because the bonds which
represented it have been destroyed, and
there is no way of proving their destruction.
Where proof of the destruction of q bond
can be made, the law provides for the filing
OF bond for double the amount and the
issue OF duplicate. The duplicate issued