The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-04-30
HISTORY OF FORGERY.
FOLLOWED THEINTRoDucTIoN
OF THE POUND NOTE.
How Ola Patch. the Original Forger Of
the Bank Of Engisnd, was Brought
90 Tims-whsn 1t First Came
Into Notice.


England has ever passed through
The French republic had gone forth t.
conquer like a young giant. Carnot
the great war minister. whose descend.
ant Is now the president OF the French
republic had organized victory IL
every quarter and General Bonapartt
was beginning his wonderful career Of
triumph.
Fleets and armies wore in prepare.
ton for the invasion of England; Ire
land was ripe for rebellion; there was
mutiny In the feet and to crown all
q monetary panic threatened ruin tc
all the banks and great financial houses
throughout the country. On Saturday,
February 20. when the Bank OF Eng
land closed for the day. there was only
q million and a quarter left in the bank
cellars a sum which would barely suf-
fee for the demands of another day OF
panic. The government was as vitality
concerned as the bank. A cabinet
council was hastily summoned and met
on Sunday.
On Monday the crowd of people
who awaited the opening OF the bank
doors were met with the announce
ment OF an order In council, and q
royal proclamation went from the
press ordering the suspension by the
bank OF all payments in cash. The
measure desperate as 1t seemed.
actually restored public confidence.
Bank OF England notes were every
where accepted and circulated freely
as legal tender but the public con-
venience demanded an immediate SUD-
ply of smaller notes. and another
order In council authorized the issue.
In few days FL and e. notes were
engraved and printed and at once
issued in large quantities
For the next twenty years these FL
notes were the chief circulating
medium throughout England saws
All the Year Around. The country
bankers were also permitted to issue
their own notes OF the same denom-
ination. AS for gold. people rarely
saw it. The guinea, the half guinea
and the seven-shilling piece. which
were then the principal gold coins in
use, were carefully boarded by their
possessors or were only parted with at
profit Yet the paper currency was
never seriously deprecated. The
pound note was always good for
twenty shillings, and no one looked
askance at it unless to make suro
that it was not forged
Up to the time OF the introduction
OF the IL note forgery of the
banks issues had not been fire.
quent The bank had existed for
more than sixty years before the first
forger OF its note was convicted. More
cases occurred when lower denomi.
nation OF note was issued. and In 1878
the counterfeiting OF the water mark
OF the paper was made a capital Of
tense. the death penalty having been
previously reserved for those con-
nected with the engraving and print
Ing OF the notes. The forgeries of
old Patch in 1884 were the most seri-
GUS of their time. BY the ingenuity
OF his DISCUSSES. and his care in
executing all his forgeries without
accomplices, for a long time he defied
detection.
He was discovered at last by acct
dent Having amassed considerable
wealth by his practices, he was in tho
habit OF giving dinner parties to the
genteel neighbors; and to make a good
show he would borrow quantity of
silver plate from neighboring pawn
broker leaving the full value in
forged bank notes as security for its
safe return. 1t happened. however
1ox nnf m
desperate need of money, and having
lent out his plate on the usual terms,
he made for the Bank OF England to
cash his customers notes. At the
bank the forgery was at once detected
and the man arrested, when he dis
closed the facts In the case, and the
Bow street runners made descent
upon Mr.. Patchs house and captured
him. The man escaped capital
sentence by hanging himself in his
cell.
With the introduction OF small
notes there arose great and sudden
increase in the crime OF forgery. Dur
ing the six years previous to the in
PRODUCTION OF the zones" there had
been only one sentence OF death for
forging bank notes. In the year that
followed there were eighty-fve capt.
tai convictions The severity of the
punishment had no effect in checking
the prevalence of the crime. In 1908
a regular mandatory OF forged notes
was discovered in Birmingham. They
were sold for export to be used In the
countries where our armies were at
once fighting and paying their way,
and where commissaries and contrac-
tors had famiiarized the natives with
English currency
They were ordered and invoiced
under the name OF candlesticks. num-
Der one. two or five-according To tho
value represented by the forged notes.
which were sold at the rate OF six |
shillings in the pound--along with |
other hardware. The trouble with !
the forged notes went on during the |
whole of tho period OF inconvertible |
issues. and in the twenty years OF its
duration hundrc Is OF human victims
were sacrificed for tho good OF the |
currency. At Newgate on hanging
poor wretches convicted OF |