Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-03
by anybody save the individuals to whom it
was originally paid
SIMPLY ROBBERY.

was originally paid
SIMPLY ROBBERY.
But the mouey-issuing company finds wider
development for this method Of robbery. Buy
ing vegetables and other agricultural products
from the farmer. it pays him with merchandise
in part, giving him the balance in scrip. Hay
seed uses the latter cash with which to pay
his debts OF for labor Or, perhaps, II hard up
for money 10 settle with his hands, he applies
to the store for a loan. he obtains the sum
in paper or metal tokens, which thus get into
circulation. They have market value CT maybe
IS cents on the dollar. Though the company
does rot bind itself to redeem its fat dollars in
anything but merchandise. it will sometimes
cash tnem-always, however, at the usual rate
of discount.
In short this system is simply an ingenious
ethOd Of stealing from labor fifteen cents or
upward out of every dollar earned The money
thus confscated goes into the pockets Of the
capitalist. Wherever shrewd men from the
north and cas-. have gone into the south and
west and have started business enterprises
they have found in this private scrip scheme
one OF tie readlest plans for accommodating
dollars. Over wide sections Of the United
States the prosperity Of the people has been
nipped By the frost of this most impudent Of
frauds. In many instances the companies en-
gagged In the swindle are content to conduct
their mills other industries without any
direct gain, relying on the ''store" to yield .
satisfactory profit. In other words the pro-
prietors prosper by sucking the blood Of their
employees.
The scrip has various forms Perchance the
man who works for els week will receive on
Saturday night three cards that look like cheap
restaurant Communication tickets, representing
IS each. Figures from to so are printed
around the margin. These stand for cents and
chases made at the "store" The holder
cannot possibly spend this money any
where else. But. even if he gets his wages in
the ordinary scrip, occasions arise when he IL
desperately put to it for ready cash, to
Hquidate Q doctors bill for his baby, or what
not. In such a case he goes to . man who is
known to make business Of purchasing the
fat currency. The latter, who secretly
Stands in" with the company, buys it at a big
discount and saves out Just so much to the
owner of the mill or mine
Another shape taken by the cheat is the So
called certificate" which, as its inscription
reads, Twill be accepted in payment for mer-
chandise if presented before July 1, 1898. /"
Here Is time limit If by an accident the date
Il passed the paper Is worthless. A great
scheme truly il this bv which an employer can
manufacture his own money for paying his
workmen- One concern at Arkadelphia. Arksn-
sas, distributes from Is, 900 to 90. 600 worth Of
metal checks every month. Such checks are
usually round disks about the size of q silver
dollar; but their jingle In the brooches pocket
mas dlnerent ring from that Of the coins
stamped by Uncle Sam. A transfer company at
Admission, Alabama. with an advertised capital Of
$50, 900, pays OF its mon every Saturday with
brass and nickel pieces the size Of dollars,
halves and quarters.
SHOULD BE- STOPPED.
There Ii need for immediate legislat ton against
this system by which unprinciplsd capital is
enabled TO grind down the poor. The evil has
reached pretty bad point when it Is found to
have made its way into charitable state insti-
tutionA At the Home for Disabled Volunteer
Soldiers III Milwaukee inmatec get $40 month
for farm work They are supposed to receive
It in cash. But the purpose to this effect of the
people who support the establishment is de-
feated by an ingenious plan. The broken
down veterans are not permitted to draw q
penny Of their wages before they are due, but
they can always get them IN advance in the
shape Of socalled "chips" of brass, good for s
cents apiece at the store" or at the beer hall
Of the home.
Tho inevitable result is that the average old
penstoner has about so cents coming to him at
the first Of the month, S9. so being subtracted
for tokens drawn and expended.
By this scheme the management secures
pretty nearly all Of the veterans trade and
scoops in the excellent profits on the beer and
on goods sold at the store" 1t is the excep-
tionA old soldier who lie able to resist the temp
recently been brought to the attention Of the
secret service at Washington. through the fact
that the brass "chips" got into circulation
Outside Of the home, being offered for
beer a. far away as Chicago. They bear
some resemblance to nickels, being Of the
by stars on one side. Orders were sent to the
manager Of the institution to call in the
tokens at once. Now he writes to ask if he may
punch q square hole In each Of them and use
them in that shape. He says that the veterans
vastly pSsfsr them to United States money.
OTHER SCENES
A good many people, without . notion of
vrong-doing, would not hesitate to pass for Q
cont cooper coin Of another country resem-
bling . cent They would think no more Of it
than Of paying out Canada piece for a dime.
Yet . man was sent to the penitentiary the
other day for doing that very thing. 1t is true
that he was making business Of importing
Austrian pfennigs from that country. When
arrested he had in his possession half bushel
Of such pleces-ssveral Of which are recognized
to make the equivalent Of q cent-and was send
ing out children to spend them. Another man
was railroadsd to prison for making and selling
tion-the George Clinton cent and the Mary
land penny. A specimen OF the former is worth
e250, only five being extant
The records of the secret service show that
one form Of crime, namely. the "raising" Of
United States notes and certificates from small
denominations to higher ones, has considerably
diminished Of late. This is due to no other
cause than the arrest of Q notorious expert in
this kind of work, whu has done more of it
than anybody else known TO the government
detectives. He arrested year ago in
Denver, but got away auc was not heard from
for seven months At the end of that time he
wrote from Montana. over the pseudonym Of
Westlake, to a manufacturer, ordering some
tools Of the sort nssSsd in The practice Of his
peculiar industry
The manufacturer smelled a mouse and COM
municated with Chief Drummond Of the secret
service. The latter made the surmise a GER
tainty by comparing the handwriting Of West
lakes letter with other writing by the escaped
criminal, which was preserved in the office.
The long-sought jailbird was found working In
q mine and was promptly sentenced to fifteen
years in the penisentiary. RENE BACHE.
Written for The Evening Star.
june Roses.
n har Al 0f