The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-01-24
OLD BILLS MADE NEW
Uncle Sam II . Very Honest OK
Gentleman.
Ne WIN GIVE Crisp Now Notes nor old and
Mutiintsa Cur~sency-Even MONEY To-
tally Destroyed Il Sometimes
nrads Good " Him.

L.
tally Destroyed II Sometimes
hrads Good ~ Him.
The amount Of money In the shape
Of bank notes and bills that are lost or
destroyed every year Is enormous
Nearly all Of this Is . clear gain 70 the
government n . man throws d TWEEN
ty-doliar- bill into the FIRE with . lot Of
paper, and realizes too late that flames
are no respecters Of persons OF papers,
he may tell Of II ~ . rather rough Joke
on himself, but he gives II mp Is lost
nine times ont Of ton, and pays no more
attention TO Il II he saves q small
part of the bill he may perhaps think
II worth something and goes to inquire
about It. II he does he stands q good
chance Of recovering his entire loss.
The law upon the subject Is quite
plain. and one that people ought TO be
informed upon. The paper issued by
the government and called money Is Of
course merely makeshift A gold
certificate for ten dollars Is merely a
promIsegon the part or the government
at Washington 20 pay the bearer ten
dollars In gold when he presents that
certificate At the treasury Office. II
that certificate Is never presented and
no demand Is made for the gold It rep
resents the gold remains In the vaults,
and the government Is ultimately that
much ahead. When bills become worn
or in any way unfit for cir~culation the
treasury or any Of the s~ub-treasnries in
the country are not only willing but
| Rlad Of the chance to make an ex-
/ -L.--A 49, k1A~Akw nsaN Tana1 AfIla -
circulation. United States notes, frac-
tional currency notes. gold certificates,
silver certificates and treasury notes Of
1890 are all redeemable by the United
States treasurer. The assistant treas
urers At the different sub-treasury
| oficcs are also authorized TO redeem
thess bills, provided the bill retains
three-hfths Of its original proper
tions. II. however, moro than two
ffths Of the bill is gone the assistant
t-reasurers have no authority to act,
and the matter must 70 before the
treasurer. II ~two-6fths Of the original
proportions Of the bill remain and .
possibility exists that the remainder Is
still ia existence, then the United
States treasurer viii redeem the mutt
lated currency ut one-half the face
value.
There are circumstances, however,
under which the entire sum lost will
be made good BY the government II
the treasurer Is thoroughly satisfied
that the bills have been entirely de-
stroyed. This fact has TO be made
clear by the party asking for the re
demption Of the destroyed money; q
detailed description Of the circum-
stances must be given; 1t must NIL be
sworn to- and the good character oil
the person making the application
must be satisfactorily shown by some
officer with . seal. Even after all this
is done, the matter Is still left discre.
tionary with the treasurer as te
whether he will make tho loss good OF
not Tho wording of the law closes
with the provision That THE treasurer
will exercise such discretion under
this regulation rs may seem to him Il
} protect the United States from fraud.
! These provisions do not refer to the
national bank notes, which, when less
than ~three-dfths of q bill remains,
NEST be presented TO the bank Of issue
The main reason for this law allow
ing the redemption of mutilated cur
, rency Is that the government lose
: nothing by It As already stated. tn,
piece Of paper Is simply q promise K
\ pay, and II this evidence Of q nation
!, Indebtedness Is entirely destroyed til,
. government rs p matter of honesty
will give the owner a new evidence o
: the same indebtedness. The former be
ing destroyed. there would be no pos
! sibility of the government having Il
!, pay the same debt twice. The sam
reason applies to the redemption Of
o bill with q part torn of. IL can be re
deemed at Its face yaluS only whel
clearly three-fifths remain, and If any
Q one should present the other par
(which Is less than three-hfths) b
Q could get nothing at all for 1t unles
II showing clearly and satisfactorily tina
n the first portion had been destroyed. /
Q this way the government protects itsel
It entirely, and at the same time doe
what II can TO shield It's creditors an
. protect them from loss,
d Very few people know the law o
r. the subject. the general opinion bein
o that when money is too badly used u
It to be kept Ia circulation II is pract
cally useless A man came into the S
p Louis sub-tfeasury not long since an
T. showed a number of lady nsed-u
bills, as he asked II they wcra wort
b. anything. The officers were busy I
1t the time. and. as the bills were quit
u badly mntilated. he was told to com
is back at Eve o'clock and the matte
,e would be looked into. As he went 3,
70 the door he remarked to a friend III,
he guessed it wasn't worth while. as
probably wouldn't amount to anything
and SO he never came back The san
sort Of an incident came under the 81
OF servation Of r Barlow the notal
70 public In Cashier Hayes Office at Il
post Office, about q month ago. A gel
tleman who had fallen into the riv,
had 80 completely saturated his cloth,
lp that when he was pulling some pap,
d out of one Of his pockets (forgettir
or thirty dollars in currency he tore Il
be money all to pieces and Ind only q We
70 soggy mass left He was referred |
the treasury depnrtment 70 Mr.. Barlo