Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-08
ISSUE OF BONDS
How the Government Will Supply
the New Securities.
A LARGE INDIVIDUAL HOLDER
What is Done when These Evil
dences of Debt Are Lost.
WITH THE BIG CAPITALISTS

Just as soon as the bids for the new bonds
were opened at the Treasury Department
and offers were accepted, the bidders were
notified, and word was sent to the chief of
the bureau Of engraving and printing to
prepare for tho issue of the bonds. The
plates are the same as those used for print
ing the last issue. The stereotyped bond
designs are kept on cylinders of hardened
steel.
The distinctive paper on which the bonds
are printed has been seasoning In the vaults
Of the bureau for a long time Before the
work OF printing Is completed, the ckief
will have a memorandum of the exact num-
Der wanted, and this number will be deliv-
led to the Treasury Department, going
over in the big inclosed wagon which car
ries all the government securities from the
engraving bureau to the Treasury Depart
ment. The bonds are not made complete
at the bureau. The final touch Is added at
the Treasury Department when the gov
eminent seal is printed on them. The sig
natures on bank notes or government cur
Iency are engraved at the bureau and print
ed when the notes are printed but the sig
nature of the register on the bonds Is made
at the treasury, not by the register HIM
self, but by one Of the clerks who also puts
his distinctive mark ON the bond when he
makes a record of 1t. Every bond can be
traced back through the official hands
which touched 1t in the process of making
any error placed where 1t belongs This
caution is very necessary, since one little
bond may represent $4,000. Only one bond
greater than this amount was ever issued
hangs on the wall of the office of the regis
ter of the treasury. 1t was for SIS, 500, 600.
the amount Of the Geneva award paid by
England in satisfaction of what were
known as the Alabama claims" This
money was paid to Hamilton Fish as Sec
retary OF State. and as Congress had made
no provision for the disposal of it, he in
vested it in government Der cents and
the Secretary of the Treasury, for conven-
ionce, issued single bond to him. The
bond was Cancelled when the court of Ala
bama claims distributed its awards. Be-
side this big bond on the wall of the regis
ters office hangs the Oldest bond recorded
in the treasury. 1t was issued FEBRUARY
t. 17l7, to John Bonfield. It was for $500.
and 1t was to run for three wears with in.
terest at per cent.
An Individual Holding.
This bond of sl55OO,OOO which Secretary
FISH once held did not represent by IS per
cent the amount of government bonds once
held by an individual William H. Wander
bilt once owned in registered bonds s45.-
ooo,OOo. The records of the treasury show
this fact. The Treasury Department knows
Just where all Of the registered bonds are
neId. with the exception Of a few which are
IN the hands of people to whom they have
not been transferred formally after pur-
chase. The purchasers of registered bonds
do not wait very long before notifying the
Secretary of the Treasury and going
through the formality of transfer, as the
checks for interest for the bonds are sent
10 the persons whose names appear on the
books of the Treasury Department.. On the
treasury hooks an account is opened with
each person WHO becomes the owner of
registered bonds.~ The books are closed ore
month before the time WREN interest is
due.
After the books close no transfers are
made until the interest checks have be11
mailed. These checks arc mailed promptly
on the day when the interest is due and
they are made payable to order. They can
be exchanged for gold at any subtreasury
If the payee is identified. These checks are
sent out in the official envelopes of the
Treasury Department. which require no
postage stamps and which are forwarded
by the Post Office Department to any
change Of address. In fact, the Post Office
Department makes every reasonable effort
to trace the people to whom these interest
CHECKS are addressed, and it happens in
but few cases that they are not found. In
those few cases the checks are returned to
the treasury, where they are held awaiting
the claim OF the owner of the bond. But
the checks, which are delivered promptly
IN almost every case, not sent in
promptly for collection. People who own
are methodical in their handling of treas
ury checks and deposit them for collection
the day they are received. But people who
have comparatively small sums Invested in
bonds, and who have no good Investment
in sight, frequently save the checks of the
treasury as safe form Of deposit. They
accumulate until the owner dies, in some
cases. and then the executor Of his estate
sends them in in a lump. Sometimes they
are destroyed, and then the government is
ahead so much. Often bonds are Destroy
ed, and their value is not claimed and the
government has been the gamer by the
nj 1hold in
amount.
Provision is made for the issue of dupli-
Gates Of both coupon and registered bonds
when they have been destroyed, or Of a
registered bond when it has been lost by
the owner If the owner Of a registered
bond comes to the Treasury Department
and makes application for the issue Of
duplicate, filing a perpetual bond in double
the amount, with accrued interest, the gov
eminent will issue a duplicate.
When a registered bond has been mutt
lated, the pieces are sent in with the aff1-
davt. Bonds are torn by children some
times, or they are burned or injured in
some other way. Sometimes they are de-
stroyed entirely, and on the presentation
OF satisfactory affidavits. whether the bond
Is coupon or registered, the Secretary of
the Treasury will issue a duplicate on the
terms I have named.
Where the Bonds Go.
The number of coupon bonds in the pres
ent issue is larger than it will be year
hence, because as the securities accumu-
late in the hands Of investment purchasers
the coupon bonds will be exchanged for the
registered bonds. Every loan changes
character In this way. Most Of these reg
istered bonds are in the hands of people or
institutions owning large amounts. No
loan Is really popular Only l per cent
of the registered bonds outstanding in the
name of individuals is held by the 10000
people who have small holdings. The re-
mainder is with the big capitalists, who
are secure Of the governments 3 per cent,
when they would be worried all the time
about the problematical 5. or per cent
of railroad company or some other BUSH
ness enterprise.
Most of the 500, 600, 900 worth of the pres
-ent bond issue will be shipped from the
treasury to individuals or to the subtreas-
uries where they are to be delivered to the
subscribers. comparatively small amount
will be taken from the Treasury Depart
ment by subscribers here, and some peo-
pie will ship gold or gold certificates to the
treasury from not far distant points and
ask that the bonds be shipped to them d.
rect But most of the bids opened call for
the delivery of the bonds at the subtreas-
uries in New York, Philadelphia and other
large cities. The bonds are put up in heavy
paper wrappers, sealed with the treasury
seal and delivered to the agent Of the
United States Express Company, who has
an office in the treasury building. His COM
pany has the contract for carrying all the