Evening star., 1897-03-20


bilities have thought
that the 5000 a year which Treasurer
Morgan now draws would be very accept
able to them. But the men who know
What the treasurership involves are not
ambitious to take the place. 1t is quite
possible that in the end the President will
permit Mr.. Morgan to continue in Office.
The present treasurer is a gold democrat
and his administration of the office has been
perfectly satisfactory. His term does rot
expire in any event until the 1st of June
and 1t is not likely that he will be disturbed
before that time, even if some good repub-
llcan is found willing to fill his Shoes
There never is rush, for the office Of
treasurer. The duties of the office are not
onerous, but the responsibilities of the
place are so great that few men would care
TO assume them. The treasurer of the
United States has charge of the millions
Oh dollars of gold, silver and paper cur
Ithcy stored III the vaults of the Treasury
Department and of the other millions being
handled in the offices of the redemption Gi-
vision, the national bank note division etc
for the safety of these enormous sums he
gives bond of sl5O,OOO--a perpetual bond
II a shortage should be discovered in the
treasury vaults a hundred years hence and
1t could be traced back to the period when
.Ar. Morgan was treasurer, the heirs of his
bondsmen could be held responsible for it,
On the other hand, the clerks and mes
sengers who handle the millions of money
IA the 'reasurers Office give no bond to Sc
cure him against loss by their carelessness
or dishonesty. All these clerks are held az
countahle for the money they handle; but
II one of them should steal a million dol
lars-ahd that Is a possibility singular as 1t
may seem-or. If by some rnischance large
sum should be mislaid or should disappear
from the vaults or the disks without leay.
lrg trace of its destination. and the
clerks responsible for dts safekeeping
were found to be unableSto make good the
less. the treasurer Woulaa have to return
the money to the government and nothing
but an act of Congress would relieve him of
the obligation. Not loEF iago some sheets
OF bills disappeared from one of the treas
ury bureaus and could rot be traced Their
face value 5000. Mr.. Morgan made
good the $500 and asked Congress to raim-
burse him, as he could not place the re-
sponsibility for the shortage in his office.
Congress has not made good the 500 yet
but ii probably will at the present session
Making Good the Losses.
Oriy one other loss has occurred in Mr.
Morean's administratio n. . That was the
disappearance of SO SILVER dollars which
were taken from the silver vault by
ycuIg man iu 1894 This shortage was
made good and the treasurer lost nothing
by the crime. In the administrati of his
predecessors there have been many thefts
United States have been required to make
up large sums, but none of them has ever
lest any considerable amount. II no neg
lect on the part of the treasurer is shown
Congress always makes good any short
age Hhich is not made up by the clerks at
fault.
When Mr.. Morgan gives up his charge
there is little doubt he will have to make
seod some slight discrepancy in the con-
teLts of the vaults. He does not know of
any such discrepancy now, and it is just
pcs ssible none exists. but ii is the almost
invariabe rule that the treasurer, when the
count of his currency is made, finds that
some small sum Is lacking. In reality this
morey is not lost. Some day when the
great coin vaults are cleaned up the miss
ing dollars will be found In corners. But
the treasurer can better afford to make up
the hundred dollars or SO which is missing
than to have the vaults overhauled to trace
a loose dollar which has fallen between the
bags Of money. Mr.. Morgan's predecessor
had to make up small discrepancy in the
cash So did the treasurer who preceded
him Ii the responsibility for the missing
dollars can be placed, the clerk responsible
is required to furnish the cash; and when
the vault Is cleaned out in the regular
course of business and the loose money Is
found in the cracks of the flooring the
amount is returned to him.
On the wall of Treasurer Morgans office
hangs small frame, in which is a receipt
bearing Mr.. Morgan'S signature. 1t certi-
fies the receipt from his predecessor of
$40 ST. ,4l9.IS 2-3, the amount of gold and
silver coin, treasury notes, national bank
notes and bonds on hand when Mr.. Morgan
entered the treaSurers $ Office nearly four
years ago. OF this, STA, TO 42297 was i'm
the cash vaults 1914, ,S5s. 4O6 in the reserve,
3l,oS'.5SS.92 in the treasury, 81 $780, in
unissued certificates, and $21S, ,21S UUl. SO 2-3
IN bonds held by the government in trust
for the Indians. " hen MIR. Morgan gives
up his office he will have to show to his
successor that there is in the keeping of
the treasurers office this amount, plus the
money received by the treasurer from va
rious sources, and minus the amount paid
out by him, for which he can show checks
or vouchers. Just how much Mr.. Morgan
will turn over no one can tell now. The
amC unit in the hands of the treasurer va
ries greatly from month to month, and
ever from day to day. 1t will probably be
more than eight hundred millions. All this
mercy will have 10 be counted before Mr..
Morgan's successor signs a receipt for it,
With the exception of the silver coin, every
piece 9f money and every bond will be
counted literally. Each piece will be han
died separately by the fingers of experts
acting as a committee on. behalf Of the re-
uring treasurer, the new treasurer and the
Treasury Department. The value of the
silver coin which will be counted by weight
Is about s152,5o0.O00. The bags Of silver
will be brought from thetvaults and weigh
ed. Each bag of dollars contains LOCO
coins A corresponding weight is placed In
the opposite side of the balance and If the
bag OF coin does not tip the beam the
be counted by hand. The hand count is
seldom necessary. though.
The counting of the papsr money is far
less difficult operation. Assistant Treasurer
Meline says, though to the layman it seems
to Involve a much more difficult and deli
cate cate problem. pre- The coph1ing committee
every package of paper currency. 1t is not
enough that the ends, of the packages
should be broken and the. notes counted in
that way. The entire wrapper must be
taken off and the notes must lie in a loose
pile before they are counted.
Counting Money.
In the bureau of engraving and printing
where paper money is made, the sheets Of
bills are counted at every stage of the pro-
cess. This counting is done by ruff1ing the
edge Of bundle. so that the sheets stand
apart. and then running the fingers through
them a pianist would run scales on the
keyboard. A thumb or finger goes into
every space between two sheets, and the
range of hand is five sheets. The work
is done with wonderful rapidity, and it is