The times., 1897-11-14
OUR NEW MONEY.
Description OF tne BillsTha VIII
Soon Be in CircuIation.
tFmni the Providcne. Journal,

VI i-hELstNiUt5 anu Ali ok tDtili
Will undergo criticism and more or less
alteration before final acceptance Presi-
dent Mckinley has expressed his ap-
prevail of the idea IN a general way, and
Secretarg Gage is anxious to issue the
notes ard certificates asquckly ass possible
Being banker himself, he fully appre-
ciates the de-, ects Of the currency now in
the hands of the people 1t may be arfistil
bu: theyarious denominations are not easily
distinguished from each other, and the
numerals on them are obscure and hard
TO max cut This makes counting trouble
some, and person has 10 look sharp if
he would avoid giving a fivedLlla. note
for dollar.
Secretary Gage is of the opinion that
everyday usefulness is of more Importance
in the currency of the nation than nigh art.
Pretty pictures of recumbent ladies and
naked boys are well enough in their way,
but they cut no particular ice, 50 to speak,
in connection with hard and vulgar cash
The most important point In a piece OF
paper money is that it shall be easily recog-
nizable. It's denomination must be- apparent
at a glance, and its kind also whether
Treasury note, bank note or certificate. or
course, safety against counterfeiting is not
to be lost sight of. IL is believed that all
of these requirements are met by the new
designs. Anybody who has handful OF
these bills Will be able to separate them
in an instant into their different classes
so as TO count them offhand and without
scrutiny AT the same time the greater
simplicity of their patterns VIII render them
actually more difficult to initiate success
fully. The very eIaborateness of the notes
now I'm circulation copfuoac tbn
Toiliustrare, take the one -tlo.iar bill The
designs for this denomination are already
finished and are very handsome TheIeare
only two, one for the face and one for tile
back, because one-doIlar bills will have the
same patterns, whether certificates, bank
notes or Treasury notes. When you see a
bin with big spreading eagle in the
middle of the face you win recognize it a.
one-dolla- bill without loo ing at I he large
numerical beneath. Now, then, are you
tounderstand what kind ora one-u0liar lillit
is? The answer is simply by the color n
which the big nmeral of denomination
the Treasury seal and the number OF the
bill ar" printed. If it IL Treasury note
these viii be in red; If a silver certificate
they viii be ia green; if bank note, they
VIII be Ill blue. There Will be no other
diffe 'ences except that each kind OF bin
viii have its own legend. But people do
not Want to stop and read the legend in
orde: 10 find out whether bill is a bank
notn OF certificate. They do not have
to d. SC, iuasmuch as the color shows that.
Al present there are chree different lie
Signs for one-dollar bills. Under the new
arrangement there VIII be only one design,
the Sole variation being in the Colors, as
dnSgrihpH Will he
the two-dollar bill; instead II three pat
terms, there will be one. This scheme
VIII he carried out through all OF the
denominations of paper money. There
are nine denominations in all running from
81 TO $1,000 Under the present system
there are twenty-s even patterns. Dust
think or it twenty seven sorts ofEaper cur
rency II is enough 70 confuse the people
especially when it is considered that
during the last few years the designs have
heea undergoing radical changes with
every new AGministra ton. Ob siousIy,
counterfeirs are much more Iik ely to be
detected If the sers of the currency are
thoroughly familiar with its appearance.
So az 10 be struck by anything that is not
exactly as II should be.
For the new t5Yo-dollur bill a head of
On either side OF it two classical figuresof
the aIlegorical sort viii recline Thus
somethi. Z win be done foI art incidentally
1t Tould he mistake to suppose that the
new money is TO be executed in a spirit OF
commercial phiIistinism; on the contrary.
IL win be very handsome, indeed. One
thing very noticeable about it is tie broad
blank spaces which are left ON both face
and ha of zach I'm In,
third OF the entire area of the note in each
case is blank. The back has not soIEucnas
one-half or the usual amount Of lathe work
engraving. The purpose of this modifica
ton is twofold. 1t VIII show the distinctive
fibre In the paper much more plainly and
the eye in exemining a bill win be less con
fused.
secreta-y Gage has been evolving THE
sch,mr ever since he first took charge #
the Treasury. 1t is safe to say tnat The
present alleged artistic" patterns OF cur
rercy would never have been adoptedunder
the authority of an official graduated from
commercial life. Mr.. Carlisle, " no is re-
spor sible for the patterns of the notes and
certificates now in use, is better acquainted
with politics than with business Ever
since tie art money came into circula-
country have been complaining of it.
Bank caShiers especially, have found its
obscurity Il very serious Inconvenience.
One notable advantage OF the new plan is
that it VIII do away entirely with the in
dustry OF raising bills from small To large
denominations. This kind of fraud has
grown of late 10 an extent that proves its
p1ofitahleness Only the other iay a
prisoner i'll the Tornbs jail, In New York
city, actually pa Ssed on the priSon caterer
a twenty-dollar note, which he had raised
from a enc dollar during his leisure hours.
Hab a dozen years ago the Treasury
officials were seriously considering the
idea Of making the backs of some of the
notes SKY blue. Designs in that color
wera prepared at the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing and submitted for criticism
Son. n.ebudy. however, suggested that they
looked like Confederate shinpIasters, and
thai settled it. Recently merchant of
Olean, n. Y, offered to the Trea slIry a
suggestion to the effect that nine differ
ent colorsshould be employed fGrthe various
denominations Of the paper currency He
urged that thus distinguished they would
be much easier to count, and that rails.
ing would be out of the question He
proposed that one-dolIar bills should be
tan-colored aud twos should be orange,
five1 golden ochre. tens lemon-colored,
tweDties heliutrope, and fifties rose col
ored. The 81 90 bill was to be turauoise
blue, the $500 pea green and the 81 900
daffodu This was by nc means bad idea,
but Secretary Gage thinks that his plan
is simpler and better
a.