The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-04
SCARCITY OF HNGRAVBRS
Officials of The Treasury Depart
ment Embarrassed.
Millions of Dollars of Circulation
Held Up as n Result of the Condi-
tons Mt the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing-NationaI Banks Snid
to he Suffering in Consequence.

and Printing-NationRl Banks Snid
to he Suffering in Consequence.
Owing TO a scarcity of eugravers in the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing. the
| Treasury Department is finding itself Sc
| riously embarrassed in attempting to pre-
vide national bank circulation, as required
under the newly adopted Currency law.
More than 800 banks are gradually having
their circulation decreased and suspended
through the inability of the Department 10
| furnish plates for the new notes called for
| by the act, and at the present time $lG
| coo 600 of national bank circulation has
been held up by reason Of this complica-
| ton. There is no prospect OF an immedi-
| ate Improvement in the situation and the
| Treasury officials are apprehensiye as 20
! the outcome.
Section II of the Currency law provides
that no national banking association shall.
! after the passage Of this act, he entitled
| to receive from the Comptroller Of the Cur
| rency or to issue or reissue or place in cir
! culation more than one third Of its cir
culating notes OF the denomination Of ave
dollars The idea of limiting the issue
! of five-dolar national bank notes was to
! create a demand for the silver certificates
| of enc and two-dollar denominations. At
| the time the law went into effect. 926
! banks out OF total OF $500 had their en-
/ tire outstanding circulation made Up of
1 five-dolar notes, this being the most pODu-
| lar denomination.
| This state of affairs was not confined 10
| banks Of small stock, but was true IN re-
gard to institutions that had as much as
/ $500 goo and S5COOC0 in circulation As
/ soon as the law became operative, all the
| banks that had issued hve-!ollar n'tes
/ exclusively found that their circulation
was cut down to one third of what it fo--
merly was, and that the balance must e
made up in notes Of larger denomination
big rush was at once made on the
Treasury Department for authority to is
sue bills of ten-dollar, twenty dollar, and
other sizes. The Department has to make
an engraved plate for each bank and for
each note, and in few days there were
on hand orders for several hundred plates.
Under normal conditions the Bureau Of
Engraving and Printing is able to get out
a plate and begin printing from it in forty
! five days. But the present conditions at
the Bureau are not normal. The work of
engraving plates for the new 2 per cent
bonds is well under way and the small
force was taxed to its utmost before the
demand for national bank plates became
heavy. 1t was stated yesterday at the
Treasury Department that there are more
than 500 applications on file for new ma
tional bank plates. The rate Of progress
being made by the Bureau may be Judge
from the fact that not a single plate that
was ordered after the President signed
the Currency bill, March Il, has yet been
delivered. A few long headed bank man
ayers. foreseeing the rush that was in
evitable. filed applications weeks before
the law became operative. and these men
have received their plates.
The Department on Wednesday delivered
plates that were ordered March 5. and is
therefore nearly two months behind The
bureau authorities are unable to give any
promise Of early relief They say that
their force is working night and day. and
that unless additional engravers are Sc
cured it viii be months before all orders
are executed. The city. and. in fact, the
country has been secured for competent
engrayers. It is said that there are but
twelve men engaged to get out the eight
hundred odd plates that are needed.
4 Treasury Department official said yes
terday that there is enough engraving work
at the bureau now to keep the regular force
force busy for the next nineteen mon tbs |
without considering new jobs that win
come in.
In the mean time loud complaints are
coming In from banks all over the country |
Many Of them are having their circulation !
cut down 10 the danger point. and are ap- |
pealing to the Secretary for relief
Treasury official, in explaining the sit |
uation, said: Take the case Of a bank |
whose outstanding circulation before the |
new law went into effect was $500, 600. Say |
that all this was taken up in five-dollar /
notes, which was a very common thing. !
as our records show that nearly GOO out |
OF $500 banks were in this exact fix. Ac-
cording to the new law. the circulation Of |
this bank in question was cut down to
100000 on March 15 that being one-third |
of the total amount of fve-dllar notes that !
it had issued.
The balance Of $500 900 must be made
up OF notes Of higher denomination. OF
course, the bank can only issue new notes
Of higher denomination as its old ones
are presented at the department for re-
demption. These are ont in circulation in
all parts Of the country As they become
worn out and mutilated they are brought
10 the Treasury to be exchanged for fresh
money. The bank must wait until its
surplus notes are sent in this way before
they can be replaced with notes Of larger
denomination. But on account of the alb
sence Of the plates necessary to print new
notes the Department is holding up mil
lions of money that has been redeemed in
this manner.
AT the present time we have between
5000. coo and SIG 000, 900 to the credit of
various banks that are waiting to ex-
change this old money for the new notes
to be printed from the plates when ready. |
OF course. this reduces the circulation
of these banks to this extent. The amount
of our holdings is increasing every day.
and there is no telling what it may result
in il the Bureau does not hurry and de-
liver the plates The total amount of out
standing national bank circulation is only
something over $3.50. 900. O00 so that the
withdrawal of SIG, 000, 600 Will naturally
have some effect"
DiScFedited by Colonel Bird.