Evening star., 1901-07-13
BAD MONEY MAKERS
A Law to Render ''Shovers of the
Queer" Extinct.
WILL Be DRIVEN OUT OF BUSINESS
Or N Jail, Regretting Their III
Deeds.
SOME NOTABLE CAPTU RES
WILL Be DRIVEN OUT OF BUSINESS
Copyright. 1901, by Walden Fawcett.)


Written fo- The Evening Star by Walden Fswcett.
The counterfeiting of Uncle Sans money
bids fair to become lost art in the near
future. This is the prospective result of
one of the most ingenious plans for Grim
iual punishment ever devised. a project
which can in all probability be carried into
execution within the next year This Scnc1ne
for checkmatng for good and all the clever
imitators who have been forging the ma
t!onal coin ard currency has been in for
mutation for some time past. and will as
sumo definite shape when at the next ses-
sion OF Congress, John f.. Wilkie. tne chief
of the United States secret service. asks
the rational Legislature to enact an habitu-
al criminal law which can be applied to
cpuuterfeiters and coiners.
To put it i'll a nutshell, this new Law Will
provide that uron a second Convi-tjon for
the crime Of counterfeiting five years shall
l." added To the sentence imposed Ly the
judge. To the judges sentence upon a
third conviction ten years will be added
and for the fourth conviction Imprisonment
for life Will be imposed. In the under
world the ultimate capture of the counter
letter Is Regarded one of those cert. in
ties, which. in the case of the average citi-
zen. are limited To taxes and death and put
for the leniency Of judges in certain see
tons OF the country the business of ''shoy-
ing the queer would have been broken up
years ago. There is one district in which it
has been the custom of the federal Judge to
let the average countcrfeiter off with rep
rlinand, While old offenders have seldom
been sentenced To more than six months in
Jail. In some of the other districts compar-
atively light fines have been imposed, and
10 a really successful c0unterfeiter this is
or course. the preferable mode of punish
ment. Tor IN his eyes it virtually amounts
u q simple division of the spoils and some
ilInes very unequal one: The habitual
rrrYf Il lou Mil !,
lions. as the judges will be compelled to
1nihct the designated punishment, whether
or not they desire to.
Have Cut on n Few.
For ali that they have been working, as
has been explained. against somewhat
heavy odds. the secret service. officers have
succeeded in recent years in forcing a great
'urtaiment Of counterfeiting operations.
They have done this by quadrupIing the
forces Of detectives in the districts where
the judges have been prone to show Ieni-
rEcy and keeping close a watch on sus-
i"ti"uS persons that offenders can be ar
rested almost Immediately when they take
zap the maDufa ctUre of bogus money As
an Indication of thu passing of the. c3lntar
letter II may be noted that whereas a de-
EaGc ago the discoveries of the counter
f"its aggregated from twenty-five to forty
every year but four were discovered While
IN" passage OF the habitual criminal law
for Countcrfeiters will not leave the detec-
tIVes of the secret service without an oc-
,upation by any means. it will largely
limit the field Of their activity since the
shTewdeSt and trickieSt criminals will per-
force De obliged To abandon this field of ac-
tiyities Doubtless. this will be sincerely
regretted by lovers Of the picturesque for
tn~re has been in American criminal history
Tntaing more fasciuatinsly dramatic than
some II the exploits of the sleuths of the
secret service in running down counter
letters almost as quick-witted them
selves
IN principle on which the secret service
l. conducted j. that Uncle Sam never grows
wary III the pursuit Of person who has
u-tFdud"d him There was a case seYera!
years aga In which a secret service man
followed criminal back and forth across
ihe continent three times before finally ar
resting him. although the aggregate amount
involved IN the crime was but 81 Officers
81 the secret service make between go and
70 thousand arrests every year, every
''mp.i,e concerned even in the remotest de
Hf-r iE crime being apprehended.
Prosecutions Costly.
bs~ thing which contributes very ma
t.r.aIly TO the efficiency OF the secret
service is found in the fact that the
,perativcs have practically unlimited re-
sources At their command with which to
ia'yt any expense which may be in
CURED State or municipal authorities
may drop a case If they find the expense
account mounting up into the thousands
~ dollars. but the secret service-neyer.
.in". too. from the standpoint of the.
government detective is object. The
criminal whom he has been assigned 10
hGHt down Is on his list until he is ap-
b!rhrnded or conclusive evidence can be
furnished of his death The chase is
HEely. In the majority OF important cases
u u" a long one for of all branches OF
crine the manufacturers OF spurious money
enlist the most ingenious and persistent
criminals
One OF the most daring counterfeiting
'Hterprlses IN the history of the country
the creation of spurious 81 600 yeyernment
ponds, Is recalled by the recent release
from prison OF William +. Brockway
now more than eighty years old who was
the rtngleader in the scheme Brock
way mad four confederates all expert
c"uhterfeiters- When the men were ar
rested nearly a Quarter of a million dol