The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-16
CLEANER MONEY.
schemes Now Before Congress for
Retiring the SOiIed Bills.


Retiring the SOiIed Bills.
From the Boston Transcript.
Cleaner paper money, one of the
great needs of outlying sections of the
country, especially in the West and
South, is the end toward which several
proposed projects of legislation are di-
rected this session. Representative
Wiley of New Jersey has introduced a
bill prohibiting the reissue of paper
currency when it has once, returned
to the treasury. This is now the rule
at the Bank of England, and it's exam
pie is cited by Mr.. Wiley in the pre-
amble of his bill to prove that the
scheme is practicable.
Under the present plan the treasury
has, besides the usual paying and re-
ceiVing tellers of a bank, redemption
and asserting tellers. At the redemp-
ton window any one can exchange
soiled or otherwise undesirable bills
for fresh ones. The asserting teller is
responsible for the separation of the
bills which are fit to go into circula-
ton again from those which are not.
If a package of bills comes from an
Eastern city, perhaps one-half will be
judged fit for reissue; if from the South
OF WEST, IL Is NCIy llhSiy llldl Tic XII
tire lot will have to be destroyed.
Five minutes watching of the man
doing the actual sorting shows that no
bills are sent out again on their trav-
els to which the ordinary customer in
a store. for instance, would think of
Directing. Yet they are not perfectly
fresh, and, presumably. after passing
the average number of times from hand
to hand before coming back will be a
trihe dirtier than if they had started
brand new.
The destruction of the unfit currency
in the macerator is one of the things
in which visitors to Washington are al
ways interested, and little statuetteS
made from the resulting pulp are
among the most popular souvenirs. The
result of putting all instead of only a
part of the paper money passed over
the governments counters into this
beneficent machine would be that per-
fectly clean bills would be sent out
where practically clean bills are to-
day. and that a large amount of addi-
tional work would be thrown upon the
destroying apparatus and upon the Blu
reau of Engraving and Printing. which
must furnish the substitute bills. 1t is
pointed out that the Bank of Eng
lands experience, dealing as it does
with no piece of paper of less value
than a five pound note. is very differ
ent from the handling of our millions
of one and two dollar bills.
Another plan proposed for the 'puri-
fication of the currency is that of
Representative Gaines of Tennessee.
1t is that the government transport
free of charge the soiled or tattered
bills which banks or private citizens
turn in for redemption, and send back
the fresh currency as well, at its own
expense. That would mean, of course.
that the backwoods citizen, If he cared
to take the trouble, could keep the con-
tents of his pocketbook in just as pre-
sentable condition as the resident of a
sub-treasury city.
This is not a new idea, as in past
years two appropriations have been
made for carrying Unitde States notes
for this purpose. In 1882 the amount
so allowed was $50, 000 and in 1888 $4S,-
600. Though 1t does not pay carriage,
the government still does something to
encourage these exchanges by register
ing without charge parcels of money
for redemption. 1t is willing to do so,
at least, and makes the offer in Treas
ury Department circulars, sent out by
the hundred thousand; but few people
are aware of the fact. A dozen or
more letters containing bills for re-
demption are received from private in
divlduals daily, and hardly one-third
OF them are registered. II may be Won
dered whether the public will more
readily grasp the opportunity to receive
transportation as well as registry free.
The fundamental difficulty Of the
whole situation is that not all the legis-
lation IN the world can affect the cur
rency which In In the pockets OF the
people or passing from hand 10 hand.
There are microbes In money, and
there Ia NANCY In microbes" A a news