The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-03-19

broken up. but some Of their bad
money is yet undestroyed.
John B. Doyle was the broker" for
the counterfeiters mixed up In the 7-30
government bond swindIe in 1867 when
New York bankers were forced to pay
into the treasury nearly 500 600 which
it had paid out for them on the spurious
bonds ioated by Doyle For a long while
ii was a question with the treasury Off
Gals as to whether the bonds were
fraudulent or good council of war
was held to ascertain the cause or
means of Implications Mr. CasiIear,
rhen chief Of the bureau of engraving
and printing, and Mr.. Clark, superin-
tendent of the printing division, were
ordered to appear before the treasury
officials. The superintendent declared
the bonds were genuine, and that they
mad been printed under his personal
supervision Col. w. p. Woods Of this
city. was then chief of the secret SER
some of the bonds were fraudulent. and
that they had been printed from copper
eleetroplates. He further said that he
was convinced that it was the work of
William e, Brockway and his pals"
The treasury department was greatly
alarmed and offered a reward of $25, coo
for the arrest of the cOunterfeiterS and
the recovery of the plates Chief Woods
was told that the reward applied to his
office as we'll as to outside detectives.
Mr.. Woods resigned as chief of the ser
vice, and said he would get the counter
feiters, and he did arrest Brockway, Jno.
3. Doyle, Charles UMich and Charles
Smith, recovering the plates and about
$50 GOO of good money they had secured
for the spurious bonds.
The old secret service chief was paid
$4,000 on account, and was told that he
would have to get a special act of con-
gross to get the other $50 600. The ap-
preparation has never been made. al
though he has fought for it at almost
every session of congress.
"Ulrich learned his trade in the bu-
reau of engraving and printing here"
said an official, and knew his business.
He was associated with Brockway and
Charles smith, who learned his trade
with the American Bank Note company.
The latter was perhaps the finest en-
graver in the country 1t was impossi-
BILE to detect one of his notes from q
genuine one. Doyle was the broker and
lived in Chicago. All four were smooth
workers however. and their methods OF
getting money in circulation We're on
the strictest business lines. When Col
Onel Woods broke up this gang he did
about the best piece of work ever done
in this line
Strange as il may appear to many,
counterfeiting is on the decrease in this
country. 1t seems that when the first
people settled here from England a
goodly number of counterfeit artists
came along Tor our first paper money
was counterfeited by the wagon load.
counterfeited from the first and gave
our early lawmakers no end Of trouble.
TO prevent cOunterfeiting in the case Of
provincial currency all kinds of rude de-
vices and private marks were resorted
to, and these We're stuck on the bills un-
til they We're about as thick as an Ordi-
nary playing card. The practice of
counrerfe1ting became so prevalent even
as far back as 1172 that Colonel Philip
Schuyler proposed in the general assem-
bly, of the province of New York that
the paper money be backed with the
devices an all-seeing eye IN the clouds,
q cart and coffin, three felons on a gal
lows, weeping father and mother with
several small childrne. a burning pit
human figures poured into 1t by fiends,
ana label with the words. Let the coun-
terteiter rot Previous to that time pa
per currency bore the warning of the
law, lis death to counterfeit.
Massachusetts and other colonies made
stringent laws against c0unterfeiting. but
it amounted 10 nothing There was more
spurious money in circulation than good.
Anything like a genuine bill would pass
without question. Now. of these TWO $40
bills issued in 1913. after a majority of the
states had agreed to articles Of confedera-
rising from it. over the altar and flame
breaking from cloud is the alI-seeing
eye, casting radiance over the whole field.
IL Is easy to see that the counterfeit even
of this simple bill is a very bad batchWhy.
advertisements were even printed telling
mere cQuhterIe1t money could be Fought
The work was done almost openly. True,
al times men who did the work were Sc
vcrely punished, but it did not stop the
fraudulent issue.
About the only money which was never
counterfeited was confederate. 1 say it
was never counterfeited but I mean dur
ing the time it was good. After the war
and in fact in recent years, large sums
have been counterfeited and sold as the
genuine to men who deal III such stuff
and to relic hunters ] have sometimes
thought that the fact that the southern
people did not counterfeit their money dur
ing those DAYS Of trouble for them was one
of the highest tests of loyalty and honesty
that could have been given by any people.
I am Yankee. but it speaks well for the
people of the south. True. the confederate
money was never good for mueh cut ~
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