The Savannah morning news., 1904-12-04
CHECKS BY
The MILLION
UNCLE SANS INTEREST SLIPS.
OVER 100000 OF THEM m THE
REGISTERS STRONG ROOM.

The Largest Single Payment Ever
Made By the Government to an
Individual Was $4sO,5OO To W'I-
liam II. Vanderbilt for One Guar
ter's Interest ON His Holdings OF
Per Cent. COnsOIs of 77-97-Van-
derbiIt's Interest on That Loan
Was $3.65 Minute, Day and
Treasury Are Detected.
Washington, Dec. 3.-There are
great many persons in this country
who have no idea of the system that
Uncle Sam keeps with regard to the
interest checks that are paid quarter
ly on registered bonds. There are nu-
merous instances, incidents that hap
pen almost every day in the registers
Office of the Treasury Department, that
go to prove this assertion. A man
will write to the Office saying that he
has not received his check for interest,
payable, perhaps, eight or nine years
ago, and that he would be much oblig-
ed if the department would make him
out another check for the amount. The
clerk to whom this letter is referred
for every one receives the most cour-
teous attention-goes to his books,
finds what is called the report num-
Der and then goes to the file room,
where all of the old checks are kept,
and ninety-nine times out of a hun
dred, or, it would be more correct to
say nine hundred and ninety-nine
times out of thousand, picks up the
check which the gentleman AYERS he
did not receive, Endorsed by him and
returned to the Treasury Department
as having been paid There are very
few times that the department is found
to have skipped any of the thousands
of holders of United States securities
in the shape of registered bonds. The
system by which this accuracy is pos
sible is not a complicated one, except
that it deals with numbers embracing
the third period.
System Not Complicated.
The loans of the government are in
two forms-registered and coupon. OF
course, in the case of the coupon bonds
no such record is kept because it is
not needed. since the holders of such
securities have only to clip off their
coupons and have them cashed, but
in the case of the registered bonds
an individual account with every hold
er of any and all such securities ever
issued by the government is kept in
the office of the register of the treas
ury. When the time comes for the
quarterly payment the registers office
prepares the schedule, which is then
sent to the treasurers office, where the
checks are drawn.
The checks are then sent out and
are returned in good time to the reg
ister's office after they have been CASH
ed. Checks are not always cashed
In, however, at that time, many per-
sons who are careful with their mon
ey holding them and perhaps sending
them to the treasury for payment years
after the original quarterly payment.
When an old check of this descrip-
ton comes in 1t is referred to the
registers office in the same manner
that complaint would be or is and
the matter is carefully looked up to see
that there is no possible chance of the
government paying interest twice.
When the checks are finally returned
to the registers Office the number is
entered In books for that purpose and
the checks themselves are then tagged
and placed I'm the file room, SO that
II Is a matter OF a very few minutes
for clerk who rs familiar with the
routine to find any check that has ever
been presented TO that office.
Five million Checks.
The books OF the registers ONCE up
20 the end OF the last fiscal year, June
30, 1904. show that there are now g.
C06,2si checks registered and filed away
for possible reference. These checks
aggregate sum " 1921 a53. 0l7.T6, this
sum being the total amount u inter-
esl paid out by the government on reg
nteret bonds uD 10 that time. Dur
ING the nscal year ending June SO. 1904,
there were 20fit0 checks received az
the registers once for reEigrafi0n aud