The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-09-02
THE BLUNDERS MADE
IN COuNTERFE|TINC
How the Least Bit of Careless.
ness Aids in Detecting
the Criminal.
MANY ASK WHY is 1T
The Answer Is That Men Willing to
Employ Their Skill in Criminal
Practice Are Not Capable
of ~Thoroushncss.
MANY ASK WHY is 1T

New York Times: A new SlW counter
felt bill has been found in circulation at
the Delmar race track. 1t is described az
wonderfully like the genuine but in
some respects crude and defective. This
drawback is so perfectly characteristic of
counterfeits IN general as to suggest some
reflections. One who finds pleasure or
profit in specializing upon the reasons
for things might employ a little time to
advantage in considering why 1T IS that
the makers of counterfeit bills always fail
in some important det3il to initiate corr
rectly what they seek to reproduce.
The making Of a counterfeit wA,ch will
deceive the least wary is a work Of great
labor and one which calls for high skill.
The average of the work needs to be fully
up to the standard of the original, which
means that the engraYer must be nearly
If not quite as skillful as the men em-
ployed in the making of plates for good
notes. He does not have to originate any
thing. Every detail has been carefully
worked out for his guidance, and all that
dcvolves upon him is to initiate what he
is copying. That he can do this in most
respects shows that he is equal to dong
it in all respects. Why is it. then, that no
counterfeiter has yet succeeded In making
a bill which in some important and easily
recognized detail is not so different from
the one initiated that the expert can de-
tect it as soon as he submits 1t to crucial
examination?
Incapable of Th~orouehness.
The answer Is probably that men willing
TO employ their skill in criminal prac-
tees are temperamentally incapable OF
t~horoughness. 1t would seem as if the
financial hackers of counterfeiting enter
prises, in view of the risks involved, would
be critical of the work on the plates they
are asked to approve and pay for. So far
L ,, ~ 1~rI l,,, ~,,,.,. th~ ,,t,Jn
tectable, counterfeit bill has never been
made. Probably 1t never will be. This
must be explained on the assumption that
counterfeiters, like other criminals, are
clever only up to a certain point. They
resent the requirement OF patient indus
try. With this they can make honest and
safe livings, and If the conditions of earn
ing the dishonest. dollar are the same as
those of earning the honest dollar the for
mer loses its attractions. The remarkable
skill Of the counterfeiter is shown in his
ability to do part of his work so we'll
that it is as good as that which he imi-
tates. and sometimes better. The Quali-
ties which make him a criminal appear in
his willingness to be careless with other
parts, whic. stamp the whole with the
proof of fraud. Whoever will take a coun-
t%erfeit bill and compare 1t with an origi-
nal of the issue initiated will hav no diff
Guilty in discovering the occasional slip OF
the BURN, the occasional evidence Of care
lessness in drawing, of willingness to pass
as good enough" is not good
enough, of recklessness and indifference
which show that the cleverest OF coun-
terfeiters is not a good mechanic
Is Not a Normal Man.
The normal man cannot understand
carelessness of this sort, especially in mat
tiers which render futile the labor OF
months or years in the engraving OF
counterfeit plates and make detection a.
easy as 1t is inevitable. The conclusion
would seem to be irresistible that the
counterfeiter is not a normal man. There
are many reasons for believing that Grim
mails are born. not made, and that thost
who deliberately elect to follow crime fol
gain do so in obedience to a natural in
stinct, the result of a mental warp which
unfits them for the self-restraint and pa
tlent industry Of an honest career. Grim
mails often show evidences of astonishing
cleverness, and it seems to the averag'
man that their talents, If employed IL
honest labor, would make them conspicu
ously successful. The error of this as
sumption is that in any monotonous ant
reputable employment the mar thus gifte
could not, or would not, employ his talent
> which Is not of the kind which qualifie
for honorable success. The police tell u
that the habitual criminal is never thor
ough.