The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-01-12
MAKING UNCLE sAMs MONEY.
Printed at Washington at the Rate of
 $3,OOO,OOO a Day.

Printed at Washington at the Rate of
 $S,OOO,OOO Day.
 Every working day of the year there is printed at Washington an average of more than three million dollars of new paper money.
 An active printer, with the aid of young girl assistant, and working on simple hand press of a type that has scarcely varied. since the Government began to print money, can turn out 800 sheets of finished bills in day, four bills to the sheet.
 There are $50 printers in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Some are at work on bonds, stamps or other forms of Government securities, but most of them are printing money The bureau has a total of 2,9SS employees
 There are five kinds of paper money printed. The sort that people are most familiar with is the silver certificate. Almost all the one, two and five dol lar bills are in that form, for the public prefers paper money to the silver coin
 l The amount of paper currency out standing, says the Master Printer, is between eighteen and nineteen hun dred million dollars, and for that l amount there is about four hundred and seventy million dollars in silver certificates and four and seventy seven million dollars in gold certih- cate.
 Although the Government prints gold and silver certificates so freely, there are only two ways by which they may be issued and become part of the money stock of the money stock of the country If any person de- posits with the Government gold or silver coin, or gold bullion, the Gov ernment may issue silver certificates for the silver coin, and gold certifi- cates for tffe gold coin or bullion or if any one returns worn certificates, like certificates may be issued to re-
 place them, the old one in turn being
 destroyed.
 A dollar bill has an average life of
 about fifteen months. Two dollar bills,
 not being quite so actively used, last
 on the average more than sixteen
 months.
 A five dollar bill lives on an average
 two years before it is worn out and | +bn Nox,ar,,,,,a,,t ie no1Iad ,,y.,, "A ,.o
 place It. Ten dollar bills last about
 three years and twenty dollar bills
 more than four years.
 The amount of money that goes to
 the Government for redemption either for the purpose of securing fresh,
 clean bills or for conversion into some
 other form of money, reaches a total
 almost too great to comprhend In
 1904 the Government received S912,000,
 900 of paper money to be exchanged
 for new bills or bills of some other
 form or denomination.
 Next to the gold and silver certif-
 cates in point of volume are the na- ] tional bank notes They constitute be-
 tween one-fourth and one-thlrd of the ,total amount of the paper money out standing, and although they are print ed under the Governments superi- sion their volume depends, subject to the provisions of the national bank
 ing law, upon the judgement of the officers of the national banks of the country.
 There are 5,S33 national banks in ex- . istence and their capital forms an az. gregate of $SOS, BPS, ,65S. The law provides that any national bank may issue its
 notes in the form of money to ar amount equal to it's capital, There could be- therefore, under the : provisions of the law, great many : more than the present $5SS. 100000 oi national bank notes if the officers oi : national banks found its sufficiently l profitable to issue their notes in this
 form.
 ! In order that this kind of money } shall be perfectly secure it has beer / provided that each national banl ? wishing to issue notes must deposit : with the Treasury an amount of Unit, l ed States Government bonds equal tt 3 the notes which the bank proposes tC
  l issue.
 l Whenever the bills are worn ou : new ones must be issued in theil l place. Therefore, whenever a new Un tied States notis printed 1t means on : ly that some other note of the same
 kind has been worn out and has beer < sent into the Teasury to be exchanged 5 for a new note. The Teasury has nc 3 power to issue single dollar of ad l ditional United States notes. It cal l only exchange new one for old ones. ] There remains one more kind O. I money, and that comparatively in [ significant amount-the Treasury
 notes of 1890. There are less than $S,. ] OOO,OOO of them now, although at ont , time there were $155, ,00O 900.
 They were issued by the Governmen 3 to pay for silver bullion bought dur ] ing the time when the law was il ] force which provided that the Gov t ernment should purchase 4,5OA0OO once ? of bullion each month. Silver certih 2 cates have taken the place of tn 7 I Treasrlry notes retired as ranidIv a