New-York tribune., 1907-11-29
WHERE ARE THE BONDS?
Millions Of Dollars an the Treasuyu
Azcaiting Claimants.
[From Ths ,ribune Rureau-l

Cd
tishtness Of money and lack Of cash throughout
the country, there millions OF dollars waiting
In the Treasury vaults for claimants. These claim
ants have merely to appear in person or send the
proper documents TO receive the money
According the last monthly report of the di,,-
sion Of loans of the Treasury there was no less
than S go awaiting the pleasure of holders Of
bonds which matured the first of last Julv
These bonds ceased TO bear interest at that time
and there is nothing to be gained by the holders
elingng 10 them. The total issue called in by the
Secretary OF the Treasury under circular dated
AprIl .. was SS6,121.450. The bonds are known in
the department the 1897 As and are held bv
owners ali the world It is supposed that the
great ma jorty of them will come in for redemptIon
some time. hut it may be generations before the
big pile of S5.o00.o0O is reduced below the 100000
mark Some of the bonds will never come in for
they viii be lost destroyed. and the rightful own
ers either through Ignorance or other causes will
not set foot the proper measures to recover their
money. Half hundred years from now there NAV
be sl5lG9 or 100000 sill unaccounted for and the
venerable clerks in the department will stroke
their snowy mustaches as they speculate
the mystery of the lost bonds. OF the funded loan
still unpaid and unaccounted for and OF the >
per cent bonds called in by the Treasury in Febru-
ary 1874 $500 has not yet appeared.
1T Is safe TO say that the greater proportion of
the bonds Will show up in time. but you and Will
be gone before the account is settled said c. y.
NcGroarty. chief Of the loan division. Not nearly
as many OF these bonds will be lost as you might
suppose As a rule the owners are persons cs
means who purchase them for investment. and
even after the interest on them ceases continue TO
hold them for various reasons. Perhaps they
not in need OF money present and will wait until
they run a good investment before they
convert the bonds into cash Perhaps. again. they
have been in the habit collecting the interest
the bonds at long intervals, once in six months
2 year. and have not yet gone the papers in
their safety deposit boxes. and do not really know
that the bonds have ceased TO draw interest.
When they finally wake up the fact that these
bonds have quit bringing in a steady income they
R1l write to the Treasury asking why the interest
has stopped. The Secretary will inform them OF
the facts IN the case will quote the April circu-
lar ana in due time will receive the bonds for
demption. Another very frequent cause OF the
by the death Of the and their estates going
into the hands of executors. Until the courts
der the executors to wind the affairs of the de-
cedents the bonds they holding must remain in
their custody OF course. at rare intervals hear
Of the loss OF bonds by accident. a mail train
may be smashed up and the envelopes carrying
them from person to person may be lost in the
debris. A steamer bearing the owner may go down
and the bonds be lost with his belongings or his
person Thieves may steal them. with other valu-
ables and throw them away when they find they
cannot convert them into ready cash without run