Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1912-10-18
0EBIs0f uRCLEsA
peouIe Neglect to Collect Sums
He Owes Them.

..... AMI Fractional Paper Money
:, the Civil War Rsriod Are Still
..andias-Many Govern.
,.nt cheoks Still Out.
v.sh,pgton.-The reported loss OF
- thousands OF dollars by the
.s;no Of the Titanic calls attention
The fact that the government OF
I1nited States frequently dement's
.ho misfortunes of the people. 1t
49, ran be known what amount OF
,,,,tod states money went down with
.hs Titanic, but whatever the sum. the
.-sssury department has just 80 mucn
.ad,tional to it's credit, as 1t can never
~ presented for redemption.
week rarely or never passes that
.,a treasury department does not re-
live for redemption a number OF
cottages containing money that has
sssn nartly destroyed by fire, and IN
" ooses where the bills can be sat-
,,factorily identified new money 10
,,.ued therefore; but frequently only
nort,on of the bill remains. and IN
sh.t event, if three-nfths Of the note
IAN be identified the full face vaiue
=. roturned to the owner, but II less
sh.n three-fifths can be identined
.nlv one.half Of the value rs returned
~Asse losses by IRE aggregate each
car a very large sum: but what has
t.come of the millions OF dollars OF
-hich there is no trace is an unsolVeo
nroblem. Treasury ofncials speak OF
ths great fires that in years past
A.ye swept Chicago. Boston San
francisco, Baltimore, and other Cities
ana estimate that many millions must
N.ve been lost in these great con-
Aagrations.
T.rlv in the Civil war the United
st.tes issued over $400,000,oo0 OF
iax.l tender notes, which were used
N payment of all government ool1ga'
tons, including the pay Of the armies
n the field. At this time there are
st,l outstanding over 100000 OF
these notes in the denominations OF
a.e and two dollars alone, which are
never heard from except now and
then a stray bill or two is presented
far REDEMPTION. 1t is a fair assump'
tion that a large percentage OF the
whole 5000. 900 has been accidental
" destroyed, and this Is undoubtedly
UNFORTUNATELY true of all OF the OLD
issues
Soon after the war began the gov
eminent issued from time to time an
aggregate of nearly $36s,ooo,0oo IN
fractional paper money, and some
thing over SIS 1000, 900 is still carried
IN the treasury accounts as outstand-
Ing
1. As fast as these old wartime shin
plasters" come in the treasury de-
stroys all of them that are much
mutllated and worn, but they are
never paid out again other than IN
small amounts and in exceptional
cases. The treasury now has on
hand only about $246 Of these small
notes. In 1879 the department. rep
recognizing the fact that compare
lively few of these old fractional
notes would ever be presented to the
treasury, directed the segregation OF
I . fund Of something over 100000
held in the treasury for the redemp-
ton Of these notes, the amount to
10 applied to the payment Of war
pensions. Large sums Of this Issue
are no doubt held by collectors as
souvenirs.
/ OF the Civil war issue Of compound
interest notes which amounted to
nearly $267,000,000 there still re-
mains outstanding approximately
/ 100000, and of this issue only $40
came to the treasury last year. OF
the issue Of seven-thirty notes run
hing from 1861 to 1865, which totaled
cbout $4,000, 900, there is still out
Standing $4,000. and only 500 Of
these notes were redeemed last year.
OF the war time demand note issue
Of $50, oo0, 900, = total Of $4,000 is still
snaccounted for and none Of this Is
sue has recently been presented for
redemption.
During the issue Of the Spanish var
ban in June and July, 1898. atou.
$4,000 government checks were seEt
70 subscribers for small amounts Of
nese bonds, which represented the
interest due from the date Of its re-
eelpt until August 1, the date of the
bonds, and over 10000 Of these checks
nave never been presented for pay.
nent. 1t is assumed that as nearly
III Of the checks we're for small
amounts, some Of them for only q few
cents, they also have been kept as
souvenirs.
Many people who received govern
nent checks in payment Of interest
IN live bonds seem to be very care
e@ or not in need of funds, as a
afge number Of these checks never
ave been presented for payment.
vne party alone is known to have in
NY possession an aggregate Of many
thousands Of dollars represented by
aese checks, and although frequently
lnportuned to present them for pay
nsnt ne has so far neglected to do so.
An investigation recently made by
- secretary Of the treasury dis
sDses the fact that many national
saks are holders of these checks,
~ tne treasury now has the names
y over 100 national banks which
NV N.Y. mus far neglected to present
0en for payment.
ms failure on the part of any
sSsh check holder to present
s.sn mas caused the secretary
issue an order to the effect that
.sn such interest checks remain