Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-04-29
Zashington
w LETTER
BY H. B. WALKER
WOULD BAN U. S. LAUNDRY
Star Stan Correspondent.
Star Bureau,
Metropolitan National Bank Bldgs
WASHINGTON. April 20.

WASHINGTON, April 20.
Senator James E. MARITIME wants
Congress to abolish the government
money is washed and ironed. This
laundry was established a few years
ago as a Republican attempt to prac-
tise economy. When dirty paper
money comes back to the treasury
nowadays it is sent to the laundry,
washed and ironed and put back into
circulation, which saves the expense
of printing new bills, as was done be-
fore the laundry system was put into
operation.
The New Jersey senator has been
studying the money laundry, and
says he has found out that the
"washed" paper money loses its char
acteristics to such an extent that its
use is encouraging counterfeiting. In
the Senate yesterday afternoon he Of
fered stack of 5S7 letters and tele-
grams from bank presidents and
cashiers from almost every State of
the Union protesting against the con-
tinuance of the laundry, and declar-
ing that they are unable to tell the
difference between washed" bills and
clever counterfeits. In the course of
laundering, they almost all agree, the
bills are so changed that they lose
the feel by which the cashiers and
bank tellers are able to detect the
difference between good unwashed
bills and. the bogus currency.
Senator MARITIME wanted these 5S7
-. a
Senate document, to be used in his
campaign of education and protest
for the adjustment of the money
laundry. Senator Reed Smott, the
Utah Mormon apostle and Republican
Senate leader, objected.
Declaring that he was just as much
against counterfeiting and dirty
money as MARITIME, the Utah senator
insisted that the tendency to put
everything into print was as great an
evil as the washed" money.
ut is rapidly getting to the point
said Smoot, when everything will be
printed in public documents. and
there will be no such thing as private
documents"
Smooth got upon Marines nerves
by suggesting that the latter could
get as much advertising out of the
matter by printing one of the letters
as by printing them all.
81 care nothing about the advertis-
| ing" retorted MARITIME, but | feel
| that the people can't have too much
clean, safe money. There Is so much
caustic soda used in the laundry that
the cashiers can't tell good money
from bad, and these washed bills are
coming to be known as the counter
| feiters' delight"
Senator Gallinger wanted to see a
sample of the washed bills.
81 am so unfortunate" declared
MARITIME, "as to have no bills. washed
or unwashed, in my possession at this
| time. | have no doubt that the sena-
tor from Utah can supply the Senate
with samples of all kinds of money"
YES" said Smoot, II can lend
| the senator from New Jersey some
bills, if he wants them
Gallinger repeated the suggestion
that MARITIME have one or two of the
letters printed, as samples of what
! the others were.
"But these letters have to do with
many questions relating to our money
system" urged MARITIME, land they
should all be printed. There is one,
for instance, from a bank president,
who says he would like to tar and
feather the man who put pantalettes
on the American eagle on some of our
new coins"
| AS 1t requires unanimous consent to
have a public document printed by
the Senate. and as Smoot objected
and MARITIME refused to compromise,
the 5s7 letters on washed money will
not be printed