The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-12-27
!. S. GAINS MILLIONS
DESTROYED BANK NOTES
ACCIDENTS AID IN REDUCING RE-
pEMpTioN, BUT FUNDS ARE
HELD READY.

The United States is many millions
NJ dollars better off than it's own finan-
cial statements indicate. This is be-
cause of the loss and destruction of
notes issued from time to time by the
treasury for the redemption of which
funds are on hand in the government
vaults says the New York Sun.
No accurate estimate is possible of
the amount of the notes that will never
be presented for redemption. On the
governments books the outstanding
notes Just balance the amount of
money held for their redemption in
the treasury and in United States de-
positaries, but a considerable percent
age of every issue of notes is lost and
destroyed, so that actually millions of
dollars worth of notes will never have
to be redeemed.
Legislation in the future may set a
time limit for the redemption of these
issues would be turned into the gen.
eral fund and the nation would find it
self actually richer by many millions
Vanished Paper Money.
AS an example of the number of
notes Of a single issue lost, destroyed
and held as souvenirs, the issue Of
old "shin plasters" fractional paper
money! is cited by the treasury de-
partment. Congress authorized the is
sue of $4,000, 900 worth of this partc-
ular kind of currency. Actually $40,
1O2, 667.02 worth of the paper money
corresponding to the subsidiary coins
was issued in 1862 after specie pay
ments had been suspended.
Although not in use as money for
many years, on June 80, 1915, the
amount of this currency outstanding
was $15,226,173.9o, nearly one-third of
the entire issue being unredeemed. In
this particular instance an official es-
innate was made of the amount of
these small notes which had been de-
$S,375,934, or more than one sixth of
the whole issue.
Every time national bank goes out
Of business it is necessary for the bank
to deposit with the treasury sufficient
money to redeem all of the notes it has
issued. 1t is an extremely rare occur
renee for all of the notes to be pre-
sented for redemption, even years af-
ter the bank has gone out of existence.
However, until law is passed fixing
time limit for the redemption of notes
these funds must remain on call and
can not be utilized for any other pur-
pose.
Every big fire, such as those which
occurred in San Francisco, Chicago
and Baltimore, destroys enormous
quantities of paper money Of all sorts.
For all this paper money there is
money deposited in the treasury which
can never be claimed. AS result the
United States government is consid-
erably richer although it can do moth
ing with the money but let it remain
waiting for use for redemption pur
poses Treasury officials are unable
to estimate the amounts in paper
money lost through fires, floods and
similar calamities.
The first paper money issued in the
civil war by the United States was
authorized by congress in 1851. The
notes were termed demand notes, be-
cause they were payable on demand at
certain designated sub-treasuries. The
secretary of the treasury was empow-
cred to reissue these notes, but this
privilege was to expire December 81,
1862 The first two acts authorized is