Evening star., 1919-09-27
CARELESS HOLDERS
/. LOSE MANY BONDS
Nearly $4,000, 900 of Such
Losses Reported to
Treasury.
DIFFICULTIES IN TRACING

Carelessness with liberty bonds hat
cost the people Of this country sew.
eral millions of dollars losses by fire
theft. etc, which total almost 5000.
900. having been reported to the Treas
large losses not on record with the
government.
Bond thieves are no respecters of
persons, according to department
records. the $50 bond Of q charwoman
being as much of q shining mark al
Coupon bonds constituted by far the
greater number Of those sold. and
once these get into the hands of 9
clever thief the loser has small
chance for recovery. Registered
bonds are not SO hard to trace. and
money back, but this process takes
time and expense which probably will
absorb the interest of several years.
Bank Messengers Robbed.
Sheer carelessness is responsible
for nine losses out of ten. and this
trait of the American people is the
delight of the bond thief. Thefts OF
bonds from bank messengers, such as
have recently occurred in New York
and elsewhere. however. do not al
ways come within this category. but
large banking houses are being
forced to take greater precautions
when transferring these securities
from one place to another.
So serious have these losses pc
come that the heads of several large
brokerage houses recently got togeth-
er and asked certain insurance com
panies to issue an insurance policy
covering loss of negotiable securities
intrusted to messengers. It 10 under.
stood that this will be done. Most
bank messengers are under twenty
years Of age, and unless we'll guarded
fall an easy prey to daring robbers.
There are more than $4,000, 900 bonds
of various denominations scattered
throughout the country, which makes
the task of keeping record OF eacn
of them almost impossible. and only
registered bonds can be definitely
traced from one holder to another.
Treasury Issues Circular.
A Treasury circular just issued. COW
erinE rules and regulations concern.
ing transactions in liberty bonds ana
victory notes, says:
Coupon bonds and notes are paya-
BILE to bearer and title thereto passes
by delivery; If they are lost or stolen
the Treasury Department can grant
no relief under existing law. but II
destroyed duplicates may be issued.
In the case Of loss, theft or destruc-
tion of registered bonds or notes. the
bonds or notes may be replaced unless
assigned in blank.
bonds or notes should be reported to
the Secretary of the Treasury, divi-
sion Of loans and currency, Washlng :
ton, D. c. The Treasury Department
assumes no responsibility whatever
with respect to coupon bonds or notes
oA hrvf RnhaQ6nentY
coupon bonds or notes are presented
for exchange or otherwise, attempt
will be made to advise the person
Who reported the loss. In cases OF
registered bonds or notes reported
lost, stolen or destroyed. caveats Will
be entered against the transfer. ex-
change or payment Of such bonds or
notes In the event that bonds or
notes reported lost. stolen, or destroy
ed subsequently are recovered, re-
port thereof should be made to the
Secretary of the Treasury. The law re-
quires with respect to claims for the
issue of duplicates OF destroyed
coupon bonds or notes that the bonds
or notes shall be identified by mum .
Der and description; accordingly. all
should keep a careful and authentic
record of their holdings. Full ln-
formation with respect to submitting
claims for the issue of duplicate
bonds or notes may be had upon ap-
plication to the Secretary OF the
Treasury, division of loans and cur
rency. Washington, d. c."
In the case of coupon bonds that
have been destroyed the owner must
be able to furnish uncomfortable evil
dence of the serial numbers OF the
tonds and the fact that they have
then been destroyed. He must then
give bond for twice the value of the
-
duplicate bond will be issued him. II
the originals are presented at matuf-
ity after the duplicate has been liqui-
dated. the bondsmen. and not the gov
efnmeut, must stand the loss of two
payments on the same bond.
There is now |o-rs nf l2b clerks
at the Treasury department working
on the records of missing bonds, most
Of them being registered issues. as
coupon bonds disappear.
Advice Summed Up.
The advice Of Treasury Department
ofacisls may be summed up as fol-
lows:
Keep Q record Of the serial numbers
Of your bonds. 20 that II they disap-
pear the fact may be reported al
once.
Remember that . $50 coupon bond is
much ths Same as . $50 BILL. and
guard 1t accordingly.
The best place for bonds Is safe
deposit vault.
Do no< forget that q careless bond.
holder 10 thiefs best friend.
RUMoRS CLASSED AS IDLE.