The Washington times., 1922-04-27
MAY
PROBE CHARGES
OF BOGUS BONDS
House Expected to Authorize
Inquiry Into Charges OF
Johnson.
Aroused by charges made by Con.

Aroused by charges made by Con
gressman Royal G.. Johnson of
South Dakota that hundreds of
millions of dollars worth Of coun.
terfeit Government bonds are In cir.
culation. Congress is expected to
make a sweeping investigation of the
entire money-distribution end OF the
Treasury Department.
The allegations of Johnson, which
struck the lower branch Of Congress
with the force of an electric shock
backed up the assertions made by
Frank j.. Coleman, editor Of The
Plate Printer. that counterfeit cur
rency in circulation totals more than
$4,000. 900.
Mellon Gives Out Denial.
Johnson's charges had not long
been made before Secretary Mellon,
of the Treasury Department, made
public a letter he sent to Coleman in
which he declared the total of coun.
terfeit money in circulation Is
negligible"
Mellon pointed out that were the
figures upon which Coleman based
his estimate correct, a mathematical
error had multiplied the total by
ten. On the basis of Coleman's fig.
ures, the correct total is only 81 1882,
600, Mellon declared.
Johnson said that J. T. McCarter,
former Register of the Treasury,
who desired an investigation Of the
circulation of spurious bonds. was
told to keep his mouth shut or ne
would lose his position.
Mr.. MCCarter, who had developed
I..sa l. oh Il
official documents. that there are
probably hundreds Of millions of dol
lars of duplicate bonds in the United
States, was discharged from service
of his administration for presenting g
those facts to members of Congress,
declared Johnson.
Johnson made this declara ton in
the midst of speech in which he
severely criticised Attorney General
Daugherty for dismissing w. o.
Watts, special agent of the Justice
Department, for giving certain infor.
nation to members of Congress.
Congressman Wingo of Arkansas,
who made a speech following John
son, declared that there should be
an investigation Of the charges that
bogus bonds are i'm existence.
the duplicate bonds was turned
over to the Department of Justice
in 1921 by him, Johnson said. The
Congressman said that McCarter,
i'm 1920, gave him conclusive" In
formation regarding the counterfeit
bonds. and that their numbers
filled seven closely typewriter
pages.
"Some of these bonds ran $780,
900 higher than the real bonds"
Johnson continued. There is no
telling how many were issued. but
there are probably hundreds of
millions of dollars of duplicate
bonds in the United states"
Mr.. johnson said he had not talk cd
with Secretary Mellon about the
matter.
The first notice was given to the
Administration when Mr.. Wilson was
in power" said Congressman John.
son, "and Mr.. McCarter was com
| PEELED TO leave the service because he
was bringing this to the attention
of the Administration with which
he was affiliated"
Amounts of counterfeit issue that
have reached the hands of the Secret
Service during the past five years
were given by Mr.. Mellon as follows
1917, S21,61S.75; 1918, sos, ,15O.7O
1919, S22,S3a.10; 1920. s9O,93O, and
| 1921. s196,993. He adds:
These figures include amounts OF
[ counterfeit issues captured before
being put into circulation az well
as those received from circulation
| They include also raised note.
These figures IL analyzed are even
more illuminating as indicating the
amount OF counterfeits actually in
| circulation. For the s196,993 re
Ceived in 1921, s1OS, 1925 was captured
before the issues were placed in cir
culation. or the remainder, s73, SAG
were raised notes, leaving the
amount OF counterfeit notes re.
covered from circulation during the
| fiscal year only s14,5S2"
In view of the fact that there is
virtually a complete turnover" OF
counterfeit notes each year, accord.
! ing to the Secretary, these figures
are reliable index to the amount O.
| spurious money actually in circula.
| ton.
Only one counterfeit of war savings
stamps has been found, few Of post.
age stamps, and none Of Liberty
bonds, Victory notes, or interest
coupons, Mr.. Mellon stated.