Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1922-07-29
FORCERS REAP
HUGE HARVEST
TAKE. Annual Levy Of S30,0OO,-
900 From Careless Check
Writers in United States.
IS ARISTOCRAT OF CRIMINALS
introduction Of Modern Protective
Measures Only Hampered Crooks
Plans for Time-Safety Paper
Is Best Precaution.

New York.-FOrgers and penmen
| are eXacting toll of between $780,
100000 and $35,000,000 Il year from
the people of the country because Of
| the careless manner in which checks
and drafts are written and handled, ac
cording to Burgess Smith, ex-inspectOr
| of technical work in the United States
| bureau of engraving, writing in Amer
lean Industries, the magazine of the
National Association of Manufac-
| turerS.
Baked by scientific inventions in
check protecting devices and in check
| paper that defies alteration, check
raisers are now robbing mail boxes
and adopting other subterfuges to
obtain checks which are not safe.
guarded, Their depredations are be
coming so extensive, the writer says
| that authorities do not make public
any more the amount of losses being
sustained.
"Ninety-five per cent of the bust
ness of the nation is done by check
| and draft" says the writer. During
the last year total of approximately
| $500, 0O0, 100000 in checks and drafts
passed through the clearing houses
of the nation, based on total cur
rency issue in circulation of about
| $5,000,00 600 In other words, checks
and drafts In circulation constantly
exceed currency and bullion ut the
rate Of eighty to one.
1T is only natural, therefore, that
the most astute minds of the criminal
world should turn their attention to-
ward form of crime which yields
great profits with little chance Of de-
lection and conviction-all because of
the innate carelessnesS of individu-
ais"
Grow With Use Of Checks.
Tracing the rapid development of
the use of credit instruments the
world over, particularly within recent
years. Mr.. Smith shows how losses
from forgery have increased with the
| increased use Of checks and drafts.
1.-THE idea of the bank check is as
old as Egypt" the writer says, "but 1t
was only a half century ago that the
word check meant little or nothing
| In the daily life of the average Amer
| lean business man. Such a thing as a
| forged or raised check was almost I'M
| thought Of Where today the losses
from forgery are increasing at the
rate Of s., 100000 annually, with more
than $30,000,000 estimated as last
nrfa 10 al fnl
thirty years ago was only $10OO00O.
1.-THE methods employed by the forg
er embrace cunning and skill that
is seldom found in other forms of
crime. The fOrger and penman is the
aristocrat of the underworld. He Is
one of the 'higher-ups' in an Organiza
ton that is conducted In most bust
ness-like way. First, there is the
banker, who backs the gang with his
wealth and who usually has assO-
ciated with him an expert criminal
lawyer. Then there Is the forger him
self, who lives in some secluded out
of-the-way spot, where he has his
laboratory. There, with pens and inks
and acids and blOtters strewn about
him, he sits and traces signatures or
obliterates writing with such high
degree of delicacy and perfection that
even banking experts are deceived.
| Since the forger Is the brains of the
organization, he must be accorded the
greatest possible protection. COnse-
quently, there are the 'go-between'
men who hire thieves to rob the mail
boxes and presenters to put down
the forged checks. These men never
come in contact with the fOrger, and
the result is that the arrest of sub
Ordinates seldom leads to his convic-
ton.
"And" Vulnerable Point.
Before the Introduction of modern
protective measures, forgery and
alteration had become so simple 1t
had almost ceased being called an art.
TO raise check from eight to eighty
dollars, all this master criminal had
to do was to add " to the t. and
then another zero to the numerals. To
raise six to sixty, seven to seventy or
nine to ninety was just as easy, and
to change Ave to fifty or to tack some
other word to fifty, say 100 or 1000
was equally simple. The word and
has always been a most vulnerable
point of attack, and In many typical
cases of forgery 1t has been made to
call for thousands by writing 'thous
before It,
"For many years the forger had as
his greatest foe the designer Of check
writing machines that shred the
amount in colors and at the same time
impregnate the paper with insoluble
ink. The introduction of these de-
vices only hampered the crooks plans,
however, for he could still, with the
use of his acids. erase the payee line
and substitute for names the words
cash or bearer And, likewise, he
could change the number and date
lines.
'TO meet this new move of the
check raiser a safety paper that could
not be erased or alterated in any way
without detection was needed, and
| -. x.o1,oI aUnl,,finn xxybtab la1