New-York tribune., 1922-04-27
Hundreds of Millions of
Counterfeits in Circula.
ton, Republican Con-
gressman Tells House
Prompt Denial by
Treasury Officials
Assert investigation of En-
craving Bureau Shows
Report To Be Untrue

WASHINGTON, April 26.--The statc-
fnent was nlads OH the floor Of the
House to-day by Representative John
son, Republican, South Dakota, that it
will later be- thown BY official docu-
'r1ents that there are probably hum
/ dreds OF millions OF dollars Of dupli-
cate bonds in the United States
! Prompt denial Of the statement vas
( made by high Treasury officials, who
; declared investigation Of the Bureau
Of Engraving by Secretary Mellon had
disclosed there WAS no truth In reports
! Of tho circulation Of counterfeit gov
/ ernment securities on large scale.
Challenging the johnson statement
Representative Wingo, Arkansas, Dem
! ocratic member OF the House Banking
Committee. declared 1t was calculated
to cause uncasiness in tho country and
that hs did not believe Mr.. johnson
ought to make IL, "unloss he can back
Il up as the truth MIR. Wingo ex-
( pressed belief that investigation would
/ chow that Secretary Mellon, III deny
! ing RECKLESS charges about tho OK
| isterce OF duplicate bonds did not lie
! to The people Of the country
Gives Information Source
/ As basis for his charge Mr.. John
son said that J. ". McCarter, Assistant
Registrar Of the Treasury during the
, Wilson Admin stration, secured in
formation in the course Of hi. duties
which convinced him that there had
been enormous duplication Of govern
ment bonds which had been printed by
the Bureau Of Engraving and Printing.
and had gone through the Office Of the
Registrar os the Treasury"
81 think Mr.. McCartcr took the right
attitude when he presented the matter
first 10 distinguished Democratic
Senator from my state and very proper
~ presented the matter TO the Assistant
Secretary OF the Treasury" Nj John
son continued. "He was very quickly
informed 81 thst time by tho former
Administration tilat nothing Wa2
wrong, that there should be no inves-
legation and that he should keep his
mouth shut or lose his position, and
Mr.. McCarter, who had developed the
fact that will later be shown by Of
fetal documents, that there arc prob
ably hundreds Of millions Of dollars
Of duplicate bonds in the United States,
Z x
Adn1inistra tion FOR presenting those
facts TO members Of Congress. I think
q man who took that attitude in the
former Administration was i!ladvised
in what he had done
AIr. Wingo asked. "Does the gentle
man say that a Democrat from his
, state called the matter to the Senator.
attention 2"
Says He Has Letters
Mr.. johnson eaid: II will say that /.
all matter Of public record. | took
personally all OF this data down to the
/ Department Of Justice early in the
year 1921, after we had tried in every
way to secure action from the former
Administration. These letters, written
by Mr. Leffingwell, ct that time an As
I sstant Secretary OF the Treasury, are
easily procurablc. I have them in my
files. and | will be glad to tnacrt them
at this point"
Mr.. Wingo then said his "queston
was the date on which this gentleman
brought this information to you"
Mir. Johnson-The gentleman sent
the information to me, in its real def
mite form, in the fall Of 1920.
Mr.. Wingo-You did not bring It TO
the attention of Secretary Mellon%
Mr.. Johnson-1 did not. brought It
~ IuG GLIcliLlol4 Ol lile department OF
Justice, where l think 1t ought to have
gone.
MIR. Wingo-Does tile gentleman have
information upon which he can pass
conclusion that there are millions Of
duplicate bonds printed?
Took Down Duplicates Numbers
MIR. Johnson-I took down seven tyne
written sheets, single space, OF numbers
Of duplicate bonds and some bonds run
ming 100000 higher than the bonds
issued. There is no man who can tell
how many were issued.
Mr.. Wingo-The gentleman was fur
nlshed list Of them. Has not the
gentleman conducted an Investigation,
or any one for him, TO see whether
there was any truth in the allegation?
Mr.. John5on--I am satisfied there is
truth in it, because | remember at one
time it was shown conclusively that
colored taxicab driver in Washington
was discovered in front OF the New
willard with thirty-one $1,000 duplicate
bonds, and he was discharged from
custody in four days. l submitted
seven pages of duplicate bonds.
Mr.. Wingo-What did Mr. Mellon say
70 the gentleman?
it with him. The first notice was given
to the Administration when Mr.. Wilson
was in power, and Mr.. McCartcr was
compelled to leave the service, because
he was bringing this to the attention
Of the Administration with which he
was affiliated.
Mr.. johnson wa. asked if he had In
formation as to what the check-up at
the Bureau Of Engraving divulged.
Investigated Independently
81 have no information as to that"
he replied. "That has not been part
of my duties. My investigation, which
was of an independent character, and
which produced some Of the facts
which no one denied, came to an
other branch of the government, and
the exact part in detail which individ-
uals have had in this | am not able to
tell"
Charges that the country is flooded
with millions of dollars worth of coun-
terfeit currency, Federal Reserve notes,
government securities ond stomrr "are
wholly without foundation" Secretary
Mellon dec AIRED tom 1T IN ere %
Frank J. Coleman, editor of "The Plate
Printer"
Mr.. Melons letter was, in resnonse
to one from Mr.. Coleman submitting,
at the Secretary's request, evidence up
on which such charges were published
in "The Pate Printer" publication
of the union plate printer employees
Of the Bureau OF Engraving and Print