Evening star., 1923-03-07
PREDICTS BOOST
INTAKE CURRENCY
Abolition of Hand Presses
Here Will lower Standard,
Plate Printers Assert.
CALLED FALSE ECONOMY
Secret Service Denied Small In
crease in Appropriation to
Curb Counterfeiters.
CALLED FALSE ECONOMY
By FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

hand press and dismissal of 355 plate
printers at the bureau Of printing and
engraving has revived public interest
i'll the bitter controversy that recent
" ragged in Congress over installation
Of the labor-Saving power press.
Charges were made that suppression
Of the hand Drrss. by which United
states currency has been produced
! for forty years would lower the quail
ity OF our paper money and put
premium on countcrfciting. Subcom-
mittces on appropria in both
House and Senate were supplied with
official Indications that cuuntcrfciting
Of money, bonds ana government
checks has attained wholly uuprece-
dented dimensions In view of this
! state OF affairs, representatives of the
plate printers opposed the false
economy" which, they insisted. would
make 1t easier than ever for expert
crooks 10 flood the country with cuuu-
terfeit government issues.
Moran Hints Danger.
William IL Moran. chief OF the
secret service, told the House sub
committee that the Treasury is un-
| doubtedly confronted with serious
counterfeiting problem. He described
the danger spots as being mostly
along the Atlantic seaboard and diff
cult to cope with because OF the eX-
tenslve use Of fake currency in the
Bookkeeping traffic. Moran added
that counterfeiting of all kinds of
government values-Currency. checks.
bonds, postage, revenue stamps and
permlts-WaS now SO rife that his
present force Of 1o1 men was unable
to grapple with it. The chief of
rIfsA ,nIA
appeal for ten more operatives ami
an increase in his appropriation from
! S390,O00 to S425.000. Chairman Mad
| den asked if Moran couldn't scratch
along on $f15,000. The Chicago
representative made his cheese-paring
! inquiry just after Moran had de-
! scrlbed the capture in Mr.. Madden's
own city of 100000 in clever couu-
terrelt SO notes before one of them
could be put in circulatioH. one of
tne startling statements made by
Chief Moran was that there lis not
Il penal institution OF any size in the
country that has not had counter
fe!tlng operations carried on within
II. He declared that the biggest
counterfeiting case the secret service
ever had was in Philadelphia. where
| two persons in prison awaiting SEN
tence engraved and printed counter
felt $50 notes 50 skillfully that they
would pass experts.
Resolution Is Adopted.
On behalf of the plate printers
who objected 10 the installation ot
power presses. the following resolu-
ton adopted by the American Bank
erS Association in October. 1872 was
submitted TO the Senate subcommit-
tee:
Whereas recent reports show un-
usual activity in thn making and
circulating Of counterfeit money. b !
it
Resolved. That the convention re-
quest the Secretary Of the Treasury
TO resume the same high quality OF
materials and OF mechanical pro-
duction of paper money that OBJ
tanned prior to the war in order to
provide the largest possible protec-
ton against Counterfeiting"
with the obliteration of 2f6 hand
presses and their operators at The
bureau. the plate printers maintain
that Uncle Sans processes for manu-
1acture or paper money are now fol.
! the first time little better than proc-
eSses at the disposal of any first-
SIS engraving establishment or ex-
pert ilthographer. Testfying along
lnlttee. Frank J. Coleman. editor OF
the official organ Of the Plate Print
ers Union, said:
Frank j. Coleman Testjfies.
The paper money situation is this
mat II any one can make it in any
cellar or small printing shop. Your
paper money is going to he as WORTH
less as the mark. Now, for the simple
economy Of saving d few thousand
dollars in the method of printing. YOU
are gong to place your paper money
IN jeopardy to such an extent that
any photo- -ensraver or any lithog
rapher can duplicate it. If that is
what the government wants. there is
no use for US to say anything The
discharge Of men is the smallest con
sideration.
Coleman told of an issue of 100000
coo in counterfeit money bearing The
imprint of the Ozone Park National
Bank of New York. lie also described
how the Treasury Department.. in or
der TO cope with an issue of counter
felt 500 bills, provided form which
had to be filled out by everybody
presenting n 500 bill at a bank for
change, stating name and address and
how the bill was obtained.
Illustrates Extent of Work.
Coleman said nothing could more
graphically illustrate the extent TO
which counterfeiting now OBJ
tains. He insists that instead of
putting a stop to counterfeiting
penny-wise economy. in the form of
power presses, would promote it
The arguments of the plate print
ers made no Impression on Congress,
and the ancient and honorable hand
press, which turned out for Uncle
Sam the handsomeSt money in the
world, is now to be sent TO ihe scrap
heap The plate printers told the
Senate subcommittee that counter
feiting increased in 1921 by zoo per
cent over 1920, and that in 1922 there
had been another increase Of 200 per
cent over the previous year.
copy right, 1927