Evening star., 1924-01-26

two separate checks In the Treasury
Department. One check is made by
a man who goes right through the
stacks. taking one number after
another and checking them minutely.
The other check is made by a man
who counts the individual bonds.
which are in packages of fifty. The
man whose job it was TO check. the
numbers failed to notice the intermit- :
| t"nt Implications caused by a faulty
numbering machine But there was
no duplication OF bonds or of the
pieces in the packages Of fifty. Only
some numbers were run twice The
man who counted packages of fifty
! bonds found only fifty bonds. In
other words, while there was dupli-
| tual duplication of securities.
Discussed by Wilson Regime.
These mistakes. due to faulty work
! ing Of numbering machines. had been
! discovered during the Wilson ad-
+, ministration months and years before
Brewer discovered" them An in
restigation, indeed, took place under
! one of Mr.. Wilson's assistant secre-
taries OF the Treasury. He found there
! had been no fraud. either by intent
| or in effect II is of the utmost mo-
.
tion We're all temporary bonds. There
was, therefore, no occasion to exploit
the thing, because in due course the
faulty bonds had all been sent back
for substitution by permanent bonds
Secretary Mellon came into office
Ii" heard about the duplication-o of
numbers episode and Immediately or
dered the secret service to conduct an
/ investigation. The secret service
whose chief legal function is sto safe
"a h.. III
of the government, and which always
iiaS operations at the bureau of en-
craving under an eagle eye-an eye
:" Nigilant that to escape it is al
most physical posibility-found
conditions to he precisely as herein
before stated: that no harm had been
I done; that there was not the slight
est cause for either excitement or
anxiety.
/ Now. in some way or other. Brewer
! procured possession OF certain of
! these temporary bonds bearing dup
licate numbers. It was that seeming
/ ~ concrete evidence that ala rlned Mr..
orlssinSer- and eventually caused the
! graVest misgivings in President
HaTdinG's mind. Mr. Crissinger was
not only Harding's great friend, but
a professional banker in whom the
President for years had reposed ut
most confidence and to whom, out in
Marion. the HardinES always locke d
for business and financial advice.
Brewer, ostensibly convinced in his
own mind that he was on the track
! OF the most stupendous fraud in fed
! eral history, went about the estab-
liShment of his case in the most
theatrical way. He exhibited to Mr.
I CriSSinser, and later to the President,
two bonds of the same number.
Involved Secret Service.
! That looked like damning evidence.
! When the question was raised why
the secret service, with it's great rep
utation for skill and reliability, had
not discovered the facts, Brewer in
timated that the secret service was
| III league with the crooks" in the
! bureau; that Heaven only knew the
extent of the duplication; that bill
! lions of dollars" had been loaned by
the banks OF the country on liberty
| bonds, and that it was almost i'm
possible" to find any way to check
up on the magnitude OF the swim
| die and of the duplicate (and there
| fore fraudulenO bonds held by the
! banks as collateral for loans; that
| exposure of the ramifications of the
scandal would precipitate a nation
wide banking crash of proportions
| too staggering to contemplate.
Up to this point, roughly, Brewer
| had dealt mainly with Controller
| Crissinger. That excellent official
| high-grade citizen and conservative
banker. came to the. conclusion it was
Ibis duty to bring the matter tothe
| PRESIDENTS attention. Acting in a
spirit Of solemn official obligation, he
took Brewer to the White House. Mr.
! Harding, always easy to interest or
Iarouse, where the dictates of puhlir
service and presidential responsible.
tity seemed to call for effective action
was deeply impressed.
Differences Mt Bureau.
| In the meantime, differences haG
arisen between Director Wilmeth a,
! the bureau and Louis T. McFadden
republican representative from Penn.
| sylvania, and chairman of the House
| committee on banking and currency
! Patronage questions probably were
| the cause. At any rate, the upshot as
/ far as Brewer was concerned, was
! uuasi-indorsement. and, by his atti.
tude rather thar by any specific
| words or statements, McFadden LED
| both President Harding and Control
! Ter Crissinger to believed that he
| feared the existence of "deplorabl
| situation in the bureau. McFadder
! indicated his approval of Brewers sug-
gestion that the latter be given unre-
stricted authority to make the most
drastic investigation. A presidential
commission, flinging wide open every
thing at the bureau, ensued, and Brewer
cleared for action, armed with unlimited
authority.
Brewer insisted at the White House
that the President and anybody else
initiated into the mystery should pre-
serve hermetical Sc crecy. The slight
est leak, Brewer proclaimed, would
be certain to loose a panic on the
country. In this view Brewer was
cordially supported by Mr.. Crissinger
AS the dime novels say. the plot
i thickened Distress and fear, both AT
+; the White House and at the office OF
| the controller of the currency, in
creased. Brewer intimated in stage
whispers that probably half to two
| thirds of the liberty bonds lodged In
bank vaults as securities or invest
ments were spurious.