Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-07

think I should cali your attention to
another feature. Up to the present time
the use of small segmeflts of silk fiber,
localized in rows. have formed part Of
the distinctive features Of our cur
rency. It has long been felt that the
prominent silk fiber, localized In rows,
was an encouragement to the counter
feiter, since the public was inclined to
rely on this feature, which, as q matter
OF fact, was very easily initiated. In
the new currency the small segrnents of
silk fiber have been retained, but they
are scattered throughout the sheet and
not localized as formerly.
The life OF paper currency is inti-
mately connected with It's fitness and
we all know how desirable 1t is to have
clean. At bills, though not necessarily
brand new ones. In order that this new
/ currency might have longer life thar
that of the old extensive research work
was undertaken, with the cooperation
Of the Bureau Of Standards, the Bureau
Of Efficiency and the manufacturers of
the paper, to develop q type of paper
which would have greater endurance
and folding strength and which would
at the same time meet the manufAc-
turing requirements of the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing. It is not every
paper Of high strength that will stand
the wetting and drying operations in
cident to the manufacture Of currency
paper. Paper when moistened expands,
but does not always contract uniformly
as 1t dries. A second wetting is 1eces-
sary between the printing Of the backs
ana faces. We require, therefore, a
paper that will expand and contract
uniformly under these conditions, in
order that the faces on each sheet of
4 s~,sA -.
accuracy against the backs previously
printed. This is somewhat severe re-
quirement when combined with a stipu-
| lated thickness, structure and folding
strength. We have, however, developed
o paper believed to be satisfactory in all
these respects and with such an in
creased strength that we are confident
the currency will have a longer life.
Moreover, in their smaller sizes, the
notes will generally At into pocketbooks
without being folded, which is not pos
sible with currency In its present size,
and its frequent folding and creasina
eventually breaks the fiber of the paper
and hastens its deterioration.
Replacing Task Huge.
There are at present outstanding
some five billion dollars worth of paper
currency, or nine hundred million
pieces. These figures will, I think, in
dictate the magnitude of the task un-
dertaken by the Treasury when it de.
termined to replace this huge volume
Of currency with currency Of a COM
pletely new design. First the engraved
dies had to be made and approved In
turn. From these master rolls we're
pepared, and then in turn a sufficient
number Of plates to supply hundreds
of presses, each with four plates for
printing. Our next problem was that
OF production. It was necessary to
print for a complete turnover of
United States and Federal Reserve cur
rency approximately seventy-six mil
lion sheets Of twelve subjects each. or
nine hundred and twelve million indi-
vidual pieces. These have had to 20
through the various operations of wet
ting, back-printing, examining, q sec
ond wetting, face-printing, examining,
trimming, numbering and sealing and
the final cutting into individual notes.
After this they have to be assembled
into packages Of four Thousand pieces
for delivery to the Treasury. Vast as is
the capacity of the Bureau of Engrav-
ing and Printing to accomplish enor-
nous tasks of this character, the pro-
duction Of this new currency, in part
| carried on during period of substan-
tial production of the old-size cur
| LCAlCy w llSCb AIC 4lCGQS VI tLl6 pdSb
months, has strained the Bureaus ca
pacity to the utmost. The task has
been completed on schedule time, but
this is due entirely to the skill and
ingenuity OF the personnel in overcom-
ing all manner Of mechanica1 and
| technical difficulties and to the Sevo-
ton of the employees generally in their
endeavor to maintain the schedule of
production that had been determined
in advance.
Bank Notes a Problem.
The work of production has; in large,
| measure, been completed, except in 81
| far as national bank notes are con-
| cerned. which involved q sp7cial prob
! lem but they. too. are now being pro-
duced rapidly and will be available for
distribution at an>early date. The prob
lem of production is behind us. There
remains the problem of distribution. As
I have stated, there are at present out
standing about nine hundred million
pieces of paper currency. Last year
about nine hundred and thirty million
pieces of currency were redeemed and
about nine hundred and twenty-five
million pieces of new currency were
issued. Roughly speaking, therefore,
the replacement of the old size cur
rency with the new small size cur
rency Is the equivalent of about one
years ordinary redemptions and is
sues. This makes it entirely clear that
it would not be possible to undertake
the replacing Of all outstanding old
size currency at one time. I emphasize
this so that you will be prepared to be
patient and must not expect to see the