Counterfeiter

“ Well, the countryman goes to the city, meets the knave who shows him in some quiet room, a package of crisp bills. The countryman opens his eyes wide and visions of sudden wealth flit through his brain. Mr. Counterfeiter suggests that they try some of the bills and see whether or not they will pass without detection. They drop into a saloon, and courteous Mr. Counterfeiter insists that the other have a drink. Perhaps Mr. Wayback may be a prohibitionist, but that doesn’t matter as he will certainly be willing to drink a little pop beer or ginger ale, just to be social. ”

“ A crook can't be crooking all the time; she's at the normal round most of it. But I'd never realized that till I took a little leisure to think it over. Now when you say a person's a counterfeiter, for instance, naturally you think of him or her, or both of them, crouching somewhere covertly together, printing off their money and then slipping out, with many glances around, to convert it into groceries and some of our ordinary authorized currency. ”

“ Now a counterfeiter, in committing his crime, must compel his mind to imitate closely the inscription of the bill, letter for letter, including that threatening passage, which says: "The law punishes counterfeiting ..." ”

“ Sumner then remarked:—
This, Mr. President, is an amendment surely apposite. The objection of form, urged to my other proposition, is without any shadow of support here. It is proposed in the bill to appropriate one hundred thousand dollars to “bring to trial and punishment” counterfeiters. The object is important, especially at this moment, when we are putting in circulation national securities on so large a scale. But suppose the [Pg 390] counterfeiter, in a State where the evidence of colored persons is excluded, chooses to employ such persons in his crime. ”

“ It is, after all, only a question of taste or expediency; and so is it that the great counterfeiters think. Officers arresting these men, frequently find them ready to defend their cause "on principle." They always avow themselves "as good men as the bankers," and they frequently declare themselves public benefactors, in that they make money plenty, and relieve the stringency of the money market!
"The only good of paper money," once said a great counterfeiter to me, "is to pass; a counterfeit bill is just as good for passing as a genuine bill ”

“ It is beyond belief that Congress intended to relax the law against counterfeiters at a time when the nation was engaged in financing a war. Such a construction would be neither logical nor reasonable. The section now under consideration is plainly the culmination of a long series of legislative acts, each of which has declared it to be a crime to have possession of paper, counterfeiting the distinctive paper, and suitable to be made into counterfeit obligations. Each change since 1837 was intended to make the possession of counterfeit paper more dangerous for counterfeiters. ”

“ Not only is there greater diversification in the types of goods that are being counterfeited, but industry reports a growing trend in the production of labels and components for these fake products. Exploiting free trade zones, counterfeiters are establishing a global trade in these items, shipping them separately to be assembled and distributed in another country.
Counterfeiting not only affects the profits of legitimate producers, but also impacts consumers who waste money and sometimes risk their safety by purchasing fake goods. ”

“ The fact is, that the counterfeiters are really more democratic than the bank men, and only stick to their "constitutional rights,"—the right of individuals, as well as of bodies politic, to manufacture money. If the State would let the matter of money-making alone, and abolish all laws regarding it, it would not only abolish counterfeiters and counterfeiting thereby, and "bogus" counterfeit speculators also, but would, in so doing, leave a clear field for sensible political economists to work out a plan of exchange, in which some justice and honesty might be obtained. ”

“ It is generally conceded that there is not at present sufficient protection to trademarks. The public generally, the honest manufacturers, and honest dealers throughout the country are being constantly swindled by counterfeit trade-marks. The law of 1870, providing a general system for the registration of trade-marks and designed to afford better protection by giving right of action in United States courts to recover damages for counterfeiting and providing the remedy by enjoining counterfeiters, has not proved sufficient. ”

“ I have in my mind's eye, as I write, an "honest farmer," in a certain town in the State of Vermont, who manifested, in the goodly "year of our Lord," 1870, an excellent disposition to help the counterfeiters distribute their goods, but who was sadly "disappointed" in his enterprising spirit.
Almost every business has its counterfeiters. As surely as a man conceives of some practical, easy, business way of making money, so sure is he to find a host of competitors springing up about him, and injuring his business. ”

“ If the counterfeit money speculators, of the kind I here speak of, do no good, they certainly do no harm, save to the regular counterfeiters, by forestalling their field, and getting away from the poor dupes money which might otherwise fall into the "regular" gentlemen's hands. But perhaps the result in the long run may be beneficial to the "regular trade," inasmuch as the present victims, when they come to get possession of the real counterfeit money, may buy more than they otherwise would, to make up their former losses. ”

“ The country is being flooded with counterfeit $10 bills—a splendid reproduction, almost defying detection. It is believed that the plates and presses from which they are made are right here in New York and the whole secret service force is at work trying to run the counterfeiters to earth. This is why our diamond case is going so slowly. They are so busy following up the counterfeiters they have no time for us."
Ray, much interested, leaned eagerly forward. ”

“ They were called counterfeiters when they sold cheap cigarettes and transportation tickets. They were called high-jackers when they wrested goods from the normal inflation-ridden chain of middlemen and delivered them at a reasonable price to the consumers. ”

“ The regular counterfeiters have been greatly embarrassed, within the last two or three years, by a lot of unscrupulous villains, who pretend to deal in counterfeit money, and who send their advertising circulars into every town and hamlet in the land. The regular counterfeiters can only thrive when they are able to make their wares pass ”

“ Paul smiled with satisfaction. Putting an arm around Jack, he said, “It sounds very reasonable. Counterfeiters have to use a printing press. And counterfeiters do something illegal and therefore have to hide.” He nodded his head. “Sounds very logical.”
They returned to their seats. “But,” continued Paul, “even if we grant the fact that they are [125] counterfeiters, how do all the other incidents fit in? The fires and Mr. Grey for example?”
“Must they fit in?” inquired Ken.
“They don’t have to,” was Paul’s reply, “but I have a notion that they do.”
Jack nodded and agreed with his chum. ”

“ The banks of large cities send in their soiled money weekly or monthly and receive fresh notes in exchange, the government paying transportation both ways. This soiled money is made into pulp, which is sold to paper-makers at about $40 a ton.
It is only the old money that is counterfeited. Counterfeiters rumple and muss their money to give it 89the appearance of being long in use. Women are especially skilled in detecting counterfeit money. If among the returned coins or notes one single piece proves to be counterfeit, the amount is deducted from the salary of the examiner. ”

“ There were counterfeiters engaged in merchandising, trading, and store-keeping in most of the cities and villages, and in some districts, I have been credibly informed by men to whom they have disclosed their secrets, the judges, sheriffs, constables, and jailors, as well, as professional men, were more or less associated with them. ”

“ One of these represents a body of policemen bursting into a room occupied by a band of counterfeiters engaged in making false money. The dismay of the counterfeiters, disturbed in their work, and the desperate fight that has already begun, are very startling and real, and we almost feel that we ought to move out of the way. ”

“ On the contrary, improvements in the minting of real money, by rendering the detection of counterfeits easy, may be said to have almost eliminated the offence in question, and this result is all the more remarkable when we remember that, owing to the appreciation of gold, real silver shillings, half-crowns and other pieces just as good in assay as the royal mintage could be coined by counterfeiters at a handsome profit.
Our very proper anxiety to avoid every possible chance of committing and punishing the innocent doubtless enables many guilty [251] persons to escape every year ”

“ Till then, the counterfeiters,—the regular bona fide ones, and the bogus rascals, too,—will thrive; for no plan of "making money" is found so ingenious that these capable gentlemen cannot imitate it.
As I write (Feb., 1871) , I note in a Connecticut newspaper an instance of the operation of these bogus counterfeit money speculators; and what surprises me a little is, that their victim lives within four or five hours' ride from New York, in the enterprising village of Thomaston, Litchfield County, Conn., which connects with New York several times a day by railway. ”

“ Barbara, it should be mentioned, was strangled and burned at Tyburn, on the 5th July, 1721, her accomplices being acquitted.
The question may be asked: Is the manufacture of counterfeit coin in a flourishing condition? The answer is a very decided affirmative. True, the convictions against counterfeiters are few and far between; but that is owing to the very elaborate measures adopted by the counterfeiters themselves of preventing a knowledge of their whereabouts becoming the property of the police. Your next-door neighbour may be a magnificent hand at turning out "five-bob" pieces ”

“ This is a state of things which is not a little deplorable—for the counterfeiters.
The business of these unscrupulous villains, whom we will call, if the reader please, counterfeit money speculators (for "speculators" is a name which one should not fail to honor as often as he can) , is very extensive. To give the uninitiated reader a little insight into the business of these men, one of their circulars is copied below. It is a fair sample, in regard to its substance, of all that are issued by these "speculators." ”

“ While the counterfeit goods are seized in the course of raids, that is not typically the case with equipment used to produce those goods. To ensure that such enforcement actions are truly effective in stopping the manufacturing of counterfeit goods, the equipment used to manufacture those goods must also be seized and destroyed. If such equipment is not seized and destroyed, counterfeiters can resume their operations as soon as law enforcement officers have left their premises. ”

“ But even after all this care and all these safeguards many skillfully executed counterfeits and raised and altered bank notes have been made and issued, some of them so good as to deceive the most expert judges of money.
Many devices have been resorted to by counterfeiters to raise genuine bank-notes, as well as to manufacture bogus ones, but one of the most novel has recently come to light. The scheme consists of splitting a $5 and a $1 note, and then pasting the back of the $1 note to the front of the $5 note and the front of the $1 note to the back of the $5 note. ”

“ Notes
↑ 18 U.S.C.A. § 264, 35 Stat. 1116.↑ 7 Cir., 89 F.2d 469, certiorari granted 302 U.S. 667, 58 S.Ct. 21, 82 L.Ed. --.↑ Counterfeiting increases in periods of commercial distress, unemployment, and poverty. Even prior to 1837, poverty contributed to offenses against the currency, see In re Halmagh Ackerman, 1820, 5 N.Y.City Hall Rec. 140, and counterfeiters kept paper in their possession which was used for making counterfeit obligation, In re Guy Johnson and William Johnson al. William Price, John Strickland and Edward O'Melly, 1820, 5 N.Y.City Hall Rec. ”

“ Pennsylvania, 45; while almost every State has one or more. Altered and counterfeit notes to the value of $46,004.95 have been captured, and counterfeit coins to the value of $19,828.47.
The Chief of the Secret Service says that the year has been fruitful in that class of criminals who alter bills of small denomination to one of higher value. Any change in a bill renders the maker liable to a fine of $5,000, or fifteen years in prison, or both.
The walls of the Secret Service office are covered with samples of counterfeiters’ work. ”

“ The term 'counterfeiting,' as used in the constitution, is nomen generalissimum,-the generic term for crimes debasing or imparing the coin. The passing of the spurious is an immediate and direct injury to the genuine coin, for it displaces it in the circulation, and discredits it by exciting distrust and suspicion. Indeed, it is only by the passing of the base that the genuine is injured. To what end is it, that the counterfeiting is prohibited and punished, but to prevent the counterfeit from getting into circulation,-to prevent its passing? ”

“ The sole object of punishing the act of counterfeiting is to prevent the circulation and passing of the counterfeit, to the prejudice of the genuine.
The argument of the counsel for the defendant in error, while it concedes the power to punish the act of counterfeiting, in order to prevent the consequence which flows from it,-the passing and circulation of counterfeit coin,-would yet deny the power to punish for bringing about that very consequence itself,-the passing; for doing the very thing to prevent which the act of counterfeiting is itself made punishable. ”