Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1897 — WASHINGTON. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON.

Brigadier General Ruggles will retire, having reached the age limit. The safe of the District of Columbia tax collector was robbed of about $9,000. Secretary Long, it is believed, will recommend the further enlargement of the navy. The Comptroller of the Currency was advised Thursday of the failure of the First National Bank of Greensburg, Ind. It had a capital stock of $190,000 and July 25 the deposits were $84,0007 Assistant Secretary Howell has instructed the collector at New York' to suspend the collection of discriminating duties under section 22 of the new tariff law pending the decision of the attorney'-gen-eral. These instructions were issued when it was ascertained that rhe collector at New York, had been collecting these discriminating duties on goods from Canada. The United States secret service bureau is struggling with an epidemic of counterfeits. Hardly a day passes without the arrest of from one to half a dozen persons detected in passing spurious notes or silver coin. It is evident that there is a large volume of counterfeit silver certificates of last year’s issue afloat and that the circulation is continually being diluted with that sort of material. When these certificates were first put out expert engravers predicted that counterfeiters would be tempted to resume activities, and the result shows that they were not wrong in their prophecy. As works of art these certificates may be very fine, but for purposes of money they were shockingly deficient in many of the safeguards which the department had provided against counterfeiting. Government detectives have been instructed to be on the watch for bogus silver dollars, the tip having been given the treasury department that a move was being made in some mysterious and unknown quarter for the minting of such dollars on a large scale, the coins to have the same amount of silver as the genuine and to be in exact similitude of the coin bearing the stamp of the United States mints. Thus far the department has not been able to locate any of this illicit product and it is not believed any of the bogus dollars of that sort are yet in circulation, but that is no guaranty that the country may not at any time be flooded with them. At the present price of silver bullion there is a margin of 60 cents on every dollar privately minted.