Part 50

"DEAR FRIEND: While conversing with a gentleman from your locality recently, you were named as a shrewd and reliable person, and one likely to enter into a business, the nature of which will be explained in this letter. At all events, he said, whether you go in or not you would keep a still tongue, and would not expose me. He told me that under no circumstances must I inform you who recommended you; and as I claim to be a man of honor, I will never violate a pledge. I have on hand, and am constantly manufacturing large quantities of the best counterfeit money ever produced in the world. The sizes are two, five, and ten dollar bills, and fifty cent stamps. They are printed on first-class bank note paper. The signatures are perfect, and the engraving is admirable. Not one banker in five hundred can detect them. I will take a solemn oath that the bills which I send you will never be detected, unless you make known your business to persons who have no right to know it. I shall charge you ten dollars in good money for every one hundred dollars of mine. If you have confidence in yourself, and desire to push matters, you had better order as much as you can get rid of in a month or two. In that case, if you buy as much as five hundred dollars at a time, I will sell it to you for twenty dollars cash down, and will allow you thirty days credit for the remaining thirty dollars. If you purchase one thousand dollars, I will sell it to you for forty dollars cash down, and will wait thirty days for the remaining sixty. If you want to make a desperate, but successful, struggle for a fortune in a few weeks, I will send you five thousand dollars for one hundred and eighty dollars cash down, and will wait thirty days for the remaining three hundred and twenty. Under no circumstances will I sell less than one hundred dollars (price ten) at a time. When you send me any money, or a letter, go to the nearest Railway station, ask the express agent for a money envelope; insert your letter, seal the envelope, and see that it is properly directed to me. Don't send me a letter through the Post Office. The Express Agent never heard of me, and he will have no idea of the nature of your business. I would prefer that you would send me money in advance. If you are unwilling to do so, I will ship whatever quantity you wish by express, and the Agent will hand you the sealed package as soon as you pay him the money. That is, I will collect my money on delivery of goods (C. O. D.). I will make it appear that your package contains jewelry. If you can spare time come on and see me. Call at my private office, No. 52 John Street, Room 5, up stairs, New York. I will then take you to my manufactory, and let you select whatever quantity of bills you desire. No person in the building knows what business I carry on. Therefore you are just as safe as if you were going into a theatre. If any person suspected my business I would not have you call. Now, sir, if you manage this business properly, you can clear twenty thousand dollars in a year. You have unusual advantages for passing the bills with perfect safety. Always ruffle them up to make them appear dirty and old. You can pass one of my bills at every store, and as the change you receive will be genuine, you will be enabled to clear at least two thousand dollars a month. Not one in a thousand of your neighbors can distinguish a genuine bill from one of mine. Therefore you are foolish for not grasping an opportunity to make money that may never occur again. I could name a man in your country who made a fortune in the same way. All his neighbors wonder how he made it. But he keeps a still tongue. Probably you know who I mean. I deal on the '_square_,' and if you are true to me you will never regret it. I pray you will not betray me in case you do not go in. You will find by dealing with me that I have the best counterfeit money in the country, and that I deal more honorably than any other man in the business, because I deal on the '_square_.' I would not ask you for any cash down for your first order only to secure myself for the cost of engraving, printing, etc. Read my terms carefully, and remember them. Bear in mind that I will give no more credit than I state in this letter. One or two of my counterfeit bills have already been passed on you, and you have in turn passed them on others. Therefore you should be familiar with their appearance and quality. Of course you did not know they were counterfeits.

"Read the following instructions carefully. Be sure and follow them; then no mistake can be made. If you come on, call at 52 John Street, Office No. 5, up stairs. But if you send me money, or a letter by Express, direct it to my manufactory as follows:--

WM. J. FERGUSON,

No. 194 Broadway, New York City."

Bold in its stupidities and brazen-faced in its assumptions as is the above letter, it has probably deceived hundreds, if not thousands, and the villain "W. J. Ferguson" could doubtless tell many a side-splitting story in regard to the simplicity of his victims. Copies of that and like letters, signed by other names, and sent out by different "speculators," find their way to the farmers', the mechanics', the poor widows', the shop-keepers', and other hands, and hundreds send little sums of money in response--"just to try the thing," if nothing more. I do not intend to animadvert upon the intelligence, sagacity, and moral worth of the masses of "the people of these States," for sufficient comment thereon can be found in the fact that these "speculators" do a thriving business, and if not disturbed by the police authorities would soon be able to build as fine edifices as do the "private bankers," and thus make themselves "a credit to the city of New York," for example, by adorning it!

I have alluded to a man whom I have in my mind's eye. He is a somewhat "queer crittur," as one of his neighbors denominated him, though an "honest farmer," and something of a "horse character," being interested considerably in stock raising. He resides not a thousand miles from Rutland, Vermont, and is "well to do" in the world. The old fellow's name I am under certain obligations to keep secret; but lest his neighbors (especially a jolly blacksmith living in the same "parish" with him, and who gave me some "light" regarding him, and "enjoyed the fun" when I told him of what facts I discovered), should, when reading this, entertain unjust suspicions as to exactly who the "honest farmer" (and member of the ---- church, too!) is, I will simply use the fictitious name of W--orthy P. Row--ley to designate him by.

The exploiting of these "counterfeit-money speculators" became so extensive that at one time complaints were received by the score daily--by the Mayor of New York, and others; and it was finally thought best to take some notice of them. Various means were employed to detect the scamps. One of the most active persons, and who urged their detection and punishment most earnestly, was a man who is, undoubtedly, a regular counterfeiter. This was natural enough, as the "speculators," as will be seen further on, were hurting his business. This man had relatives in Vermont, and in some way it became suspected that the "honest farmer," who sometimes visited to New York, and put up at the Bull's Head Hotel, on Third Avenue, bringing with him a blooded horse for sale now and then, was one of his relations. (But this proved not to be the case. He had been in his company, but was not related to him by blood, though slightly so, as the sequel will show, as a "business man.")

Circumstances so occurred in the ferreting out of some counterfeiters, that suspicion fell upon the "honest farmer" as one of their aids in the distribution or "shoving" of the "queer" (the flash or business name for counterfeit money), and it was thought that he was wanted. So I was delegated to wait on the gentleman "at or near" his residence.

He was in the habit of visiting Canada two or three times a year to buy up stock (cattle mostly), and import them into Vermont, and prepare them for market. This was one of his "side issues," as he said. When I arrived in his town I found he had gone to Canada, and that I should be obliged to wait a day or two for his return. Meanwhile I made as much investigation into the affairs of the old fellow (for he is a man of nearly sixty years of age) as I could safely; and from an enemy or two of his discovered enough to learn that he might be as guilty as he was suspected to be, and I prepared myself for "investigating" the old fellow on his return.

To go into details of how I approached the "honest farmer," and what progress I made in studying him as connected with the regular counterfeiting business, as an agent in distributing the "queer" in Vermont,--and somewhat in Canada, as was supposed,--would make my narrative too long. But I found at last, to my satisfaction, and surprise as well, that that W. P. R., the "honest farmer," had no connection with the business we suspected him to be engaged in. But I found also something which might have surprised me regarding a man of his general shrewdness, if I had not known many equally astute men made fools of.

The "honest farmer" had received, from time to time, letters like that which is quoted herein from Mr. "Ferguson." At first he paid no attention to them. Finally his speculative nature became whetted, and out of "pure curiosity," as he asserted to me so often as to excite my suspicions that he had far other motive, he entered into correspondence with the "New York gentlemen," which resulted in his sending to the speculators ten dollars in greenbacks, for which he was entitled, according to their offer, to receive one hundred dollars in counterfeit bills. He gave instructions as to how he would prefer to have it sent, namely, by express, in a square box, well wrapped and sealed up, and he stated about what size. His correspondents were instructed to write on the corner of the package, "One doz. Condition." (This, he said, would be understood by "the railroad folks," and his neighbors, if they saw it, to mean "Condition powders,"--medicine for horses.)

The box came to the railroad station near him. He was apprised of its arrival, and went for it himself. This was in the daytime, and he "wasted time" on his way home, so as to arrive in the night. ("Didn't want to let his folks know," he said, "how deuced foolish his curiosity had made him.") He drove under the "shed" attached to his "home barn," and quietly took the box down into a cellar of "the old house"--an old dilapidated, untenanted house, in which some of the products of the farm, and a few farm tools, and some old barrels were kept; and down into the cellar of the old house he went, and deposited there the box, and then went in, "washed up," and sat down with his family to supper.

After supper he was uneasy to investigate the package; and making an errand "to the barn," procured an old candle, and (forgetting the "barn") hastened into the cellar, managing to fasten the cellar door with a rope which he tied to the handle. He _said_ he did this for fear somebody might see a light through an end "winder" of the cellar, and come down and "ketch" him at the "silly job;" but I have my suspicions that the "honest farmer" had other reasons than that of pride for his secrecy. He put the box on the head of an old barrel, and the candle on another, and began to unfold his treasures. Roll after roll of "old brown papers and newspapers" he cut off, and wadding them up, one after another, laid them on the head of the barrel on which stood the light, or threw them on the floor.

There was a marvelous waste of paper, he said, in "doin' up that 'are box." At last he came to the box (a small, oblong, wooden, affair which he showed me), which I should think to be about eight inches in length by four in width and depth, and the original use of which, if it had any, I could not conjecture. The cover was barely tacked on. Pulling off this, he presently came upon a few scraps of old iron, and a few bits of what he thought were paving stones, and not a single dollar of counterfeit money did his search reveal.

At the bottom of the box, pasted in, was a paper, on which was written, in a bold, quite elegant hand, "Old fool!--ha! ha!" And while he stood contemplating his folly, and holding up a bit of the old iron in his hand, the heap of paper on the other barrel (probably warped, or "cockled," as paper-men would express it, by the heat from the candle) tumbled over into the flame of the latter. The old man said this frightened him at first, "like a judgment" on his folly, and he had close work for a minute or two to put out the fire. "I thought the old stairs would ketch," said he, "and I couldn't get up." The story as he told it (for he has a considerable "knack at story-telling") was not a little amusing, but I shall make no attempt to represent it here.

The counterfeit money speculators have no notion of getting themselves into serious legal difficulties, and so long as they only swindle such men as the "honest farmer" in question, the authorities of New York will probably take no great pains to disturb them. It would be rather amusing if one could watch the countenances of the poor dupes as they open their packages. Disappointed ambition, "castles in Spain" all tumbled down, visions of wealth broken into clouds upon their countenances, would probably be the tale they would tell. But warnings will do this class of people no good, and it is not "good" they seek; so we need have no pity for them.

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. In this they will imitate other business men, who, when chancing to lose by one attempted swindle, balance accounts of profit and loss by "doubling" in a successful swindle, or as gamblers "hedge" their bets on a horse-race.

At any rate, the "money-makers," whether of bank bills, or other false pretences, "regular" or "irregular," will always, I suppose, manage to find "honest farmers," and like victims, so long as the ignorance of the people sustains such institutions as private banks; and it matters but little whether a bank bill has passed under the eye of "Jones, president," and "Williams, cashier," or not, so long as it is well "executed" enough to "execute" its own mission, which is, to swindle labor out of its just dues. The man who devised paper money and "banking," as it is generally conducted, was the shrewdest servant that the tyrant and sagacious classes ever had in aiding them to keep the laboring classes subjected and "contented" with being robbed. If any reader thinks my estimate of that man's clever swindling capacity too emphatic or high, let him sit down soberly, and consider the subject in all its aspects, beginning with the cost of the paper, and the thousand profitable uses it is made to serve for the money-manufacturer, and then reflect how it is as much one man's _natural_ right to "make, money" as another's, but that the few manage to make a monopoly of the business.

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. 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. It appears that a worthy dealer in "oysters and vegetables" recently received from "Chatfield & Co." (professional dealers in counterfeit money, like "Ferguson") a box marked C. O. D., the charges upon which were ninety dollars. "Of course" the man made no order upon "Chatfield & Co." They sent the box voluntarily. "The charges were promptly paid" (I quote from the newspaper referred to), "and the box opened. The contents proved to be old iron, stones, shavings, and rubbish. These articles can be bought cheaper here. A factorizing suit was quickly served on the express agent here, the money detained, and by due process of law our neighbor ... will get it back, less the expenses of the law. But we cannot help asking the question, Suppose he had received the "queer" instead of the rubbish for the ninety dollars, what would he have done with it? Charity says he would have carried it to the nearest justice, and had it duly stamped counterfeit, and so lost the investment;" and the article quoted from facetiously adds, "If it had been any one less honest than he is, we are afraid he would have 'shoved the queer' just to get his money back, with a reasonable (say two per cent.) profit. After all, the question is still unanswered."

But the Thomaston people probably have more persons in their midst than the oyster dealer, who think that counterfeit money is good while it passes; and they should not feel sure, without looking, that they have not in their purses more or less of the "real genuine article" of counterfeit money, especially of the "fractional currency" kind; and it may be that some of the good housewives and marketing husbands of that goodly village have wittingly or unconsciously, from time to time, passed so much of it upon the unfortunate dealer in oysters and vegetables, as to inspire him with a sense of its great "convenience in trade," and so he thought to enjoy the blessings thereof himself, and communicated with "Chatfield & Co."

Drawing my article to a close, I was about overlooking a fact, which I ought not to forget to state here, in regard to the "honest farmer." I had a little business transaction with him--the purchase, in fact, of a few pounds of very nice butter, which I took home with me. I gave him a five dollar bill, out of which he took his pay, handing me the "change," which was two dollars and twenty cents. I took it (made up of sundry pieces of fractional currency), and gave it no attention beyond rapidly counting it, and chanced to place it in one division of my wallet by itself. At Springfield, Mass., I had occasion to use some of it, when I found that a fifty cent bill of it was counterfeit. I considered this "too good a joke to keep" all alone, so I sent the bill on to the "jolly blacksmith" I have alluded to before, and made him a present of it, with the suggestion to him to present it to the "honest farmer," who, to my astonishment, when I heard of it, did not deny that he "might have let that New York fellow have it;" and he modestly took it, and gave another bill (_supposed_ to not be counterfeit) in exchange. Whether the man knew it was counterfeit when he gave me the bill, is more than I dare say here; but his neighbors, on reading this, will probably decide that question for themselves.--S.

THE DETECTIVE SYSTEM.

THE NECESSITY OF THE DETECTIVE SYSTEM GENERALLY DISCUSSED--THE STATE OF SOCIETY WHICH CREATED IT--THE REGULAR AND IRREGULAR ROBBERS--THE YOUNG MAN OF INTELLIGENCE ENTERING UPON ACTIVE LIFE, A PICTURE--HE NATURALLY ALLIES HIMSELF TO THE TYRANT AND ROBBING CLASSES--NO HONESTY IN TRADE--TRADE RULES; AND ALL ARE CORRUPT--NO CONSCIENCE AMONG THE TRAFFICKERS--LYING A FINE ART--ALL VILLAINS, BUT NONE INDIVIDUALLY AT FAULT--THE DETECTIVE BELONGS TO THE CORRUPT GOVERNING CLASSES--WEIGHING HIM--GREAT THIEVES--"THE PURVEYORS OF HELL"--THE ETERNAL TALKERS, AND WHAT THEY AMOUNT TO--THE USE FOR DETECTIVES--AN INCIDENT; "CATCHING A FLAT"--THE DETECTIVE'S VOCATION FURTHER CONSIDERED--HOW THE DETECTIVES PROTECT SOCIETY--ILLUSTRATIVE INCIDENTS--A CERTAIN GREAT DETECTIVE DESCRIBED--STRATAGEMS--WHAT THE PHILOSOPHERS SAY--ON THE WHOLE, IS THE DETECTIVE SYSTEM FROM ABOVE OR BELOW?

The chief articles of "Knots Untied" being in type, I am asked by the publishers to add thereto my views upon the detective system in general. Much misjudgment has been indulged in by some in regard to the moral merits of the system. Indeed, some writers have been so rash as to condemn it altogether. But these are persons of very peculiar mental and moral construction, in my opinion. They have not, it is evident, studied deeply or thoroughly the condition of things which demands the detective system for its protection and support.

It has been most wisely said, that "Society creates, for the most part, the crimes which it punishes." It is a sad truth, but one to be dispassionately considered--not overlooked. The wonder to my mind is that there are not more criminals in society than there are, so heartless are the institutions of civilization in general, so lax the morality of business life, so hypocritical the common tone of society everywhere, from among the least up to the greatest of the participants, in what, as a whole, we call a community, a town, a city, or a nation.

Everywhere I see injustice and wrong triumphing over justice and the right; everywhere petty political successes, vain social triumphs, and especially the victories of wealth, emulated and worshipped. The crown for which the child is usually instructed to bend all his efforts hangs on the pinnacle of vanity or pride. He is expected to obtain it in business life, by gathering under his feet a pile of gold high enough to enable him to stand up, and reach out his hand to it; and he is taught that it is no matter how he gets the gold, so that he avoids all legal difficulties in the way; and he is further instructed that when he shall have acquired a certain amount of gold he need fear no law, for he can buy juries and judges then, and be "a law unto himself;" and he grows up to manhood and active life under these holy instructions.