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Show Hinckley Journal of Politics Autumn 1998 Combating Counterfeiting: The Treasury's Perpetual Partnership with the Public by Anissa Beecroft As a summer intern at the Department of Treasury in Washington, D. C., the author met many important government officials. However, the Treasury's snack shop operator and cashier, a blind man named Charley, made the greatest impact on her during those summer months. After many a purchase from this sightless yet functional man, the author gradually realized how recognizability and public trust play vital roles in usage of the dollar bill both inside and outside of the Treasury building. This article traces the evolution of the Department of the Treasury and its efforts to serve the public good with effective developments to the currency system. The author details the importance of the relationship between the American public and the Department and concludes with recommendations as to which direction the Treasury should take in the future to ensure the safety and value of the public's money. The Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury has been a dynamic aspect of the government's service to the people, expanding and developing to accommodate the nation's needs. As it manages the money resources of the United States, one of the Treasury's main duties is to secure the currency's value by combating the practice of counterfeiting. To fulfill this task, the federal government has depended on the expertise and dedication of Treasury bureaus, including the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Secret Service, to create and protect a currency that is easy for the public to recognize, yet difficult to replicate. Although many different types of counterfeit currencies exist, the Treasury has primarily focused on the security of the dollar bill because it has proven to be one of the easiest currencies for many citizens to use and to copy. Consequently, while the Treasury Department has relied on the expertise of its bureaus to fight forgers, the general public has always been and continues to be both the Treasury's greatest enemy and its greatest ally in the war against counterfeiting. Historical Background Just after winning the Revolutionary War, the United States found itself losing the war against counterfeiting. With individual states producing their own bills, counterfeiting sky- Anissa Beecroft received a B.S. in Speech Communication from the University of Utah. She is currently attending Pepperdine Law School. The author thanks the Office of the Curator at the Department of the Treasury, where she served an internship, for their help and support. rocketed. The worth of any bill plummeted as citizens became more aware of how to make their own money, but less sure of its value. Alexander Hamilton proposed that the central government assume all war debts; and federal government officials saw fit to propose a permanent institution for the management of national finances, in the new government established under the Constitution. Thus, on September 2, 1789, Congress created the Department of the Treasury (quoted in Department of the Treasury 1991a, 6; hereafter Treasury): Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that there shall be a Department of the Treasury, in which shall be the following officers, namely: A Secretary of the Treasury, to be deemed head of the Department; a Comptroller, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Register, and an Assistant to the Secretary, which assistant shall be appointed by said Secretary. On September 11, 1789, Hamilton took the oath of office as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Unfortunately, the new Treasury Department could not effectively govern the nation's money because it had no control over the nation's citizens. State bank notes flooded the country in the 1800s. In 1837, under the new Michigan General Banking Law, 55 banks were organized immediately to issue paper money (Hessler 1983, 11). The subsequent influx of money made the notes almost worthless. People who did not design their own bills copied other people's work. Fighting back against forgers, states published dozens of books on how to detect a counterfeit bill to help struggling bankers and merchants. An Iowa banker, H. Price, related, '"The two most important books that every business man needed were a Bible and a counterfeit detector. And of these two the detec- 13 |