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; and these unscrupulous villains, to whom I allude above, are likely to injure the business, and thus reduce the brave, bold, ingenious counterfeiters to the condition, perhaps, of "private bankers," whose course is that only of cowardly, false pretences, under "color" or shield of the law. 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." The one before me, and which I copy here, is a lithographed manuscript letter.
(To explain, for the benefit of youthful readers:—The "speculator" first writes a letter, in neat style of penmanship, and then gets it copied by an engraver on stone, and from the plate thus obtained is able to strike off a large number a day. Probably one third of those who receive these letters do not know that they are, in fact, "printed," and each ignorant receiver feels flattered as he reads the letter that the "speculator" has taken the pains to write to him so extendedly, and is led to "think over" the matter, and finally to "invest," when he would have taken no notice of a "printed" document.)
The letter alluded to runs thus:—
"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.