144 Report of the Commissioners 



have also been furnisbed by the Bank with the means of judsing of the 

 actual state of forgery, and of that degree of skill which appears sufficient 

 to deceive the public, by the examination of forged notes of various kinds ; 

 and even of the tools and instruments used by one forger, which were taken 

 upon him. 



Whilst it is painful to observe the degree of talent thus perverted, it is at 

 the same time to be remarked, that in many instances the public snffer 

 themselves to be deceived by very miserable imitations ; and it is to be 

 feared that a similar carelessness would very much lessen the good effects 

 to be derived from the employment of superior skill and workmanship in 

 the formation of a new note. Another fact appears proper to be noticed 

 here, as forming an important ingredient in the consideration of any pro- 

 posed plan. The issue of small notes by the Bank is necessarily very uncer- 

 tain and irregular in its amount. We find,that to keep up the usual supply, 

 no less than fifty plates are requisite ; and it is considered proper to have a 

 much larger number in a state of preparation. And as it is obviously ne- 

 cessary to preserve, as much as possible, identity in the notes, this circum- 

 stance alone precludes the application for this purpose of many ingenious 

 plans, even if there did not exist other insuperable objections to them. 



Resulting from the above statements and examinations, some general 

 observations have occurred to us, which appear proper to be introduced in 

 this stage of the Report. 



It has been very commonly imagined, that, in consequence of the sim- 

 plicity of execution in the present Bank notes, the actual forgery of them 

 was very generally and extensively practised, and that often by persons 

 without money or talent ; and this idea has formed the basis of much of 

 the reasoning used by many of the projectors, whose plans have been under 

 our view. The reverse of this we believe to be the fact ; and from the in- 

 formation before us, we feel ourselves warranted in stating our opinion, that 

 the great quantity of forged small notes which have lately been found in 

 circulation, have all issued from a very few plates only ; and that the 

 fabrication of them is chiefly confined to one particular part of the country, 

 and carried on by men of skill and experience, and possessed of a very 

 considerable command of capital. Upon a cursory observation, it ap- 

 peared remarkable that whilst so many utterers are constantly brought 

 to justice, the actual forger should very rarely indeed be detected. But 

 further investigation has led us to think, that this fact may be accounted 

 for ; and without entering into details, which upon this point it is better 

 to avoid, we think that it results naturally from the lamentable perfection 

 of system, to which this fraudulent traffic has been brought ; and we have 

 seen no reason to doubt that the directors of the bank, and their officers, 

 have used every exertion in their power to bring tlie actual forgers to 

 justice, though unfortunately without success, except in very few instances. 

 We cannot refrain however from adding to this statement, our opinion, that 

 there must be some culpable remissness in the local police of those districts 

 within which the actual fabricators of bank notes are more than suspected 

 to reside, and to carry on their trade with impunity. And before we quit this 



