Congress in 1860, when $10,000 was appropriated for its
suppression to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the
Treasury. This sum was paid out in rewards to private detectives,
municipal officers and others instrumental in bringing to trial and
punishment those engaged in making bogus money.

With the turning out of greenbacks by the government an increase in
the appropriation and a more organized fight against counterfeiting
were necessary. In 1864 Congress appropriated $100,000 and placed upon
the solicitor of the treasury the responsibility and supervision of
keeping down counterfeiting. This really inaugurated a methodical
system of hunting and punishing counterfeiters. The solicitor of the
treasury gathered about him a corps of men experienced in criminal
investigations and set them to work. The plan worked so well that when
John Sherman was secretary of the treasury he gave his approval to the
organization of a separate bureau for suppressing the output of
spurious currency. Under foreign governments the handling of
counterfeiters is in control of a centralized police organization,
which looks after all kinds of criminal offenses against the general
governments. The one bureau has surveillance over criminals of every
class. The tendency is in that direction in this government. The
secret service bureau is now being used by a number of departments of
the government.

The operations of the secret service are confined by law to the
suppression of counterfeiting and the investigation of back pay and
bounty cases. This is all the law permits the officials of the service
to work on, but every day they are at work on other matters. That the
law may not be openly violated the secret service operators assigned
to do other work are practically taken off the secret service rolls
and the department employing them is required to pay their salaries
and expenses. Nearly all the departments now recognize the efficiency
of the service and call upon the bureau at any time for a man. The
Department of Justice has used a number of the operators in the last
few years. In the course of time this will become so general that this
government will probably build up a great criminal bureau, one that
will supply officers for investigation of any crime. The Postoffice
Department now has its own system of inspectors, who investigate
violations of postal laws, and the plan of pitting specialist against
specialist is regarded