No. 75.
Mr. Borges
to Mr. Evarts.
Washington, February 23, 1878. (Received February 25.)
Mr. Secretary of State: I had the honor to communicate to the Imperial Government the notes which your excellency addressed me, under date of the 14th and the 29th of July last, in reply to mine of the 9th of the same month, relative to a plan for counterfeiting the notes of the Brazilian treasury which was entertained by a person residing in New York.
The documents, of which copies accompanied-the second of the aforesaid notes of your excellency, show that the counterfeiting of notes issued by foreign governments is not provided for by the laws in force in the United States, which only refer to notes’ issued by banks authorized by foreign governments.
The Imperial” Government having been informed of this circumstance has instructed me to ask your excellency’s attention, as I now have the honor to do, to the lack of provision in this country for the repression of a crime which, beside being so subversive of public morals and of [Page 139] legitimate interests in general, may so seriously affect the interests of Brazil, where paper money issued by the treasury is used, a part of which has been printed in New York by the American Bank Note Company in pursuance of a contract with the Imperial Government.
Hoping that the subject of this note will receive the attention of the United States Government, I avail myself of this occasion to renew to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.