red from circulation. At present more than half the banks of
some groups are on the inactive list, and notwithstanding the clamor
from the West for more paper currency, that part of the country is in
the lead in the contraction which is rapidly going on. Of the Chicago
banks, the notes of all but three have been ordered to be destroyed and
withdrawn as they are redeemed, and in St. Louis and St. Paul only a few
banks remain on the active list. Of the eastern cities, New York alone
is pursuing the same line of policy to any considerable extent, more
than half the banks there being either liquidating or reducing their
circulation. The motives which induce this step in the case of solvent
and unembarrassed institutions are diverse; but the effect is always the
same. The amount of currency retired in this manner ranges ordinarily
from twenty thousand to a hundred thousand dollars a day.

The labor of assorting finished, the clerk's next duty is to count up
the money of each bank. In doing this he examines each note to be sure
that they all bear the same title. In some groups great care is
required to ensure correctness in this process. For instance, a clerk
will tell you that there are Springfield banks in every State in the
Union. He exaggerates a little, but group 38 is nevertheless the _bete
noir_ of the assorting room. In the second assortment, as in the first,
even hundreds of dollars make a full package. Notes of active banks are
pinned up, the "fit" in blue straps and the "unfit" in green, each
package marked with the group number, the bank number, the amount, the
assorter's signature, and the date. Notes wrongly grouped are thrown
together and put up in white straps, for return next day to the first
assorter. "Odds" are enveloped in yellow or pink straps, accordingly as
they are "unfit" or "fit," and are ultimately put in the vault until
the group is next brought up for assortment. When the contents of a
till have all been counted out, the assorter's cash is in the four
items of full packages of notes of active banks, "52's," "errors" of
first assortment, and "odds." The money of each of these items is
strapped up in a bundle properly marked, and the amounts entered in the
book. Delivery is made to the second assortment teller in a manner
similar to that already described.

Of course, in a room where one or two millions of dollars are handled
daily, rigid discipline is required to prevent loss through carelessness