But this thumb print possibility in commercial papers has its
greatest future in the positive identification which either thumb or
finger print carries with it. Criminologists all over the world have
satisfied themselves of the absolute accuracy of the finger print
identification. It would be hard to figure just how many Constantines
were arrested or kept under surveillance following the horrible
murder in Chicago, the suspicions aroused by personal resemblances
to the criminal's photograph and especially by the prominent gold
tooth of the man. But in a criminal's finger print the merest novice
anywhere in the world may take an ink impression of the fingers of
the suspected criminal, and if these prints should be in the bureau
of identification at Scotland Yard, with its 100,000 records of
individuals, the man would be identified positively within half
an hour--identified not only by the experts of the bureau, but an
ordinary citizen would be an authority in attesting the proof.
This is a suggestion of the absolute accuracy of identifications on
commercial paper. At the present time traveling salesmen who spend
much money and who wish to carry as little as possible of cash with
them, have an organized system by which their bankable paper may be
cashed at hotels and business houses over the country.