| Humanity can have peace and goodwill, but it cannot have peace and usury. § The City of London Chamber of Commerce Journal, February, 1934 |
|
"The
Money Power preys upon the Nation in times of peace, and
conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more
despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more
selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces as public enemies all
who question its methods, or throw light upon its
crimes."
William Jennings Bryan |
The following article and editorial were taken from the Canadian newspaper 'The Vancouver Daily Province' of May 2, 1934.
OTTAWA, May 2, 1934 (CP) - Abraham Lincoln, the martyred emancipator of the slaves, was assassinated through the machinations of a group representative of the international bankers, who feared the United States President's national credit ambitions - and the plot was hatched in Toronto and Montreal. This was the information imparted to the House of Commons committee on banking and commerce Tuesday by Gerald G. McGeer, K. C., Vancouver lawyer and advocate of Social Credit, during a five-hour attack upon the present financial system."The evidence discloses that instead of being a patriot, John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln in a Washington theatre, was a mercenary," Mr. McGeer declared. Basing his beliefs upon an exhaustive study of unexpurgated copies of the evidence given by secret service agents at Booth's trial, he declared the only group that could benefit by Lincoln's death and who had the money to carry out such a plan, was the international bankers.
"The South worshipped Lincoln and looked upon him as the only one who would secure them justice in defeat. If they wished to kill him they had splendid opportunities and could have secured a thousand who would do the job," McGeer said.
Hatched in Canada
"According to the evidence given at the trial, the plot to assassinate Lincoln was first disclosed in Montreal and Toronto," Mr. McGeer said. "A group of men representing the Confederacy were operating in Canada with headquarters in those cities. During the winter of 1864 and 1865 they were approached by an unknown group with the proposition to assassinate Lincoln.
"They were not from the South nor connected with the Southern government, because representatives of the South in Canada hesitated to consider the proposal until it had been submitted to the South for approval.
"Booth was engaged to organize the assassination. It was proposed to the Southern government as a plot to kidnap Lincoln and hold him as a hostage for the purpose of bargaining terms of settlement.
Cost No Factor
"In accordance with this plan a request was made to confer commissions in the Southern army upon those who were were to engage in the actual kidnapping or assassination of Lincoln.
"The men responsible for instigating the crime were unknown, but in evidence given at the trial they were described as a group which could undertake anything without regard cost.
"Booth was never a Southern patriot in the real sense. He was never in the Southern army, and one of his associates was a deserter from that army.
"Shortly before Lincoln was assassinated one of the men engaged by Booth declared that he was going away on a visit and that he would return with plenty of gold.
"Lincoln was wont to describe the men opposing his greenback currency policy as 'the secret foes of the Nation'. The battle between Lincoln and the 'sound money' men of the day was well known. In 1864 he was elected on a platform that contained a plank declaring for national currency.
"Lincoln was the most powerful reformer of his day. If he had lived he would have established a national currency system in the United States.
"There was only one group in the world at that time who could finance anything they cared to attempt without regard to cost, and who had any reason to desire the death of Lincoln.
"They were the men opposed to his national currency programme and who had fought him throughout the whole Civil War on his policy of green-back currency.
"They were the men interested in the establishment of the gold standard system and the right of the bankers to manage the currency and credit of every nation in the world.
"With Lincoln out of the way they were able to proceed with that plan and did proceed with it in the United States. Within eight years after Lincoln's assassination silver was demonetized and the gold standard money system set up in United States.
Corroborative Evidence
From the Vancouver Daily Province, Wednesday, May 2, 1934.McGeer at Ottawa
All the despatches from Ottawa suggest that Mr. McGeer has achieved a real personal triumph with his speech before the Commons Committee on Banking and Currency. By virtue of that single speech he appears to have become a national figure, as Bryan became a national figure in the United States through a single speech on a similar topic nearly forty years ago.
The people who haunt the halls and committee rooms on Parliament Hill and the lounges and corridors of the Chateau Laurier are practised tasters of speeches. They live in an atmosphere of public speaking. They are accustomed to listen to the best Canada can produce and they not infrequently hear the best from other lands. It is no mean compliment then when the men sit for six hours listening to the criticisms and theories and plans of the crusader from the West.
Mr. McGeer has gone far in the past two or three years, and all through the marvelous energy, vitality and industry and the native ability stored up in himself. He was easily the central figure in the session of the Legislature at Victoria. He turned the Public Accounts Committee from its usual practice of tracking down petty partisan expenditures to a study of public finance. He forced his plan through the committee and the committee report through the Legislature. He was a whole opposition in himself. For days on end he stole the show from the Premier and the government. Now, in his single day on Parliament Hill, he has stolen the show again.
Whatever the answer, the fact remains that Gerry McGeer has done more, probably, than any other man to make the monetary question a national issue in Canada. It is hardly likely he has reformed the ideas of the hard boiled committee on currency and banking. He probably never expected he would. But as the prophet of a New Deal in Canada he has got his plan before the country. He has made criticism which can not be ignored or treated with contempt. Whether they are right or wrong in their attacks, Gerry McGeer, Major Douglas and the other honest critics of the existing monetary system have now gained enough currency for their criticisms and theories to demand a better answer than has yet been given by the upholders of things as they are."
The Great McGeer - A Short Biography
The following excerpts taken from Judge Rutherford's book, Vindication, pages 168 to 179, said to have appeared over 90 years ago in a St. Louis (Mo.) magazine, are a most complete and revealing evidence concerning the National Banking Act of Congress and men connected therewith, and gives a most excellent outline of the working of the law.
NATIONAL BANKING ACT
"The National Banking Law of the United States was forced through Congress of the United States and enacted by Big Business agents. The money lords of England and America dictated the conditions under which they would finance the Union because much financing became necessary during the CiviI War. It is practically certain that the war between the North and the South was fomented by the money interests of Britain, the purpose being to divide the States, that the 'Old Mother Country' might profit thereby. John Sherman of Ohio was then a member of the United States Congress. . . . From 1860 to 1890 there was scarcely a great financial measure with which John Sherman was not connected. . . Rothschild Brothers were then the money kings of Britain. These money changers conspired with their allies in the United States in putting through the United States Congress the National Banking Act. Letters passed between Rothschild Brothers and Ikleheimer, Morton, and Vandergould, of Wall Street, New York; two of which letters, together with a circular appearing with them and which relate to the National Banking Act, are published below:
Rothschild Brothers, Bankers,
London, June 25th, 1863.
Messrs. Ikleheimer, Morton, and Vandergould,
No.3 Wall St., New York, U.S.A.Dear Sir:
A Mr. John Sherman has written us from a town in Ohio, U. S. A., as to the profits that may be made in the National Banking business under a recent act of your Congress, a copy of which act accompanied his letter. Apparently this act has been drawn upon the plan formulated here last summer by the British Bankers Association and by that Association RECOMMENDED TO OUR AMERICAN FRIENDS as one that if enacted into law, would prove highly profitable to the banking fraternity throughout the world. Mr. Sherman declares that there has never been such an opportunity for capitalists to accumulate money, as that presented by this act, and that the old plan of State Banks is so unpopular, that the new scheme will, by contrast, be most favorably regarded, notwithstanding the fact that it gives the National Banks an almost absolute control of the National finance. 'THE FEW WHO CAN UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM,' HE SAYS, 'WILL EITHER BE SO INTERESTED IN ITS PROFITS, OR SO DEPENDENT OF ITS FAVORS THAT THERE WILL BE NO OPPOSITION FROM THAT CLASS, WHILE ON THE OTHER HAND, THE GREAT BODY OF PEOPLE, MENTALLY INCAPABLE OF COMPREHENDING THE TREMENDOUS ADVANTAGES THAT CAPITAL DERIVES FROM THE SYSTEM, WILL BEAR ITS BURDENS WITHOUT COMPLAINT AND PERHAPS WITHOUT EVEN SUSPECTING THAT THE SYSTEM IS INIMICAL TO THEIR INTERESTS.'Please advise fully as to this matter and also state whether or not you will be of assistance to us, if we conclude to establish a National Bank in the City of New York. If you are acquainted with Mr. Sherman (he appears to have introduced the Banking Act) we will be glad to know something of him. If we avail ourselves of the information he furnished, we will, of course, make DUE COMPENSATION."
"Awaiting your reply, we are
"Your respectful servants,
"ROTHSCHILD BROTHERS."
"New York City, July 6, 1863.
"Messrs. Rothschild Brothers, London, England"Dear Sirs:
" We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of June 25th, in which you refer to a communication received from the Hon. John Sherman of Ohio, with reference to the advantages and profits of an American investment under the provisions of our National Banking Act."The fact that Mr. Sherman speaks well of such an investment or of any similar one, is certainly not without weight, for that gentleman possesses in a marked degree the distinguishing characteristics of the successful financier. His temperament is such that whatever his feelings may be they never cause him to lose sight of the MAIN CHANCE. He is young, shrewd, and ambitious. He has fixed his eyes upon the Presidency of the United States and is already a member of Congress. He rightfully thinks he has everything to gain both politically and financially (he has financial ambitions, too) by being friendly with men and institutions having large financial resources, and which at times, are not too particular in their METHODS, either of obtaining government aid, or of protecting themselves against unfriendly legislation. We trust him here implicitly. His intellect and ambition combine to make him exceedingly valuable to us, indeed, we predict that if his life is spared, he will prove to be the best friend the moneyed interests of the world have ever had in America.
"As to the organization of a National Bank here, and the nature and profits of such an investment, we beg leave to refer to our printed circular enclosed herein. Inquiries by European capitalists, concerning this matter, have been so numerous, that for convenience, we have had our views with regard to it put into printed form.
"Should you determine to organize a bank in the City, we shall be glad to aid you. We can easily find financial friends to make satisfactory directory, and to fill official positions not taken up by the personal representatives you will send over.
"Your most obedient servants,
"IKLEHEIMER, MORTON, AND VANDERGOULD."
* This latter letter, in the paragraph next to the last, mentions a circular enclosed, and which circular is inserted here.
"IKLEHEIMER, MORTON, AND VANDERGOULD
"Private Bankers, Brokers, Financial Agents, etc.
"3 Wall Street, New York City"We have had so many inquiries of late as to the method of organizing national banks under the recent act of Congress, and as to the profits that may reasonably be expected from such an investment, that we have thought it best to issue this brief circular as an answer to all questions of our friends and clients:
"1 - Any number of persons, not less than five, may organize a national banking corporation.
"2 - Except in cities having 6,000 inhabitants or less, a national bank can not have less than $1,000,000 capital.
"3 - They are private corporations organized for private gain, and select their own officers and employees.
"4 - They are not subject to the control of the state laws, except as congress may from time to time provide.
"5 - They can receive deposits and loan the same for their own benefit.
"6 - They can buy and sell bonds, and discount paper and do a general banking business.
"7 - To start a national bank on the scale of $1,000,000 will require the purchase of that amount (par value) of U.S. Government bonds.
"8 - U. S. Government bonds can now be purchased at 50 per cent discount, so that a bank of $1,000,000 capital can be started at this time with only $500,000.
"9 - These bonds must be deposited with the U. S. Treasury at Washington as security for the national Bank currency, that on the making of the deposit will be furnished by the government to the bank.
"10 - The U.S. Government will pay 6% interest on the bonds, in gold, the interest being paid semi-annually. It will be seen that at the present price of bonds, the interest paid by the government itself, will of itself amount to 12 per cent in gold, on all the money invested.
"11 - The U. S. Government, under the provisions of the national banking act, on having the bonds aforesaid deposited with its treasurer, will on the strength of such security, furnish national currency to the bank depositing the bonds, at an annual interest of only ONE per cent per annum. Thus the deposit of $1,000,000 will secure the issue of $900,000 in currency.
"12 - This currency is printed by the U. S. Government in a form so like greenback money, that many people do not detect the difference, although the currency is but a promise of the bank to pay - that is, it is the bank's demand note, and must be signed by the Bank's president before it can be used.
"13 - The demand for money is so great that this currency can be readily loaned to the people across the counter of the bank at a discount at the rate of 10 per cent at 30 days' to 60 days' time, making it about 12 per cent interest on the currency.
"14 - The interest on the bonds, plus the interest on the currency which the bonds secure, plus incidentals of the business ought to make the gross earnings of the bank amount to from 28 to 33.3 per cent. The amount of the dividends that may be declared will depend largely upon the salaries of the officers that the banks vote themselves, and the character and rental charges of the premises occupied by the bank as a place of business. In case it is thought best that the showing of profits should not appear too large, the now common plan of having the directors buy the bank buildings and then raising the rent and salary of the president and cashier may be adopted.
"15 - National banks are privileged to either increase or contract their circulation at will, and, of course, can grant or withhold loans as they may see fit. As the banks have a national organization, and can easily act together in withholding loans or extending them, it follows that they can by united action in refusing to make loans, cause a stringency in the money market and in a single week or even in a single day cause a decline in all the products of the country. The tremendous possibilities of speculation involved in this control of the money of a country like the United States will be at once understood by all bankers.
"16 - National banks pay no taxes on their bonds, nor on their capital, nor on their deposits. This exemption from taxation is based on the theory that the capital of these banks is invested in U.S. securities and is a remarkable permission of the law.
"17 - The secretary may deposit the public money with any bank at will, and to any amount: In the suit of Mr. Branch against the United States, reported in the 12th volume of the U. S Court of Claims Reports on Page 287, it was decided that such Government deposits are rightfully mingled with other funds of the bank and are loaned or otherwise employed in the ordinary business of the bank, and the bank becomes the debtor of the United States as it does to other depositors.
Requesting that you will regard this as strictly confidential, and soliciting any favors in our line that you may have to extend, we are,"Most respectfully yours,
"IKLESHEIMER, MORTON, & VANDERGOULD."
The reader may draw his own conclusions as to how much aid the selfish bankers had from their political allies in the United States. And the letters seem to show plainly where the scheme was "hatched,' and RECOMMENDED to Congress ... another wonderful scheme from England and the House of Rothschild.
"Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes the laws.
"Usury once in control will wreck any nation.
"Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of Parliament and of Democracy is idle and futile."
The Right Honourable W.L.MacKenzie King,
Prime Minister of Canada (1934)
