Talk:Federal Reserve Act

March 2007 Major Edit

I basically rewrote the Federal Reserve Act article so that its history would reflect information from original sources and briefly explain the various sections included in the Act. Rickmckinney 12:56, 21 March 2007

Inherent Racism in Southern U.S. discussion

The article discusses the role of the Southern politicians. And the article mentions that the South got credit from certain banks. But the article, in a very racist turn, refuses to mention that the black, African-American slaves actually were the financial backbone of the Southern economy. It's like mentioning Hitler and his relationship to banks without mentioning the murder of millions of Jews and supposedly mentally, etc limited Germans. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.56.37.72 (talk) 07:28, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

No, the article doesn't "refuse" to do anything. And, no, it's not like mentioning Hitler without mentioning the murders of the Jews, etc. And, failing to mention something about slavery doesn't mean that the article has a "racist turn."

Let's turn your argument back on you. Does the fact that you have mentioned slavery on this talk page but have supposedly "refused" to add anything to the article about slavery mean that YOU are racist? No, of course not. Famspear (talk) 12:58, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

PS: Your mis-use of the term "racist" does, however, illustrate a phenomenon we see more and more over the years: the use of the term "racist" as an epithet, in such a way that the term is trivialized. Calling people -- or things -- "racist" merely because you happen to think those people -- or things -- don't mention something is an example of this. The term "racist" has lost much of its emotive and pejorative power over the years, because some people have used the term so loosely. Famspear (talk) 13:21, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

Woodrow Wilson Quote

President Wilson later came to regret signing the bill: "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."

Searching around the 'net, it seems that this is one of those "everyone repeats the quote, but no one seems to know the original source" phenomenons. If anyone can actually find the primary source for this quote (and it is indeed Woodrow Wilson) then by all means put it back in. PenguiN42 18:40, Jan 24, 2005 (UTC)

Quote is located at this location: https://archive.org/details/NationalEconomyAndTheBankingSystemOfTheUnitedStates/page/n105/mode/2up?q=dominant Page 106 of 114. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.176.102.127 (talk) 01:12, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

It's possible that the source for the quote can be found here: Quoted in “National Economy and the Banking System," Senate Documents Co. 3, No. 23, 76th Congress, 1st session, 1939. I found the article referencing it [[1]]. It would be nice if somebody with the ability to actually look this up could do so. I can't travel to the National Archives in D.C. to do so myself, but If somebody could assure me that there are copies of all Congressional documents at a local university, I would be willing to try there. Umeboshi 23:48, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

"A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."

The above quote is indeed true*. It is published in "The New Freedom" in 1913. The quote "I am a most unhappy man, I have unwittingly ruined my country" is added on commonly, but there is no source for it. Apparantly Wilson made this statement shortly before his death after his presidency, but there seems to be no hard source for it. However the rest of the quote is true. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.206.160.18 (talk • contribs) on 25 April 2008.

• Kind of a specious observation since, as mentioned in the pre-amble: "The above quote is indeed true." (What real differences does it make if Woodrow Wilson was happy or not except perhaps to discern whether he had a conscience or not?

Sorry, but as explained below, the material discussed above is part of some fakery that is chronically added to this article (and to the article on the Federal Reserve System), and is then removed. This kind of garbage is constantly swirling around on the internet. What has happened is that someone has pulled various accurate quotations from various places in Wilson's book, has then rearranged them without showing the fact that they have been rearranged, and then added the fake "I am a most unhappy man" verbiage -- which does not appear in the book at all. In the article, this combined hodgepodge has been attributed to Wilson's book. That kind of editing is not acceptable.

Further, whether Wilson made the "unhappy man" statement at some other time or place, is irrelevant. It is simply not acceptable to pull quotations from different sources, change the wording (which is what has been done), and then present them as though they were presented a certain way in a book when they certainly were not presented that way. When we add a quote and attribute it to a source, the text has to actually be a quote from that source.

The material is cookbooked fakery designed to give the false impression that Wilson was speaking of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Act. In reality, neither of those two things are even mentioned in the book.

This kind of fakery violates at least two Wikipedia rules. First Verifiability. The source must actually say what the editor contends it says. Second, No Original Research. Moving sentences around without disclosing that this is what you're doing, and then trying to make it look like Wilson was referring to the Federal Reserve Act violates both of those rules.

The way in which this material was corrupted (and the fake "unhappy man" verbiage was added) is discussed in more detail elsewhere on this talk page. Famspear (talk) 22:19, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

First of all the quote of mr.Wilson is real. Here it is in the original book on page 111 (page 116 in web-viewer) https://archive.org/details/WoodrowWilsonTheNewFreedom/page/n115/mode/2up and as you can see it is not web-text - we have an original page scans here: "However it has come about, it Is more important still that the controll of credit also has become dangerously centralized. It is the mere truth to say that the financial resources of the country are not at the command of those who do not submit to the directioon and domination of small groups of capitalists who wish to keep the economic development of the country under their own eye and guidance. The great monopoly of this country is the monopoly of big credits. So long as that exists, our old variety and freedom and individual energy of development are out of the question. A great industrial nation is controled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. " 188.32.2.43 (talk) 01:34, 17 June 2022 (UTC) For those who need another link you can use Cornell University (https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3113005#) recomendation with link to amazing 1913's original book scan https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t8qc0rv32&view=2up&seq=199

References at Google Book

Woodrow Wilson: "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined my country..."

The American Mercury by George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, 1924, p. 56 [2]

"President Woodrow Wilson-( After breaking with the engineers of the Fed Act, and near his death), "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined my ..."

The Federal Reserve Hoax By Wickliffe B. Vennard, 1959, p. 27, full quote [3]

Richard Cotten's Conservative Viewpoint by Richard B. Cotten [4]

"PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON - (After breaking with Colonel House) who with Warburg engineered the Fed. act: "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined ..."

To All My Children As the World Turns By Gyeorgos C. Hatonn, 1993, p. 152 [5]

"Even Woodrow Wilson would regret his actions and before his death, stated: "I am a most unhappy man--unwittingly I have ruined my country."

After Fascism By Abid Ullah Jan, p. 31, full quote [6]

Web of Debt By Ellen Hodgson Brown. p. 127, partial quote [7]

"The bill passed on December 22, 1913, and President Wilson signed it into law the next day. Later he regretted what he had done. He is reported to have said before he died, "I have unwittingly ruined my country."

Outsourcing Culture By Robert E. Greenwood Jr. Phd, p. 118, partial quote [8] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.215.3.220 (talk) 16:02, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Based on a quick check, it appears that the links go to more repetition of the fakery on the supposed "quotation." Famspear (talk) 19:22, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, are the above sources "reliable" or not? If they are, then the quote should by all means appear the article. 68.10.81.239 (talk) 02:04, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

No, they are not reliable. And no, we will not include a fake quote in this article. Ravensfire (talk) 02:24, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

Dear IP 68.10.81.239: What do you mean "are the sources reliable or not"? What part of the explanation do you not understand? No, we're not going to intentionally include fake quotes in an article. Good grief. Famspear (talk) 02:30, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

First of all the quote of mr.Wilson is real. Here it is in the original book on page 111 (page 116 in web-viewer) https://archive.org/details/WoodrowWilsonTheNewFreedom/page/n115/mode/2up and as you can see it is not web-text - we have an original page scans here: "However it has come about, it Is more important still that the controll of credit also has become dangerously centralized. It is the mere truth to say that the financial resources of the country are not at the command of those who do not submit to the directioon and domination of small groups of capitalists who wish to keep the economic development of the country under their own eye and guidance. The great monopoly of this country is the monopoly of big credits. So long as that exists, our old variety and freedom and individual energy of development are out of the question. A great industrial nation is controled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. " For those who need another link you can use Cornell University (https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3113005#) recomendation with link to amazing 1913's original book scan https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t8qc0rv32&view=2up&seq=199

Committee Name

What was the name of the committee placed in charge of investigating the control of the U.S. economy by influential bankers? This is mentioned in the article, but the name of the committee is not. mdjkarazim 2005-07-03 02:29:23 (UTC)

United States House Select Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations where Norman Dodd was one of the main participants.The committee was alternatively known as the Cox Committee and the Reece Committee after its two chairmen, Edward E. Cox and B. Carroll Reece. It unwittinly revealed that the Carnegie foundation had been making efforts that these and related foundations were involved in the intentional instigation of the United States into World War I and attempting to mould world history through the explicit control of education in the United States. His allegations stem from reviewing the minutes of the Carnegie Institute and their explicitly stated plans listed therein.

I think you are talking about the Pujo Committee. - J — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.88.220.2 (talk) 21:38, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Reversion of various edits on 21 April 2006

On 21 April 2006 I reverted an edit by a user at IP 156.63.113.54 containing several apparent coding errors that seemed to make no sense. There was a substantive edit included in the changes made by the user at IP 156.63.113.54, so if he or she may wish to try again. Yours, Famspear 18:42, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Adding quotes and citation tag

I have added some quotes from the Constitution. Also, the article as currently written stated that the constitutionality had been the subject of controversy, but the article on Nondelegation doctrine -- to which a link was provided as support -- offered no information on any controversy about the Federal Reserve Act or the Federal Reserve System. Therefore, I added a "needs citation" tag. I suspect we can find some sourcing on this. Stay tuned. Yours, Famspear 21:01, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Ratified by the States??

Dear fellow editors: I have removed the following text:

The Federal Reserve Act was not ratified by the States in 1914 as the Constitution of the United States requires. It therefore operates in a manner of taxation without representation and is unconstitutional. Citizens do not get a vote nor do citizens get to vote by way of Congress on whether or not the FED raises or lowers interest rates.

First of all, the statement that the "Federal Reserve Act was not ratified by the States in 1914 as the Constitution of the United States requires" is nonsensical from a legal standpoint. The Federal Reserve Act is a statute, an Act of Congress. The Constitution does not require that statutes (Acts of Congress) be "ratified by the States."

The statement that the Act "therefore operates in a manner of taxation without representation and is unconstitutional" is also nonsensical, non-neutral POV. Whether a statute is unconstitutional is a legal issue, to be decided in a court of law. Obviously, the editor who inserted this material provided no supporting citation for it; the material is not only false, it is unverifiable for purposes of Wikipedia.

It is correct to say that "[c]itizens do not get a vote nor do citizens get to vote by way of Congress on whether or not the FED raises or lowers interest rates." Citizens do not get to vote on lots of things. So what?

Let's keep in mind some basic stuff: verifiability, non-neutral point of view, and no original research. Yours, Famspear 14:03, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

I believe the person who made that statement was confusing the federal reserve act with an element of the 16th amendment regarding income tax, which the supreme court at the time had ruled unconstitutional. I've been hearing about this a lot lately. Taxation of the american people's labor however is not a function of the federal reserve act or the federal reserve banks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.152.212.4 (talk) 09:56, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Critique

Another editor has begun a new section on "controversy" which I have renamed "critique." Some of this looks like the same kind of material that has bounced in and out of the article on the Federal Reserve System from time to time. I toned down the POV and removed some of the material for which no sourcing was provided, or for which the sourcing was highly dubious.

By the way, material on actual litigation (if any) of the issue of the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve Act could fit in the Critique section. Does anyone have any information on whether there have been any court decisions regarding the constitutionality of the Act? Yours, Famspear 02:24, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Quotation allegedly from Woodrow Wilson

One editor inserted the following quote:

'And we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.' - President Woodrow Wilson

Another editor removed the quote, with the notation that the quote comes from a book published in the year 1913. The Act became law in December of 1913, around Christmas. I agree with the removing editor -- it's unlikely that this quotation was a specific reference to the Federal Reserve Act, as the quote probably preceded the Act. Indeed, if the book was published in 1913, the quote could actually have been uttered in a prior year. We would need some more specific proof that the quotation specifically relates to the Federal Reserve Act. Even if the article were to include the quote and properly include a full citation, Wikipedia should not leave the impression that the quote is a reference to the Federal Reserve Act unless there is much better sourcing. The significance of proper sourcing -- and making sure that quotations are shown in proper context -- is illustrated by remembering that President Woodrow Wilson himself signed the Act into law. Now, presidents do sometimes sign bills that they don't completely like, but if someone has specific evidence that Wilson thought the Act was a bad idea, then that someone should be able to come up with that evidence. Yours, Famspear 22:35, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

If someone could provide a name for this book then I will take a look, also while taking a look at the "Senate Papers" from editor umeboshi (from an above article). Apologies given if I am going about this wrong, I am a researcher not a writer. Baron Ubervonmarh (talk) 06:46, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

An anonymous user inserted the material which apparently consists of a mixture of some actual quotations and some fakery. I removed it. According to Project Gutenberg, the reliability of which I have not yet established, the following appears to be the actual text by Wilson:

However it has come about, it is more important still that the control of credit also has become dangerously centralized. It is the mere truth to say that the financial resources of the country are not at the command of those who do not submit to the direction and domination of small groups of capitalists who wish to keep the economic development of the country under their own eye and guidance. The great monopoly in this country is the monopoly of big credits. So long as that exists, our old variety and freedom and individual energy of development are out of the question. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom. This is the greatest question of all, and to this statesmen must address themselves with an earnest determination to serve the long future and the true liberties of men.

This is from Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom: A Call For the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People (Doubleday, Page, & Company, New York and Garden City, 1913), as reprinted by Project Gutenberg, at [9]. This may or may not have been a reference to the Federal Reserve System. I'll have to read the rest of the material.

Now, here is the faked version that I removed from the article (with bolding added by me):

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is [here, somewhat ironically, this version of the text leaves out the word "privately"] concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men [here, this version leave out the rest of the sentence -- without showing that text has been omitted] We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."

Thus, the bolded material appears to be fakery (assuming the Project Gutenberg reprint is accurate) or, if it is real, it's taken from some other place in the book (maybe). I need to check and see whether the bolded material is found in another section of the book. To be continued.... Famspear (talk) 17:41, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

OK, the following verbiage is found in a separate place in the book:

We have restricted credit, we have restricted opportunity, we have controlled development, and we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.

-Stay tuned. Famspear (talk) 17:43, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

OK, as best I can tell, the verbiage that was removed does seem to consist of faked material combined with misquotes. Someone basically took disjointed passages from Woodrow Wilson's book and stuck them together to make it appear that they go together in the original text (which they don't) and also edited the material without showing proper ellipses, and added some faked quotes as well. The offending verbiage has been copied and pasted over and over into Wikipedia from various sources in an attempt to claim that Wilson was talking about the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Act -- which apparently may not have even existed at the time the material was written. Also, the Wilson book does not even mention the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Reserve Act.

Aside from the fakery, this is an example of why Wikipedia has a rule prohibiting Original Research. Someone has been repeatedly inserting the material to try to say that Wilson was sorry that the Federal Reserve Act was passed. While Wilson may or may not have been sorry about that, the point is that we as Wikipedia editors cannot make that determination. Mangling and chopping up Wilson's own quotations and adding blatantly faked material to try to push the view that Wilson was sorry is simply not acceptable. Either use accurate, properly presented quotations, or find a reliable third party source (not merely a Wikipedia editor) that ACTUALLY CLAIMS that Wilson was sorry that the Federal Reserve Act was passed. Famspear (talk) 17:53, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Post-script: It does indeed appear that Project Gutenberg would be considered a reliable source for documenting the actual text of the Woodrow Wilson book. Famspear (talk) 21:00, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Federal Reserve quotes

The Rothschilds

   "The few who understand the system, will either be so interested from it's profits or so
   dependant on it's favors, that there will be no opposition from that class." 
   -- Rothschild Brothers of London, 1863

 "Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes it's laws" 
 -- Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild

Quotes from Senators & Congressmen

    "Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders.  
    The accounts of the Federal Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the
    control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United States" 
    -- Sen. Barry Goldwater (Rep. AZ)

   "This [Federal Reserve Act] establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President
  [Wilson} signs this bill, the invisible government of the monetary power will be legalized....
  the worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency bill." 
  -- Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. , 1913

   "From now on, depressions will be scientifically created." 
    -- Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh Sr. , 1913

   "The financial system has been turned over to the Federal Reserve Board. That Board asministers
   the finance system by authority of  a purely profiteering group. The system is Private, conducted
   for the sole purpose of obtaining the greatest possible profits from the use of other people's
   money" -- Charles A. Lindbergh Sr., 1923

   "The Federal Reserve bank buys government bonds without one penny..." 
   -- Congressman Wright Patman, Congressional Record, Sept 30, 1941

"We have, in this country, one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it". -- Congressman Louis T. McFadden in 1932 (Rep. Pa)

   "The Federal Reserve banks are one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen.
   There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this nation is run by the
   International bankers -- Congressman Louis T. McFadden (Rep. Pa)

  "Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are the United States government's institutions.
  They are not government institutions. They are private credit monopolies which prey upon the
  people of the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign swindlers" 
  -- Congressional Record 12595-12603 
  -- Louis T. McFadden, Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency (12 years) June 10, 1932

"I have never seen more Senators express discontent with their jobs....I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices in doing something terrible and unforgiveable to our wonderful country. Deep down in our heart, we know that we have given our children a legacy of bankruptcy. We have defrauded our country to get ourselves elected." -- John Danforth (R-Mo)

"These 12 corporations together cover the whole country and monopolize and use for private gain every dollar of the public currency..." -- Mr. Crozier of Cincinnati, before Senate Banking and Currency Committee - 1913

"The [Federal Reserve Act] as it stands seems to me to open the way to a vast inflation of the currency... I do not like to think that any law can be passed that will make it possible to submerge the gold standard in a flood of irredeemable paper currency." -- Henry Cabot Lodge Sr., 1913

From the Federal Reserves Own Admissions

   "When you or I write a check there must be sufficient funds in out account to cover the check,
   but when the Federal Reserve writes a check there is no bank deposit on which that check is  
   drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money." 
   ( "Putting it simply" -- Boston Federal Reserve Bank )

 "Neither paper currency nor deposits have value as commodities, intrinsically, a 'dollar' bill is   
 just a piece of paper. Deposits are merely book entries." 
 -- Modern Money Mechanics Workbook, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1975

"The Federal Reserve system pays the U.S. Treasury 020.60 per thousand notes --a little over 2 cents each-- without regard to the face value of the note. Federal Reserve Notes, incidently, are the only type of currency now produced for circulation. They are printed exclusively by the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the $20.60 per thousand price reflects the Bureau's full cost of production. Federal Reserve Notes are printed in 01, 02, 05, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollar denominations only; notes of 500, 1000, 5000, and 10,000 denominations were last printed in 1945." -- Donald J. Winn, Assistant to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system

"We are completely dependant on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system.... It is the most important subject intelligent persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it becomes widely understood and the defects remedied very soon." --Robert H. Hamphill, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank

From General Law "The entire taxing and monetary systems are hereby placed under the U.C.C. (Uniform Commercial Code)" -- The Federal Tax Lien Act of 1966

"There is a distinction between a 'debt discharged' and a debt 'paid'. When discharged, the debt still exists though divested of it's charter as a legal obligation during the operation of the discharge, something of the original vitality of the debt continues to exist, which may be transferred, even though the transferee takes it subject to it's disability incident to the discharge." --Stanek vs. White, 172 Minn.390, 215 N.W. 784

"The Federal Reserve Banks are not federal instrumentalities..." -- Lewis vs. United States 9th Circuit 1992

"The regional Federal Reserve banks are not government agencies. ...but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations." -- Lewis vs. United States, 680 F. 2d 1239 9th Circuit 1982

Past Presidents, not including the Founding Fathers

   "Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry 
   and commerce." -- James A. Garfield, President of the United States

   "A great industrial nation is controlled by it's system of credit. Our system of credit is
   concentrated in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the
   most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world--no longer a government of 
   free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government 
   by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men." --President Woodrow Wilson

Founding Father's Quotes on Banking (May occur some repeats from "Founding Father's Quotes" / Information tends to converge)

Thomas Jefferson

    "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
    Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The
    issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to
    whom it properly belongs."--Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President.

Andrew Jackson

   "If Congress has the right [it doesn't] to issue paper money [currency], it was given to them to
   be used by...[the government] and not to be delegated to individuals or corporations" 
   -- President Andrew Jackson, Vetoed Bank Bill of 1836

James Madison

"History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it's issuance". -- James Madison

Misc. Sources

"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing" -- Ralph M. Hawtrey, Secretary of the British Treasury

   "To expose a 15 Trillion dollar ripoff of the American people by the stockholders of the 1000

largest corporations over the last 100 years will be a tall order of business." -- Buckminster Fuller

   "Every Congressman, every Senator knows precisely what causes inflation...but can't, [won't]

support the drastic reforms to stop it [repeal of the Federal Reserve Act] because it could cost him his job." -- Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe

   "It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for

if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." -- Henry Ford

   "[Every circulating FRN] represents a one dollar debt to the Federal Reserve system." -- Money

Facts, House Banking and Currency Committee

 "...the increase in the assets of the Federal Reserve banks from 143 million dollars in 1913 to
 45 billion dollars in 1949 went directly to the private stockholders of the [federal reserve]
  banks." -- Eustace Mullins

   "As soon as Mr. Roosevelt took office, the Federal Reserve began to buy government securities
    at the rate of ten million dollars a week for 10 weeks, and created one hundred million dollars
    in new[checkbook] currency, which alleviated the critical famine of money and credit, and the
    factories started hiring people again." -- Eustace Mullins

   "Should government refrain from regulation (taxation), the worthlessness of the money becomes
    apparent and the fraud can no longer be concealed." 
    -- John Maynard Keynes, "Consequences of Peace."

  "Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away
  from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will
  create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great 
  fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and
  better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your   
  own slavery, let them continue to create deposits".
   --- SIR JOSIAH STAMP,(President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, 
   the second richest man in Britain):

    "The modern Banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process
    is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented. Banks can in
    fact inflate, mint and unmint the modern ledger-entry currency".- MAJOR L .L. B. ANGUS:

 "While boasting of our noble deeds were careful to conceal the ugly fact that by an iniquitous
  money system we have nationalized a system of oppression which, though more refined, is not
 less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery. - Horace Greeley

    "People who will not turn a shovel full of dirt on the project (Muscle Shoals Dam) nor
    contribute a pound of material, will collect more money from the United States than will the
    People who supply all the material and do all the work. This is the terrible thing about 
    interest ...But here is the point: If the Nation can issue a dollar bond it can issue a dollar 
    bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good also. The difference between the
    bond and the bill is that the bond lets the money broker collect twice the amount of the bond
    and an addi- tional 20%. Whereas the currency, the honest sort provided by the Constitution pays
    nobody but those who contribute in some useful way. It is absurd to say our Country can issue
    bonds and cannot issue currency. Both are promises to pay, but one fattens the usurer and the 
    other helps the People. If the currency issued by the People were no good, then the bonds
    would be no good, either. It is a terrible situation when the Government, to insure the National 
    Wealth, must go in debt and submit to ruinous interest charges at the hands of men who control
    the fictitious value of gold. Interest is the invention of Satan". - THOMAS A. EDISON

   "By this means government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the wealth of the people,
   and not one man in a million will detect the theft."
   --John Maynard Keynes (the father of 'Keynesian Economics' which our nation now endures) 
   in his book "THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE" (1920).

    "Capital must protect itself in every way...Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages
    foreclosed as soon as possible. When through a process of law the common people have lost their
    homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied 
    by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their 
    leaders. This is well known among our principal men now engaged in forming an imperialism of 
    capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies 
    in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd."
    -- Taken from the Civil Servants' Year Book, "The Organizer" January 1934.

"The Federal Reserve banks, while not part of the government,..." -- United States budget for 1991 and 1992 part 7, page 10

The Money Power! It is the greatest power on earth; and it is arrayed against Labour. No other power that is or ever was can be named with it...it attacks us through the Press - a monster with a thousand lying tongues, a beast surpassing in foulness any conceived by the mythology that invented dragons, were wolves, harpies, ghouls and vampires. It thunders against us from innumerable platforms and pulpits. The mystic machinery of the churches it turns into an engine of wrath for our destruction. Yes, so far as we are concerned, the headquarters of the Money Power is Britain. But the Money Power is not a British institution; it is cosmopolitan. It is of no nationality, but of all nationalities. It dominates the world. The Money Power has corrupted the faculties of the human soul, and tampered with the sanity of the human intellect... -- Editorial from 1907 edition of The Brisbane Worker (Australia)

...I am convinced that the agreement [Bretton Woods] will enthrone a world dictatorship of private finance more complete and terrible than and Hitlerite dream. It offers no solution of world problems, but quite blatantly sets up controls which will reduce the smaller nations to vassal states and make every government the mouthpiece and tool of International Finance. It will undermine and destroy the democratic institutions of this country - in fact as effectively as ever the Fascist forces could have done - pervert and paganise our Christian ideals; and will undoubtedly present a new menace, endangering world peace. World collaboration of private financial interests can only mean mass unemployment, slavery, misery,degredation and financial destruction. Therefore, as freedom loving Australians we should reject this infamous proposal. -- Labor Minister of Australia, Eddie Ward, during the inception of the World Bank and Bretton Woods, he gave this warning.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by John Smith (nom de guerre) (talk • contribs) 20:25, 27 March 2007 (UTC).

Dear fellow editors: User John Smith (nom de guerre) apparently inserted much of the above text dump, both here on this talk page and in the article as well. I reverted the text dump in the article. Just on first glance, some of the material is highly questionable. For example, there is a fake "quotation" attributed to the Federal Tax Lien Act of 1966. I know of no such verbiage in the Act.

A few quotations -- that can be verified as accurate -- could certainly be added to the article. The above text dump just about doubled the size of the article in one fell swoop, complete with misspelled words, quotes taken out of context (as in the familiar quotes from the Lewis case) and of course the aforementioned fake quotation attributed to the Tax Lien Act. Yours, Famspear 21:25, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Post-script: It appears this text dump may have been copied and pasted from various web sites, possibly including:

http://www.barefootsworld.net/banking-fed-quotes.html

http://www.kingdomoflight.org/international_conspiracy_exposed-edited.htm

Yours, Famspear 21:38, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Critisisms of the Federal Reserve Act

For the record: Ignoring valid critisism seems to be all the rage these days. I'm surprised that people find it ok to remove all controversy and critisism from certain pages as if the world we live in was devoid of controversy and debate. Democracy _is_ debate. If user Famspear found bona fide faults, inaccuracies etc. Why did he not remove these instead of the entire thing. Where is his documentation of "highly questionable" material after a glance"? I'd like people to put some thinking into what is objective and what is just purely omitting historical events and valid controversy for starters. See Jurgen Habermas on public discourse. I want a serious debate on what goes into Wiki, not a screaming contest on who's the holder of objective truth in historical matters and recording events of great controversy. Why would one Ignore and/or omit the views of people like the twelve years head of the commitee on banking, Edison, Senators and Presidents? This is almost ridiculously POV and biased towards people trying to find both sides of an issue. My post was in good faith that this also would be a goal for wikipedia and wikipedians. Sincerely John Smith (nom de guerre) 23:21, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Dear user John Smith (nom de guerre): I noticed that you posted almost these same comments on the talk page for Federal Reserve System. I have responded on that talk page. Yours, Famspear 03:18, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

The Centrist Ideology of the Media

The problems with wikipedia on controversial issues seem to be that many of the US users and others have a thoroughly conservative view on history as well as economics. In this respect they seem to believe that any attempt at even remotely displaying signs of the actual controversy that has in fact occured throughout the years must be POV. I don't know if this has something to do with the educational system, the US media or just the users of wikipedia, but it creates a huge gap between europeans views of what is a fair and balanced view of history and the US version one meets on wikipedia. No serious debate is generated and there seems to be a grave lack of understanding what the history subject is all about in some cases. Often encyclopedic form is used as an excuse although huge amounts of wiki articles on current entertainment industry pieces are far more extensive and cover several scores of pages and references and supplimentary pages.

One media analyst summed it up in this fashion in his article
"Propaganda from the Middle of the Road"
The Centrist Ideology of the News Media

"Another hallmark of centrist propaganda is to affirm, no matter what the evidence, that U.S. foreign policy is geared toward promoting democracy. Journalists are not unaware that the U.S. helped overthrow democratic governments, for example, in Guatemala in '54, Brazil in '64, Chile in '73 -- but these cases are considered ancient history, no longer relevant. (In centrist ideology, since the system is constantly fixing and renewing itself, U.S. abuses -- even against democracy -- become distant past overnight.)

Mainstream journalists respond to such criticism by explaining that articles for the daily press are not history texts and cannot include everything. That's true, but centrist propaganda finds space for certain histories and not others.

from a www.fair.org article by Jeff Cohen

from http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1492

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Nunamiut (talk • contribs) (on 1 April 2007)

By the ballz

They've got the U.S by the balls —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.12.94.17 (talk) 08:35, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

An Aftermath/Consequences Section?

Apparently there are a good number of people who thought that it led directly to the Great Depression. Anyone with knowledge about the aftermath want to include a section in the article about it? I think it's apt. Seems strange to be missing that kind of section. 24.174.82.195 (talk) 09:28, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

They are mostly blamed for their inaction.They were supposed to expand the money supply by releasing banks reserves to them and ending the runs(line ups of people demanding their money from a bank due to the believe the bank may become insolvent and default on liabilities)but they didn't and banks went under.

federal reserve act charter?

i want to know that whether the federal reserve act has a secret charter like the other 2 central banking acts?.

jekyll island

the birth of the federal reserve. its documented. w —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.248.197.90 (talk) 15:44, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

It's actually not documented.At least not by anybody who is worth believing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.72.147.226 (talk) 23:21, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Is the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis worth believing? [[The Jekyll Island Expedition:[[10]] Scroll down to The Jekyll Island Expedition if you don't want to read the whole thing. Fafyrd (talk) 00:04, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Owen-Glass background

Why no explicit explanation(!) of the background for the use of the name Owen-Glass act at the time? Nunamiut (talk) 22:57, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

telling somthing about federal reserve

     there is no dought about what is ctually behand the creation of federal reserve  that was 
the fear of centrlized power in the goverment of unated state  there fore we can't egnor that

How the bill was passed by only three Senators

According to Money Masters http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936, the Federal Reserve Act passed the House of Representatives but it had issues passing the Senate. The video claims that according to the Senate journal(citation needed)while the majority of the Senate was on vacation, the Senate failed to issue some weird Latin phrase that adjourns the Senate so it was officially still in session and that the bill was passed unanimously by only three senators. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.240.53.163 (talk) 02:02, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Yes, the "Money Masters" video is not a reliable source. 98.197.0.89 (talk) 03:31, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

The Federal Reserve Act passed the Senate by a vote of 43 to 25, so 68 Senators voted on it, not 3. More than 20 Senators had already left town for Christmas recess, but it didn't matter, because they knew it was not a close vote. Just four days earlier, the Senate had passed an earlier version of the bill by a margin of 54 to 34, so supporters of the bill had an absolute majority in the Senate. Since the versions of the bill passed by House and Senate differed, a compromise version had to be worked out in a conference committee. There are many other mistakes in The Money Masters, so don't believe everything it says. —KHirsch (talk) 14:09, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

Modified material

An anon added this material:

However, controversy still remains regarding the Act, with detractors pointing out that since the power to coin money being restricted to the Congress is an article of the constitution (Article 8), Congress cannot simply give away this privilege with a simple Federal Act no matter how big a majority passes it. Such a change would require a Constitutional amendment, which would require ratification by 75% of the states, a procedure that was never followed.

First, there is no such thing as "Article 8" of the Constitution. There is an Eighth Amendment, sometimes called an "eighth article of amendment," but that's not what the author of the material was referencing,

Second, the author provided links to the Constitution itself. Those kinds of links do not really constitute proper referencing for showing that there is a criticism of the Federal Reserve Act. The citation needs to be made to the material, if any, that states the criticism, not to the text of the Constitution.

Third, printing paper currency is not "coining money." Federal Reserve notes are not "coins." (This point really goes to the illogical and erroneous nature of the criticism.)

Fourth, it's not necessary to go into an explanation of the ratification process or into a description of what percentage of states must ratify a constitutional amendment, merely to describe a criticism of the Federal Reserve Act.

There are indeed criticisms of the Federal Reserve Act of this particular kind -- it's just that the material isn't properly referenced. I'm leaving it in the article, in modified form, but with citation tags. We can find citations later. Famspear (talk) 18:21, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Section 13 (b)

   I was surprised not to find coverage of that section of the Federal Reserve Act, which i guess permits FRB to lend money to almost anyone when it will stop a real financial disaster!
--Jerzy•t 08:41, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

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Images/documents

Hello, just added link to FR page of Wikimedia and Wikidata (Federal Reserve Act (Q2982567)) if anyone wants to add images/docs.

ovA_165443 (talk) 16:22, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Price Fixing

By definition, a free market is one free from any kind of coordinated price setting. When the Federal Reserve sets the cost of everyone's capital, as it now routinely does, it violates the basic tenents of a truly free market. By artificially and arbitrarily setting interest rates, the Federal Reserve is just another OPEC, just another price fixing organization. OPEC benefits their oil producing member nations. The Federal Reserve benefits Wall Street firms and banks, who because of the Federal Reserve have ready access to all the cheap money they need or want to ensure that they can much more easily make money. Cheap money is the fuel of Wall Street. Without it, Wall Street firms wouldn't do nearly as many deals. But artificially cheap money is devastating to savers, particularly senior citizens. Artificially cheap money also encourages investors to invest in riskier and riskier investments, which Wall Street firms are in the business of creating, and profit handsomely from. The Federal Reserve rate setting benefits Wall Street firms and encourages speculation and risky behavior. The free market would be well able to set interest rates, as it sets the price of every other asset. But the rates set in the free market wouldn't be as friendly to Wall Street firms voracious desire for cheap money. Hence we're stuck with the Federal Reserve, like we're stuck with OPEC. Actually, the Federal Reserve is stronger than OPEC. Americans would be better off without both of them. 70.177.174.240 (talk) 02:08, 24 October 2022 (UTC)