From “Lindbergh
on the Federal Reserve”, published in 1923. In this excerpt, Lindbergh quotes from an article published in 1892 in a banker's magazine. The quote is long enough that I didn't want to use the offset.
"Remedy has been attempted by alternately shifting from one
to the other of the old political parties.
It has been done so many times without substantial benefit that it has
become a farce. Voters must realize that
the old party leaders shout the ideals the people had in the original formation
of the parties. Party leaders do that
for propaganda purposes only. They
proclaim good, and do evil. They invent
all sorts of words and phrases and adopt platforms, all of which are not so bad
in themselves, so far as they go, but are simply used as propaganda to fool the
voters. In practice, not only are the
ideals deserted but they are flagrantly violated.
The frequent panics forced upon the people are created by
manipulation for the benefit of profiteers.
Between panics we have what in comparison are called “good times.” But times are never as good as they would be
if business were done in the easiest and most proper way.
When a panic seems to be ended the people start in the build
up again, thinking to profit by what they learned in the squeeze. But most of us learn nothing by panics except
that we are hit severely. Just how and
by whom we are hit, comparatively few of us know.
Before reviewing certain acts, it is well to observe the
plan of the capitalists as stated in an article of thirty years ago. It was not intended for the public, but was propaganda
to hold the big bankers together. The
article was as follows:
“We (meaning the bankers) must proceed with caution and
guard every move made, for the lower order of the people are already showing
signs of restless commotion. Prudence
will therefore show a policy of apparently yielding to the popular will until
our plans are so far consummated that we can declare our designs without fear
of any organized resistance.
“The Farmers’ Alliance and Knights of Labor organization in
the United States should be carefully watched by our trusted men, and we must
take immediate e steps to control these organizations in our interest or
disrupt them.
“at the coming Omaha convention to be held July 4 (1892),
our men must attend and direct its movement, or else there will be set on foot
such antagonism to our designs as may require force to overcome. This at the present time would be
premature. We are not yet ready for such
a crisis. Capital must protect itself in
every possible manner through combination and legislation.
“The courts must be called to our aid, debts must be
collected, bonds and mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible.
“When through the process of law the common people have lost
their homes, they will be more tractable and easily governed through the
influence of the strong arm of the government applied by a central power of
imperial wealth under the control of the leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with
their leaders.
“History repeats itself in regular cycles. This truth is well known among our principal
men who are engaged in forming an imperialism of the world. While they are doing this, the people must be
kept in a state of political antagonism.
“The question of tariff reform must be urged through the organization
known as the Democratic Party, and the question of protection of reciprocity
must be forced to view through the Republican Party.
“By thus dividing the voters, we can get them to expend
their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us, except as
teachers of the common herd. Thus, by
discrete action, we can secure all that has been so generously planned and
successfully accomplished.”
The facts stated in the foregoing article are only too
true. We have a tremendous responsibility
to overcome the imposition of imperial wealth.
For more than sixty years the odds have been tremendously against
us. While we have been fighting
questions of no importance to the wealthy, electing men to Congress because
they claimed to belong to a political party which we happened to favor,
irrespective of party these Congressmen have passed numerous bills for the
benefit of profiteers, giving them the opportunity to exploit us through such
measures as the Federal Reserve Bank Act and the Esch-Cummins Railway Act.
Even before the acts named became law, the profiteers were
protected by legislation and combination of trusts. But wealth demanded even more than the strong
arm the government had previously given.
Through Congressmen whom the voters elected and through other public
officials, the wealth group got possession of natural resources like
water-powers, minerals, forests, etc.
But the greatest of all public gifts were the new bank act and the new
railway act."
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The United States had entered World War I in April 1917, and
the government found that the nation's railroads were not prepared to serve the
war effort. On December 26, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson had ordered that
U.S. railroads be nationalized in the public interest. The Esch–Cummins Act of
1920, or Railroad Transportation Act, returned railroads to private operation
after World War I. It authorized the
government to make settlements with railroad carriers for matters caused by
nationalization, such as compensation and other expenses. It also officially encouraged private
consolidation of railroads and mandated that the Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC) ensure their profitability.
