Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 11  Num. 11
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                     ("Quid coniuratio est?")

FRENZIED FINANCE -- III

[Synopsis of Frenzied Finance by Thomas W. Lawson. New York: Ridgway-Thayer, 1905]

-+- The Power of Dollars -+-

At no time in the history of the United States has the power of dollars been as great as now. It is possible today (1905), with dollars, to "steer" the selection of the candidates of both the great parties for the office of President of the United States. It is possible to repeat the operation in the selection of candidates for the executive and legislative offices of every State and municipality in the United States, and with a sufficient number of dollars to "steer" the doings of the law-makers and law-enforcers of the national, State, and municipal governments, and to "steer" a sufficient proportion of the court decisions.

I SHALL GO FURTHER AND SAY THAT THERE TODAY EXISTS UNCONTROLLED IN THE HANDS OF A SET OF MEN A POWER TO MAKE DOLLARS FROM NOTHING.

Today (1905) "Standard Oil," the "Private Thing," is the greatest power in the land, and its secret is the knowledge of the trick of finance by which dollars are "made" from nothing.

The "Private Thing" is uncontrolled by any of the restrictions by which the law defines and curbs the corporation whose name it bears. Already I have distinguished between "Standard Oil" which wields all the powers of its subsidiary companies, and Standard Oil, the seller of oil. [See CN 11.10]

Let us suppose that the U.S. government puts forth a particular $10,000. "Farmer Bob" receives, by the sale of his wheat, that $10,000. He then deposits it in The Bank. At this stage enters the Private Thing.

The Private Thing borrows $3,300 of Farmer Bob's money from The Bank. The Private Thing purchases a copper mine with the money, and deposits the title with The Bank as collateral for the $3,300 loan. Then the Private Thing declares that the copper mine is worth $10,000. (The actual cost, $3,300, is kept secret.) The Private Thing issues to himself a piece of paper stamped "10,000 stock dollars." The Private Thing takes the "10,000 stock dollars" to The Bank, and exchanges it for the remaining $6,700 belonging to Farmer Bob.

At this stage there is actually in use among the people $16,700 -- $10,000 which is recorded, known, and legal, being used by Farmer Bob and The Bank, and $6,700 which is unrecorded and unknown to any but the Private Thing and The Bank. Right here is the secret device, the financial trick.

In the next step, the Private Thing sells his $3,300 -- stamped as "10,000 stock dollars" -- to Farmer Bob for his real $10,000. Farmer Bob withdraws the money from The Bank by simply making out a check in favor of the Private Thing. (Farmer Bob is told the "10,000 stock dollars" will yield a higher rate of interest than The Bank can afford to pay.) The Private Thing deposits Farmer Bob's check with The Bank, thereby eliminating its $10,000 debt to The Bank.

At this point, Farmer Bob still has $10,000, but it is "10,000 stock dollars." The Private Thing is the possessor of $6,700, and "Mr. Miner" (from whom the copper mine was purchased) is the possessor of $3,300. The Bank remains where it was at the beginning.

Agents of the Private Thing -- Wall Street and the press -- carefully educate the people to believe that their country is tremendously prosperous. Its "prosperity" is evidenced by the $6,700 added wealth in the form of 6,700 new stock dollars!

At the next stage the financial trick accomplished by the secret device is complete. At the next growing season, Farmer Bob wants to buy $10,000 worth of seed and machinery. But the Private Thing knows that Farmer Bob's "10,000 stock dollars" are only worth $3,300 and will not sell; the true value of the stock dollars is proclaimed, and Farmer Bob is compelled to sell his stock dollars for whatever the Private Thing is willing to pay.

By this operation, Farmer Bob has lost $6,700 of his own making, and the Private Thing has "made" $6,700 in real dollars. The Bank has been the instrument by which the Private Thing has deprived Farmer Bob of his savings, because the Private Thing and The Bank are one and the same.

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