The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1921-08-12
is THIS y SPECIAL PRIVILEGE?

II OF Tile puTpoSS Oh dHNOullCluB WIN
authority, what interest the Feredal
Reserve Banks pay the government
for woney, / wrote the governor of
the Federal Reserve Board at Wash
ington. / have the reply, signed by
Governor Harding of the Board. in
which he says, "The Federal Reserve
Banks pay the government tax Of
1-2 of ! per cent per annum on the
Federal Reserve bank notes." He gives
the maximum interest paid by the
national banks at, "a serni-annual tax
of 1-2 of per cent" They are ex-
empt from federal, state and local
taxation. This is the first step in the
special privilege granted by Congress
to the mcney-lenders WHO loan to you
at from 6 per cent up.
In writing "Common Sense, or The
Clot on the Brain of the Body Polit-
ic," to make it as brief as possible and
avoid cumulative detail, / said the
banks drew interest for as much as 5
times on each dollar there is, (see
page 8 of Common Sense). That re-
serve of Is per cent was required; and
they could loan their money times
and have 20 per cent reserve. The Is
per cent reserve, required, is true of
state banking acts, but under the Fed
eral law that applies to all national
banks and member banks of the Fed
eral Reserve Banks" which includes
all state banks that become member
banks, a reserve as low as 7 per cent
is permitted. (See Sec. 10 Federal
Reserve Act). In other words-under
the Is per cent reserve, $685. may be
loaned for each dollar in the bank;
and under the Z per cent reserve,
SLABS may be loaned for each dollar.
They do not loan money-they loan
the banks credit and call it money.
This is the second step in the law es-
tablishing a special privileged class.
We frequently reed in the newspa-
pers that "the banks are overlooking
with deposits" Heavy bank depos-
its show business is sound" In all
such cases, deposits mean Borrowed
money"-means the people are in
debt to the banks more than ever
means that the note books at the
banks are stuffed with the notes of
their patrons payable to the banks
with interest, or discounted; for which
these note makers have been credited
with deposits. You make your note
to the bank for $4,000 and you are
credited with deposit of $4,000. The !
more the debts-the bigger the hole
the people get in--the bigger the de-
posits. With only billion dollars in
the United States, which is all taken
up in the capital and surplus of the
banks, you will see the statement,
which may be true, that deposits in
the banks are so billion dollars. What !
it means is, that depositors owe the
banks so billion dollars.
The situation is this: A special |
privilege is conferred, by law, on pri-
vate individuals to conduct for their
private profit what is known as a
banking system, by which our money,
tour indispensable medium of ex-
change), is turned over to them; they
permitted to hoard and monopolize it
and use it as reserve or basis for |
loaning their credit, substituted for
the use of money, in quantity from 6
to ID times the amount of money in
drawing interest thereon
for to IA times the amount of money
there is. With about billion dollars
in the United States, they are, by rea-
son of this special privilege, this eco
nomic trick, drawing interest on from
80 to 60 billion dollars-interest on
Checking credit) a substitute for
money, that exists by reason of them
having possession of the money and
this special privilege conferred upon
them by law. You may make a de-
post and not owe the bank, but what
you deposit is drawing interest for the
banks several times-loaned to others.
The banks own all the money there is
in the United State (6 billion dol
Iars) and work it over and over 6 to
Ia times. (You will get the quantity
Of money by writing the Treasury De-
partment at Washington for "Circula-
tion Statement" 1t shows for June /,
l921-$5,983, 25s 1881 Ii
By similar trick of substituting
credit for money further interest
bearing Indebtedness of the people to
he money-lenders has grown and ac-
until the total interest
bearing debts in the United States are
rs much as 100 billion dollars. With I
billion dollars of money in the |
United States, it has ben so manipu-
ated by a special privilege conferred, i
" law, to subject and impose on the I
,annla an animal intaras4 ~ &c v,o,,nh | ,