Singer Financial Group

History Of The Fed And How It Impacts Us

The creation of the Federal Reserve began in a New Jersey train station on a night in November 1910. Leaving from a Hoboken Railway station were a group of the nation’s leading financiers and a powerful Congressmen and his staff. And although few of them knew it at the time they were headed for Georgia, 1000 miles away. The men professed to be going duck hunting.

But this was no ordinary hunting trip. The railcars themselves were sealed and the blinds were drawn. And each member of “the hunting party” was instructed to at no time use his own last name or to use that of any of the others. 

Leading the ultra secret trip to Georgia was Senator Nelson Aldrich, head of the National Monetary Commission. Joining the Senator was A. Piatt Andrew, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and a handful of men who, amazing as it seems, represented approximately ¼ of the world’s wealth at that time.

 Heading south that day, this famous entourage finally reached its destination, Jekyll Island, Georgia.  When this group was finished “duck hunting” some seven days later, they had created the plan that would become the Federal Reserve Bank, comprised of 12 regional banking systems.

 After much debate it was named in such a way as to give the public the idea that the bank was  just another government agency.  In truth, it was not, because the bank that they created was a private corporation. And while this fact is not widely known it was a notion that was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1982. In Lewis v. United States680 F.2d 1239 (9th Cir. 1982) , for instance, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stated that “the Reserve Banks are not federal instrumentalities for purposes of the FTCA [the Federal Tort Claims Act], but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations.”

 Three years after the secret meeting, the plan conceived on Jekyll Island became law.  On December 22, 1913, while many members of Congress were home for Christmas, the Federal Reserve Act was rammed through Congress and was later signed into law by President Wilson.  And a few days later the December 24, 1913 New York Times carried a front page headline that read “WILSON SIGNS THE CURRENCY BILL!” Below it, also in capital letters, were two further gems, “PROSPERITY TO BE FREE” and “WILL HELP EVERY CLASS.”  Prosperity to Be Free? Think about that one.  Nearly a year later the bank was open for business and the first Federal Reserve Notes began to roll off the presses.

 In 1916 Woodrow Wilson also wrote:   “Our system of credit is concentrated (in the Federal Reserve System). The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities, are in the hands of a few men.”  Wilson, of course, was right.

 Do you know… what the Fed does, or what role it truly plays in our lives?  Check out The Fed The Dollar And You or browse the Federal Reserve System – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia to learn more.  It’s actually quite interesting.  But you may find the facts quite irritating, as well.

 Which is why you need to be familiar with Audit the Federal Reserve: HR 1207 and S 604.  This (Paul-Grayson amendment) is an important piece of legislation that you need to be aware of and hopefully support.  Please check this out.