HONEST MONEY
Chapter 11
Roosevelt and Gold Confiscation
(Final Part)
Now let’s look at a comparison between the two versions of “the act.”
“Section 2. Subdivision (b) of section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. L. 411), is hereby amended to read as follows:
Within the Act they rewrote Section 5(b) of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. What follows is the original act with the new wording of the amended act underlined, and with those of parts of the original act that were removed, having a line drawn through them.
“During time of war or any other period of national emergency declared by the President, That the President may , through any agency that he may designate, or otherwise, investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, export or earmarkings of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency, transfers of credit between or payments by banking institutions as defined by the President, and export, hoarding, melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency, in any form (other than credits relating solely to transactions to be executed wholly within the United States); and transfers of evidence of indebtedness or of ownership of property between the United States and any foreign country, whether enemy, ally of enemy or otherwise, or between residents of one or more foreign countries, by any person within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof; and he the President may require any such person engaged in any such transaction referred to in this subdivision to furnish, under oath, complete information relative thereto, including the production of any books of account, contracts, letters or other papers, in connection therewith in the custody or control of such person, either before or after such transaction is completed...” [7]
Two points stick out like sore thumbs.
Transactions solely and wholly within the United States had been exempt in the original version, now such transactions were no longer exempt.
The original act covered property of foreign countries, whether enemy, ally of enemy or otherwise, while in the amended section the designation of enemy is left out, except in the title, and the general reason and reference for confiscation makes it sound like We The People are the enemy, as no one else is mentioned.
One can search from now until the end of time, and you will not find any mention of the enemy or the use of the word enemy in the amended section, as stated in the Emergency Banking Relief Act of 1933. Nor can one find that transactions solely and wholly within the United States are exempt.
As a matter of fact, the amendment contains exactly the opposite wording, meaning, and definitions.
“...any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit between or payments by banking institutions as defined by the President.”
“...or currency, by any person within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof...”
It thus appears that by taking the words and reference to enemy out of the body of what is the Trading With the Enemy Act, and replacing it with “any person within the United States, which persons were exempt in the original act”, sounds like We the People, or any person within the United States, are considered to be the enemy. Remember, the Act is still designated as The Trading with the Enemy Act.
A Crying Shame
The following is sited from the Emergency Banking Relief Act of 1933:
Sec. 401. The sixth paragraph of Section 18 of the Federal Reserve Act is amended to read as follows:
''Upon the deposit with the Treasurer of the United States, (a) of any direct obligations of the United States or (b) of any notes, drafts, bills of exchange, or bankers' acceptances acquired under the provisions of this Act, any Federal reserve bank making such deposit in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury shall be entitled to receive from the Comptroller of the Currency circulating notes in blank, duly registered and countersigned.
When such circulating notes are issued against the security of obligations of the United States, the amount of such circulating notes shall be equal to the face value of the direct obligations of the United States so deposited as security; and, when issued against the security of notes, drafts, bills of exchange and bankers' acceptances acquired under the provisions of this Act, the amount thereof shall be equal to not more than 90 per cent of the estimated value of such notes, drafts, bills of exchange and bankers' acceptances so deposited as security.
Such notes shall be the obligations of the Federal reserve bank procuring the same, shall be in form prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be receivable at par in all parts of the United States for the same purposes as are national bank notes, and shall be redeemable in lawful money of the United States on presentation at the United States Treasury or at the bank of issue.
The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and empowered to prescribe regulations governing the issuance, redemption, replacement, retirement and destruction of such circulating notes and the release and substitution of security therefore. Such circulating notes shall be subject to the same tax as is provided by law for the circulating notes of national banks secured by 2 per cent bonds of the United States.
No such circulating notes shall be issued under this paragraph after the President has declared by proclamation that the emergency recognized by the President by proclamation of March 6, 1933, has terminated, unless such circulating notes are secured by deposits of bonds of the United States bearing the circulation privilege.
When required to do so by the Secretary of the Treasury, each Federal reserve agent shall act as agent of the Treasurer of the United States or of the Comptroller of the Currency, or both, for the performance of any of the functions which the Treasurer or the Comptroller may be called upon to perform in carrying out the provisions of this paragraph.
Appropriations available for distinctive paper and printing United States currency or national bank currency are hereby made available for the production of the circulating notes of Federal reserve banks herein provided; but the United States shall be reimbursed by the Federal reserve bank to which such notes are issued for all expenses necessarily incurred in connection with the procuring of such notes and all other expenses incidental to their issue, redemption, replacement, retirement and destruction”. [8]
Remember
Recall that we have previously seen that for the first century of U.S. history our monetary system was in accordance with the Constitution: it was a hard money system of gold and silver coin.
Next, gold and silver certificates were issued that were 100% backed by gold and silver coins.
Eventually, paper bank notes were issued and backed by the precious metals, but only by fractional reserves (40% at the highest point).
Finally, our monetary system devolved into a dysfunctional mess of bills of credit or paper money, backed by nothing but empty promises and obligations to pay – paper fiat debt-money.
Section 401, as quoted above, goes a long way in destroying and debasing the original hard money system of the Constitution, where payment of debt could actually be transacted with the circulating currency: gold and silver coin.
Hard money of gold and silver coin was not, and is not, representative of debt or promises to pay; it is the means to pay debt. One cannot pay debt with debt – to believe such is to accept the unacceptable.
The present day monetary system, where the currency in circulation is backed by nothing but other government obligations of paper debt, i.e. bonds – is a mere shade of its former self. It is nothing more than a tax payment coupon or debt obligation. It is not payment but putting off unto others, the same as a bookie does to offset his risk and exposure.
We have gone from a solid monetary system of assets – of hard money, in the form of constitutionally mandated gold and silver coin, to a system of paper debt-money, backed by promises to pay with other promises to pay: obligations of debt. Promises backed by promises.
Our monetary system has stepped over the edge, into the abyss; we now have a public national credit system where debt is legal tender money, which is allowed to circulate and be accepted as the de facto currency of the realm.
Such a system is the elite collectivist’s dream come true, as it is the perfect wealth transference mechanism. Suffice it to say that such a system is an abomination that walks the earth in darkness, casting shadows far and wide.
Clarity
What exactly does it mean when the national or public debt is allowed to circulate as the currency, and is accepted as legal tender? It means that all the people’s faith and credit has been pledged as the surety for the debt, by the same Congress who created the means that allowed the debt to be issued in the first place. And how was this done, by House Joint Resolution 192.
Before moving on to House Joint Resolution 192, let’s make sure we understand exactly what it means when all the people of the country pledge their faith and credit as surety for the national or public debt.
The Federal Reserve accepts the public’s pledge of faith and credit, issued by and through the Treasury’s power to tax that same faith and credit, as surety for the national debt.
The Fed has implicit faith that the government will pay the Fed back the money it lends it, based on the assumption that the government’s power to tax the people is so great, that it alone is sufficient collateral for the loans the Fed makes to the Treasury.
So, why is it said that the people are collectively giving their faith and credit as a pledge of surety for the payment of the national debt? First, remember, the national debt cannot be paid off – it is impossible.
The reason why the people are said to be giving their faith and credit as surety, is because the only means the government has to procure money from, is by the collection of taxes, and its issuance of U.S. Treasury paper; in other words – from We The People. But not all bonded debt is bought by U.S. entities; China and Japan now buy over 40% of our government debt (bonds).
In other words, when the government promises to pay, those promises are made using our labor, our lives, and our time spent on earth working, in order to earn income to pay our taxes with. Consequently, it is the people who are pledging their faith and credit – literally, as we are contractually obligating ourselves to continue to work, produce, and earn, enough money to service the interest rate payments on the national debt.
Joint Resolution 192
On June 5, 1933, Congress passed House Joint Resolution 192 in order to suspend the gold standard, and to make it appear that the gold clause in the national constitution had been revoked.
House Joint Resolution 192 states in part that:
“Whereas the holding or dealing in gold affects the PUBLIC INTEREST, and are therefore subject to proper regulation and restriction: and whereas the existing emergency has disclosed that provisions of obligations which purport to give the obligee a RIGHT TO REQUIRE PAYMENT in gold or a particular kind of coin or currency....ARE INCONSISTENT WITH THE DECLARED POLICY OF CONGRESS IN THE PAYMENT OF DEBTS...........
...........PAYMENT in gold or a particular kind of coin or currency, or in an amount in money of the United States measured thereby, IS DECLARED TO BE AGAINST PUBLIC POLICY:
........................AND...........EVERY OBLIGATION, HERETOFORE OR HEREAFTER INCURRED, SHALL BE DISCHARGED upon payment, dollar for dollar, in any coin or currency which, at the time of payment, is legal tender for public and private debts....
All coins and currencies of the United States (including Federal Reserve Notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve banks and national banking associations) heretofore, or hereafter, coined or issued, SHALL BE LEGAL TENDER for all debts, public and private, public charges, taxes, duties, and dues....” [9]
The suspension of the gold standard, and the prohibition against paying off debts with gold and silver coin, removed the last vestige of real honest money, replacing it with a national public credit system, where debt is circulated and accepted as the currency by the mandate of legal tender laws.
The year 1933, saw a general banking crisis bad enough for the government to declare a national emergency, which meant that in only twenty short years after being created, the Federal Reserve screwed the whole thing up bad enough to warrant a national crisis, which supposedly was one of the Fed’s reasons for being created – to stop panics and runs on banks, to avert exactly what they created – a National Emergency.
And yet we find that it was the Federal Reserve that was dictating to the President how to handle the crisis, the crisis it had caused. It was the Federal Reserve that wrote the blueprint to save the banks – by confiscating and outlawing We The People’s Gold, which is one of the most basic and important rights that the Constitution grants.
Where was the protection of our constitutional rights, which is the reason the Constitution was written, the same reason why the government was created, and the reason why the President takes an oath of office to preserve, protect, and to defend that selfsame Constitution?
And these far sweeping changes were implemented in less than 40 minutes by Congress. Here is what a true representative of the people had to say about the passage of this bill:
Congressman Lundeen:
“Mr. Speaker, today the Chief Executive sent to this House of Representatives a banking bill for immediate enactment. The author of this bill seems to be unknown. No one has told us who drafted the bill. There appears to be a printed copy at the speaker’s desk, but no printed copies are available for the House Members. The bill has been driven through the House with cyclonic speed after 40 minutes debate, 20 minutes for the minority and 20 minutes for the majority.
I have demanded a roll call, but have been unable to get the attention of the Chair. Others have done the same, notably Congressman SINCLAIR of North Dakota, and Congressman BILL LEMKE, of North Dakota, as well as some of our other Farmer Labor Members. Fifteen men were standing, demanding a roll call, but that number is not sufficient; we therefore have the spectacle of the great House of Representatives of the United States of America passing, after a 40- minute debate, a bill its Members never read and never saw, a bill whose author is unknown. The great majority of the Members have been unable to get a minute's time to discuss this bill; we have been refused a roll call; and we have been refused recognition by the Chair. I do not mean to say that the Speaker of the House of Representatives intended to ignore us, but everything was in such turmoil and there was so much excitement that we simply were not recognized.
I want to put myself on record against procedure of this kind and against the use of such methods in passing legislation affecting millions of lives and billions of dollars. It seems to me that under this bill thousands of small banks will be crushed and wiped out of existence, and that money and credit control will be still further concentrated in the hands of those who now hold the power.
It is safe to say that in normal times. After careful study of a printed copy and after careful debate and consideration, this bill would never have passed this House or any other House. Its passage could be accomplished only by rapid procedure, hurried and hectic debate, and a general rush for voting without roll call.
I believe in the House of Representatives. I believe in the power that was given us by the people. I believe that Congress is the greatest and most powerful body in America, and I believe that the people have vested in Congress their ultimate and final power in every great, vital question, and the Constitution bears me out in that.
I am suspicious of this railroading of bills through our House of Representatives, and I refuse to vote for a measure unseen and unknown.
I want the RECORD to show that I was, and am, against this bill and this method of procedure; and I believe no good will come out of it for America.
We must not abdicate our power to exercise judgment. We must not allow ourselves to be swept off our feet by hysteria, and we must not let the power of the Executive paralyze our legislative action. If we do, it would be better for us to resign and go home and save the people the salary they are paying us.
I look forward to that day when we shall read the bill we are considering, and see the author of the bill stand before the House and explain it, and then, after calm deliberation and sober judgment – after full and free debate – I hope to see sane and sensible legislation passed which will lift America out of this panic and disaster into which we were plunged by the World War”. [10]
It almost sounds like somebody went bankrupt, or would have, if they didn’t get all that gold into their grimy little clutches. They say there was a national crisis, but they were wrong – again. The real crisis was confiscating the people’s gold and trampling the Constitution into the ground in the process.
First, the people’s money of gold coin, one of the two forms of honest or lawful money according to the Constitution, was taken from them and made illegal to have possession of – a basic right of ownership to private property granted by the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution – The Supreme Law of the Land.
Next, the people were forced to accept paper money, no longer redeemable in gold coin. This certainly was a New Deal, if not a raw deal. Is it any wonder social security rose phoenix-like from the ashes of the hard money system of gold and silver coin the Constitution mandates?
Something – anything had to be offered to the public, to make it appear that the government was in control of the fiscal and monetary affairs of the country, and that the people would be taken care of. As long as the people are dependent upon the government, the government retains control over them. So what talisman did the government offer to the people, tossed as a bone to a starving dog: Social Security.
This was a sad day in the affairs of man – a great theft had been made, but the most precious loot was not the gold that was confiscated – it was the freedom and liberty of the Constitution that had been stomped into the mud and stripped from the people, as if rags upon their backs. Lest not forget:
“The fate of the nation and the fate of the currency are one and the same." [11]
Invito Beneficium Non Datur
No one is obliged to accept a benefit against his consent
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Douglas V. Gnazzo
Honest Money Gold & Silver Report
1. Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Taylor, 1816
2. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Herbert Hoover, Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 1, 1932 to March 4, 1933
3. As above
4. Emergency Banking Relief Act of 1933
5. Same
6. Trading with the Enemy Act Section 2. Subdivision (b) of section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. L. 411)
7. “Section 2. Subdivision (b) of section 5 of the Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. L. 411), is hereby amended to read as follows per the Emergency Banking Relief Act of 1933
8. Same as four above
9. House Joint Resolution 192 - June 5, 1933
10. Congressional Records (1933) Congressman Lundeen remarks made on March 9, 1933
11. Dr. Franz Pic
About the author: Douglas V. Gnazzo writes for numerous websites and his work appears both here and abroad. Just recently he was honored by being chosen as a Foundation Scholar for the Foundation for the
Advancement of Monetary Education (FAME).
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