MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR April 16 - 22

APRIL 16

1854 – BIRTH OF JACOB COXEY’S, OHIO BUSINESSMAN
Jacob Coxey, a businessman from Massillon, Ohio organized a 500-strong “Coxey’s Army” march from Massillon (beginning on March 25, 1894) to Washington, D.C. (ending April 30) to promote federal intervention for job creation. The primary demand of this "petition in boots" was unique -- the direct printing and issuance of $500 million by the Federal Treasury to employ 4 million people. Coxey's Army proposed two bills. The first, a "Good Roads Bill," would help farmers through $500 million issued by the federal government in legal tender notes, or greenbacks, to construct rural roads. The second, a noninterest-bearing bonds bill, would empower state and local governments to issue noninterest-bearing bonds to be used to borrow legal tender notes from the federal treasury. This money would be used to build urban libraries, schools, utility plants and marketplaces. Millions of jobs would have been created -- debt-free.

1915 – DEATH OF NELSON ALDRICH, LEADER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE US SENATE
Aldrich was a key proponent of the Aldrich-Vreeland Act, a bill creating a National Monetary Commission in 1908, which studied the problem of monetary instability following the financial Panic of 1907. The Commission played a pivotal role in calling for “reform” of the US monetary system. The Act also established the “Aldrich-Vreeland system” which through the Comptroller of the Currency authorized some banks to issue new money. This helped the US deal with the financial crisis associated with WWI. The expanded money power of the government, however, was meant to be short-lived. The final volume of the Commission’s report called for a privately owned central bank, the “National Reserve Association,” in which “[c]ontrol was to be exercised completely by private bankers.” Passage of this Act was a stepping-stone to passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913.

APRIL 17

1790 – DEATH OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
"Experience, more prevalent than all the logic in the world, has fully convinced us all, that paper money has been, and is now of the greatest advantage to the country"
"The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the prime reason for the revolutionary war. "
"A legitimate government can both spend and lend money, while banks can only lend significant amounts of their promissory bank notes. Thus when bankers place money in circulation there is always a debt principal to be returned and usury to be paid."

1837- BIRTH OF JP MORGAN, US FINANCIER AND BANKER
John Pierpont Morgan dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. His empire consisted of banks but also hundreds of other corporations via interlocking corporate directors and financial investments. The “House of Morgan” was also one of the key players in organizing politically and backing financially the campaign to pass the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, creating the largely private Federal Reserve system.

APRIL 20

1868 – BIRTH OF JOHN HYLAN, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, 1918-1925
“The real menace of our republic is this invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy length over city, state and nation. Like the octopus of real life, it operates under cover of a self created screen....At the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller Standard Oil interests and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both political parties.”
What may have been practically in Mayor Hylan’s time is actually today.

APRIL 21

1910 – DEATH OF MARK TWAIN, AUTHOR
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

APRIL 22

EARTH DAY – CREE INDIAN PROVERB
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” Seems an appropriate quote on this day.

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
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