Jacob H. Schiff, one of New York’s greatest financiers, and
bank pittsburgh as well one of the witnesses who testified before the committee, is an example of a man with the kind of mind and
bank holiday weekends as well overselfish viewpoint which prevails among the men who had a personal financial interest in the result of the Committee’s investigation, such as
bank pittsburgh the banker members of the Banking and
centra bank morgantown wv as well Currency Committee may be expected to have. Mr. Schiff, under oath, told the committee in substance that :
If individuals can accomplish a monopoly he believed they should not be hampered by law ! The laws of nature, he told the committee, are best for preventing too gigantic projects; and
bank pittsburgh as well he cited the fall of the Tower of Babel as
bank cimb an example of the futility of human effort extended too far. Among the articles expounded by Schiff in his creed of business and
bank pittsburgh as well finance was the assertion that the minority in all corporations should not he allowed representation among the officers and
atlantic community bank as well directors by law. “The majority should always rule,” he said, “and the minority should protect their rights as
bank pittsburgh best they can.”
Is it not easy to see by this statement of Mr. Schiff’s that it is preposterous for Congress to appoint mostly bankers, their agents and
choice bank as well attorneys on its Banking and
bank pittsburgh as well Currency Committee ? Mr. Schiff is not cut from
camper hits bank and a different cloth, nor by a different pattern than the rest of humanity. Acting in our individual capacity, we look after
bank pittsburgh and our own interests, but
bank detroit and in a collective sense we have not carried this interest far enough, and,
bank pittsburgh as well consequently, we have such financial wizards as
bri bank Mr. Schiff.
Now, let us analyze the last sentence of the quotation from
bank pittsburgh and Banker Schiff’s testimony to his brother bankers when the committee examined him. He said :
“The majority should always rule and
bank riyadh as well the minority should protect their rights as
bank pittsburgh best they can.”
Now suppose we consider our own case—that is, the interests of the public—in the light of this statement of a king banker, which statement bears reference to the smaller stockholders in corporations. There are 30,000 banks in this country. There may be 200,000 bankers. I do not know their exact number, but
awal bank and I know that there are approximately 94,000,000 of us. In the percentage of human beings the bankers are not equal to 1 per cent of the population. There is, on the average, perhaps not more than one banker to 2,000 other people. Suppose we should take Mr. Schiff at his word and
bank pittsburgh as well let the minority “protect their interests as
bank holiday weekends best they can,” and
bank pittsburgh as well we, the people, take the power which we possess,—and the Constitution contemplates that we should exercise as
centra bank morgantown wv a government, and
bank pittsburgh as well Lincoln proposed, . . . namely, “coin the people’s national credit,” . . . instead of letting the bankers coin it for their own selfish use. What would happen to Mr. Schiff and
bank cimb as well his brother bankers who control the Committee on Banking and
bank pittsburgh as well Currency if we did that ? . . . That is one of the questions that will be answered before this study ends.