63

Reserve Bank stock had formed a corporation, whose stock could be 

and was held by aliens; that this stock would be transmitted to a 

certain line of successors; that it would be placed beyond forfeiture 

and escheat; that they would receive a monopoly of banking, which 

was against the laws of monopoly; and that they now had the power 

to make laws, paramount to the laws of the states. No state legislature 

can countermand any of the laws laid down by the Federal Reserve 

Board of Governors for the benefit of their private stockholders. This 

board issues laws as to what the interest rate shall be, what the 

quantity of money shall be and what the price of money shall be. All of 

these powers abrogate the powers of the state legislatures and their 

responsibility to the citizens of those states.

The New York Times stated that the Federal Reserve Banks would be 

ready for business on August 1, 1914, but they actually began 

operations on November 16, 1914. At that time, their total assets were 

listed at $143,000,000, from the sale of shares in the Federal Reserve 

Banks to stockholders of the national banks which subscribed to it.

The actual part of this $143,000,000 which was paid in for these shares 

remains shrouded in mystery. Some historians believe that the 

shareholders only paid about half of the amount in cash; others 

believe

__________________________

See charts V through IX 

35

that they paid in no cash at all, but merely sent in checks which they 

drew on the national banks which they owned. This seems most likely,