]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]         BACK TO SILVER AND GOLD       [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[     
                   The New York Times, Oct. 4, 1989        (10/5/1989)

               [Kindly uploaded by Freeman 07656GAED]

To the Editor:

   "How Much to Fence in the Fed" (editorial, Sept. 9) raises a ques-
tion  that  would never have arisen had our Government  not  violated 
the monetary provisions of the Constitution.
   Two centuries ago, the Founding Fathers of this country provided a 
set of precisely defined,tightly integrated constitutional restraints 
on the monetary powers of government. The specific purpose was to in-
sure  that the United States dollar be commodity  based,  effectively 
insulating the money supply from political manipulation.
   Instead, in defiance of the Constitution (specifically Article  I, 
Section 8,concerning the power to coin money and regulate its value), 
Congress  created in 1913  the Federal  Reserve system, a corporative 
state banking cartel.  Without constitutional  authority Congress de-
clared  Federal Reserve notes legal tender for all debt (1933),  out-
lawed  the redemption of those notes (or any government  obligations) 
in  gold coin  (1933), seized the American people's  supply  of  gold 
(1933), "demonetized" gold (1934) and at last outlawed the redemption 
of Federal Reserve notes and paper currencies of the national Govern-
ment in silver (1968)--thus substituting the fiat paper currency of a
private  banking consortium, and the Government's  own  base-metallic 
token coinage, for the constitutional regime of gold and silver.
   Once our Government again recognizes our Constitution as the  sup-
preme law of the land, rather than fencing in the Federal Reserve, it 
will  be obligated to abolish the Fed and restore a silver and  gold-
based constitutional money.                       WILLIAM VANDERSTEEL  
                                            Alpine, N.J.,Sept.11,1989    


[Note from 07656GAED: An argument can be made that government  should 
not be in the money business at all--that banks should  only be  pri-
vate commodity warehouses which issue receipts (banknotes) to deposi-
tors.  But practically speaking, we are a long way from such a utopia 
and Mr. Vandersteel's proposal would be an excellent first step. Cen-
tral banking has impoverished most of the world. It and protectionism 
caused  the  Great Depression and helped put Nazism in power in  Ger-
many. And things could get much worse because of fiat money's  insid-
ious  economic and social consequences.  Of course, there are  deeper 
philosophical  causes to be cognizant of about what's wrong with  the 
world.]

[Note by Sysop: the author, William Vandersteel, is also an AtE sub-
scriber of long standing.]

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