Jekyll_text

450 THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND
the illusion of decentralization, but the mechanism was designed
from the beginning to operate as a central bank closely modeled
after the Bank of England.
The first draft of the Federal Reserve Act was called the Aldrich
Bill and was co-sponsored by Congressman Vreeland, but it was
not the work of either of these politicians. It was the brainchild of
banker Paul Warburg and was actually written by bankers Frank
Vanderlip and Benjamin Strong.
Aldrich' s name attached to a banking bill was bad strategy,
because he was known as a Wall Street Senator. His bill was not
politically acceptable and was never released from committee. The
groundwork had been done, however, and the time had arrived to
change labels and political parties. The measure would now
undergo minor cosmetic surgery and reappear under the sponsorship
of a politician whose name would be associated in the public
mind with anti-Wall Street sentiments.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THE CREATURE
SWALLOWS
CONGRESS
The second attempt to pass legislation to legalize
the banking cartel; the bankers 1 selection of
Woodrow Wilson as a Presidential candidate;
their strategy to get him elected; the role played by
Wilson to promote the cartels legislation; the
final passage of the Federal Reserve Act.
The election of 1912 was a textbook example of power politics
and voter deception. The Republican President, William Howard
Taft, was up for reelection. Like most Republicans of that era, his
political power was based upon the support of big-business and
banking interests in the industrial regions. He had been elected to
his first term in the expectation that he would continue the
protectionist policies of his predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt, particularly
in the expansion of cartel markets for sugar, coffee, and fruit
from Latin America. Once in office, however, he grew more
restrained in these measures and earned the animosity of many
powerful Republicans, The ultimate breach occurred when Taft
refused to support the Aldrich Plan. He objected, not because it
would create a central bank which would impose government
control over the economy, but because it would not offer enough
government control. He recognized that the Jekyll Island formula
Would place the bankers into the driver's seat with only nominal
participation by the government. He did not object to the ancient
partnership between monetary and political scientists, he merely
Wanted a greater share for the political side. The bankers were not
adverse to negotiating the balance of power nor were they unwilling
to make compromises, but what they really needed at this
juncture was a man in the White House who, instead of being