<br />~ Ee)
<br />Q2J ''-
<br />
<br />10&11
<br />
<br />CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE
<br />
<br />KOVE~IBER 7
<br />
<br />let prices rise to the level of your money
<br />supply multiplied. by the velocity ot 1ts
<br />circulation. You cannot do that by
<br />raising the price ot steel or raising the
<br />wages of the steelworkers and leaving
<br />the farmers down In the ditch. So you
<br />han' to do onc of two things: You have
<br />to take away these artificial restrictions
<br />that should ha\"c been taken away the
<br />day the war closed and let farm prices
<br />rise to their economic Ic\'els: you have
<br />to tear from the Industrial plants of the
<br />Nation the greedy hands of the labor
<br />racketeers who aTC not Interested In the
<br />prosperity of the country so much as
<br />they are in their own power, and let eco-
<br />nomic prices ]e\'cl ot! arid adjust them~
<br />sf'lves. In that way there will be enough
<br />national Income to carryon this 00\'-
<br />ernment and pay the Interest in the
<br />sinking fund on the national debt.
<br />But YOU let these long-dtstance patri-
<br />ots, who want to aboUsh the United
<br />St.ates In order to set up Ii super world
<br />government to be ftnanced by us, do
<br />away with your national sovereignty; you
<br />let them get control and see what. th(>y
<br />do to this monf'Y. They will Immedl_
<br />atf'ly begln to \\.1thdraw from circulation
<br />and drh'e the currency down and down
<br />and down. and with It wtll go prices and
<br />with it will go the national income, un-
<br />tn yoU plunge Into economlc chaos.
<br />Then what wlll happen? You think
<br />those bo}'s that are being held In uniform
<br />toda}', those }'oung men who went out
<br />and fought and won thi::; war, are going
<br />to stand for that? Do you think: they
<br />are going to pay a $300,000.000.000 debt
<br />on a $20,000.000,000 Income? Do you
<br />think they are going to pay a debt made
<br />on $27,000.000,000 of cirCUlation with $4._
<br />000.000.000 or $5.000.000,000 In circula-
<br />tion? Do }'ou think they are gOing to
<br />take the last crumb of bread from the
<br />mouths of their wives and C'htldren to
<br />pay the national debt? _ If yoU do, )'oU
<br />do not know human nature.
<br />r will tell YOU what will happen. You
<br />will h:!.\'e some fellow rlsC' Up, probably
<br />out on we wlll say the Wabash. some-
<br />where out In the center of the country.
<br />They wlll call him a long-haired agtta-
<br />
<br />tor. He w11l say, "If I am el~ted Presi-
<br />dent of the United States I will repudiate
<br />those bonds." There is your danger.
<br />Just as surely as the nljtht follo.....s the
<br />day, 1! you let Eugene Meyer and the
<br />crowd he trained with In the twenties do
<br />exactly what they did then and drive the
<br />currency down and down until farm
<br />prices go below the cost of productIon,
<br />breadlines stretch down the streets of
<br />)'our cities, and a wave of suIcides sweep
<br />over the land, It )'Ou do that thrn )'OU
<br />wtll have some man rise up and S3Y,
<br />"Why Should we continue to pay thIs?
<br />Make me President of the United States
<br />and I will wipe Jt out."
<br />He will probably be elected. It hap-
<br />pened in a State once. A man ran on a
<br />program of repudiating some bonds, over
<br />100 years ago, and he was elected. He
<br />repudiated them, and they never were
<br />paid. If yoU should do tbat, then there
<br />would gO the credit of your country, then
<br />there would go the confidence of your
<br />country, then there would go everything,
<br />all the conndence that we have bullt up
<br />and cherished throughout 150 years.
<br />What is your alternatIve?
<br />Mr. JENSEN. Mr. Speaker, wlll the
<br />ientleman yleld?
<br />Mr. RANKIN. Yes.
<br />Mr.. JENSEN. Everything the gen-
<br />tleman has said is substantiated by the
<br />record and by the pagf's of history be-
<br />cause no nallon has ever been destroyed
<br />by commOdity Inftation. Every nallon
<br />that has bl"en destroy~ has been de-
<br />stroyed because of currency innation and
<br />finally causing the currency "aluc to be~
<br />deftated.
<br />Mr. RANKIN. The gentleman means
<br />deflation.
<br />Mr. JENSEN. r mean deftatlon.
<br />Mr. RANKIN. Your danger is not
<br />Inflation. You have Inflation now.
<br />Your danger Is deftation. Well, you say,
<br />what is your remedy? You cannot keep
<br />these men who have had this money is.
<br />sued to them from bringIng in these
<br />Federal Resen'e notes and hal'lng them
<br />retired and taking up the bonds to back
<br />them, I will teII you my remedy. As I
<br />said. I have no rillht to criticize the con_
<br />
<br />dlllon unless I do have a remedy. In
<br />the first place, I would get rid of the OPA
<br />and put a stop to this stun and let pros.
<br />perlty spread o\'er the country, so we
<br />might all enjoy it equally. I would stop
<br />sayIng to these boys, "You have to see
<br />somebody and pay tribute before you can
<br />work.... I would see that the~' are per-
<br />mitted to work without having to pay
<br />tribute. I would pass a law to provide
<br />that we would stabllb:e the currency at
<br />a certain amount-$27,000.000,000 per_
<br />ha~ mJght be a little too high. We
<br />might want it at $25,000.000.000 or we
<br />might want It 1It $20,000.000,000. But
<br />whatever the amount agreed upon. we
<br />would say that it Is going to be stabilized
<br />at that point. Then e"ery time om! or
<br />these fellows brought In his Federal Re-
<br />serve notes ap.d retired them, we would
<br />Issue an equal amount In United States
<br />notes with a gold reserve behind It, which
<br />would be just as strong, or even stronger.
<br />because It Is all based on the credit of
<br />the Government.
<br />I said that to a Member of the House
<br />yesterday. He thought It was horrible
<br />and he said, "There are no United States
<br />notes In circulation now." There are
<br />$346,681,016 of United StatE'S notes out
<br />now which were Issued by Abraham Lin-
<br />coln during the War Between the States.
<br />They have been In circulation ever since,
<br />They are legal tender. You have to
<br />take them just as you would a silver dol-
<br />lar or a gold dollar or a sllver certUlcate
<br />or a Federal Reserve note.
<br />In that way, we can stabilize the cur-
<br />rency, maintain prosperity, and pay the
<br />national debt, and stop this punishing
<br />the farmers of the NAlon. and put a stop
<br />to the harassing of eVery I1ttJe business_
<br />man who is trying to meet his obliga~
<br />tions, pay hls debt.'!, feed his family, and
<br />keep his concern gOini::, .
<br />Mr. Speaker. I ask. unanlmou" consent
<br />at thJs point that I may Insert this clr~
<br />culatlon statement of July 31, 1945.
<br />The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr.
<br />COOPER). Without objection, It is so
<br />ordered,
<br />There was no objection,
<br />
<br />Circt/.llltion stalement 01 UnHed Stat~s mon~lI~vlv 31, 1!14$
<br />
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<br />Total
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