OU have seen the birth of the monster; you have seen how it conscripted its capital at a petty six per cent interest rate; you have seen how it commandeered—at no interest rate—the mightiest mass of deposits ever gathered together on earth and you have seen how it did these things by its absolute control over the money and over the destinies of the National Banks in the United States. It could and it did and it does practically control their affairs.

But it could not—except by intimidation, by oppression or by practical banditry—control the State Banks of the United States. It could not legislate them into its sheep pen for shearing, but it could attempt to intimidate, bulldoze and banditize them. This it attempted to do in this wise:

One of the chief specialties of this Federal Reserve System of applied banditry is to attempt to force every bank in the United States—whether a member of its Shylockery or not—to collect checks for its benefit and advantage for nothing. In other words, where it couldn't conscript nor commandeer—purely for its own sordid profit—it proceeded to bulldoze.

There are just two ways to collect money on checks, one by presenting them at the counter of the bank on which they are drawn and getting the cash and the other by sending them through the mail for remittance by draft drawn on some large city depository. The latter method obtains in 99 per cent of the hundreds of millions of checks drawn. The bank upon which the check is drawn makes a small charge of one tenth of one per cent to compensate for clerk hire, postage, stationery and the like. It is a perfectly legitimate charge in vogue and practiced for generations in banking circles. But the Federal Reserve System, with its customary greed, insists upon sandbagging this service for nothing. This arrogant rule—purely for its own sordid profit—it could and did and does enforce against its conscripted and commandeered National Banks. But State Banks—not wearing the Federal Reserve yoke of bondage—were at liberty to make the usual collection charge of one tenth of one per cent. Thereupon the Federal Reserve System had a series of fits and fell into them. From an enormous number of its banditries three typical ones are selected for your observation—merely straws showing whence blow the most arrogant winds of oppression.

First take a look at the Cones State Bank of Pierce, Nebraska. "I don't want a smug lot of experts to sit down behind closed doors in Washington and play Providence to me." That is what President Wilson said—on page 60 of his book, "The New Freedom"—before he, himself, was sitting tight "behind closed doors in Washington."

That is just exactly how Wood Cones, president of the Cones State Bank of Pierce, Nebraska, feels about a smug coterie of banking oligarchs known as the Federal Reserve Board at Washington and the Federal Reserve Bank at Omaha, Nebraska. First, read the subjoined affidavit about "hard boiled and armed" Federal Reserve Bank agents and then our comments on the whole proposition.

"In the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia.

AMERICAN BANK & TRUST CO., et al.
vs.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, et al.

THE STATE OF NEBRASKA } SS.
PIERCE COUNTY }

"Personally appeared before the undersigned attesting officer, Wood Cones, who makes this affidavit to be used as evidence in the above stated case and who being first duly sworn deposes and says:

"That I am, and for many years have been, the president of the Cones State Bank of Pierce, Nebraska, and as such officer of said bank, I was interviewed some time last September by a Mr. Jones, claiming to represent the Omaha branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Missouri. I was urged by him to join the system. I refused and was then asked to sign a card agreeing that my bank would remit all items at par sent us by mail by the Federal Reserve Bank. I refused to sign and was told that I would be compelled to at an early date, as there was no limit to the power of the Federal Reserve Bank.

"Early in October of the same year, the local express agent presented quite a number of checks on our bank from the Federal Reserve Bank and we gave him a draft for the full amount payable to the Federal Reserve Bank. A short time after, another bunch of checks of the same kind came in the same way but the express agent was instructed to collect in cash. I offered him silver dollars for the checks and he said he did not have time to count it and accepted an Omaha draft for the face of the checks.

"Following this, W.S. Lower, claiming to represent the Omaha branch, came with some checks and demanded legal tender in payment. We offered him a draft payable to the Federal Reserve Bank but refused to pay him the currency without better identification than was produced by him. After considerable loud talk and threat to protest the checks he accepted a draft. Shortly after this Mr. Lower came again, properly identified, and demanded cash on checks he had and we refused payment on account of improper and insufficient endorsement. He stormed around for a day and finally accepted a draft payable to the Federal Reserve Bank.

"November 14, 1919, a high powered auto containing four people, drove into Pierce and stopped in front of the Bank, but the engine kept running. Two men, W. S. Lower and M.L. Bishop, got out of the car, armed with revolvers and entered our bank. As agents of the Federal Reserve Bank, they demanded the currency on checks drawn against the Cones State Bank of Pierce, Nebraska, of the aggregate face value of $31,900, some of which had been held for over three weeks. While one of our Bank force was counting out the money (about $13,000 more than we are legally required to carry in our vault) to Mr. Bishop, Mr. Lower told us that Bishop was a United States marshal, hard boiled and armed, and that he had cleaned up the State of Kansas and would get us anyway, so we had better sign up the agreement and keep our money.

"Bishop said that a banker in Kansas who had the only bank in the town, held out against parring, and that he told him they would start a National Bank and drive him out of business, and that he personally was instrumental in starting the National Bank and said he would stick to it until he drove the Kansas bank out entirely.

"Mr. Jones and a Mr. Davis came along later and claimed they were peacemakers direct from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Said that Lower and Bishop were —— fools and had done entirely wrong at Pierce and advised us to forget what Lower and Bishop had done and sign up as the day was near when we would be forced. They took a draft for the checks they had and departed saying that they had enough of this —— business.

"Subsequently checks were sent through the Express Company and returned by the express agent for the reason as I said that he didn't have time to count the money.

"Along about the 27th day of December, 1919, a Mr. Farley came to Pierce from Kansas City and asked us to sign the paper relative to parring checks or join the Federal Reserve System. We refused. He then stated that he was instructed to stay in Pierce until he had accomplished something. From that date until the day of making this affidavit Mr. Farley has been here continuously and collects cash every day on checks sent him by the Federal Reserve Bank.

"On January 5, 1920, a Mr. J.G. Bryan came in from Kansas City and he and Mr. Farley have been instrumental in trying to start a National Bank at Pierce, devoting practically their entire time collecting cash on checks sent by the Federal Reserve Bank upon banks in Pierce and promoting a National Bank that they will compel the banks of Pierce to join the system. Our customers report to us that these men have told them that we are robbing them out of ten cents on every hundred dollars of their money.

"On or before the 14th day of January, 1920, Mr. Jones joined Mr. Farley and Mr. Bryan and has acted as Notary Public, protesting checks presented by the aforesaid agents of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, notwithstanding such checks were endorsed on the face 'not payable through the Federal Reserve Bank, their branches or agents, nor Express Company nor Postoffice' and are continuing to protest such checks when we refuse payment of them in their hands and in one case have presented a check a second time and protested it each time.

"Every agent of the Federal Reserve Bank that has been here has advised us in substance that they were spending the Government's money like drunken sailors and will not stop at any expense to force us to join the system.

"One of my competitors told me that Mr. Davis told him in substance that the Federal Reserve Board had a steam roller on the way from Washington to crush me personally and ruin my bank if I persisted in refusal to comply with their demands. I subsequently called Mr. Davis' attention to this report and he personally acknowledged to me that he had made such a statement in substance.

(Signed) "Wood Cones.

"Sworn to and subscribed before me this 10th day of February, 1920.

(Signed) "Douglas Cones.

"Notary Public in and for Pierce County, Nebraska.

"My commission expires September 25, 1925."

The Cones State Bank couldn't be bulldozed, banditized by gun play nor coerced into the Federal Reserve slaughter pen. When the Federal Reserve System grabbed Wood Cones it grabbed a hot wire which it finally dropped, nursing its badly burnt paws!

Now take a look at the Brookings State Bank of Brookings, Oregon. It wouldn't wear the Federal Reserve yoke of bondage and made the customary collection charge of one tenth of one per cent for remitting check collections. It couldn't be bluffed, bulldozed, sandbagged nor coerced and the Federal Reserve System had its usual fit.

On October 8, 1920, it stationed an emissary from the Portland branch of its San Francisco Shylockery at Brookings, Oregon, for the sole purpose of collecting in cash over the counter all checks coming from all over the U.S.A., drawn on the Brookings State Bank—with the avowed object of whipping it into abject surrender. Nothing doing! Daily the Federal Reserve sub-bandit presented himself at the counter with his wad of checks and daily the Brookings State Bank smilingly handed over the cash! The Federal Reserve emissary—pursuant to orders—stuck at Brookings, Oregon, from October 8, 1920, until October 1, 1921, vainly endeavoring to wear down the Brookings State Bank. Positively nothing doing. The Federal Reserve octopus had struck at one bank where its slimy tentacle slipped.