NATIONAL BANKS. 481 



authorizing the purchase of bonds being under considera- 

 tion, Gen. Weaver made the following speech: 



Mr. Chairman: 



In the commencement of my remarks, I wish now to 

 disclaim any intention of making an attack upon any 

 executive officer who may now be, or who may have been 

 heretofore, in power. But I intend to tell what I believe 

 to be true, let it hurt whom it may. The truth ought to 

 be told, and told without apology. 



Sir, this country is now within the grasp of a gigan- 

 tic, cold-blooded money trust, which limits the money out- 

 put, prescribes the conditions on which it deigns to accept 

 the currency at the hands of the government, determines 

 the channels through which it shall reach the people, and 

 the terms upon which it shall be doled out 



This trust usurps the sovereignty of the nation, mocks 

 at the suffering of its victims, and relies upon the painful 

 "necessities" of the situation to keep them in subjection. 

 [Applause. ] 



For a quarter of a century this trust has overawed 

 Congress, and at this time is setting at defiance laws which 

 it does not approve. It is a national organization, with 

 ramifications everywhere. It holds annual sessions, has an 

 executive council, which meets in secret, and is clothed 

 with power to collect large sums of money and to disburse 

 the same for purposes which are not made public. It is 

 the architect of our present financial structure. They 

 have built to suit the cupidity of the usurer and so as to 

 administer to the devouring appetite of money ghouls, 

 rather than to serve the legitimate wants of business and 

 trade. They have made it a snare, a delusion, and a rack 

 of torture to those who are content to accumulate wealth 

 by production, and it has proved a bed of quicksand to 

 business energy and honest thrift. 



I regard the situation to-day as not presenting a con- 

 test between the people and any executive department of 

 this government, but a contest between the people and the 

 non-political moneyed oligarchy that controls all depart- 

 ments, and seeks to control all political parties. 



