"I see in the near future a crisis approaching. It unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.
The money powers preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic
than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all
who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes.
I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me & the financial institutions at the rear, the latter is my greatest foe.
Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of
corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working
upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the
hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed."
-Abraham Lincoln, letter to William Elkins, Nov 21, 1864
(after the passage of the debt causing
National Bank Act [June 3, 1864])
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