come see me and i would say no, you. in an t then one day my wife saidy, scotty, andrew wants to see you, she didn't say who it was, but y something hit me. who's andra harris? the boy i talked to three yearsd earlier had driven down from west point new york with his dad to come see me. and i don't know if i knew that they were the days to come, that thea impact i made a nighttime childt had done a 180 and now this child was positively impacting me in an amazing way. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.orrick. >> coming up next, edward griffin at freedom fest.

mr. griffin talks about his book, the creature from jekyll island, a history of the creation of the federal reserve system. this is just over a minute. ..

and show the pictures there. those of the guys. and the funny thing about that piece of history is that the federal reserve bill was being shown for the american people at that time as a piece of legislation that would somehow control those big bad bankers. what they did not realize, the big bag bankers electing a right there, the epitome of the great power centers of banking. there were the ones that were busy writing the bill that was supposed to control -- >> you are these gentlemen? >> well, primarily -- the only one that was not a banker, politician, spearheading the political side.

>> father-in-law also to john rockefeller. >> yes. he was tied in very closely with the bank in fraternity in the industrial complex. a very wealthy guy in his own life. pro the most important political figure in the united states shore of the president who was ordered wilson. they represented the dynasties of j.p. morgan and the rockefeller dynasty and had connections. that meant they were connected to the rothschilds in england. and i mean, he had a connection to his brother, max, who was the head of the banking, the warburg banking consortium in germany and the netherlands. and so what we have, this was an international group pier really representing international interests. there is anything that was the epitome of the big bad bankers of the world, these were the guys. what happened, they knew that there was going to be some kind

of a move to control banking. the new congress is going to pass some kind of law to regulate banking. so instead of being stupid about it they decided to take the lead. they said, we will read the bill we will make sure that it is to our liking, and so that is what it is all about. they went to the island were no one knew, they have a meeting that was in a great deal of secrecy. they denied that they went for many years thereafter. but they actually drafted the poor reserve act on jekyll island in 1910. it took that much time to promote it and get it through congress. >> henry davidson, senior partner. assistant secretary of the treasury, president of national city bank of new york.

partner representing the rothschilds in europe. they represented essentially one-fourth of the entire wealth of the world. >> the entire world. an incredible statement. that is not my appraisal, but that was the opinion of the journalist at the time who was writing about these people. not in connection with the federal reserve, but prominent bankers and they talked about the jekyll island group, for example, and then these bankers in particular. and the investment houses. but they said these men represented directly to the power that they held in their own hands and indirectly to the money that was concentrated in the investment firms, the insurance companies and the banking companies, put it altogether. one-fourth of the wealth of the entire world. that concentration of wealth is only increasing since then.

>> mr. griffin, was the federal reserve act at the time it was being debated in congress, was it a controversial thing? where newspapers full of articles about it? >> yes, it was. it did not receive a lot of publicity at the time, and there was a lot of discussion that somehow some people were aware that the banks had an influence in this legislation. and when senator aldridge first released the legislation it was called the aldridge bill. and that was really, warburg, nelson, don't do that. people know that you are a republican and that you are rich and that you're connected with all of the, you know, investment. don't call it the aldrich bill. currently have a great deal of the go. probably said, well, i'm well-respected. so he did. well, that is when the controversy started.

people said exactly what was expected. they pulled the bill back because that is a lot of bad native -- negativity. they reissued almost the same bill but got some democrats. carter glass. the glaspell. and he was a democrat, said that was okay, you see. people still, even in those days, had the idea that somehow democrats were hard-working people. blue-collar and dirt under their fingernails like ted kennedy. [laughter] so it worked. the point is the ploy worked. now it was a bill being sponsored by the common man, and that is how they -- >> so in your view the bill, the federal reserve from the beginning was a ploy. >> absolutely was a ploy. it was a brilliant piece of strategy. these people were not stupid. psycho politicians and strategists. in bad, well the bill was being debated in congress some of these people went before the

public. they gave speeches knowing it will be reported in the press and they were interviewed by the journalists and said, oh, this bill that they had written on the side, this bill is not going to be good for business. bad for america. they actually did that. and knowing full well the average guy would read that in a newspaper and say these bankers don't like the bill. it must be pretty good. these fellows were brilliant. >> that -- u.s. question in your book. the creature from jekyll island, what is the poor reserve. what is your answer? >> well, it is a cartel. it is not a government agency. it has the appearance of being at a government agency in they went to great lengths to give it that the side. it does have the power of government because congress voted to give it power of enforcement, but in its essence it is a cartel.

it is nothing different than eight bin and a cartel or an oil cartel, sugar cartel. it happens to be a banking cartel. they get together, they drew up the rules and regulations of their own industry, self regulate their own industry federal reserve act. congress passed into law, and that is why we think it is a government agency. if you don't obey the rules that they set down for their own industry you go to prison. and so it looks like a government agency, but basically the answer to your question is, it is a banking cartel. >> when did you get interested in this topic? >> oh, i first became interested in this topic in the middle of the 1960's, producing some rather low budgets documentaries. you know, a good documentary would be on inflation. the cause of inflation? wasn't too sure.

i knew it had something to do with the manipulation of the money supply's. as service to do research and never did produce a documentary, but that is when i got my interest into it. i have a box full of research. anyway, eventually i got the box back out and started to give some talks on it. it just sort of group. there was no great milestone along the way. the more i learned about it the more i realize that it was a very important topic for the future of our country. >> you right in the creature from jekyll island that the sci see is that insurance. what is this? >> well, this is a hard thing to answer. we have the problem that when you are over ensuring something or if you ensure something to the point where there is no risk of all then there is a tendency for the thing you are insuring against to happen. the old jokes, you have the store that is losing money.

you insured $4 million it burns down. just couldn't help it. somebody left a match to my guess. that is called moral hazard. that is the name the insurance industry gives it. so when you have a government agency guaranteeing that banks cannot fail they're going to take taxpayer money and make the banks will again if they go belly up or if they're is a run on a banker something like that. you're encouraging banks to make risky investments because what have they got to lose? they know they're not going to be allowed to suffer the consequences of their own act. secondly, the fdic is not really insurance. it does not really rate the banks. in other words, more risky banks don't pay a higher premium than a more conservative banks. they all pay the same rate, so this is another form of moral hazard. those who were conservatives and

doing the best for their stockholders and investors and making less money, and the reckless banks are out there making reckless loans, making more money, and so a conservative banks say, i guess we better be reckless. the whole industry tends to go away. that, by the way, is a sharp and way of explaining what has happened to our banking industry over the last, well, next to the federal reserve will be 100 years old, so this has been going on for 100 years. >> so, mr. griffin, what should be done in your view? >> there is only one thing to be done. if you remember what it really is, a cartel. a cartel that has the monopoly power of our nation's money. the fed needs to be abolished. there is no way around it. you cannot take the power to create money out of nothing and give it to men and expect that power not to correct the asman. i don't care whether they be bankers are politicians, you give that power to anybody and eventually they will be

corrupted by it. the tour reserve system is a cartel, and i think america needs to abolish it before it abolishes america. >> is that possible? >> is not politically possible now because the average person does not understand it, and said it would not support a move, but it is becoming more possible. with the passage of every month and certainly every year and more and more people waking up to the fact that our banking industry is based upon fraud and that these bailouts and all these stimulus programs that are being done with this newly created money, this is not helping the people. it is pondering the people. as more and more people, it becomes more and more politically possible. right now i don't think it is, but when i look from some years ago, practically zero interest and the topic, and now we have demonstrations. end the fed movement, and investigate the fed to audit the fed. the movement to abolish the fed

is actually growing. i see it on college campuses. i have an occasion to speak with the university groups. you will see people with placards, and the fed. well, this is the new generation coming up, you see. again, back to your question, it is not possible now, but the movement is growing in power early in the next 18 years and probably will happen. >> would you advocate something replacing it? >> on this banking. remember, it's the cartel. i don't think that bananas have to have a cartel to be sold. individual banana companies can sell their bananas without joining the cartel. >> we have been talking with g. edward griffin, the creature from jekyll island in its 302nd printing, the founder and president of freedom force internationa