[Prompt] Lincoln, via Voorhis and McGeer
Keith Wilde
keithwilde@sympatico.ca
Sat Feb 14 15:31:06 2004
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The issue here is "Lincoln's Monetary Policy". In my most recent =
posting on the subject I quoted the lines from G.G. McGeer's Conquest of =
Poverty in which he clearly identified himself as author of the =
statement that is now so widely admired and rumored to be Lincoln's own =
limpid and stirring prose.
In that post I also acknowledged the helpful leads provided by the =
self-described conspiracy buff, William R. Carr, at =20
www.heritech.com/pridger/lincoln/lin-ken.htm . I so doing, however, I =
expressed incredulity that after quoting McGeer extensively from the =
very chapter in which "Lincon's Monetary Policy" appears, Carr then =
turned to a book by Jerry Voorhis as his source for "Lincoln's" =
statement. Following is copied from Carr's site
LINCOLN'S MONETARY POLICY=20
The following is quoted from pages 44-47 of Out of Debt, Out of Danger, =
by the late California Congressman Jerry Voorhis (1901-1984 - First =
printed in 1943, and reprinted 1991 by the Populist Action Committee)=20
"On page 186 of The Conquest of Poverty by G. G. McGeer there appears =
the following summary of the views of President Abraham Lincoln. The =
Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service says: 'The statement =
in this extract are not in Lincoln's own words, but they represent his =
monetary views expressed in his writings.'"
While this is a contemptible use of "scholarship" to deceive, the Carr =
does open up some interesting connections which may point to McGeer as =
the source of an American tradition in conspiracy theory!
My parenthetical comment last time about Nixon's link to Voorhis =
prompted some searching to get it straight. That caused me a shock at =
how old I am getting! Nixon was first elected to the House of =
Representatives by defeating Voorhis in the 1946 mid-term election, and =
then took over Voorhis' assignment on the House Un-American Activities =
Committee--after having painted his opponent as soft on Communism. =
Nixon went on to get elected to the Senate by defeating Helen Gahagan =
Douglas with essentially the same tactic. (I remember the names and the =
commie smear very well--but was not particularly interested in the =
details in those days of endless McCarthyism.) There is a web site =
devoted to Jerry Voorhis, which may turn out to be quite useful in =
pursuit of "Lincoln's" policy. Links to several short papers by =
Voorhis show that his views on monetary and economic policy were very =
close to those of McGeer. One of these links leads back to 1998 =
postings by Bill Ryan to the U. Of Colorado site, Communications for a =
Sustainable Future, of several excerpts from the Voorhis book identified =
above. From what I have read so far, Voorhis' view on monetary policy =
seems to be an almost exact parallel to McGeer's. Chronological =
positioning also suggests that Voorhis may have followed McGeer's =
evidence and reasoning in the development of his own views.
The money reform literature from the late 1930s and early '40s seems =
to have a lot of interest in Lincoln, which leads me to wonder how many =
more of the statements attributed to him are also apochryphal. I wonder =
what professional historians specialized to Lincoln have to say about =
some of them. From biographical sketches I have found about McGeer, he =
seems to have been prominent among students of Lincoln's money policy =
and assassination. Whether or not he was leading the pack, he certainly =
made an impression. There seems to be only one book-length biography =
of McGeer, written by David Ricardo Williams and published in Vancouver =
in 1986. Copies of it are available for sale via Net search, and I have =
located one in the National Library. It will take some time before I =
get it read since it can't be taken from the site. It was cheaply made, =
physically, and is in poor shape--in marked contrast to McGeer's own =
book!
An interesting and important point made by Williams is that McGeer was =
not a thorough-going Social Credit supporter. Allthough he was =
unquestionably influenced by Douglas, he also admired Keynes and =
Gesell--and of course read much into statements by Lincoln. His policy =
ideas can be read on the Net at the yamaguchy site, and they come close =
to the solution proposed by Stephen Zarlenga. That is, both money and =
credit should be issued and controlled in quantity by government.
1939 seems to have been an important year for McGeer's ideas. That =
was the year in which his statement of Lincoln's monetary policy was =
read into Senate Doc 23, and also the year in which Graham Towers was =
grilled in the Banking and Commerce Committee of the Canadian House of =
Commons--another of the favorite quotations of money reformers. I plan =
to verify the Canadian statements, but I wish someone else would do some =
(honest) work on the U.S. side.
Keith Wilde
=20
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The issue here is "Lincoln's Monetary=20
Policy". In my most recent posting on the subject I quoted the=20
lines from G.G. McGeer's <EM>Conquest of Poverty</EM> in which he =
clearly=20
identified himself as author of the statement that is now so widely =
admired and=20
rumored to be Lincoln's own limpid and stirring prose.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>In that post I also acknowledged the =
helpful leads=20
provided by the self-described conspiracy buff, William R. Carr, =
at <FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" =
size=3D3> </FONT><A=20
href=3D"http://www.heritech.com/pridger/lincoln/lin-ken.htm"><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman"=20
size=3D3>www.heritech.com/pridger/lincoln/lin-ken.htm</FONT></A><FONT=20
face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3> <FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>. I =
so doing,=20
however, I expressed incredulity that after quoting McGeer extensively =
from the=20
very chapter in which "Lincon's Monetary Policy" appears, Carr then =
turned to a=20
book by Jerry Voorhis as his source for "Lincoln's" statement. =
Following=20
is copied from Carr's site</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=3D#008000>LINCOLN'S MONETARY =
POLICY</FONT></STRONG>=20
<P>The following is quoted from pages 44-47 of <I>Out of Debt, Out of=20
Danger</I>, by the late California Congressman Jerry Voorhis (1901-1984 =
=97 First=20
printed in 1943, and reprinted 1991 by the Populist Action Committee)=20
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>"On page 186 of <I>The Conquest of Poverty</I> by G. G. McGeer =
there=20
appears the following summary of the views of President Abraham =
Lincoln. The=20
Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service says: 'The statement =
in this=20
extract are not in Lincoln's own words, but they represent his =
monetary views=20
expressed in his writings.'"</P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial>While this is a contemptible use of =
"scholarship" to=20
deceive, the Carr does open up some interesting connections =
which=20
may point to McGeer as the source of an American tradition in =
conspiracy=20
theory!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial>My parenthetical comment last time =
about Nixon's link=20
to Voorhis prompted some searching to get it straight. That =
caused me=20
a shock at how old I am getting! Nixon was first =
elected to=20
the House of Representatives by defeating Voorhis in the 1946 mid-term =
election, and then took over Voorhis' assignment on the House =
Un-American=20
Activities Committee--after having painted his opponent as soft on=20
Communism. Nixon went on to get elected to the Senate by =
defeating Helen=20
Gahagan Douglas with essentially the same tactic. (I =
remember the=20
names and the commie smear very well--but was not particularly =
interested in=20
the details in those days of =
endless McCarthyism.) There is a=20
web site devoted to Jerry Voorhis, which may turn out to be quite =
useful in=20
pursuit of "Lincoln's" policy. Links to several short =
papers by=20
Voorhis show that his views on monetary and economic policy were very =
close to=20
those of McGeer. One of these links leads back to 1998 postings =
by Bill=20
Ryan to the U. Of Colorado site, Communications for a Sustainable =
Future, of=20
several excerpts from the Voorhis book identified above. From =
what I=20
have read so far, Voorhis' view on monetary policy seems to be an =
almost exact=20
parallel to McGeer's. Chronological positioning also suggests =
that=20
Voorhis may have followed McGeer's evidence and reasoning in the =
development=20
of his own views.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial>The money reform literature from the late 1930s =
and early=20
'40s seems to have a lot of interest in Lincoln, which leads me to =
wonder how=20
many more of the statements attributed to him are also =
apochryphal. I=20
wonder what professional historians specialized to Lincoln have to say =
about=20
some of them. From biographical sketches I have found about =
McGeer, he=20
seems to have been prominent among students of Lincoln's money policy =
and=20
assassination. Whether or not he was leading the pack, he =
certainly made=20
an impression. There seems to be only one book-length =
biography of=20
McGeer, written by David Ricardo Williams and published in Vancouver =
in=20
1986. Copies of it are available for sale via Net search, and I =
have=20
located one in the National Library. It will take some time =
before I get=20
it read since it can't be taken from the site. It was =
cheaply made,=20
physically, and is in poor shape--in marked contrast to McGeer's own=20
book!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial>An interesting and important point made by =
Williams is=20
that McGeer was not a thorough-going Social Credit supporter. =
Allthough=20
he was unquestionably influenced by Douglas, he also admired Keynes =
and=20
Gesell--and of course read much into statements by Lincoln. His =
policy=20
ideas can be read on the Net at the yamaguchy site, and they come =
close to the=20
solution proposed by Stephen Zarlenga. That is, both money and =
credit=20
should be issued and controlled in quantity by government.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial>1939 seems to have been an important year for =
McGeer's=20
ideas. That was the year in which his statement of Lincoln's =
monetary=20
policy was read into Senate Doc 23, and also the year in which Graham =
Towers=20
was grilled in the Banking and Commerce Committee of the Canadian =
House of=20
Commons--another of the favorite quotations of money reformers. I plan =
to=20
verify the Canadian statements, but I wish someone else would do some=20
(honest) work on the U.S. side.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial>Keith Wilde</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </P>
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