The Creature from Jekyll Island: Chapter 1 - The Journey to Jekyll Island

Setting

Date & Location: November, 1910, New Jersey railway station. Cold, first snow of the year.
Train Description: Typical 1910s train with chair cars converting into sleepers. Dining car separates first class from others. Luxury private railway car of Nelson Aldrich is noted for its extravagance.

Nelson Aldrich: Senator from Rhode Island, political spokesman for big business, associated with JP Morgan, related to Rockefeller family.
Other Notable Passengers:
- Abraham P. Andrew: Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.
- Frank A. Vanderlip: President of the National City Bank of New York.
- Henry P. Davison: Senior partner of JP Morgan Company.
- Charles D. Norton: President of JP Morgan's First National Bank of New York.
- Benjamin Strong: Head of JP Morgan's Bankers Trust Company.
- Paul M. Warburg: Partner in Kuhn Loeb & Company, related to the Rothschild banking dynasty.

Destination: Jekyll Island, Georgia.
Real Purpose: Design the Federal Reserve System, not hunting as publicly stated.
Context: Seven men representing vast wealth gathered to create a banking cartel blueprint to maximize profits, minimize competition, and establish a central bank system.

Economic Context:
- Early 1900s saw rapid growth of banks and a shift towards independent financing by industries.
- The need for a central banking system was influenced by economic instability and events like bank failures.

Secrecy: Extreme measures taken to maintain secrecy; only first names used, servants were replaced.
Outcome: Agreement on a banking cartel that would influence the Federal Reserve System’s creation.
Historical Denial: For years, the meeting was denied or downplayed as unimportant.

Control: Stop the growing influence of small rival banks, keep financial control among elite bankers.
Elastic Money Supply: Reverse the trend of private capital formation.
Pooling Reserves: Unify bank reserves to avoid currency drains and protect banks from runs.
Shift Losses: Use taxpayer money to cover bank failures instead of private bank funds.

Cartel Naming: Avoid the term 'cartel' and instead use 'central bank'; emphasize regional branches.
Influence on Legislation: Convince Congress to pass legislation under the guise of public protection.

Failure to Stabilize Economy: Despite its purpose, the Federal Reserve failed to prevent economic crises.
Cartel Dominance: The Federal Reserve is seen as a cartel that serves private interests under a government facade.
Continued Influence: The system maintained and expanded the dominance of major financial groups.

Aldrich's Influence: "Cooperative union of all the banks of the country for definite purposes."
Historical Perspective: Chairman of the National Monetary Commission, Warburg is recognized as the main architect.
Critique: Despite failures, mainstream criticism often attributes inefficiency to complexity rather than systemic issues.

The creation of the Federal Reserve was a calculated move by financial elites to consolidate power and control over the monetary system, disguised as a public protection measure.