When and where did Woodrow Wilson say this??

I'm talking about this quote, I can't find the time and date he said it, if he actually did.

I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.

What do you guys think? Did Woodrow Wilson actually say this? I'm inclined to believe so, but I need confirmation...

A google search brings up primarily other conspiracy websites:

link to google search on president Woodrow Wilson quote

Note that on wikipedia they don't know what the source for that quote is either.

[edit on 19-3-2006 by TheBandit795]

Here's what I can find so far ...
source

Despite these warnings, Woodrow Wilson signed the 1913 Federal Reserve Act. A few years later he wrote:

I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men. -Woodrow Wilson

I guess he realized that putting the foxes in charge of the henhouse wasn't a good idea after all. :shk:


[edit: to add]
Apparently he wrote that in 1916. Not sure if it's from his memoirs,etc.

[edit on 3/19/2006 by 12m8keall2c]

Yes I saw it on the money masters website also. But it's still vague there. They don't say exactly when and where he wrote it. Perhaps the letter he wrote that in still exists to this day.

All I've come across so far seems the same, "years later he wrote", "in his writings", etc.

I'll keep looking and will post if I find anything more definitive.

Perhaps a lead.. not confirming whether he said it or not but it says here the quote was mentionned in "Repeal the Federal Reserve Banks" by Rev. Casimir Frank Gierut. Published some time... around... some time.

How did it happen? After previous attempts to push the Federal Reserve Act through Congress, a group of bankers funded and staffed Woodrow Wilson's campaign for President. He had committed to sign this act. In 1913, a Senator, Nelson Aldrich, maternal grandfather to the Rockefellers, pushed the Federal Reserve Act through Congress just before Christmas when much of Congress was on vacation (Reference 3, 4, 5). When elected, Wilson passed the FED. Later, Wilson remorsefully replied (referring to the FED), "I have unwittingly ruined my country" (Reference 17, P. 31).

Link: forums.hyperqubes.info...

And from the debate on Wiki:

Actually, the source is alleged to be Page 31 of a document titled "Repeal the Federal Reserve Banks" by Casimir Frank Gierut. Being unable to find an online copy of this document, I cannot say for sure what Casimir's source is. The year is either 1916, 1919, or 1923, depending on who you ask...

Link: en.wikipedia.org...:Federal_Reserve

Thanks for the info, La Balance.. I'll check it out.

That just about sums it up. He admitted that mistake he made and he knew the gravity of it. Oh rue that day for sure. So we have been slaves for nearly 100 years now.

I have seen this talked about on other forums and across the Internet. From what I have read many people now believe this quote to be nothing more than an Internet hoax. No one that I have seen can provide the actual source for the quote. I have even read a forum where an historian working in DC could not find evidence to support this quote. There is a good possibility that the quote is a fake.

This quote, at least most of it, can be found on page 185 of "The New Freedom" Woodrow Wilson (1913, Doubleday, Page & Co).
In the preface, Wilson describes this book as "the result of the literary skill of Mr William Bayard Hale, who has put together here in their right sequences the more suggestive of my campaign speeches.......I have left the sentences in the form in which they were stenographically reported".
It seems that the original quote may have been incompletely lifted from one of Wilson's campaign speeches- but, I have been unable to find a source for the full quote anywhere. Perhaps the Library of Congress has a complete text of the original speech? Please post if you find it!

I heard it on the History channel on a special dealing with the fed They also talked about how the depression was created to make the fed come to be.

Hmmm.....That one won't wash. The Fed had been in place for 16 years when the Great Depression struck- exactly the sort of market failure they had promised to prevent.
Those 'in the know' made the equivalent of billions in today's dollars, buying up fallen businesses for pennies on the dollar.

It's depressing that Americans are so stupid; this grand theft has been going on in broad daylight for 94 years, and we're still paying.....

You do understand that the Internal Revenue code was authored in order to pay the Fed's interest, right?



reply to post by FreeThinkerIdealist

If Internet or ATS existed back in that year, would've the Fed Reserve Act got signed anyway?

[edit on 26-11-2007 by TheoOne]

reply to post by TheoOne


I dunno, how did the net do at blocking the patriot act?
or any other or the retarded legislation thats come out lately

I have the book "The New Freedom," by Woodrow Wilson. This quote does not appear in the book. He never mentions the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Reserve Act even once in the book.

He does talk about how the economy is controlled by the wealthy, but this quote (or even parts of the quote) do not exist in this book.

You didn't read the book then. You can find the quote without the first few sentences in chapter 8. Also chapter 9 has more. You can find a free e-copy on www.gutenberg.org/etext/14811

The quote, without the first 2 sentences, can be found on the Woodrow Wilson Library Website. They attribute the speech as an "Excerpt from 1912 campaign speech". (woodrowwilson.org) I searched for quotes on that website.

They also followed up with this quote from a 1912 campaign speech:

"We have restricted credit, we have restricted opportunity, we have controlled development, and we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world--no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men."

This was before he was president and the signing of the "Federal Reserve Act" so I doubt that the first 2 sentences are accurate. The meeting at Jeckll Island was 2 years earlier. There was a campaign to get support for the Act and Wilson may have been a part of it.

The question is, did this group of men dominate before or after the Act was put in places. If they dominated after then he was a part of the conspiracy and propaganda. If it was before then he must of believed what he was saying.

FrankRizzo - reread the book - Chapter 8.

zerotime - internet hoax? in the 1920's? Dude, not EVERYTHING you see is a lie.

What is so preposterous about the notion that Wilson, a hapless academician thrust into the political world, would not eventually recognize and comment on the nature of the success of the robber barons of old?

I was reading the new freedom online and part of that quote is in it...

"We are at the parting of the ways. We have, not one or two or three, but
many, established and formidable monopolies in the United States. We have,
not one or two, but many, fields of endeavor into which it is difficult,
if not impossible, for the independent man to enter. We have restricted
credit, we have restricted opportunity, we have controlled development,
and we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely
controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world--no longer a
government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the
vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of
small groups of dominant men."

He basicaly says the same thign about our government and it looks like someone twisted the quote to make him take responsibilty for those things