19. Here Lies Prosperity                 

Source:  Sound Money (Massillon, OH), August 22, 1895

Creation of the National Banking System (which the Federal Reserve System replaced in 1913) essentially placed banking and currency policy in the hands of bankers (especially northeastern and New York bankers).  The "Crime of '73 is explained in the notes to the previous cartoon.  President Cleveland successfully got the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 repealed in 1893 as an anti-depression measure.  Northeastern financial interests had convinced him that the Act had caused an outflow of gold in foreign exchange, which they claimed had hurt investor confidence and caused the depression.  Each of the Acts mentioned in this cartoon was believed to contribute to the deflation of the late nineteenth century.

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