In 1908, the National Monetary Commission was established by Congress to study financial boom-and-bust cycles. Senator Nelson Aldrich (Republican-RI) was chair of the commission. He, in secret enclave with a group of bankers, drafted what was called The Aldrich Plan, which provided for a central "bank" that would hold funds individual banks could borrow in the case of a bank run, print currency, and act as the fiscal agent of the US government. However, the plan gave little power to the government and seemed to give almost absolute control of the country's currency to Wall Street financiers. This 1912 book outlines the dangers and supposed duplicity of The Aldrich Plan while it was being debated in Congress. (The plan was eventually defeated, but was used as a basis for the Federal Reserve Act, which was signed into law in 1913.) - Summary by TriciaG
