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Lberg, ìlo^STift.Belmors®$ftnd, 14,0 V\ \9AS U .S.P O S T A G E . OPK [ a i r m Fed.Reserve Board. a i l - p o s t a l c a r d ) Mr.Marriner S.Eccles, Washington, D.C. Portland,Ore.,June 8th,1949. Dear Mr. Eccles; I a m disappointed because you have not answered m y letter. Have all of our "top econo m i s t s ” been h e r d e d into the fold of our Economic Roy alists? Pre we going to be maneuvered into an atomic wH for the sole purpose of perpetuating our economic f o O y ? It is h a r d for me to believe that you would join that mot l e y crowd. I well understand how wealth, no matter h o w acquired,effects people. I have close relatives w h o stepped f r o m "nothing”into millions left in the f o r m of a ” trust estate*by ,fBet-a-millionf Jo hnny Gates. Today you cant touch one of them with a 10 foot pole. F r i o r to the " w i n d f a l l fthey were fine,normal folks. Best wishes, C.H.Chilberg. Portland,14,Oregon,Aug.15th,1950. 1410-S.E. Belmont St.. Mr.Marriner S.Eccles, Fed.Reserve Board, Washington,D.C. Dear Mr.Eccles; Past correspondence with you convinces me that you have a clearer understanding of our mounting MONEY-MUDDLE/ than any of the many men holding high positions with wh o m I have contacted. Our conduct in Korea has started world-war 111,- a war which will end this thing we call CIVILIZATION. Our war-mongers seem to overlook the fact that this war will bring death to those w&o formerly profited while our finest young m en did the fighting and dying. How they fail to understand that is beyond understanding. As I see it,- we are the victims of our BOOM & BUST economy. I well recall that you once wrote me thus,- "I share your fears that unless we leprn how to operate our economic system more sensibly we cannot hope to preserve i t ” . You mailed cop ies of talks you h ad made concerning expansion of our foreign trade. As I re call, you contended that we could NOT improve our economic status by loaning other nations the m o n e y with w hich to pay for our huge surpluses,- that it be w o u l d ”far better to make buying power available to our underprivileged masses. This is not an exact quote ( I mislaid the items) bat it covers the point. It is useless to discuss our “money-muddle” without bringing in those "antiChristian, bloodthirsty satellite nations” of the USSR. While damning the ”sstellites” we defend the principle of colonial slave states;- French Indo China for example. We also find many members of Congress who favor a huge loan (gift) to butcher Franco of Spain,- the m an who slaughtered thousands of poor Cathol ics but NOT ONE RICH CATHOLIC. A recent issue of our Portland Oregon Journal carries a picture of Gen.MacArthur kissing the gloved hand of Madame Chiang during a recent trip to Formosa. Chiang Kai shek and the other rich ruling families are the most hated persons in Asia,-and our TOP MAN kisses her hand and the picture is exposed to the world. Such hypocritical conduct by our military leader will accentuate the growing hatered toward us in Asia,and many other parts of the world. I assure you I am not one who contends that ”we are all wrong ai^d the USSR is all-right1,! I contend there is nothing ALL bad nor ALL-good in any government. Our rapidly mounting crimes of all sorts and our broken homes,plus our excessive liquor drinking,- our excessive use of cigarets and narcotics is positive proof that there is a LOT w r ong with our USA. And un til we' face this fact and our Congress admits that we MUST have overall 2- ■ PLANNING designed to spread buying power (MONEY) on a basis farmore equitable ^ ^ h a n we have in the past, we shall travel down the trail toward hell. The USSR is merely CONTROLT.ED CAPITALISM,-it is far from socalled pure Social ism. However,they have taken one step in the direction the world masses will glad ly follow,- They refuse to glorify H U MAN GREED,-man’s most dangerous characteris tic. They do not permit any ma n to become a millionaire at the expense of their common people;- they are exploiting their natural resources in an effort to raise their standard of living;- we,to the contrary, exploit oneanother and glorify those who amass the greatest fortunes. That is the "great crime" w hich is being fought by the RICH in every land,-especially,here in our abundantly endowed USA. This is the first time we have been challenged by a nation that possesses a far greater supply of natural resources than we possess. The two terrible wars since taking over control has hindered their "5 year plans^-especially in the field ^^f consumer goods. They gladly exchange raw materials for finished goods made by their neighbor nations,-a sort of barter basis. They would be happy to do like wise with us and prove that war between the"East and West" is uncalled for. But, NO SIR! we will have nothing to do with them. Our exporters (backed by John Poster Dulles) are stymied because we bar foreign goods by high tariffs and demand US dollars in payment for our ever-mounting surpluses,- they lack such money and we appear willing to keep on loaning it to them without a chance of repayment .Such economic nonsense would ultimately lead to armed conflict,-or to national bankruptcy. We truly are on a tough spot,-can produce an abundance of practically everything our workers desire,-but our wage system does not circulate ample buy ing power. E v e r y strike for higher wages is immediately reflected in higher prices for everything the worker desires,- what follows? the BOOM & BUST of course. You well know this is Hthe truth and nothing but the truth".But do you ^dare to stand up and accept the consequences for telling We,the People the truth? I believe you do or I w o u l d n ’t be writing you at this time of crisis. L e t ’s not be frightened by foreign ISMS. W e face the choice of demanding OVERALL PLANNING or follow our Economic Hopheads to "The River Elbe",-Another world war and total destiruction. Contending that there is work at living wages for all _ ble to work tBTa tragic falsehood. There are more than 13 million senior citi zens who are denied work because of age, Organized BIG BUSINESS,when seeking workers, practically say,-"If you are over 35 please d o n ’t waste the application blank". What will they do until they reach the age of retirement on SOCIAL SECU RITY? Such "retirement" is NOT security atall.My broken down wife receives $29.00 is denied Digitizedand for FRASER the right to earn (by wages) more than $15,00 per month. 3This,mind you,when living costs mount day by day.This parcimonious "plan" C makes liars and cheaters out of our oldsters. We have 48 varities of "old age assistance". Not one state pays enough to provide an "adequate standard of liv ing". If said "senior citizens" received a truly adequate pension,- based on a sliding scale,- say at the least # 100.00 per month,with the assurance that it would be spent during the m o nth it was received, would help provide employment for our young people during their family-raising years. Such a pension would automatically stop the many battles by organized labor for adequate retirement pensions for their members.lt would check the mounting friction between employers and their workers.Since it would go to all citizens regardless of RACE,COLOR or CREED it would stop the mounting friction between religous factions. It would, IN PACT, make us truly fit for world leadership. We need not call it any foreign ISM,-let us call it COMMON SENSE AMERICANISM: This is generally k n own as the Townsend Plsn. It is popular in every state in ^Mjhe US. If adopted we would,at long last, have a T R ULY UNITED STATES. As now operating we suggest changing the name,- a more appropriate term would be M0B0CRACY. For the past 100 years billions have been paid to members of our armed forces and their heirs without asking ONE DOLLAR of "match-money" from the 48 states and the 3079 county subdivisions,-as is demanded by the "phony" Social Security Act. Heirs of Vets who fought in the war with Mexico are still on the list.Under a properly PLANNED E C O NOMY we simply couldn’t go BANKRUPT. Continuing our present course BANKRUPTCY is inevetable. I believe you will admit the truth of this statement. Our people are becoming very,very tired of watching our members of congress u p oneanother’s pay. They now draw better than $30,000 per annum, with many "free" gifts on the side. A recent raise of $8,000 was suggested by a member. Such conduct is making more "Reds" than Joe Stalin could ever hope to make. I hope I have not annoyed you with this long letter.Again I repeat,-I am ^ ^ r i t i n g to you because I consider you the fairest,straight-thinking m a n % now occupying a hi g h place in our muddled economy. W i t h kindest regards, yours truly and patriotically, Charles Kinsey Chilberg. This photograph is protected by copyright and has been removed. The citation for the original is: Oregon Journal, “Kiss for Madame Chiang,” August 1950. August 17, 1950. Mr. C. K. Chilberg, 1410 - S, E. belmont Street, Portland 14, Oregon. Dear Mr. Chilberg: I have read with interest your letter of August 15- I have a good deal of sympathy for your viewpoint on many aspects of our very complicated domestic and inter national problems. I have realized the futility of my own efforts and, therefore, I feel as frustrated, if not more so, than you do. because of the views you express in your letter and in case you have not had an opportunity to read them, you may be interested in a speech I made before The Commonwealth Club of California, in ban Francisco, on April 8, 1949, &nd also a letter wnich I wrote to Senator Cain, at his request, relative to social security. I am enclosing a copy of each herewith. With kind regards, Sincerely yours, M. S. Eccles. Enclosures. VEs die
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