Welcome to the dynamic alternative

Abolition of
Income Tax and Usury
Party

Contact us: P.O. Box 28176, Bothasig 7604, RSA -- Tel & Fax: +27 (0)21-558 2122 -- Email: info@abolishtax.org.za
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“The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves.”

Plato, philosopher (427-347 BCE)


 OVERVIEW AND HISTORY

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On this site you will find information concerning our Party's political agenda and much more. But first something about us, our history and a general overview of the South African election scene.

OURS IS THE MOST DYNAMIC PARTY
The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is the most dynamic party in South Africa and stands unequivocally for an Honest Money System to replace the dishonest one now in existence.

Our Party is the brainchild of a small number of far-sighted individuals and was first formally structured before the 1994 general elections and had the full intention of taking part in that process. However, due to all manner of reasons, not the least of which were the disinformation, obfuscation and seemingly purposely orchestrated campaign to keep small parties from taking part, we found it impossible to register the party at that time. It was therefore put on the back burner while we cooled our heels for the ensuing five years; years which saw a universally admitted degeneration of everything in this once relatively prosperous, safe and contented country.

NOT EASY TO TAKE PART IN ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Even with more or less the same kind of tactics in evidence before and during the 1999 general elections, we did in the end manage to register and take part. Of course the rules of the "game" had changed drastically and the ruling party had entrenched itself to such a degree that their dictates held sway. For instance, whereas in 1994 the deposit to take part at national level was R25 000, it had been increased to R100 000 and that for participation at provincial level went up from R5 000 to R20 000. Naturally, parliamentary rubber-stamping being what it is, the mainstream parties weren't going to suffer too much. Arrangements were as follows: The ruling party would receive an amount R31 500 000 from state coffers for their election campaign (We're not counting the more than R1.2 BILLION they got for their "war chest" from foreign "questionable sources".) and the other parliamentary parties were allocated varying amounts ranging from R10 500 000 for the official opposition party to "just" R190 000 to the last horse, a minuscule little party run by a single man. That being the case, the "mainstream" parties were happy to be bought off and, of course, they were willing participants in attempting to keep other parties from also running the race.

SHOE-STRING BUDGET
Our party found it a great hardship to scrape the money together to pay the participation fee (R100 000) and in the end lost every cent we paid over to the so-called "Independent Electoral Commission" (IEC) and towards our relatively shoe-string advertising campaign to make ourselves known to the people of South Africa. The "shoe-string" cost a "mere" R50 000 to R60 000. Even with a rand/dollar exchange rate of R7.50 for a dollar, our overseas readers will understand that R160 000 is a lot of money to lose.

TACTICS FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT
Of course the mainstream parties and the media had a field day in trying to make our party seem to be over the top as far as possible. We were, for instance, the only party ridiculed on local radio stations and also on national television. In these cases the local station as well as the SA Broadcasting Corporation (a state-owned entity) saw fit to use an Afrikaans-speaking economist to "explain" to the listening and viewing public that our party's views were "either complete madness or genius" to paraphrase his remarks. What was obvious to a large proportion of knowledgeable and politically astute news watchers, and politician watchers, was the fact that these were almost the only times a "White opinion" was allowed to be aired during the whole election and it was not favourable towards us at all. The printed media were slightly better in carrying news of our party but they managed to have many "typos" and misstatements slip into their reporting. Even adverts that we paid for managed to get things screwed up unrecognizably. If we were paranoid we would have said it was all stage-managed. The whole thing was, of course, a farce of the first magnitude.

YOU BE THE JUDGE
As far as our policies go, you may be the judge. We include lower down our party's Manifesto for your reading pleasure, as well as other material, some of which were used in our media statements while others are being printed here for the first time.

WE DID WELL UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES
To complete the picture, we can report that we managed to get 12 500 plus votes - at one stage - but this figure was whittled down to 10 611 at the final "count". That is the official figure. What the true figure is, is anyone's guess. If we could, we would most certainly have liked to thank each and every one of the people who voted for us - whether 12 500 or the lower number. They've shown us that there are still some people who can think for themselves. And speaking of gerrymandering and other tricks of the trade:- Most analysts and some parties (notably not the ruling party) have come out against the election results being accurate. Some have also stated publicly that the ruling party could not have received more than 52% of the votes cast. It is general knowledge that an horrendous amount of horse-play occurred before, during and after the elections. It is almost as generally known that about 5 000 000 more votes were "counted" than cast at the polling stations. For the so-called Independent Electoral Commission and the many "expert" organizations who made it their business to have an opinion about our elections, all was "fair and square" or as they normally say - "free and fair". Of course it wasn't free - it cost a tremendous amount of money and time lost - and it was not fair by any measurement. But c'est la vie (that's life) in the political scene in Africa and life goes on. We are sure to do better the next time around.



 

 MANIFESTO

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ABOLITION OF INCOME TAX AND USURY PARTY

P.O. Box 28176, Bothasig 7406 RSA Tel & Fax +27 (0)21 558 2122
__________________________________________________________________

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MANIFESTO
And Policy Positions



TAXATION POLICY
-- A DYNAMIC DEPARTURE FROM THE PRESENT PARADIGM --


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A Short History of Income Tax, its Effects and its Remedies

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party holds that Income Tax is a Marxist invention (point number two of the Communist Manifesto) and should be done away with in a reconstructed South Africa functioning under a new economic system. The system is called Zero Income Tax or Z.I.T.

Income Tax is a system of economic enslavement which is relatively new to this country, only coming into use in 1914 in the greater South Africa. We are convinced that it is a disincentive to economic growth, creating individual misfortune and creating a social climate of dishonesty. The system today is in chaos - many people fall outside "the net" while many others side-step it through "legal" avoidance because they are in a position to pay for the services of so-called tax experts. In a reconstructed South Africa the experts - bookkeepers, tax accountants, and such - will still have work, however, and plenty of it.

Our party's economic system will create a climate of growth and new job opportunities will abound. Entrepreneurs and everyone else will be empowered to earn an honest living without the present feeling of guilt and fear of being caught out by what has become a veritable tax police. Because there will be no taxation of income, everyone will reap the benefits of the abundance of local skills, expertise and the fundamental wealth of this country, something which presently is dampened by the ogre of the taxman. Entrepreneurs and ordinary people alike will therefore create jobs for many others and investment by people and businesses from foreign countries will clamour at South Africa's doors to be allowed in.

The "how" of the system can briefly be explained by saying that the state will form partnerships with bigger companies and institutions, such as mines, corporate farming (so-called "agri-business") et cetera. Identified conglomerate and/or monopolistic enterprises will be invited to have the state as a partner in a similar way, for example, that Anglo American Corporation has a partnership with Botswana in respect of their Debswana diamond enterprise as well as their potash venture in that country, and also with the state of Namibia with their diamond mining operation (Namdeb) in that country along the Atlantic seaboard in what is known as the Sperrgebiet

As far as the major mineral and precious metals mining industries of South Africa are concerned, we also plan to become the buyer of first resort of the output of the mines and the major, if not the only, marketing agent. As the major producer of gold and many other minerals (strategic and otherwise), South Africa will eventually have control over the pricing of these commodities.

Mining companies and other large businesses that participate in the partnership scheme will be required to invest their share of the profits in the Republic for a period of not less than five years. This condition will apply in respect of local as well as foreign-based companies. The effect of this will be a lag time of five years which will benefit the Republic's economy while not depriving investors of their legitimate returns on investments.


EXPENDITURE TAX -- Just Another Form of Taxing Income

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When tax on expenditure first came into being, the people of South Africa were promised that it would replace Income Tax in due time. We all now know this never happened and that the General Sales Tax (GST) has until today not relieved the Income Tax burden on the people of South Africa. Over time the then GST which started out at 4% changed into the present-day "Value Added Tax" (VAT) at 14%.

Expenditure tax by whatever name is nevertheless also a tax on income as it is levied on the remainder of one's income after paying Income Tax. The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party will discontinue this form of taxing income. This concept is known as "Zero Expenditure Tax" or Z.E.T.


The Rationale behind the Z.I.T. and Z.E.T. System (or Honest Money System)

Before 1914 what became known as South Africa (and this goes for the independent Boer Republics as well) grew economically strong, built harbours, roads, bridges, hospitals, and all manner of other state-owned and serviced amenities for its people (even while being assessed for payments to its colonial power, England) without requiring the Marxist-inspired tax on income or its later offshoot, expenditure tax. It is therefore demonstrably possible to do away with these forms of taxation.

All other taxes, such as excise tax, customs duty, licenses, deposits and so forth, will continue until investigation has proved them also to be redundant, at which time the necessary adjustments will be made. With the system of Z.I.T. and Z.E.T. in full operation, the economy of the Republic of South Africa will boom and continue to boom and its people will be happy, content and peaceful as never before. The fruits of their labour, their income, will belong to them only, and there will not be what can be termed a parasitic government creaming off part of their labour.

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BANKING POLICY

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The South African Reserve Bank -- A Private Bank

Full control over the functioning of the S.A. Reserve Bank will rest with the Department of the Treasury of the government of the Republic of South Africa. The present situation that it is owned and controlled by individuals, designs the Act that regulates it, and sets economic policy for the Republic, is indefensible and patently morally and ethically wrong. A central bank which in essence is a private concern cannot be allowed to be a player as well as the referee (see Note 3). Those serving as directors and officials at the time the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party assumes power will continue to serve until, if necessary, replaced by other officials. The nation's Bank will be the sole provider/creator of credit out of nothing.
 

Note 1  The CONSTITUTION of South Africa will entrench immutably the principle that only the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa has the right to print and mint the legal tender of the Republic and set monetary policy and will be charged with monitoring the amount of currency in existence on a regular basis and adjusting monetary policy as and when required by circumstances so as to promote stability in the economy.

The present situation whereby South African commercial banks as well as other entities in fact control our central bank (the S.A. Reserve Bank) is untenable and will not be allowed to continue under the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party.

Note 2  For further reading on this subject the speeches of the late Senator Sidney J. Smith in the Senate of the then Union of South Africa (circa 1940) are highly recommended.

Note 3  In his address to the seventy first annual general meeting (1991) of the SA Reserve Bank, the then governor of the bank, Dr Chris Stals, clearly stated that the bank is "a privately owned institution".


Other Banks

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The charging of interest will be phased out in all spheres of banking and the income of banks will be dependent on the service supplied and charged for by this sector of our economy, the profits they can generate by going into partnership arrangements with their clients and other legitimate dealings.
 

Note 1  The inter-relationship of interest charges and inflation cannot be denied, for, just as in the case of collecting Income Tax and Expenditure Tax from the general public, the charging of interest (usury) is the main driving force of reducing the value of money - i.e. inflation. The view that money is a commodity, to be bought and sold, is another value-reducing (and potentially manipulative) factor in our economy. Both of these will be countered by the envisaged usury-free HONEST MONEY SYSTEM to be inaugurated by the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party.
 

Note 2  The money supply will be effectively monitored on a regular basis so that there will be no extended periods of over- or under-supply which are the root causes of inflation and deflation respectively. The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party views money as being important only on a national or regional basis. The value of other currencies will therefore not play a role in determining the value of our currency. Under these conditions there will thus be little or no interference by other countries in setting a value on our currency unit. Any attempts by foreign powers to influence our currency will in the first instance be countered through economic measures.
 

Note 3  All countries presently linked to our currency will be invited to follow suit and trading arrangements presently in effect will be honoured until such time the envisaged barter system is in full effect. Our immediate trading partners in the rand monetary area (and postal union) will grow economically with us as the benefits of the HONEST MONEY SYSTEM works its way through to full adulthood. Their (and our) dependence on handouts and so-called loans and welfare from international bodies or governments will rapidly diminish.

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ECONOMIC POLICY IN GENERAL

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has a FREE-ENTERPRISE POLICY. Government will exert only the absolute minimum interference with the economy and the people will be allowed to find their own level of economic activity.

Protection will in certain cases be afforded the Republic's producers in line with the incentives, protections and subsidisation policies of our major and minor trading partners.

Incentives in respect of exports (and in certain cases imports as well) will be inaugurated to stimulate trade with other countries. The central theme will be focussed on economic growth and self-sufficiency. Exports of excess agricultural production as well as other produce and manufactures will be encouraged while the importation of luxury goods (as well as services) will be taxed for the benefit of local producers, manufacturers, traders and service providers.

Under the Z.I.T. and Z.E.T. system primary and secondary industries will be encouraged and the government under the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party (mainly through the Department of Trade and Industry) will concentrate on smoothing the way for all producers, traders, exporters and importers, and levelling the playing field. The establishment and broadening of a genuine free-market, free-enterprise, culture will be one of the highest priorities.

So-called "free trade" will be systematically discontinued and BARTER with our foreign trading partners will be encouraged, thereby significantly reducing the need to maintain foreign exchange reserves.

The Republic's continued participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the later Multilateral Trade Organization (MTO) or World Trade Organization (WTO) will be re-examined as to its beneficiality.

So-called "loans" from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund as well as other international banks will be discontinued and any existing "loans" will be repaid as expeditiously as possible.

Meddling by foreign countries, corporations and/or individuals will be discouraged vigorously but genuine investment with no ulterior motives will be encouraged. The laws pertaining to those individuals, companies or governments who invest in the building of factories or the setting up of businesses of other descrip-tion in the Republic, will be similar to those pertaining to the mining industry - viz. a partnership arrangement with compulsory re-investment of profits for a period of not less than five years.

Chemical, oil and steel industries, electricity and water supply, roads and bridge building, mass transportation, harbours, airports, forestry and wood production, education, health, security of the state, among others, will all to greater or lesser degree resort under state control as is presently the case.

In respect of those industries which are wholly the responsibility of the state (or where the state plays the major role) the workers will share in profits. The workers will get one third of the profits generated by such state controlled industries and the state the balance. In cases where there are investors (local or foreign) their share of the profits will come out of the state's portion.

Note  The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has the view that the economy is important in as much as it affects the happiness and welfare of the citizens of the Republic and it will make every effort to facilitate this. It is an historical verity that from the time the taxing of income came into being successive generations were systematically led to believe otherwise. Since that time the economy became important to governments only as a source of raising revenue while leaving the issuance of money to private individuals or corporations (i.e. the banking industry) to further tax citizens through usury (the non-productive charging of interest). The disastrous results of this approach are today everywhere visible - in high inflation or deflation, personal debt and so-called national debt, all of which serve to impoverish citizens and the state itself.

The time to shatter the false premises that governments should leave the issuance of money to mere individuals while it concentrates on methods to confiscate a share of the labours, expertise and entrepreneurship of the citizens of whom they are in reality the servants, is long overdue. The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party means to set the record straight in this regard.

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LEGAL SYSTEM

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With the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party in power there will be MORE JUSTICE THAN LAW. There will be clear, simple and understandable laws. The existing laws will be simplified and streamlined. Laws will be applied without favour or exception across the board. The spirit of the law will predominate over the rule of the law. Everyone will be equal under the law.

The legal system will be made affordable and access to legal advice will be open to all. The system of pro bono will be enlarged to assist those citizens who cannot afford legal help. Sentenced criminals will be employed in society as is the case in certain states of the United States of America where chain-gangs are coming into vogue again (e.g. the state of Arizona). Depending on the severity of their offences criminals will be placed in service of those they had preyed upon, the communities they derive from, or society in general.

Criminals so placed will, however, not be treated as slaves as they too have inherent human rights. Those they serve will on the other hand not be used as jailers. Any repeat offence or absconding from such service will add to their terms of service and more stringent measures will be taken to avoid such repeats.

As far as convicted murderers, rapists and drug dealers are concerned, the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party would favour the reintroduction of the death penalty as an interim measure. The present Act in this regard which in effect rates the rights of murderers, rapists and drug traffickers higher than those of the victims is no deterrent against such actions and dealings, will be repealed and replaced with a more sensible Act. The Republic's laws will be seen to be applied.

With this approach the Republic's present state of lawlessness, virtual institutionalised corruptness and criminality as well as the violence-prone situation, will diminish in short order.

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OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT

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Under the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party the government will at all times conduct itself in an open and transparent manner and, as is the case in Scandinavian countries, citizens will have the right to inspect anything and everything that passes through ministerial offices. The only exception to this will be where it conflicts with matters concerning the security of the state. All ministers and highly placed government functionaries will be required to submit a statement of all their assets (particularly where it concerns their own or their immediate family's shareholding in public and/or private companies) and this will be required to be updated every three months. Stockbrokers will be required to submit a statement of share transactions as and when these concern such ministers and highly placed government functionaries or their immediate families.

A statement of all gifts offered and/or received by any of the mentioned personages. whether monetary or in another form, above a certain minimum value, will have to be submitted for scrutiny to parliament (and therefore the general public). If a minister or highly placed government functionary is in breach of this stipulation he or she will be required to resign. Failing this he or she will be instantly dismissed with seizure of at least the so-procured assets. He or she will furthermore be arrested and stand trial for this transgression.

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SECURITY OF THE STATE

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Defence of the State
-- Military

A well paid professional defence force will be inaugurated. The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is against conscrip-tion. There will, however, be service to the state for a period of six months after young adults leave school (and after they had reached the age of 17). The Swiss model in this regard will be followed.

Due to our extensive shorelines and given our nation's expertise in shipbuilding, the Republic can and must become a major naval player. The SA Navy's fleet will therefore be enlarged to the level required to service the Republic's needs in respect of defence and the protection of maritime assets.

-- Police
The police will receive higher pay, commensurate with their responsibilities, and their dangerous working conditions will be improved. The increased emoluments will be over and above the real increases everyone would be receiving as a result of the Honest Money System brought about by Z.I.T. and Z.E.T. and the abolition of usury.

-- Self Protection
The right to defend and protect life and property will be entrenched in the Constitution. The ownership and bearing of arms for self-protection, sport and leisure will be an inalienable right protected by the Constitution.

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FREE ELECTRICITY FOR ALL --
Electric Power to the People

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Just as in the case of many oil rich countries, the Republic of South Africa has within its borders an energy source which rightly belongs to all. In some oil rich countries, especially those bordering the Gulf, the state supplies free education, health care (state-run hospitals and clinics) and other services. They can do so because they consider the energy source in their soil as a national asset. It works well even while there is sure to be some corruption present.

In South Africa we have only a modest amount of oil, but this country does contain vast reserves of coal, the means to generate cheap electricity. It is this national asset, coal, which can be utilised for the good of all at no cost other than the installation costs at point of use. The actual supply of electricity should not be charged for at all.

As described above, under an Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party government utilising the Z.I.T. and Z.E.T. system the coal producing companies (like other mining companies, etc.) will be in partnership with the state. However, the provisions pertaining to coal companies will be adjusted so that the state's share will be part of the production, delivered to strategic places where it can be used or exported.

Coal producing companies will be required to deliver the state's share of each grade of coal, some of which will be utilised to generate electric power while others will be exported by the government to its trading partners. In the latter case the earnings, whether in money, credit, specie or other products or commodities, will be for the benefit of the general population. Depending on what arrangements are arrived at, the development and/or upkeep of power stations, as well as the reticulation of the requisite power grid, will be facilitated by the exports.

It is envisaged that this arrangement will first and foremost be applicable to private individuals but there is no reason why it should not also be available to industry in general.

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EDUCATION

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Schooling will be compulsory to age 16 and will be free. There will be compulsory courses in real history, mathematics and science. In major urban centres communities will be allowed to choose between either English or Afrikaans as the main tuition language. The tuition language(s) of rural communities will similarly be their choice, but due to the national need that citizens should be prepared to function well in society, rural communities will be allowed to choose between English or Afrikaans as their main tuition language from grade eight (standard six). Where the numbers warrant it, all local languages will be available as subjects in the higher classes.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has the view that technical training should have a high priority and that life and business skills as well as the development of logical thinking should be similarly prioritised.

Tertiary education will be made affordable to all students with the required pass rates and a certain percentage of admissions will be allocated to universities in respect of those students who cannot afford the fees. In certain cases free universities will be established where the need warrants it.

Private universities and colleges will be encouraged without encumbrances or interference from the state other than the minimum standard of tutors, where at least one of the principal members of the institution will be in possession of the requisite minimum requirements. Accreditation in respect of qualifications achieved at these private institutions will be left to commerce and industry, and society in general.

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JOB CREATION

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party does not stand for a welfare state. With a system of Z.I.T. and Z.E.T. individuals, (the people), will be afforded the greatest assistance in helping themselves. Education (see separate heading) will assist everyone in preparing for a fruitful economic life.

The state's function will be one of protection and not prescrip-tion as far as the individual goes. Small entrepreneurs will therefore be encouraged and job creation will be left to the people themselves.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned the state will inaugurate voluntary programmes whereby the unemployed will be allowed to do work in service of society in general.

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HEALTH

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The cost of health care has been allowed to rise beyond the point of affordability. The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party views it as an urgent priority to make health care affordable to all of the Republic's citizens. With the Z.I.T. and Z.E.T. systems in operation and with the benefits of a usury-free banking industry becoming apparent, the cost of health care will almost immediately come down.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party will invite the Life Assurance industry to participate in building hospitals, clinics and care centres at primary and secondary level and to make available affordable state-of-the-art amenities and services. They may as a first step make their clinics and hospitals available to their policyholders at reduced rates and use this as a selling point to attract more business.

The first benefit of such a programme will be that millions of South Africans will receive less expensive health care because they are policyholders. The second benefit would be that other privately owned clinics and hospitals will have to reduce their tariffs so as to compete. The third benefit would be that sorely pressed medical aid schemes will be relieved of excessively high claims and they will therefore be enabled to reduce their membership rates or at the least to keep them static for longer periods of time.

A healthy approach to living will be encouraged to be taught from early on at school level engendering a healthy lifestyle in future generations. Hygiene, healthy habits and physical exercise will form part of the regimen of primary health education.

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WELFARE AND PENSIONS

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Although the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party does not stand for a welfare state per se it acknowledges the legitimate rights of the aged and disabled to a quality life. State-sanctioned inflation and usury as it has been allowed to develop within the dishonest money system have deprived most elderly people of their life savings and destroyed their quality of life. With the HONEST MONEY SYSTEM as advocated by the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party this situation will be reversed with the result that the value of money will increase and the cost for goods and services will fall.

All the points of this Manifesto bear out the fact that the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has it as its purpose to improve the welfare and quality of life of all the citizens of the Republic, whether this is in respect of Education, Health Care, Pensions or any of the other needs of citizens.

Old age, disability and war veterans pensions will be set and maintained at a level conducive of achieving a quality of life seldom experienced in the Republic's past.

A State Pension Fund similar to that existing in most European countries will be inaugurated to which all able-bodied and employed citizens will be required to contribute for a prescribed minimum period. The state pension so funded will become payable to all citizens upon reaching a certain age irrespective of other assets owned by pension applicants, their private pension provision or their level of income.

Unemployment benefits will be funded by a State Unemployment Fund to which all able-bodied and employed citizens will be required to contribute while gainfully employed. The deductions in respect of this will be the responsibility of employers who will be required to remit such collected contributions to the State Unemployment Fund. The self-employed may choose to contribute as well. Benefits paid from this fund will be pro-rata the contributions made but will in any event not be less than fifty per cent of the level of income at the time of becoming unemployed. Other parameters such as the waiting period before claiming, the duration of benefit receipt per year and so forth will be negotiated at a later time.

A State Employment Register of the unemployed, detailing their qualifications, experience, skills or propensities will be kept, from which source employers will be enabled to draw their employee needs.

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HOUSING

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The Honest Money System of the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party will ensure that Citizens can purchase a primary dwelling with interest-free loans. The current situation where commercial banks sometimes charge in excess of 20%, resulting in the owner paying off the entire capital portion of the loan in the space of three and a half years and still owning only a small fraction of his/her property, will be disallowed with immediate effect. Funds thus released will enhance the general wealth of the public and reduce demands on the fiscus.

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THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party will make it a priority to investigate, initiate and promote the use of alternative energy sources which will not harm the environment. There are many patents in existence for alternative sources of energy which to date vested interests have not allowed to be implemented. The implementation and use, however, of such clean energy sources, whether for public or private transportation or for the inexpensive, renewable and sustainable generation of electricity and so forth, will reduce our dependence on the fossil fuel culture which has such detrimental effects on the environment and ecology in general. [ As examples of what is meant here one can mention fuel efficient motor vehicles (of which many of the relevant patent numbers are known to the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party some of which have a ten-fold improvement on vehicular fuel economy), solar power (proven technology exists), wind power, fuel cells, battery power, flywheel or gyroscope power (as developed in Australia), and hydro-electricity (a well proven renewable and sustainable resource). All of the mentioned sources are to greater or lesser degree already in use but the development and implementation of most, if not all, of them is being purposely held back from development and universal use by vested interests. Most importantly, most of the alternative sources of energy are environmentally very clean sources creating few, if any, detrimental effects and they are infinitely renewable. ]

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is not for the proliferation of the use of nuclear power in any form. However, the safe continued use of the sole existing nuclear power station (Koeberg) will be allowed to the end of its useful life after which it will be safely and cleanly dismantled.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is for better farming methods and less chemical abuse of our soil and water supplies. To this end farmers and similar producers will be encouraged to apply organic farming methods. Education in this respect will be given to our farmers, old and new, with due emphasis on the benefits of the system of crop rotation while on the other hand the public will be educated regarding the benefits of such production methods for their own health and welfare. All of this will be phased in over a relatively short period of time- say five years.

Before the go-ahead is given for the establishment of new industries which have the potential to create pollution the aspirant industrialists, over and above conducting the usual impact studies, will have to sign a code of conduct in respect of their operations. Penalties will be enforced in respect of infringements of the code of conduct and clean-ups as well as the costs of compensation to affected parties will be for the account of the polluters. Established companies will likewise be expected to sign the code of conduct and if there is adequate proof that their activities are detrimental to the communities near which they operate, companies found to be polluting or creating a nuisance through their operations will be required to relocate to other more suitable areas or cease their operations altogether.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is wholly against using any area of the Republic for the dumping of foreign-derived hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste. Similarly the processing of foreign-derived hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste will not be allowed under any circumstances.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is for the implementation of legislation similar to that existing in the United States of America to which end an Environmental "Super Fund" will be established in the Republic. The "cradle to grave" as well as the "polluter must pay" approaches will be enforced.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party puts great value on our natural environment and has the view that it must be managed and protected for the benefit of the existing as well as future generations in as pristine a state as possible and that the sustainable utilization of eco-systems are a high priority. To this end all land uses will be scrutinized and, more specifically, national natural park areas will be either consolidated or enlarged and where necessary managed co-operatively with indigenous communities.

The development and promotion of so-called eco-tourism will be a high priority.

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LEGAL IMMIGRATION

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party stands for strictly controlled immigration. Illegal aliens will be vigorously tracked down and repatriated humanely (see Illegal Immigration).

Immigrants with skills, expertise and proven potential will receive priority treatment. Potential immigrants who offer only their labour will not be highly rated. The internal excess labour must be served first and foremost.

Immigrants who do not become naturalised citizens will be barred from any political activity. The period required to become a South African will be extended to TEN years and the offspring of non-naturalised residents will not be granted automatic South African citizenship.

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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has the view that illegal immigrants are harmful to our economy and society in general and they should therefore be traced and repatriated to their countries of origin. Our borders should be guarded against the incursion of illegal immigrants. In the case of visitors or tourists who transgress their visa requirements these should likewise be traced and repatriated. In all cases of this nature a record of such persons will be kept and multiple offenders will be dealt with severely, which measures will include serving jail terms before repatriation.

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT

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As an interim step towards the envisaged free enterprise, non-centrally controlled administration of government at every level, local government bodies (municipalities) will be operated in line with the suggestions in this regard which were made to the now defunct President's Council and more specifically to those from the Bothasig Ratepayers' and Residents' Association with the exception of their references to Income Tax other than as can be used in a possible interim phase.

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SPORT AND RECREATION

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party will assist in establishing a healthy approach to recreation and sport at primary level (i.e. school level) but will refrain from active participation at all other levels other than clearing the way for international contact. Sport should regulate itself.

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FREEDOMS

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party stands for religious freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of association or dis-association, freedom of movement and all the other freedoms generally accepted in democracies world-wide. These freedoms will be entrenched in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

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DRUG TRADE AND DRUG ABUSE

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Drug trafficking will be effectively countered with particularly harsh penalties applicable to those found guilty of this heinous crime against society and, as mentioned under "Legal System" (i.e. as an interim measure), this will include the death penalty for convicted drug lords. Those found to be addicted to the use of illegal drugs and other chemical substances will be removed from society and treated in a humane way until cured of their addiction.

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SECRET SOCIETIES

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party will outlaw secret societies. As in the United Kingdom such societies will have to register with the government and a list of their members will have to be submitted and made public.

No member of parliament or highly placed government functionary may be a member of a secret society. For a candidate to be eligible to stand for parliament a period of at least three years will have to elapse from the time of resignation from a secret society.

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CAPITALISM

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is pro-capitalist but anti-super capitalist, particularly when last-mentioned are developed into monopolies.

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  ABORTION

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party is pro-life. Abortion on demand will not be available without regard to other factors. Abortion will, however, be permitted in cases where the life of the mother is at risk; in cases of rape victims falling pregnant; in cases indicated by the medical circumstances prevailing. The rights of the unborn child will in all cases be taken into account.

The present Act in this regard which in effect encourages sexual relations without responsibility and therefore the decline of the nation's moral standards will be repealed and replaced with a more appropriate Act.

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  FEMINISM

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has the view that females are in general more loyal and harder workers than their male counterparts with fewer problems about sex, sports and the use of alcohol. We believe implicitly in equal pay for equal work.

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  PORNOGRAPHY

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The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has the view that pornography is unhealthy for society in general and for juveniles in particular and that it is demeaning of women. Pornography involving children is viewed as especially pernicious and unwholesome.

For these and other reasons pornography in no small way contributes to the moral decline of the nation and it will therefore be acted against.

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  ETHNICITY

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Ethnicity is a fact of life. The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party has the view that those ethnic and/or tribal or cultural groups who wish to have territorial integrity and who can motivate such secession from a greater South Africa on historical or juridical grounds should be allowed to do so. In this way a peaceful confederation between the various population groups can be realised. For example if the Zulu People wish to have their historically founded Kwa Zulu controlled by Zulus only or if the Boers of the old Boer Republics wish to rule themselves, it should not be denounced out of hand. Everything in this regard is after all negotiable; especially to safeguard lasting peace.

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  SELF RULE OR FEDERALISM?
(Or a Combination?)

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The rights and aspirations of certain ethnic and/or cultural groupings within the borders of the Republic cannot be ignored for evermore. Quite legitimate claims exist in respect of a number of these groups and their claims and/or wishes will have to be looked at seriously if peace is to be assured in the future.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party holds the view that the various models that could be utilized to accommodate and/or satisfy the dissatisfied groups have not been exhaustively explored and that something can be worked out to satisfy the legitimate wishes and aspirations of the affected ethnic and/or cultural groupings.

Failure to bring this contentious issue to a satisfactory conclusion will create national problems for many decades if not centuries (e.g. as in the case of the Basques and the Irish). Ignoring the issues will not make them go away and the only way in which they can otherwise be managed would be through state oppression and state-sanctioned propaganda as is quite evident today. However, this latter route which amounts to police-state rule, has not worked anywhere in the world to eradicate legitimate claims; they always resurface with a vengeance.

The Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party cannot say whether accommodation will be through the granting of self-rule or federalism. This will have to be negotiated with the affected groupings. It may very well be that some may choose self-rule and others, ederalism; while yet others may choose a combination of these and/or other concepts.


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 FAMOUS QUOTATIONS

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ON THE SUBJECT OF AN HONEST MONEY SYSTEM

"... Government cannot refrain, any more than can the wage-earner and producer and retailer from stoking the fires of inflation by ever-mounting fiscal demands and imposts. Ours it is argued, is a system -- the result of historical processes -- which automatically and progressively accumulates capital charges as capital expenses. Under it any expansion of the money supply can only be achieved at the price of higher taxes to service and repay the loans which are the source of the increased money supply or by service charges on increased industrial equipment. Yet, with a paper currency now almost wholly divorced from dependence on precious metals there is nothing -- except the vast vested interest which has grown up during the centuries round the existing system of creating money -- to prevent the State from bringing new capital into existence free of interest charges. lf common sense were the only criterion, it would seem a more sensible way of doing so for Government, at the beginning of each financial year or other accounting period to estimate the growth potential of the economy and create an equivalent amount of new interest free money with which to pay the public services instead of as at present, extracting from the taxpayer the wherewithal to do so and pay the accruing interest on it -- a process which automatically increases inflation and tends to discourage individual initiative. Under the seemingly revolutionary, yet simple system I advocate, the burden of taxation would be reduced every year by the estimated growth potential of the economy. The stimulating effect on the production of such a general reduction of taxation, would I believe, be dynamic."
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Sir Arthur Bryant in his regular column in The Illustrated London News of February 1973. His words still hold true today.


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"At the moment the Reserve Bank has the nation's gold. But when I was the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Durban Municipality, this thought occurred to me: 'Here is the Durban Corporation with £10,000,000 of real assets over liabilities; machinery, land, buildings and we, its citizens, must borrow from a bank that has not £l,000,000 of capital in the country. We have to pledge our real assets and turn them into a municipal debt.' I realised the impudence and the iniquity of it and that is why I say that all municipal and provincial finance should be controlled by a State institution.

"I have deliberately not used vague labels. I have not talked glibly of a 'State Bank.' If you had a State Bank in South Africa and it was under the present Minister, we would have no more than another branch of Barclay's Bank."
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Thus spoke Senator Sidney J. Smith (Labour Party) in the Union Senate, April 1944. Senator Smith was the Senate's youngest member at the time of his election, being then only 38 years of age. A member of the Durban Town Council in 1922, at the age of 21, he was the youngest Councillor in the Union's history. Elected to the Natal Provincial Council in 1933, at 32 years of age, he was probably the "infant" member at that time.

He was an active member of the South African Labour Party since 1919, having held many Organising and Executive positions within the Party. He gave much of his time to a study of the Financial and Monetary Systems and appropriately enough did at least three terms as Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Durban City Council.
Senator Smith's Senate speeches advocating an Honest Money System for South Africa were considered so important that he found much acclaim both near and far. Many overseas journals published his speeches. His words still hold true today.


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POETRY AND MONEY
By NOEL STOCK.
( First published in July / August 1959 )

ALBERTUS MAGNUS, saint and doctor of the Church, one of the great figures in the history of man’s struggle for knowledge, sought “concrete, specific, detailed, accurate knowledge concerning everything in nature”. All civilisation and culture has been built up by a few men using their eyes and minds to collect, examine and compare natural phenomena; and out of a perfecting and/or refining of this process has come real knowledge, not only the knowledge of the scientist but of the poet, painter, philosopher, architect. Whenever the scholar of today sees more of the world than his predecessor, it is partly at least because he is standing on the shoulders of his predecessor.

The tragedy of our civilisation has been the separation of monetary economics from general literary culture. Some of the best poets and thinkers through the ages have con­cerned themselves with money, banking, usury and the root meaning of these things, but the power of putrefaction, by a number of fairly well-defined steps and some others not so well-defined, managed to split the culture long before there was any obvious sign of fragmentation.

Not by mere accident but by a combination of sloth and malice the education system has turned men’s minds to believe that poets, almost of necessity, have no concern with reality. Whereas, in fact, the best poetry is deeply rooted in reality, and poets have played an important part in passing on monetary knowledge.

The biologist does not bring out two thousand slides or specimens every time he wishes to make a general state­ment, he simply picks out a few examples which illustrate something present in all his slides, something which applies in all cases. This method I will use here.

THE CLASSICS
Classical studies have been murdered in order to blot out a matter of forty facts of history. The classics have been thrown out, not because they are dull but be­cause they are too interesting for the comfort of the Grand Masters of usury who subsidise and control our university and education system.

Aristotle in the 4th century B.C. described the basic technique of monopoly in his Politics (1.4/5). A student who understands Aristotle on monopoly will have no diffi­culty in understanding the monopolies of his own day. Aristotle also provided a splendid working definition of money in the Nichomachean Ethics where he says that it is human regulation - not some intrinsic value in the metal - that makes a coin into money. For money “is called nomisma (customary currency), because it does not exist by nature but by custom (nomos), and can be altered and rendered useless at will.” We note in passing that where Aristotle used the word demand in writing of price, the translator of the Loeb edition substituted the word value, not, I dare say, because he was a direct pimp for the Usurocracy but because he had been educated in ignorance of economics. We have no means of knowing how many young men have been thrown off the scent by that one mistranslation.

MURDER?
Cicero was concerned with usury and the outflow of gold from Rome, Cleopatra wrote about currency, Pythagoras “made the coinage”. Cato in De Re Rustica has this piece of dialogue:

“And what do you think of usury?”

“What do you think of murder?”


For a long period the Romans valued their money for its usefulness and efficiency in measuring the prices of commodities and services. They were not obsessed by metallic content and saw that the essence of money is in the amount of it in circulation. The emperor Antoninus Pius (2nd century A.D.) pondered the difference between the agrarian usury of Rome and the maritime usury of Rhodes, not in an academic way but as it affected his people. He said that “Money had more to do with the distemper of the Roman Empire than the Huns and the Vandals.”

St. Ambrose of Milan, in the 4th century, cried out against monopoly, and in his De Moribus Brachmanorum very neatly placed his finger on the shepherd or “butchers of lesser cattle” mentality. Among the troubadors of Provence in the early Middle Ages was one Piere Cardinal who used to go about the country singing of oppression and corruption. Barons make war, he said, for their own profit, regardless of the peasant.

Dante consigned usurers to hell, to the same circle of hell as the sodomites, because both are against nature, against natural increase. This was the teaching of the Church in the Middle Ages.

Shakespeare held to the same teaching, and like Dante got to the root meaning of usury as something against nature. That is what The Merchant of Venice is “all about”. Shylock wants more than hand or foot, he wants to end Antonio’s natural increase. Shakespeare saw that gold, unlike wheat or sheep, does not increase by natural process, and he clarified the natural division between animal and vegetable on the one hand, and mineral on the other. “Is your gold . . . ewes and rams?” he asked.

BLEST PAPER CREDIT !
The formation of the Bank of England in 1694 ushered in a new phase of the war between “usury and the man who wants to do a good job”. This phase, which is still going on, is based upon the creation of money out of nothing.

Alexander Pope, smeared as a bitter eccentric - a “logical” description, I suppose, for anybody looking at him through the perverted and perverting haze of “Whig history” - had a good grip on reality, as these lines show:

Blest paper credit ! last and best supply !
That lends corruption lighter wings to fly !
Gold imp’d by thee, can compass hardest things,
Can pocket states, can fetch or carry kings.

Dr. Johnson also managed to throw a little light on mortgages and “everlasting debt”. I wonder how many students of so-called “philosophy” have attempted to discover the truth or otherwise of David Hume’s statement that manipulators “adopt a hundred contrivances, which serve no purpose but to check industry, and to rob ourselves and our neighbours of the common benefits of art and nature”? George Crabbe kept his eye on things and produced some excellent verses, but it was Byron who pinned down his age in Don Juan with the question, “Who hold the balance of the world?" and the answer: "Rothschild and Baring”.

THE COLONIES
Strands of this tradition reached out to the colonies. “Scrutator” wrote lucidly about banking tricks in the Australian Sydney Herald of November 24, 1842: “As well might the Government confer the power to levy taxes on the community to a company of consuming adventurers”. About the same time the Hobart Town Courier stated that the Tasmanian legislative council had refused a legal limit of 10 per cent because “The president and several of the Council are money lenders, some of them of the first water”.

Browning tried to keep to meaningful or at least adult matter in Inn Album and Ford Madox Ford, Chesterton, Belloc and even Bennett all tried, with varying degrees of success, to get back some of the old teaching or to warn against “the system.

I think it is clear from the foregoing that when Mr. Eliot rhymed “Sir Alfred Mond” with “exchequer bond” he was not being “modern”, but simply going about the true business of the poet which is to record realities, in language charged with meaning “to the utmost possible degree”.

Mr. Pound has given money a central place in both his poetry and prose, because he has discovered that money is one of the keys to history.



ABOLITION OF INCOME TAX AND USURY PARTY

P.O. Box 28176, Bothasig 7406, RSA Tel & Fax +27 (0)21 558 2122

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 MORE QUOTATIONS

A FEW STATEMENTS BY PROMINENT PEOPLE ON THE TOPIC OF MONEY AND CREDIT:

"All the perplexities, confusions and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation."
John Adams, 1787. [ After two hundred years the "perplexities, confusions and distress" still exist. What do our people really know about money and credit? ]

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
Thomas Jefferson, 1816. [ No wonder then that the mighty USA now harbours millions upon millions of street people and trailerpark dwellers - a veritable new class of people. ]

"Can anything be more absurd than that a nation should apply to an individual to maintain its credit and, with its credit, its existence as a state, and its comfort as a people."
Lionel Rothschild, as cited by Benjamin D'Israeli, 1844. [ For what reason do governments not create money and credit themselves? By carefully crafted ignorance and unnecessary "perplexities and confusions" by "the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men." ]

"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolutely master of all industry and commerce."
James A. Garfield. (1831-1881) 20th US President.

"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 small groups of dominant men."
Woodrow Wilson. (1856-1924) 28th US Pres.

"He [the Banker] keeps everything over and above his cost of rent, help, advertising and white carnations. He created money and reaped where he did not sow. This is the so-called credit money. Would you not like to be in the banking business and be able to create ten [or twenty] times as much money as you really have and lend it out at interest at 5%?" [up to 32% in the RSA]
(anon.)

"There can be no Freedom without Economic Freedom and there can be no Economic Freedom without Freedom from Income Tax and Usury."
Slogan of the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party, 1999.


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 TOWARDS DEFINING
 INCOME TAX


An early cartoon lambasting the impost of Income Tax: a cumbersome weight hung around the neck of the hardworking population while benefiting the lazy, the ignorant, and the unscrupulous -- and, of course, the rapacious, all-devouring, bankers!

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Isn't it strange that in all the years of the existence of Income Tax (since 1914 in the greater South Africa) this form of theft has yet to define its underlying basis - that is, INCOME.

The argument of what is and what isn't Income, is from the inception of Income Tax an ongoing theme of the enslavers of mankind. It is an oddity - an aberration of logic - that the word "income" is indeed defined in a negative way - by defining what portions of one's income do not constitute, or rank, as income, and therefore are exempted from this tax. For instance, the so-called "capital gains" which are presently being looked at in a serious way by the Katz Commission.

A deadline (or target date) has even been set for the implimentation of the so-called "capital gains tax" by which date certain (still not fully defined) property will have to be valued and a certain portion of any increase in value (so far 25% has been mentioned) from this date to the eventual sale of such property will be taxed.

Of course the powers behind this further erosion of our liberties, know full well that government-caused and bank-caused inflation will contribute the most to such increase in "value". In other words, while our currency rapidly depreciates in value the numbers get bigger, and therefore there is an apparent increase in value. What it really means, is that our property value essentially remains at the same level but the number of rands it takes to replace it, goes up. And the reason for this is that the banks create too much money (including credit) at times which causes inflation. (At other times the banks can as easily decrease the amount of money [and credit] in circulation causing deflation.)

During an inflationary phase, such as we are in at present, the "value" of property "increases" rather rapidly and therefore it is almost impossible not to have an "increase" by the time one sells such property. And thus "capital gains tax" is assured of becoming a lucrative extension of the Income Tax.

As will have become clear by now to the reader, Income Tax and Expenditure Tax are two methods of state-sanctioned theft of the labour of ordinary citizens. They are basically the same thing. While Income Tax grabs a part of your earnings from your labour and risk-taking when you first earn it, Expenditure Tax grabs a further portion when you spend what is left. Even if you put your money away for extended periods, it will be taxed by way of Expenditure Tax at some stage or another when it is finally spent.

As stated previously, Income Tax was in the recent history of the world the brainchild (so it is purported) of the arch communists, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who made it point number two in their "Communist Manifesto". 

What we are saying is that if the money (and credit) creation process is returned to its proper place, i.e. as a function of the state on behalf of all its citizens, then there would be no need at all for any government to confiscate part of the earnings of the citizens they are supposed to protect.

Income Tax / Expenditure Tax working together in lock step with the bankers' monopoly of dishonest money creation (and destruction) is the basis of the dishonest money system.

If and when the money creation process is returned to its rightful place -- and consequently Income Tax and Expenditure Tax (and "capital gains" tax, as well as many other related confiscations) are abolished -- then we would see the fruits of the Honest Money System, i.e., Progress and Prosperity.

Until that time it is our manifest duty to counter this monstrous injustice and to free ourselves from its shackles. And to accomplish this we need to unlearn what has been taught us over the years - decades and centuries - in such an unscrupulous way by those who wish for us to stay enslaved. Towards that end the reader will find much that is good in the books listed further on.

Please use the system of "each-one-teach-one" to spread the word and help us bring Truth and Honesty back to South Africa and the world by voting for the candidates of the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Party.


NOTE: -- Since the above was written the infamous confiscatory "Capital Gains Tax" came into being with effect from 1 October 2001. The people have once more been duped and forced into a system they basically do not understand -- and that goes for virtually all of the "captains of industry", the financial pundits, and the rest! And, of course, though a big show was put up to make "the process" appear above board and "open and transparent", this was hardly the case. The wielders of power wanted to enslave us, the people, even more -- and this they did with consumate ease!





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 CUSTODIANS OF THE NATION'S FINANCIAL RESERVES,

 OR RIP-OFF ARTISTS?

An article from "Cape Town - The Golden Jubilee of Greater Cape Town"
Published by John R. Shorten, 1963. (Pages 289 to 291).

(Uploaded 27 June 2002)


Custodians Of The Nation’s Financial Reserves
The SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK

AT THE END of the First World War, South Africa’s financial position was characterised by a number of unsatisfactory features. Some of the contributory factors had existed for many years, but others, in turn, originated during the war and had been sharply intensified by the stresses and strains of that difficult period.

From 1914, when the sterling-dollar rate was pegged at 4.76 dollars to the pound, the Bank of England purchased the entire output of the South African gold mines at the fixed price of 85s. an ounce. However, early in 1919 sterling again became freely convertible whereupon the pound immediately began to depreciate in relation to the dollar, with the result that the agreement with the Bank of England for the sale of South African gold was terminated in July of that year. By the end of the year the rate of exchange stood at approximately 3.85 dollars to the pound. This meant an appreciation in the price of gold in terms of sterling. From 85s. an ounce the price rose to 105s. and then to 127s. in February, 1920.

Gold Flowed Out
In those days there was no central bank in South Africa. The commercial banks issued their own notes which they were obliged to redeem in gold on demand. Since the fiction officially persisted that South Africa was still ‘on gold’, the banks themselves had to quote the South African- London exchange rate on the basis of parity with sterling. Thus, to meet their commitments relative to their note issues, the banks were forced to buy gold coin in London at a rising premium, for although an embargo had been placed on the export of gold coin from South Africa, the temptation offered by a premium of almost ten shillings on every sovereign that could be sent out of the country was too great to be resisted. There was smuggling on a large scale.

In these circumstances the banks appealed to the Government to suspend the relevant section of the Banking Act which made their notes convertible into gold. That meant, of course, that they were asking for the suspension of the gold standard itself.

The Government, for its part, was acutely conscious of the position and the added danger existing in the lack of uniformity where the issue of banknotes was concerned whereby there was a possibility of an over-issue of notes under the ordinances of certain Provinces. This situation gave rise to fears, based on experience, that the inflation which had resulted from the war would be followed by an undue restriction of credit once the cyclical movement turned downwards. These and other considerations all pointed to the need for a central bank which could stabilise and safeguard the country’s financial reserves by assuming responsibility and leadership in the currency and banking field.

The Establishment of the Reserve Bank
In 1919 the Government responded to the entreaties of the commercial banks by calling a conference at which the then Minister of Finance, Mr. Henry Burton, presided, its purpose being to decide ‘. . . by a free exchange of views the best ways of safeguarding the interests of South Africa and placing its currency on a natural basis’.

The general managers of the various banks and representatives of the gold mining industry attended the conference which resolved, but not by a very large majority, ‘. . . that the establishment of natural exchanges and a free market for gold in the Union is desirable and that to this end a mint and a refinery be set up’.

The Government then decided to invite Mr. Henry Strakosch (afterwards Sir Henry), the managing director of The Union Corporation Limited in London and a world authority on foreign exchanges, to visit the country and act as an adviser. There is no doubt that Mr. Strakosch’s views had a profound influence on subsequent legislation in connection with the establishment of a central bank in South Africa.

It was his opinion that it would be impossible to remove the embargo on the export of gold without wrecking the country’s economy. He suggested an ingenious alternative whereby the Union was able temporarily to slide off the gold standard without openly acknowledging that it had done so. His proposal was that gold coins should be taken out of circulation and replaced by inconvertible ‘gold certificates’. It was an accepted feature of the scheme that these certificates would be issued with the object of preserving the country’s gold reserve and that their inconvertibility was temporary. In other words, they would be redeemed in gold once circumstances permitted the restoration of the gold standard itself.

Above all, Henry Strakosch insisted on the amendment and consolidation of the South African Banking laws, and the establishment of a central reserve bank charged with the task of setting the discount rate.

The Government accepted these recommendations and drafted three Bills to give them effect. One of these was a measure to establish the South African Reserve Bank.

All aspects of the problem, and the Government’s proposals for dealing with it, were then referred to a Select Committee. Finally, the proposals for issuing gold certificates and for the establishment of the Reserve Bank were presented to Parliament as one consolidated measure. Though there were dissentients on both sides of the House the Bill, now known as The Currency and Banking Act of 1920, was passed on the 10th of August of that year.

In July, 1921, the South African Reserve Bank opened its doors. At about the same time the mining companies established the Rand Refinery at Germiston and in 1923. A branch of the Royal Mint began operations in Pretoria.

The Statutes
The Currency and Banking Act laid down the statutes under which the bank was to operate. It was to be a privately-owned institution with an initial capital of £1,000,000 to which the commercial banks were obliged to subscribe in proportion to their own paid-up capital and reserve funds, though they were debarred from holding more than half of the total between them. Stock to the value of £700,000 was made available to the public at par, but no stockholder, other than the Treasury or a subscribing bank, could acquire holdings in excess of £10,000, it having been laid down that the Treasury itself should take over at par any stock which was not taken up. Initially, public participation amounted to only £379,200, but the Treasury kept the lists open and the full sum of £700,000 was finally subscribed by individuals.

The commercial banks were also required to maintain reserve balances with the Reserve Bank equal to at least ten per cent of their demand liabilities in South Africa and three per cent of their time liabilities to the public.

The Reserve Bank was granted the sole right to issue banknotes in South Africa. This note issue was to be secured by a gold reserve of not less than forty per cent, the balance to be accounted for by trade bills and other securities.

It was charged with the duty of fixing the rate at which it would discount various types of bills, thus establishing a South African Bank Rate as a yardstick for the commercial banks and other financial institutes.

Among a great many other provisions that define the functions of the bank the Act specifically debars it from taking part in transactions which are the normal business of commercial banks.

There were to be eleven directors on the Board of the Reserve Bank of whom six were to be nominated by the stockholders. The other five, including the Governor and Deputy Governor, were to be Government nominees. It thus was provided that the institution’s affairs should not necessarily be controlled by the government of the day.

Mr. W. H. Clegg, Chief Accountant of the Bank of England, accepted the appointment as first Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. He was succeeded by Mr. J. Postmus, who in turn was succeeded by Dr. NI. H. de Kock in 1945 who guided the affairs of the bank for seventeen years. On his retirement as Governor in 1961 the present Governor, Mr. Gerard Rissik, was appointed. Dr. de Kock, however, remains the Chairman of the Board which now consists of twelve directors, half of whom, including the Governor and two Deputy Governors, are appointed by the Government, the remaining six being men who are representative of finance, commerce, industry and agriculture. All directors must be resident in South Africa.

The Advantages of a Central Reserve
In practice the bank’s constitution has enabled a successful combination to be effected between State control of monetary policy on the one hand and the advantages of a privately owned central bank on the other.

The bank’s sole right of note issue has ensured uniformity in the circulation. The commercial banks, which are today required to maintain reserve balances with the bank equivalent to ten per cent of their demand and three per cent of their time liabilities to the public, soon discovered the advantages of maintaining their free cash balances with the central bank as well. Not only did this procedure facilitate the settlement of inter-bank clearing balances, but it also enabled the commercial banks to make more efficient use of their resources as a result of the re-discount and advance facilities which could be obtained from the central bank itself.

At an early stage of its career, therefore, the bank had assumed the recognised central banking functions of responsibility for the note issue, as custodian of the cash reserves of the commercial banking system and central clearing institution, and, of course, from the start it was prepared to act as lender of last resort by way of loan facilities against commercial, agricultural, and Treasury bills and Government stocks.

Purchase of Gold
The assumption of these functions contributed to the Reserve Bank becoming the custodian of South Africa’s gold reserves, a position which was strengthened by arrangements concluded in 1925 whereby it purchased the gold output and attended to its disposal. As gold occupied the predominant place among exports, this arrangement also enabled the bank to assume the leading role in the country’s exchange market.

From an early stage the bank has determined the exchange rates for sterling. The control of these rates, in turn, has enabled it to influence the rates quoted by the commercial banks for other currencies. With the development of trade and financial relationships with the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Italy and Germany, the bank has come to quote directly for the currencies of these countries as well, thus ensuring the public of fine rates in prevailing circumstances. When the need arose the bank also entered the forward exchange market in these currencies.

Another recognised central banking function was assumed in 1927 when the bank took over the Government accounts from the commercial banks and thus became its banker. Subsequently, the accounts of the provincial administrations and those of certain statutory organisations were also transferred to the bank.

Forty-Two Years of Growth
Today the bank operates nine branches. These are situated in Pretoria, where the head office is also located, Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth and Windhoek.

In the conduct of its varied activities it naturally has become very thoroughly acquainted with economic conditions within the Republic and overseas and has developed close contacts with a number of the leading foreign countries. Automatically, therefore, it also has functioned as the Government’s consultant and agent in a large number of appropriate matters such as the repatriation of Government stocks from overseas during the war years. It administers the exchange control system in the Republic on behalf of the Treasury and acts as agent for the Government in its operations with the International Monetary Fund and in connection with loans granted to South Africa by banks in the United States, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.

The Reserve Bank’s first weekly statement, issued on the 2nd July, 1921, reflected assets equivalent to R11,876,305. At the end of December, 1962, assets stood at R568,600,275 and advances, investments and discounts totalled R113,751,736. Liabilities in respect of notes in circulation amounted to R275,491,305 and deposits to R249,192,017.

The statutes of the Bank have been amended in several important respects since it was founded. These amendments have been effected so as to give it more scope and flexibility in meeting the needs a of developing country under changing world economic conditions. In 1944 the laws governing its operation were consolidated in the South African Reserve Bank Act of that year. However, there have been no fundamental changes of a constitutional nature.

Today, the bank is still a privately owned institution with nearly a thousand individual stockholders, some half of whom hold less than R1,000 of stock each. Annual dividends are restricted to ten per cent, the balance of the net profits being allocated in a small part to the general reserve fund and in the main to the Government and so, indirectly, to the people of South Africa.

--- END OF ARTICLE ---


(Don't write us that we have NOT allowed you full insight into the workings of "spin". NL)





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Money power

High Treason!

Wing Commander Leonard Young examines the vital connection between credit creation and national sovereignty
(First published: January 1997)
(Uploaded 30 June 2002)


THE foundation of the Bank of England, in 1694, was perhaps the single most significant event in the history of Britain, if not the modern world. For it created the mechanism by which the Crown and Parliament of what was to become the greatest empire ever seen were subordinated to the power of Gold, so that monarchs and politicians were little more than puppets in the hands of shadowy financiers. However much the court historians of the Establishment focus on the drama of all the wars and economic booms and busts which followed, the central historical fact is that they were largely the result of this enthronment [sic] of what is best described as 'the Money Power'.

This disaster came about at the end of the seventeenth century, when William III needed a great deal of money to pay for his wars in Europe. A group of financial sharks, led by one William Patterson, agreed to lend the king the money, in exchange for the right to found a private bank with the grand - though wholly inaccurate - title of the Bank of England. They knew precisely what they were doing; in the initial prospectus for potential investors, Patterson stated openly that "the Bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it creates out of nothing." And right from the start, the new bank lent the king money, far in excess of its gold reserves, at eight per cent interest.

This is what the banking system has been doing on all loans ever since. But although the banks issue credit to cover the amount of the loan, they do not issue credit to cover the interest on it. The result of this is that the public is continually being driven further and further into irredeemable debt to the banking system. The National Debt keeps rising, and cannot do otherwise under the system in force, and the same is true of private debt, resulting in repeated waves of bankruptcies, and widespread poverty in the midst of unprecedented plenty and productive capacity.

"Banks lend credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing." (14th Edition, Encyclopaedia Britannica.)

(NOTE: Credit is NOT money.)

During the seventeenth century, the kings of England had given the American colonies the right to create their own money. Towards the end of the following century, the London-based financiers realised that the fast-expanding New World offered rich pickings. So their corrupt placemen in parliament passed laws forcing the colonists to give up the issue of their own money and to borrow book-entry money at interest from the new Bank of England. According to Benjamin Franklin, this was the main cause of the American War of Independence. This was why the Founding Fathers laid down in the American Constitution that Congress should have the power to coin money, and to regulate the value thereof, in order to save their people from coming under the dominion of Finance. In spite of this, Alexander Hamilton fooled George Washington into letting him set up a "Bank of the United States", with the result that the Money Power rapidly gained growing influence in America as well. Within a decade, Thomas Jefferson, the third US President, was moved to declare that:-

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a money aristocracy that has set the Government at defiance The issuing power (of money) should he taken from the banks and restored to the Government and to the people to whom it belongs. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the corporation that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the land their fathers conquered."

While the rulers of Britain were overwhelmingly prepared to sell their souls and their people to the Money Power, successive American leaders kept up the fight against the tyranny of Gold. Abraham Lincoln, US President from l861-65, is quoted on page 91 of Senate Document No. 23, 76th Congress, as saying:-

"The Government should create, issue and circulate all the currency and credit needed to satisfy the spending power of the consumers. The privilege of creating and issuing money is the supreme prerogative of Government, the Government's greatest creative opportunity."

It was Lincoln who, during the Civil War, made the following statement to Congress:-

"I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the financial institution in the rear. Of the two, the one in my rear is my greatest foe."

It was the desire of the 'financial institution' to gain control of the South which was the real cause of the Civil War; the slavery issue was only a propaganda smokescreen.

Bismarck knew the truth about this terrible conflict and explained it to Conrad Siem in 1876. His statement was published in La Vieille France, page 216, in March 1921. Maintained Bismarck:-

"The division of the United States into federations of equal force was decided long before the Civil War by the financial powers of Europe. These bankers were afraid that the United States, if they remained in one block and one nation, would attain economic and financial independence, which would threaten their financial domination of the world. The voice of the Rothschilds predominated. They foresaw tremendous booty if they could substitute two feeble democracies, indebted to the financiers, for the vigorous Republic, which was practically self-supporting. Therefore, they started their emissaries in order to exploit the question of slavery and thus to dig an abyss between the two parts of the Republic. Lincoln never suspected these underground machinations. He was against slavery and he was elected as such. His character prevented him from being the man of one party. When he had affairs in his hands, he perceived that these sinister financiers of Europe wished to make him the executor of their designs... His being a candidate had not troubled them; they thought to easily exploit the woodcutter. But Lincoln read their plots and understood that the South was not the worst foe, but the financiers."

After the war, Lincoln was determined to set up a constitutional money system, as proposed by the Founding fathers, for he realised the ultimate fate of the nation if bankers were allowed to dominate. As he struggled to set up an honest money system, the London newspapers - which moulded opinion on behalf of the bankers - expressed great fear over his proposals. The Times was particularly frank:-

"If that mischievous financial policy which had its origin in the North American Republic during the late war in that country should become indurated down to a fixture, then that government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off its debts and be without a debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous beyond precedent in the history of the civilised governments of the world. The brains and the wealth of all countries will go to North America. That Government must be destroyed, or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe."

The Times' lying and clever appeal to the old ruling elite who had become the debtors of the Money Power was also, of course, a remarkably incautious confession of the efficacy of the 'greenbacks' - currency notes spent into circulation by Lincoln's government without the backing of either gold or bankers' credit.

If Lincoln had succeeded in following up the success of this policy, the resulting prosperity of the US, and the reason for it, would have become obvious to other nations, where pressure would also have grown for the casting off of the shackles of debt slavery. In the event, of course, he was assassinated. Bismarck made the following statement regarding his murder:-

"The death of Lincoln was a disaster for Christendom. There was no man in the United States big enough to wear his boots, and.... (money creators) went anew to grab the riches of the world. I fear that foreign bankers, with their craftiness and tortuous tricks, will entirely control the exuberant riches of America, and use it to plunge the whole of Christendom into wars and chaos in order that the earth should become their inheritance."

In spite of their growing power, it took the financiers another generation to complete their conquest of America. But in December 1913, while most of the members of Congress were away for the Christmas holiday, the Federal Reserve Act was passed, setting up the Federal Reserve Corporation. In direct breach of the constitution, the right to create credit was taken from Congress and vested in the private Federal Reserve.

With the United States safely in the bag, the Money Power was free to use World War One to destroy its last remaining effective opponent - the Russian Empire under the Tsar and the old nobility - who had kept Russia independent. In the last years of the Romanovs, Russia was rapidly becoming a very great power, and while foreign bankers had large investments in the country, the growth was financed without government borrowing from international banks. There was no income tax, a small and shrinking National Debt, no unemployment, the biggest gold reserve in the world, a constantly favourable balance of trade, and the world's fastest annual industrial growth. Under these circumstances, it was impossible for the Money Power to control Russia, except by destroying the entire Tsarist system. Thus, coldly calculated financial interest added to long-nurtured racial hatred of the best of the Russians to encourage various Wall Street bankers to finance the genocidal 'revolution' by their Bolshevik cousins which brought the Russian nation to disaster and slavery.

While such historical facts are not taught by the court historians of the bankers' 'democratic' system, many prominent men have spoken out on this crucial issue, and it is useful to repeat the comments of a few of them as an antidote to the smear that critics of the banksters' swindle are 'cranks' with ideas about 'funny money.'

Gladstone, for example, had this to say:-

"From the time I took office as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1852) I began to learn that the State held, in face of the Bank (of England) and the City [of London], an essentially false position as to finance.... The hinge of the whole situation was this: the Government itself was not to be a substantive power in matters of finance, but was to leave the Money Power supreme and unquestioned."

His great rival, Benjamin Disraeli, cited Lionel Rothschild as saying:-

"Can anything be more absurd than that a nation should apply to an individual to maintain its credit and, with its credit, its existence as a state, and its comfort as a people."

At about the same time, in 1875, the Lord Chief Justice of England, Sir Alexander James Cockburn warned that:-

"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later, is the people versus the banks."

Several leading bankers themselves have also spelt out the situation with admirable clarity. Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who founded the great international banking house which took his name, stated bluntly:-

"Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws."

The Rt. Hon. Reginald McKenna, one-time Chancellor of the Exchequer, and for years the Chairman of the Midland Bank, in an address to the banks' shareholders on January 25th, 1924, put it this way:-

"I am afraid that the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can, and do, create and destroy money. The amount of money in existence varies only with the actions of the banks in increasing and decreasing deposits and bank purchases.... and they who control the credit of a nation, direct the policy of Governments and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people."

Sir Josiah Stamp, a director of the Bank of England, made the same point more critically:-

"Banking was conceived in iniquity and born in sin. Bankers own the world. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money and control credit, and with a flick of the pen they will create enough money to buy it back again."

In 1964, the late Captain Henry Kerby MP put down two Motions in the House of Commons to return the issue of money to Crown authority. These proposals received the silent treatment from the politicians, the media and the rest of the Establishment. A few years later he met with a premature death, and the writer knows of others who also think that he was murdered.

It is interesting to note that President John F. Kennedy ordered the US Treasury to issue four billion US dollars (not Federal Reserve dollars). These were spent, not lent, into circulation, so that they did not add a cent to the national debt. He was murdered shortly afterwards, as had been Abraham Lincoln, who had tried a similar brave experiment.

It is quite impossible for anyone with reasonable intelligence to investigate this subject without discovering facts like these. That being so, the only possible conclusion is that the people who ought to know the truth, but who keep silent, are quite determined to keep their eyes firmly shut.

It is obvious that a country cannot be sovereign unless its government is in complete control of its credit. Yet the Euro-sceptics, who rightly point out the dangers of allowing our money supply to be controlled by foreign and unanswerable bankers in Brussels and Bonn, manage to ignore the equal danger of leaving such power in the hands of unanswerable, and often foreign, bankers in the City of London. This is what marks out their criticism of the EC as safety valve politics; we must not miss any opportunity to point this out, and to win over a people sickened and broken by a system based on debt, to the fight for a real alternative.

"I set to work to read the Act of Parliament by which the Bank of England was created. The investors knew what they were about. Their design was to mortgage by degrees the whole of the country.... lands.... houses.... property.... labour. The scheme has produced what the world never saw before - starvation in the midst of abundance."

Thus wrote William Cobbett in The Political Register XVIII, July 14th, 1810.


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