“As a soldier, Alexander Hamilton shared Washington’s disgust with civilians who would turn the opportunity offered by the war to their own economic benefit. One case of such profiteering came to light in the person of Congressman Samuel Chase of Maryland, who took advantage of his position in the government to make extensive grain purchases that he knew would be needed by the French fleet when it arrived. It was this occurrence that set Hamilton to writing the letters signed “Publius” to the New York Journal in the fall of 1778. The letter of October 19 is reprinted here. Annals of America Vol. 2, p. 509:
While every method is taken to bring to justice those men whose principles and practices have been hostile to the present revolution, it is to be lamented that the conduct of another class, equally criminal, and, if possible, more mischievous has hitherto passed with impunity, and almost without notice. I mean that tribe who, taking advantage of the times, have carried the spirit of monopoly and extortion to an excess. The exorbitant price of every article, and the depreciation upon our currency, are evils derived essentially from this source. When avarice takes the lead in a State, it is commonly the forerunner of its fall. How shocking it is to discover among ourselves the strongest symptoms of this fatal disease.
There are men in all countries, the business of whose lives it is to raise themselves above indigence by every little art in their power. When these men are observed to be influenced by the spirit I have mentioned, it can only excite contempt. When others, who have characters to support, and credit enough in the world to satisfy a moderate appetite in an honorable way, are found to be actuated by the same spirit, our contempt is mixed with indignation. But when a man, appointed to be the guardian of the state, and the depository of the happiness and morals of the people, forgetful of the solemn relation in which he stands, descends to the dishonest artifices of a mercantile projector, and sacrifices his conscience and his trust to pecuniary motives, there is no strain of abhorrence of which the human mind is capable, no punishment the vengeance of the people can inflict, which may not be supplied to him with justice.
If it should have happened that a member of Congress has been this degenerate character, and has been known to turn the knowledge of secrets, to which his office gave him access, to the purposes of private profit by employing emissaries, he ought to be detested as a traitor of the worst and most dangerous kind.”
See also:
Trading with the Enemy: An Expose’ of the Nazi-American Money Plot, 1933-1949 by Charles Higham, 1983
War Is a Racket by Marine Brigadier General Smedley Butler, 1935
The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve by G. Edward Griffin, 1994
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report: Final Report of the National Committee on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crises in the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 2011
The Great Deformation: How Crony Capitalism Corrupts Free Markets and Democracy by David Stockman; 2013
“Foreign Aid” is Neither: Another Government Dirty Little Secret this blog site dated January 26, 2021
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is a 2006 documentary film made by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films.
