Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

Meanwhile, until our rule is established, we, on the contrary, will organize and multiply free masonic lodges in all the countries of the world. We will attract to them all those who are and who may become public-spirited, because in these lodges will be the chief source of information and from them will emanate our influence.

All these lodges will be centralized under one management, known only to us and unknown to all others; these lodges will be administered by our wise men. The lodges will have their own representative in this management in order to screen the above mentioned Masonic government; he will give the password and elaborate the program. We will tie the knot of all revolutionary liberal elements in these lodges. Their membership will consist of all strata of society. The most secret political plans will be known to us and will fall under our leadership on the very day of their origination. _Among the members of these lodges will be almost all the agents of the international and national police_, whose work is indispensable for us, inasmuch as the police not only are able to take independent measures against the rebellious, but may also serve to mask our actions, provoke discontent, and so forth.

Most people who become members of secret societies are adventurers, career makers, and irresponsible persons in general, with whom we will have no difficulty in dealing and who will help us to set in motion the mechanism of the machine planned by us. If this world becomes perturbed, it will only prove that it was necessary for us to disorganize it so as to destroy its too great solidarity. _If a plot is laid, it must be headed by one of our most trustworthy servants._ It is only natural that we want nobody but ourselves to guide the work of the Masons,[5] for we know where we are trending, we know the final aim of every action. The GOYS, however, understand nothing, not even the immediate results. They are usually concerned about the momentary satisfaction of their ambitions in achieving their intentions. They do not notice, however, that the intention itself was not initiated by them, but that it was we who gave them the idea.

The GOYS become members of the lodges out of pure curiosity, or hoping to receive their share in the public funds. There are others who come for the purpose of seizing the opportunity of putting before the public their impossible and baseless hopes. They long for the emotion of success and for the applause which we grant them lavishly. We create their success in order to utilize the self-deception that is born with it and by which people, without noticing, begin to follow our suggestions without suspecting them, and being fully convinced that their infallibility originates its own ideas and, therefore, does not need those of others. You have no idea how easy it is to bring even the most intelligent GOYS to a state of unconscious credulity, and, on the other hand, how easy it is to discourage them by the smallest failure, or merely by ceasing to applaud them, thus bringing them into servitude for the sake of achieving new success. _To the same extent as our people ignore success for the sake of carrying out their plans, so are the GOYS ready to sacrifice all their plans for the sake of success._ Their psychology makes the problem of direction easier for us. Those tigers in appearance have the souls of sheep and nonsense filters through their heads. As a hobby we have given them the dream of submerging human individualism through the symbolic idea of _collectivism_.

They have not yet discovered and will not discover that this hobby is a clear infringement on the principal law of nature, which, from the beginning of the world, created a being unlike all others, precisely for the sake of expressing his individuality.

If we were able to lead them to such insane and blind beliefs, does it not obviously prove the low level of development of the GOY mind as compared to our mind? It is precisely the thing which guarantees our success.

How far sighted were our wise men of old when they said that to attain a serious object one must not stop at the means, nor should one count the victims sacrificed to the cause. We have not counted the victims from among the GOYS, those seeds of cattle. Although we have sacrificed many of our own peoples, we have already given them in return a formerly undreamed-of position on earth. The comparatively few victims from among our own people have saved our race from destruction.

Death is the unavoidable end of all. It would be better to accelerate this end for those who interfere with our cause than for our people or for us, ourselves, the creators of this cause to die. _We kill Masons in such a way that none but the brothers suspect, not even the victims; they all die when it is necessary, apparently from a natural death._ Knowing this, even the brethren, in their turn, dare not protest. It is through such measures that we have uprooted the heart of protest against our orders from among the Masons. Preaching liberalism to the GOYS, at the same time we hold our people and our agents under iron discipline.

Through our influence the enforcement of the GOY laws has been reduced to a minimum. The prestige of the law has been undermined by the liberal interpretations introduced by us. The courts decide as we dictate the most important principles, both political and moral, viewing the cases in the light presented by us for the GOY administration. This we accomplished naturally through agents, with whom we have ostensibly no connection, namely, through the press or otherwise. Even senators and high officials blindly follow our advice. The purely animal mind of the GOYS is incapable of analysis and observation, and even less so of foreseeing to what results the development of the principle involved in a case may lead.

It is through this difference in the process of reasoning between us and the GOYS that it becomes possible clearly to demonstrate the stamp of God’s elect as compared to the instinctive and bestial mentality of the GOYS. They see, but they cannot foresee, and they cannot invent anything except material things. It is clear, therefore, that nature herself intended us to rule and guide the world.

When the time comes for our open rule, then will be the time to show its benefits, and we will change all the laws. Our laws will be short, clear, irrevocable, and requiring no interpretation, so that everybody will be able to know them thoroughly. The chief point emphasized in them will be a highly developed obedience to authority, which will eliminate all abuses, for all without exception will be responsible before the supreme power vested in the highest authority.

Abuse of power by minor officials will then disappear, because it will be punished so mercilessly that they will lose the desire to experiment with their power. We will closely watch every action of the administration, upon which depends the action of the government machinery, for corruption there creates corruption everywhere; not a single violation of law or act of corruption will remain unpunished. Acts of concealment and willful neglect on the part of governmental officials will disappear after they have seen the first example of severe punishment. The prestige of power necessitates that appropriate, that is to say severe, punishments should be inflicted even for the smallest violations of the sanctity of the supreme authority, committed for the sake of personal gain. The guilty, if punished severely, will be like a soldier who falls on the battlefield of administration for the sake of Authority, Principle, and Law; these principles do not allow any digression from their social function for a personal motive, even on the part of those who rule. For instance: _Our judges will know that by attempting to show stupid mercy, they overstep the law of justice, which was created solely for exemplary punishment of crimes and not for the manifestation of moral qualities on the part of the judge._ Such qualities are commendable in private, but not in public life, which constitutes the educational forum of human life.

The personnel of our judges will not remain in office after the age of fifty-five. First, because old people adhere more persistently to prejudiced opinions and are less capable of submitting to new commands; and secondly, because that enables us to achieve a certain flexibility of change in the personnel, which will bend more easily under our pressure. He who wishes to retain his position will have to obey blindly.

In general, our judges will be selected only from among those who will clearly understand that they must punish people and enforce the laws, and not indulge in dreams of liberalism at the expense of the educational plan of the government, as is now imagined by the GOYS. The method of changing the personnel will also serve to undermine the collective solidarity of the governmental officials and will attach them to the cause of the government, which decides their fate. The younger generation of judges will be so educated as to prevent any criminal activity which might interfere with the inter-relationship which we have established for our subjects.

At present the GOY judges, lacking a clear conception of the nature of their duties, make exceptions to all kinds of crimes. This occurs because the present rulers, when appointing judges, do not take the trouble to encourage the sense of duty and conscientiousness in the work to be performed by them. As the animal sends out its young in search of prey, so the GOYS are giving their subjects responsible offices without taking the time to explain their functions. Owing to this, their rule is undermined by their own efforts and through the actions of their own administration. Let us use the result of such actions as one more example of the advantage of our own rule.

We will eliminate liberalism from all the important strategic positions in our administration upon which depend the training of our subjects for our social order. These positions will be given only to those who have been trained by us for governmental work.

In answer to a possible remark, that the putting of old officials on the retired list may prove expensive for the treasury, I can state first, that, prior to their dismissal, some private work will be found for them to replace what they are losing, and secondly, I may also remark, that all the world’s money will be concentrated in our hands; consequently, our government need not fear expense.

Our autocracy will be consistent in every respect, and consequently every manifestation of our great power will be respected and unconditionally obeyed. We will ignore grumbling and discontent, and all active manifestations of either will be suppressed by punishment, which will serve as an example to the rest of the people.

We will abolish the right of appellate courts to annul judicial decisions, which will become the exclusive prerogative of the sovereign, for we cannot permit the people to think that an incorrect decision may possibly be rendered by the judges appointed by us. Should, however, such an error happen, we ourselves will annul the decision; but the punishment which we will impose upon the judge for misconception of his duties and of his responsibility will be so severe that it will eliminate the very possibility of a recurrence. I repeat that we will watch every step taken by our administration in order to enable us to satisfy the people, for they have a right to demand a good appointee from a good administration.

In the person of our sovereign, our government will bear the appearance of a patriarchal or fatherly tutelage. The people, our subjects, will see in him a father who takes care of every need, every action, and who is concerned with every relationship, both among the subjects themselves and between them and the sovereign.

Thus, they will become imbued with the idea that it is impossible for them to do without this guardian and guide if they wish to live in a world of peace and quiet. _They will recognize the autocracy of our sovereign, whom they will respect and almost deify_, especially when they realize that our agents do not usurp his power, but merely execute his orders blindly. They will be glad that everything is regulated in their lives, as is done by wise parents who wish to educate their children to a sense of duty and obedience. With regard to the secrets of our political plans, both the masses and their administration are like little children.

As you can see for yourselves, I base our despotism upon right and duty; the right of forcing the performance of duty is the direct function of government, acting as the father to its subjects. It is the right of the strong to utilize his power in order to lead humanity towards a social order established by the law of nature, namely, obedience. Everything in the world is subject, if not to some other persons, then to circumstances, or to its own nature; but in any case, to something stronger than itself. Consequently, let us be the strongest for the common good.

We must sacrifice without hesitation those individuals who violate the existing order, for in exemplary punishment of evil there lies a great educational problem.

When the King of Israel places the crown offered to him by Europe on his sacred head, he will become the Patriarch of the World. The necessary sacrifices made by him will never equal the number of victims sacrificed to the mania of greatness during the centuries of rivalry between the GOY governments.

Our sovereign will be in constant communication with the people, delivering from tribunes addresses which will be spread to all parts of the world.

PROTOCOL NO. XVI

For the purpose of destroying all collective forces except our own, we will nullify the universities, the first stage of collectivism, by reconstructing them along new lines. _Their directors and professors will be trained for their work through detailed secret programs of action, from which they will not be able to deviate in the least with impunity. They will be appointed with special care and will be so placed as to be completely dependent upon the government._

We will exclude from the curriculum civic law, as well as all that touches upon political questions. These subjects will be taught only to a few dozen selected for their striking ability from among the initiated. _The universities must not allow the callow youths to graduate who concoct plans of constitutions as they do comedies or tragedies, or who meddle with political matters which even their fathers do not understand._

Poorly directed study of political questions by a great number of people creates Utopians and poor citizens, as you can judge by the universal education as conducted by the GOYS along those lines. It was necessary for us to infiltrate into their educational system such principles as have successfully broken down their social order. When we are in power, we will eliminate all disturbing subjects from educational systems and will make young people obedient children of their superiors, loving the sovereign as their assurance of hope, peace, and quiet.

For the study of the classics and ancient history, which contain more bad than good examples, we will substitute a program dealing with the future. We will obliterate from the memory of the people all those facts pertaining to former centuries which are not to our advantage, leaving only those which emphasize the mistakes of the GOY governments. The study of practical life, of obligatory social order, of the inter-relationship of human beings, the avoidance of evil, egotistical examples that plant the seed of evil, and other questions of a pedagogical nature, will head the educational program. This program will differ for each caste, never allowing education to be of a uniform character. Such a system is of special importance.

Each caste must be educated with strict limitations, according to its particular occupation and the nature of the work. Accidental genius has always been able and always will be able to rise to a higher caste; but, for the sake of this rare exception, to open the door to the inefficient, and to admit them to higher castes or ranks, enabling them to occupy positions of others born and trained to fill them—is absolute insanity. You, yourself, know what happened to the GOYS when they yielded to this nonsense.

In order to implant the sovereign firmly in the minds and hearts of his subjects, it is necessary to acquaint the people, during his term of office, both in schools and in public places, with the importance of his activity and the benevolence of his enterprises.

We will abolish all unlicensed teaching. Students will have the right to gather, with their relatives, in their colleges as if in clubs. During these gatherings, on holidays, the teachers will read supposedly unbiased lectures on problems of human relationship, on the law of imitation, on the cruelty of unrestricted competition, and finally, on new philosophical theories which have not yet been disclosed to the world.

We will promote these theories into dogmatic beliefs, using them as stepping-stones to our faith. After having presented our program of action for the present and for the future, I will read to you the principles of these theories.

In short, knowing from the experience of many centuries that men live and are guided by ideas, that these ideas are imbued only by means of education given to persons of all ages, of course by different methods but meeting with equal success, we will absorb and appropriate to our own advantage the last traces of independent thought, which for a long time have been directed to the goal and to the ideas necessary to us. The system of enslaving thought is already in action through so-called visual education.

This system tends to turn the GOYS into thoughtless, obedient animals, expecting to see in order to understand. In France one of our best agents, Bourgeois, has already announced a new program of visual education.

PROTOCOL NO. XVII

The lawyer’s profession makes people grow cold, cruel, stubborn and unprincipled, and compels them to take an abstract or purely legal viewpoint in all matters. They have learned to consider solely the personal gain derived from every case they handle and not the possibility of the social benefit of its results. They rarely refuse to take a case and always strive for acquittal at all cost, clinging to minor technical points of a legal nature. In this way they demoralize the courts. Therefore we will limit this profession, converting it into an executive public office. Lawyers will be deprived of the right of contact with their clients on the same basis as are the judges. They will receive their cases only from the court, preparing them on the strength of written reports and documents and defending their clients after they have been examined in court on the basis of the facts obtained during the trial. They will receive a salary, regardless of whether the defense has been successful or not. They will act as simple exponents of the case on behalf of the defense in counterbalance to the public prosecutor, who will act as exponent on behalf of the prosecution. This will shorten legal procedure and establish an honest and impartial defense, conducted not for the sake of personal gain, but based on the personal conviction of the lawyer. This will also eliminate the existing bribery among fellow lawyers and prevent their allowing the side to win which pays.

We have already taken care to discredit the clergy of the GOYS and thus to undermine their function, which at the present time could have been very much in our way. Their influence over the people diminishes daily.

To-day freedom of religion has been proclaimed everywhere; consequently, it is only a _question of a few years before the complete collapse of Christendom_. It will be still easier to deal with other religions, but it is too early to discuss this problem. We will confine clericalism and clericals within such a narrow field that their influence will have an effect opposite to what it used to have.

When the moment comes to annihilate the Vatican completely, an invisible hand, pointing towards this court, will guide the masses in their assault. When, however, the masses attack, we will come forward as defenders to prevent too much bloodshed. By this method we will penetrate its very heart and will not leave it until we have undermined its power.

The King of Israel will become the real Pope of the Universe, the Patriarch of the International Church.

But until we have accomplished the re-education of the youth to new transitional religions and finally to our own, _we will not openly attack the existing churches, but will fight them by means of criticism, thus creating dissension_.

In general, our press will denounce governmental activities and religion, and will expose the inefficiency of the GOYS in the most unscrupulous terms, so as to humiliate them to such an extent as only our ingenious race is capable of doing. Our rule will simulate the God Vishnu, who resembles us physically; each of our hundred hands will hold one of the springs of the social machine. We will see everything without the aid of the official police; in its present organization, however, which we have worked out for the GOYS, the police prevent the government from seeing anything. According to our program, one-third of our subjects will watch the others from a pure sense of duty, as volunteers for the government. Then it will not be considered disgraceful to be a spy and an informer; on the contrary, it will be regarded as praiseworthy. Unfounded reports, however, will be severely punished to prevent abuse of this privilege.

Our agents will be recruited both from among the highest and the lowest ranks of society; they will be selected from among the pleasure-loving governmental officials, editors, printers, booksellers, salesmen, workmen, drivers, butlers, etc. This police force will have no official rights or credentials, which give opportunity for the abuse of power, and consequently it will be powerless; it will merely act as observer and will make reports. The verification of such reports and the issue of warrants for arrests will rest with a responsible group of police controllers. The actual arrests, however, will be made by a gendarme corps or the municipal police. In case of failure to report any political matter which has been observed or rumored, the person who should have reported it may be brought to trial for concealment of crime, if it is proven that he is guilty.

_In the same way that our brethren are now under obligation to report on their own initiative on all apostates_, or on any person marked as being opposed to the Kehillah, so in our Universal Kingdom it will be obligatory for all subjects to serve the state in that direction.

Such an organization will eliminate all abuse of power and various kinds of coercion and corruption, in fact, the very things which have been introduced into the customs of the GOYS by our councils and by the theories of the rights of supermen. But how otherwise could we foment the increasing causes for disorder in the midst of their administration? What other means could we use? Among these means, one of the most important is the employment of such agents for the preservation of order as are in a position to manifest their own evil inclinations in the course of their destructive work, namely, their self-will, abuse of authority, and, most important of all, bribery.

PROTOCOL NO. XVIII

When the time comes for us to strengthen the measures of police protection (the most terrible poison for the prestige of authority), we will artificially organize disorder or simulate the expression of discontent with the aid of experienced orators. These orators will be joined by sympathizers. This will give us the pretext for searches and special restrictions which will be put in force by our servants among the GOY police.

As most conspirators work as amateurs for the sake of chattering, we will not disturb them until we see that they are about to take action; but we will introduce in their midst secret service agents. It must be remembered that the prestige of authority diminishes if conspiracies against it are often discovered, for that leads to the presumption of the weakness of the authority, or, what is worse, to the admission of its own mistakes. You are aware that we have destroyed the prestige of the ruling GOYS by frequent attempts made on their lives through our agents, who were but blind sheep of our flock, easily moved, by a few liberal phrases, to crimes, so long as they were of a political nature. _We have forced the rulers to admit their own weakness by adopting open measures of police protection, and thereby we have ruined the prestige of their authority._

Our sovereign will be protected only by the most invisible guard, because we will never allow any one to think that conspiracy might exist against him which he is unable to combat and from which he has to hide himself. If we were to allow this thought to prevail, as it prevails among the GOYS, we would thereby sign the death warrant, if not of the sovereign himself, then of his dynasty in the near future.

Observing strict decorum, our sovereign will use his power only for the benefit of the people, but never for his own good or for that of his dynasty. By strictly adhering to this decorum, his authority will be respected and protected by his subjects; moreover, he will be worshiped, because it will be known that upon his authority depends the well-being of every citizen of the kingdom, and the stability of the social order itself.

_To guard the sovereign openly is equivalent to an admission of the weakness of his governmental organization._

Our sovereign, when amidst his people, will always appear to be surrounded by a crowd of curious men and women, who will stand beside him as though accidentally and will hold back the other people as though through respect for order. This example will implant an idea of self-restraint in others. If there be a person in the crowd trying to present a petition, and working his way through the ranks, the person nearest to him must take the petition and present it to the sovereign in sight of the petitioner himself, so that all may know that the petition presented has reached its destination and consequently that there exists a control of affairs on the part of the sovereign himself. The prestige of authority demands that the people should be able to say, “If only the king could know it,” or, “The king will know about this.”

With the establishment of an official police guard the mystical prestige of authority vanishes at once; with a certain amount of audacity, every one considers himself superior to authority; the assassin realizes his strength and only has to watch his opportunity to make an attempt against an official. We preached differently for the GOYS, but we can see the results to which open methods of protection have led them.

We will arrest criminals upon the first more or less well-founded suspicion. Because of the fear of a possible mistake political criminals should not be given the opportunity to escape; indeed towards political crime we will show no mercy. If, in exceptional cases, it may seem possible to allow the investigation of motives which have led to ordinary criminal offences, there is no excuse for those who attempt to deal with matters which no one can understand except the government. Moreover, not even all governments are capable of understanding the right policy.

PROTOCOL NO. XIX

Though we will not allow individuals to become involved in politics, we will, on the other hand, encourage the submission for the approval of the government of all petitions and reports containing suggestions and plans for bettering the condition of the people. This will bring to our knowledge the shortcomings or merely the fantastic aspirations of our subjects. These suggestions we will answer either by favorable action or by refusals proving the lack of intelligence and the errors of those who have submitted such suggestions.

Sedition is nothing but the barking of a lap dog at an elephant. From the point of view of a government which is well organized, not from the police standpoint but with regard to its social basis, the lap dog barks at the elephant because he does not realize his strength. It is only necessary for the elephant to show his strength once and the dog barks no more; he begins to wag his tail the moment he sees the elephant.

In order to eliminate the prestige of martyrdom from political crime, we will seat the political criminal on the same bench with thieves, murderers, and other disgusting and dirty criminals. Then public opinion will regard that class of criminals as quite as disgraceful as any other, and will brand them with equal contempt.

We have endeavored to prevent, and I hope have succeeded in preventing, the GOYS from using such methods of dealing with seditious activities. In order to attain this end, we have made use of the press and public speeches; indirectly, through cleverly compiled historical textbooks, we have given publicity to martyrdom as though revolutionists had undergone it for the sake of human welfare. Such an advertisement has increased the contingent of liberals and forced thousands of GOYS into the herds of our cattle.

PROTOCOL NO. XX

To-day we shall deal with the financial program, the discussion of which I have postponed until the end of my report because it is the most difficult, conclusive, and decisive point in our plans. In approaching it, I will remind you that I have already intimated that the result of our actions is measured in figures.

When we become rulers, our autocratic government, for the sake of self-defense, will avoid burdening the people with heavy taxes, and it will not forget the rôle it has to play, namely, that of Father and Protector. But as government organization is costly, it is necessary to raise the means for its maintenance. Consequently, we must carefully work out the plan of a fair distribution of taxation.

In our government the sovereign will have the legal fiction of owning everything in his kingdom (which is easily put into practice), and can resort to legal confiscation of all money in order to regulate its circulation throughout the country. Consequently, the best method of taxation is the levying of a progressive tax on property. Taxes will thus be paid without difficulty or ruin in respective proportion to the amount of property owned. The rich must realize that it is their duty to give a part of their surplus wealth for the benefit of the country as a whole, because the government guarantees inviolability of the remaining part of their property and the right of honest gain. I say _honest_ because the control of property will prevent legal theft.

This social reform must come from above, for the time is ripe and it is becoming necessary as a guarantee of peace.

The tax on the poor is the seed of revolution, and it acts detrimentally to the government, which loses the great in its pursuit of the little. Moreover, the taxation of capital will lessen the increase of wealth in private hands, in which at present we have concentrated it as a counterweight to the governmental power of the GOYS, namely, to the state treasury.

Progressive taxation, assessed according to the amount of capital, will produce a much greater revenue than the present system of taxing every one at an equal rate, which is useful to us now only as a means of exciting revolt and discontent among the GOYS. The power of our sovereign will rest mainly in equilibrium and in guarantees of peace. For these, the capitalists must cede a part of their income so as to protect the action of the government machine. Public needs must be met by those who can best afford to do so and by those from whom there is something to take.

Such a measure will eliminate the hatred of the poor towards the rich, as they will be regarded as the financial supporters of the state and the upholders of peace and prosperity. The poor will also see that the rich are providing the necessary means to insure this end.

To prevent intelligent taxpayers from being too discontented with the new system of taxation, they will be furnished with detailed reports of the disbursement of public funds, exclusive of such as are appropriated for the needs of the throne and administrative institutions.

The sovereign will not own property, since everything in the state will seem to belong to him and these two conceptions would contradict each other. Private means would eliminate his right to own everything.

The relatives of the sovereign, aside from his descendants who will also be supported by the state, must join the ranks of government officials, or otherwise work for the right of holding property. The privilege of being of royal blood must not entitle them to rob the state treasury.

Sales, profits, or inheritances will be taxed by a progressive stamp tax. The transfer of property, whether in cash or otherwise, without the required stamp, will place the payment of the tax on the original owner, dating from the time of the transfer until the time of the reported failure to record the transaction. Transfer vouchers must be shown weekly at the local branch of the state treasury, together with a statement of the names, surnames, and the permanent addresses both of the original and of the new owner. The recording of the names of those participating in a transaction will be necessary in all transactions involving more than a certain amount for ordinary expenditure. The sale of prime necessities will be taxed only by a stamp tax, which will represent a certain small per cent of the cost of the particular article.

Just calculate how many times the amount received from such taxes will exceed the income of the GOY governments.

The state bank must keep a definite reserve fund, and all sums in excess must be put back into circulation. The cost of public works will be met out of this surplus fund. The initiative of such works emanating from the government will also tie the working class to the interests of the government and the rulers. Some of this money will be allotted to prizes for inventions and for the purposes of production.

Even small sums in excess of a certain definite and broadly calculated fund, should not be allowed to be kept in the state treasury, because money is intended to circulate, and every impediment to circulation is detrimental to the governmental mechanism, which the money lubricates; the congestion of lubricating substances can stop the proper functioning of the mechanism.

The substitution of bonds for a part of the currency has created just such an impediment. The result of this has already become sufficiently evident.

We will also establish an auditing office, so as to enable the sovereign to find at all times a full account of state revenues and expenses, except for the current month not yet made up, and that of the previous month not yet presented.

The only person who will not be interested in robbing the state treasury will be the sovereign, its owner. This is the reason why his control will prevent the possibility of loss or misappropriation.

Receptions for the purpose of etiquette, which waste the valuable time of the sovereign, will be abolished, because the ruler needs time for control and thought. Then his power will not be frittered away on the people surrounding the throne for the sake of appearance and brilliance, and who have only their own and not the public interest in mind.

The economic crises were created by us for the GOYS only by the withdrawal of money from circulation. Huge amounts of capital were kept idle and were taken away from the nations, which were thus compelled to apply to us for loans. Payment of interest on these loans burdened the state finances and made the states subservient to capital. The concentration of industry having taken production out of the hands of the artisan and put it into the hands of capitalists, sucked all the power out of the people and also out of the state.

The present issue of money generally does not coincide with the need per capita, and consequently it cannot satisfy all the needs of the working classes. The issue of currency must correspond with the increase in population, and children must be reckoned as consumers from the day of their birth. The revision of the issue of currency is an essential problem for the whole world.

You know that gold currency was detrimental to the governments that accepted it, for it could not satisfy the requirements for money, since we took as much gold as possible out of circulation.

We must issue a currency based on the value of the working power, whether it be of paper or wood. We will issue money in proportion to the normal demands of every subject, adding a certain amount at every birth and decreasing it with every death.

Every department (the French administrative divisions),[6] every district, will be in charge of its own accounts.

To avoid any delay in paying government expenses, the terms of such payments will be decreed by order of the sovereign; this will eliminate any favoritism of the ministry (of finance)[7] over any other department to the detriment of the others.

The budget of revenues and the budget of expenditure will be placed side by side, in order that they may always be compared with each other.

We will present plans for the reform of the GOY financial institutions and of their principles, as planned by us, in such a manner that nobody will be frightened. We will demonstrate the need of reform by the disorderly twaddle produced by the financial disorganization of the GOYS. We will show that the first reason for this confusion lies in the drafting of rough estimates for the budget, which increases from year to year. This annual budget is with great difficulty made to last during the first half of the year; then a revised budget is demanded and the funds thus allotted are spent in the next three months, after which a supplementary budget is called for and all this is wound up by a liquidation budget. As the budget of the following year is based on the total expenditure of the preceding year, the divergence from the normal reaches fifty per cent annually, so that the annual budget trebles every ten years. Owing to such a procedure, resulting from the carelessness of the GOY governments, their treasuries became empty. The period of loans followed and used up the remainder and brought all the GOY states to bankruptcy.

You can well understand that such a management of financial affairs as we induced the GOYS to pursue cannot be adopted by us.

Every loan proves the impotency of the government and its failure to understand its own rights. Loans, like the sword of Damocles, hang above the heads of the rulers, who instead of placing temporary taxes on their subjects, stretch forth their hands and beg the charity of our bankers. Foreign loans are leeches, which can never be removed from the governmental body until they either fall off themselves or the government itself manages to get rid of them. But the GOY governments instead of throwing them off increase their number, so that these governments must inevitably perish through self-inflicted loss of blood.

Indeed, what is a loan, especially a foreign loan, if not a leech? A loan is the issuance of government obligations which involve the liability to pay interest in proportion to the sum borrowed. If the loan pays five per cent, then in twenty years the government has unnecessarily paid in interest an amount equal to the principal sum borrowed. In forty years it has paid twice; in sixty years it has trebled the sum, while the loan still remains an unpaid debt.

From this calculation it is evident that under the system of universal taxation the government takes the last penny from the poor taxpayers in the form of taxes in order to pay interest to foreign capitalists, from whom the money was borrowed, instead of collecting these same pennies for its needs free from all interest.

So long as the loans were domestic, the GOYS only shifted the money from the pockets of the poor into those of the rich; but when we bribed the proper persons to make the loans foreign, then national riches poured into our hands and all the GOYS began to pay us the tribute of subjects.

The carelessness of the reigning GOYS in statemanship, the corruption of their ministers, the ignorance of other officials of financial problems, has forced their countries into debt to our banks to such an extent that they can never pay off their debts. It should be realized, however, that we have gone to great pains in order to bring about such a state of affairs.

Impediments to the circulation of money will not be allowed by us, and therefore there will be no government bonds, except one per cent bonds, so that the payment of interest should not deliver the power of the state to the sucking of leeches. The right of issuing bonds will be exclusively granted to industrial corporations, which will easily pay the interest out of their profits. The government, however, does not derive profit on borrowed money as these corporations do, since the state borrows money for expenditure and not for production.

Industrial bonds will also be bought by the government, which instead of being, as at present, the payer of tribute on loans, will become a sound creditor. Such a measure will prevent stagnation in the circulation of money, as well as indolence and laziness, which were useful to us so long as the GOYS remained independent, but are not wanted by us in our government.

How apparent is the shortsightedness of the purely bestial brains of the GOYS! It manifested itself when they borrowed money for at interest. It did not occur to the GOYS that, at any rate, this money, with the additional interest on it, would have to be taken from the resources of the country and paid to us. Would it not have been more simple to take the needed money from their own people?

This proves the genius of our distinguished mind, for we were able to present the question of loans to them in such a light that they saw in loans an advantage for themselves.

Our estimates, which we will produce when the time comes, will be based on the experience of centuries, on all those experiments which were conducted by us at the expense of the GOY governments; our estimates will prove to be clear and definite, and will obviously demonstrate the advantage of our new system. They will end all those abuses which made it possible for us to master the GOYS, but which cannot be permitted in our reign.

We will so organize the accounting system that neither the sovereign himself nor the most humble clerk will be able to deflect the smallest sum from its destination or direct it into a different channel from that indicated in our original financial plan.

It is impossible to govern without a definite plan. Traveling along a definite road with an indefinite supply of provisions destroys heroes and knights.

The GOY rulers, to whom we once gave advice to neglect governmental duties for grandiose receptions, etiquette, and pleasures, only concealed our rule. The accounts of the powerful favorites who replaced the sovereign were drawn up by our agents, and they always satisfied the shallow minds by promises that in the future there would be savings and improvements. Savings from what? From new taxes? This might have been asked but was not asked by those who read our reports and plans. You know to what their carelessness has led them, what financial disorganization they have reached in spite of the wonderful diligence of their people.

PROTOCOL NO. XXI

I will add one more detail regarding domestic loans in addition to the report which I made at the last meeting. I will not speak any more of foreign loans, for they filled our coffers with the national money of the GOYS. There will be no foreigners in our government, nobody outside.

We profited by the corruption of the administrators and by the negligence of the rulers in receiving sums that were doubled, trebled, and even more, loaning the GOY governments money which in reality was not needed by the states at all. Who could do the same with regard to us? Therefore, I will only set forth details in regard to domestic loans.

In announcing such a loan, the governments open a subscription to their bonds. To make them accessible to all, they vary the denomination from one hundred to thousands, and the first subscribers are allowed to buy below face value. The following day the price is artificially raised on the pretext that everybody hurried to buy the bonds. In a few more days there is a pretense that the treasury is filled and that it is not known what to do with the money, which has been oversubscribed. (What was the use of taking it?) The subscription is evidently considerably in excess of the amount asked for. Therein lies the effect, for it is thus demonstrated that the public has confidence in the government obligations.

But after the comedy has been played the fact of the debt appears, and it is usually a heavy one. In order to pay the interest, new loans have to be issued, which do not liquidate but increase the original debt. Then when the borrowing capacity of the government has been exhausted, it becomes necessary to meet the interest on the loan—not the loan itself—by new taxes. These taxes are nothing but a debit used to cover a debit.

Then comes the period of conversions, but these only decrease the payment of interest while they do not annul the debts. Moreover, they cannot be made without the consent of the bondholders. When a conversion is advertised, an offer is made to return the money to those who are not willing to convert their bonds. If everybody were to demand his money, the government would be caught in its own net and would be unable to return all the money. Fortunately, the GOY subjects, ignorant of financial affairs, always preferred to suffer a fall in the value of their securities and a reduction of interest to the risk of new investments; thus, they have given these governments more than one opportunity of throwing off a deficit of several millions. At present, with the existence of foreign loans, the GOYS cannot play such tricks, for they know that we would demand all the money back.

Thus, an avowed bankruptcy will be the best proof of the lack of common interest between the people and their government.

I direct your express attention to the above circumstance, as also to the following: At present all domestic loans are consolidated into so-called floating debts; in other words, into those whose terms of payment are more or less close at hand. Such debts consist of money placed in savings banks. Being at the disposal of the government, for a considerable length of time, these funds vanish in the payment of interest on foreign loans, and they are replaced by an equal amount of government securities. _The latter cover all the deficits in the government treasuries of the GOYS._

When we mount the throne of the universe, such financial expedients, being detrimental to our interests, will vanish. We will also destroy all stock exchanges, for we will not allow the prestige of our authority to be shaken by the shifting of the prices of our securities. We will fix the full price of their value legally without any possibility of its fluctuation. (A rise leads to a fall, and this was precisely what we did to the GOY stocks and bonds at the beginning.)

We will replace the stock exchanges by great government credit institutions, whose functions will be to tax commercial values according to governmental plans. These institutions will be in a position to throw daily on the market 500,000,000 shares of industrial stocks, or to buy up a like amount. Thus all industrial enterprises will become dependent upon us. You can well imagine what power that will give us.

PROTOCOL NO. XXII

In all that I have hitherto reported to you I have carefully tried to show you a true picture of the mystery of present events, as also of those of the past, which all flow into the stream of great events, the results of which will be seen in the near future. I have exposed our secret plans which govern our relations with the GOYS, as well as our financial policy. There remains but little to add.

We hold in our hands the greatest modern power—gold. In the course of two days we can get it from our treasuries in any desired quantity.

Is there any more need for us to prove that our rule is decreed by God? Do we not prove by such wealth that all the evil which we were forced to do during so many centuries has served in the end to true happiness—to the restoration of order? Although by means of violence, order will nevertheless be established. We will be able to prove that we are benefactors, who have brought true welfare and individual freedom to the tortured world, insuring at the same time the possibility of enjoying peace, quiet, and dignity of relationships, upon the sole condition, of course, that obedience to the laws established by us is practiced. We will also make it clear that freedom does not mean license and in doing whatever people please, no more than dignity and power imply the right to propound destructive doctrines, like freedom of conscience, equality, and similar things. Individual freedom by no means imports the right of disturbing oneself and others, disgracing oneself by making ridiculous speeches in disorderly gatherings, and implies that true liberty means individual inviolability through an honest and strict obedience to social laws; that moreover, human dignity implies the conception of one’s rights as well as the idea of legal inhibitions which prohibit fantastic dreams about the _Ego_.

Our power will be glorious because it will be mighty; it will rule and guide, and not helplessly crawl after leaders and orators, shouting insane words which they call great principles, and which in reality are simply Utopian. Our power will lead to order, which, in turn, brings happiness to the people. The prestige of this power will excite mystical adoration, and the peoples will bow before it. True power does not yield to any right, even be it that of God. None will dare approach it in order to deprive it even of an atom of its might.

PROTOCOL NO. XXIII

To teach the people obedience they must be taught modesty, and to accomplish this the production of luxuries must be limited. We will thus improve customs, demoralized by rivalry, resulting from luxury.

We will restore handicraft, which will undermine the private capital of manufacturers. This is necessary, because big manufacturers often influence, although not always consciously, the thoughts of the people against the government.

A people, practicing handicraft, does not know what unemployment means, and this makes them cling to existing conditions and consequently to the power of authority. Unemployment is most dangerous for a government. It will have finished its work for us as soon as authority falls into our hands.

Drunkenness will also be forbidden by law and will be punishable as a crime against human decency, for man becomes bestial under the influence of alcohol.

Once more I state, that people obey blindly only the hand that is strong and entirely independent of them, in which they see a sword of defense and a stronghold against the blows of social misfortune. Why should the sovereign have an angel’s heart? They want to see in him the personification of might and power.

The sovereign who will replace the present existing governments, dragging along their existence in the midst of a society demoralized by us, which denies even the power of God and from whose midst rises on all sides the flames of anarchy, must primarily undertake to extinguish this all-consuming fire. Therefore, he must destroy such a society, if necessary drown it in its own blood, in order to resurrect it as a well-organized army, which consciously struggles against the infection of any anarchy affecting the state organism.