Well you are right Zoomie and I thank you for prodding me, I wouldn't have refreshed my thoughts on this without your input.
What I have found out is the quote apparently is a compilation of several parts of Wilson's 1913 book
"The New Freedom: A Call For the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People" and possibly word of mouth statements he made in private.
I found this bit already,
The great monopoly in this country is the monopoly of big credits. So long as that exists, our old variety and freedom and individual energy of development are out of the question. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom. This is the greatest question of all, and to this statesmen must address themselves with an earnest determination to serve the long future and the true liberties of men.
That bit alone is enough to discredit the quote as posted.
But also apparently there is at least one text dating back to 1924 where the main lines in question come from.
"The American Mercury by George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, 1924, p. 56 [1]
"President Woodrow Wilson-( After breaking with the engineers of the Fed Act, and near his death), "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined my ...".
So it may have been a word of mouth thing that got passed around and everyone believed it was true, and maybe it is. I don't know. Some attribute the quote to his book but that one line is all I've found so far. I haven't read the whole text yet but it's clear Wilson had no problem describing what was going on but he also and at the same time in many ways acts as an apologist for the growing cancer.
I have to say tentatively based on what I've just read skimming through Wilson's book so far,
Even though parts of the quote may possibly be made up and others may be taken slightly out of context. I think the wording of the quote is an ingenious condensation.
Although it may actually give him too much credit as to possibly regretting his part.
Humm ... the origin of the quote may have had other purposes than the obvious. I'll need to think about that.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2009, 05:26:55 AM by Tru »

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