Part Of: Edison General File Series -- 1919

[E1907-F] (E-19-07) Banking

This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to banking and currency, the domestic and international economy, monetary policy, and other economic subjects. Among the items for 1919 are comments by Edison on the postwar inflation crisis, including a draft letter referring to the leaders of communist Russia as "two crazy Jews at Petrograd"—a reference that was deleted in the final version prepared by his personal assistant, William H. Meadowcroft. Also included are remarks by Edison regarding his opposition to workers owning stock in their companies and his belief that "interest on money was born of evil intentions, a means of exploitation of the general mass of humanity." The correspondents include Yale economist Irving Fisher, insurance executive Ingalls Kimball, and U.S. Labor Secretary William B. Wilson.

Approximately one third of the documents have been selected. The unselected material includes unsolicited proposals sent to Edison and other routine items that received no answer.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

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