Roosevelt in Reichstag

Count von Kanitz of Berlin places blame on President Roosevelt for their economic crisis, alleging that Roosevelt does not allow trusts.

Berlin -- In the course of an interpellation in the reichstag in reference to the high rate of discount charged by the Imperial bank Count von Kanitz, Conservative, suggested that President Roosevelt was responsible for the critical financial situation existing today throughout the entire world, and the direct cause thereof, according to the speaker, was to be found in the president’s “threats against trusts.” Count von Kanitz said that the opponents of the trusts must recognize that interference with the financial activity of the United States, which is based on the operations of the trusts, means interference with the entire economic situation in America. “America’s error has been that she allowed the trusts to go so long without interference,” said the speaker.
Count Von Kanitz then reviewed what he called the “frenzied finance” of America of the past few months and drew the attention of his hearers to the recent flight for gold in Europe. He said that the amount of gold leaving Europe could not be estimated exactly, but that in the month of November alone 158,000,000 marks (about $39,500,000) had left Germany for the United States. Continuing, he declared that the assistance given the American treasury department had very little effect in improving conditions.

“Roosevelt in Reichstag,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed April 24, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/126.