Nelson Aldrich: the Rockefeller's Middle Man who crafted the Income Tax and the Central Federal Reserve System
66"There are two distinct classes of men...those who pay taxes and those who receive and live upon taxes."
-- Thomas Paine (1737–1809), pamphleteer and revolutionary
"You know, gentlemen, that I do not owe any personal income tax. But nevertheless, I send a small check, now and then, to the Internal Revenue Service out of the kindness of my heart."
-- David Rockefeller (1915-), before a Congressional Committee
"In his final Senate years, Aldrich chaired the National Monetary Commission. His Aldrich Plan, providing for flexible cash reserves, was the forerunner of the Federal Reserve System."
-- Senate.gov
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Aldrich introduced established an income tax, although he had declared a similar measure "communistic" a decade earlier
Born in Rhode Island, Nelson Aldrich (1841–1915) was a direct descendant of Rhode Island founder, Roger Williams. He had directed the Finance Committee and was tightly linked to Rockefeller as his only daughter married the only son of John D. Rockefeller (Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller is his grandson and his son Winthrop Aldrich's will become chairmanship of the Chase National Bank - Rockefeller's Bank).
In 1909, Aldrich introduced a constitutional amendment to establish an income tax, although he had declared a similar measure "communistic" a decade earlier. In 1908 he became the chief sponsor of the Aldrich-Vreeland Act which created the National Monetary Commission, later to become the Federal Reserve in 1913.
Aldrich became wealthy with investments in street railroads, sugar, rubber and banking. In 1906 Aldrich and other American financiers invested heavily in mines and rubber in the Belgian Congo. They supported Belgium's King Leopold II, who was alleged to have imposed slave labor conditions in the colony.
