US. govt a corporation?
Bob Hurt
IS THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT A CORPORATION?
IF TRUE,
SO WHAT?
© 2007 by G. Edward Griffin. Revised 2007
January 4. http://freedom-force.org
A common assertion made by those who are unhappy with the declining state of freedom in America is that this can be traced to an 1871 act of Congress that established Washington DC and, at the same time, converted the United States from a constitutional republic to a corporation. Secondary claims attached to this hypothesis are that this is the reason the official wording was changed from Constitution for The United States of America to Constitution of The United States of America and also why all capital letters are used in the name instead of upper and lower case letters. They claim that this Act of 1871 abolished the original constitutional government and created a legal fiction that became financially indebted to and controlled by international bankers. A forceful example of this view can be found on the Internet at www.serendipity.li/jsmill/us_corporation.htm.
A CHARTER FOR CITY
GOVERNMENT
My own analysis is different. While it
is true that Washington DC was created by the Act of 1871, its territory
was limited to the District
of Columbia and it was defined as a
municipal corporation, which means it was limited to the affairs of city
government. Three years later, on June 20, 1874, a new Act was passed by
Congress that abolished the original city government and replaced it with a
three-man commission, appointed by the President with the consent of the
Senate. Its scope as a municipality did not change. A third Act of Congress,
dated June 11, 1878, clarified the powers of the Commission but retained all
the essential features of the previous Act, especially those that defined the
nature of the District of Columbia as a municipal administrative unit. The
following overview, taken from a Supreme Court decision (District of Columbia
v. Camden Iron Works, 181 U.S. 453 (1901) 181 U.S. 453) describes this
evolution:
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The 1st section of the act 'to provide a government for the District of Columbia,' approved February 21, 1871 (16 Stat. at L. [181 U.S. 453, 458] 419, chap. 62), provided: 'That all that part of the territory of the United States included within the limits of the District of Columbia be, and the same is hereby, created into a government by the name of the District of Columbia by which name it is hereby constituted a body corporate for municipal purposes, and may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, have a seal, and exercise all other powers of a municipal corporation not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States and the provisions of this act.' A governor and legislature were created; also a board of public works, to which was given the control and repair of the streets, avenues, alleys, and sewers of the city of Washington, and all other works which might be intrusted to their charge by either the legislative assembly or Congress. They were empowered to disburse the moneys received for the improvement of streets, avenues, alleys, sewers, roads, and bridges, and to assess upon adjoining property specially benefited thereby a reasonable proportion of the cost, not exceeding one third. June 20, 1874, an act was passed entitled 'An Act for the Government of the District of Columbia, and for Other Purposes.' 18 Stat. at L. 116, chap. 337. By this act the government established by the act of 1871 was abolished and the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate was authorized to appoint a commission, consisting of three persons, to exercise the power and authority vested in the governor and the board of public works, except as afterwards limited by the act. By a subsequent act approved June 11, 1878 (20 Stat. at L. 102, chap. 180), it was enacted that the District of Columbia should 'remain and continue a municipal corporation,' as provided in 2 of the Revised Statutes relating to said District (brought forward from the act of 1871), and the appointment of commissioners was provided for, to have and to exercise similar powers given to the commissioners appointed under the act of 1874. |
Many Internet commentators claim that using all upper-case letters when printing the name United States of America or when printing names of individuals has a profound legal implication. However, I have not been able to confirm this. If anyone can show me a law or court case to the contrary, I will readily acknowledge it; but so far I only have found assertions of this claim with no authoritative documentation. In the meantime, I am satisfied with the conclusion of the Dixieland Law Journal at http://home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/NamesInCaps.htm that there is no legal basis for this theory.
Now, to the bigger issue. Even if it were true that Congress in 1871 converted the United States into a corporation (a claim that I do not accept), there would be two questions that must be answered: (1) what would be the practical significance and (2) what can be done about it?
SO WHAT?
Let’s take the first question:
what would be the practical significance of a corporate government versus a
constitutional government? In one case, the charter is a corporate charter. In
the other case it is a constitution. Both are written documents and both outline
the purpose, function, and limitations of the entity they create. The primary
difference is that a corporation always is the creation of government, which
makes government a higher source with powers assumed to be derived from the
people themselves. In the case of the United States,
however, this distinction is blurred, because the federal constitution was
created by representatives of the colonial governments. That means the United States
was created by other governments just as it would have been if created as a
corporation.
The structure of government is important but not as important as the power of government. That is also true of corporations. Governments and corporations are neither good nor evil by themselves. They can serve man well or be a huge disservice depending entirely on the terms of their charters and the character of those who direct them. Private entrepreneurs, partnerships, and associations have exactly the same capacity for good or evil. Corporations become evil when they acquire political favoritism giving them unfair advantages over competitors and legal immunity from crimes – but exactly the same thing happens with politically connected individuals, partnerships, and associations.
A similar contrast between good and evil is found within governments, whether they are corporations or not. There is little difference between corporations and governments except ownership of stock. Too much is made over the structure of government and too little over the principles of government. Which would we choose: a corporate government with a charter that limits its powers and with functioning mechanisms to choose our leaders – or a constitutional government in which the constitution is subverted and the electoral system is in the hands of a ruling elite?
Guns do not commit crimes but people using guns do. Likewise, organizational structures are not the problem, it's the people who control those structures and the principles they embrace. Evil men can subvert any social structure. There are no set of rules that can prevent it if the public becomes indifferent, which is why Wendell Phillips reminded us that "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
We should be thankful that America started off as a constitutional republic, but that was long ago. Today we live under a democratic oligarchy in which the masses are hypnotized into believing they control their political destiny because they are allowed to elect their own dictators. This conversion did not happen because of how government was chartered but because collectivists took control of political parties, media centers, educational institutions, and all other power centers of society. As long as collectivists remain in control, and as long as most people don't even know what the word collectivism means, it makes no difference if government has a constitutional or a corporate charter. Freedom is lost either way.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
The important question is what can be
done? Even if it were true that the United States
was secretly converted to a corporation in 1871, what can be done about it
today? If we don’t have an answer to that question, we are wasting out
time. The enemies of freedom must be happy to see us chasing phantom issues
because, as long as we do, we are out of the battle. The solution to the loss
of our constitutional republic is, not to endlessly debate the meaning of an
obscure event in 1871, but to take action today to recapture our government from the collectivists who have
subverted it and then set about to restore the republic! That is the mission of
Freedom Force.
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According to Hoovers…as of Oct 2006…
The IRS (D-U-N-S Number: 040539587) is allegedly a bureau in "The US Department of the Treasury" (D-U-N-S Number: 003254885) which has an immediate parent called "Executive Office Of The United States Government" (D-U-N-S Number: 161906078) which has a parent called "Government Of The United States" (D-U-N-S Number: 161906193). Below is additional information on these entities.
Internal Revenue Service
1111 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20224 ( Map)
United States
Phone: 202-622-5000
Fax: 202-622-4355
http://www.irs.gov
Key Information
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D-U-N-S Number |
040539587 |
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Doing Business As |
"Irs" |
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Company Type |
Private - Government Agency |
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Ultimate Parent |
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Ultimate Parent D-U-N-S |
161906193 |
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Immediate Parent |
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Immediate Parent D-U-N-S |
003254885 |
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Year Of Founding or Change In Control |
1862 |
Key Numbers
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Total Employees |
103,000 |
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Employees At This Location |
5,000Key People
OverviewThe Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is ready to help Americans pay their taxes, whether they want to or not. A bureau in the Department of the Treasury, the IRS is responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement in its numerous forms. With an annual budget of more than $10 billion, the agency strives to fulfill its mission by helping taxpayers understand their obligations and by consistently and fairly enforcing tax laws. After a major reorganization, began in 1998, the IRS restructured itself along customer-centric lines that created its four primary divisions; Wage and Investment, Large and Mid-Size Business, Small Business/Self Employed, and Tax Exempt and Government Entities.
US Department of the Treasury1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Phone: 202-622-2000
Key Information
Key Numbers
Key People
OverviewThe US Department of the Treasury (also known as the Treasury or Treasury Department) is the primary federal agency responsible for the economic prosperity and security of the US. In addition to conducting monetary functions such as federal budgeting, currency production, and taxation, the Treasury also oversees some aspects of enforcement, economic policy development, and international treaty negotiations. Federal departments under the Treasury's purview include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), regulatory bodies the Office of Thrift Supervision &n bsp;and the Comptroller of the Currency , and the US Mint . The Treasury is organized into two primary components -- the departmental offices are primarily responsible for the formulation of policy and management of the Treasury as a whole, while the operating bureaus, which make up about 98% of the workforce, carry out the specific operations assigned to the Treasury. The Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence was recently established in response to congressional criticism that the Treasury needed to do a better job of tracking money, especially in relation to terrorist financing both domestically and internationally. Executive Office Of The United States Government 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Nw Phone: 202-456-1414
Line of BusinessEXECUTIVE OFFICE Key Information
Key Numbers
Key Person
Government Of The United States The U S Capitol Washington, DC 20515-0001 (Map) United States D-U-N-S Number: 161906193
Key Numbers
Key Per! son
Note: The "Government of The United States" has only about 800,000 more employees than the "Executive Office Of The United States Government". In other words, over 70% of the "Government of The United States" is comprised of the "Executive Office".
Also note that there are 3 employees in this entity known as the "Gov of the United States" based in the US Capital building. As an aside, the ! recently created entity known as "Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence" which is within "The US Department of the Treasury" Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Phone: 202-622-2000 http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/
Key Information
Key Numbers
Key Person
Officers & Employees
OverviewThe Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) directs the Treasury Department's intelligence and enforcement functions to safeguard the US financial system.The TFI protects the financial system from illicit use, combating such national security threats as rogue nations, terrorist facilitators, money launderers, and drug kingpins. The TFI gathers and analyzes information from intelligence, law enforcement, and financial communities, documenting how evil-doers earn, move, and store money and then taking a! ppropriate policy, regulatory, or enforcement action. The TFI can freeze assets, cut off foreign jurisdictions from the US financial system, repatriate assets, and enforce US financial regulations. The following are all US Federal aspects (SIC & NAICS codes) which should be considered open for evaluation and possible re-architecting:
US FederalGovernment agencies or government-related establishments involved with the functions of the US federal government. Industry Family TreeoUS Federal Associated SIC Codes
Associated NAICS Codes
Addition informatuon shared before!
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