FDR

It must be the justification of all the sacrifices that have been made--of all the dreadful misery that this world has endured.

We Americans of today, together with our allies, are making history--and I hope it will be better history than ever has been made before.

Because of undermined confidence on the part of the public, there was a general rush by a large portion of our population to turn bank deposits into currency or gold--a rush so great that the soundest banks could not get enough currency to…

It was then that I issued the proclamation providing for the nation-wide bank holiday, and this was the first step in the government's reconstruction of our financial and economic fabric.

I want to tell our citizens in every part of the nation that the national Congress-- Republicans and Democrats alike--showed by this action a devotion to public welfare and a realization of the emergency and the necessity for speed that it…

We do not want and will not have another epidemic of bank failures.

It needs no prophet to tell you that when the people find that they can get their money--that they can get it when they want it for all legitimate purposes--the phantom of fear will soon be laid.

People will again be glad to have their money where it will be safely taken care of and where they can use it conveniently at any time.

I can assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress.

The success of our whole great national program depends, of course, upon the cooperation of the public--on its intelligent support and use of a reliable system.

Some of our bankers had shown themselves either incompetent or dishonest in their handling of the people's funds.

They had used the money entrusted to them in speculations and unwise loans.

It was the government's job to straighten out this situation and do it as quickly as possible--and the job is being performed.

I do not promise you that every bank will be reopened or that individual losses will not be suffered, but there will be no losses that possibly could be avoided; and there would have been more and greater losses had we continued to drift.

We shall be engaged not merely in reopening sound banks but in the creation of sound banks through reorganization.

I can never be sufficiently grateful to the people for the loyal support they have given me in their acceptance of the judgment that has dictated our course, even though all our processes may not have seemed clear to them.

After all, there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people.

Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan.

You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses.

We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.

That situation in that crisis did not call for any complicated consideration of economic panaceas or fancy plans.

We were faced by a condition and not a theory.

It is easy to see that the result of this course would have not only economic effects of a very serious nature but social results that might bring incalculable harm.

Even before I was inaugurated I came to the conclusion that such a policy was too much to ask the American people to bear.

It involved not only a further loss of homes, farms, savings and wages but also a loss of spiritual values--the loss of that sense of security for the present and the future so necessary to the peace and contentment of the individual and…