Play Meter

is justification enough . Here are
some suggestions:
(1) For those transactions you
wish to keep private, withdraw cash
and purchase money orders . That
has the disadvantage of complicating
your accounting and your tax record
keeping , but with a little extra work it
can be done .
(2) You can order checks printed
in light green and write with a light
green or light blue pen. This can be
seen well enough to be negotiated,
but it is almost impossible to
microfilm . You can buy such pens
from Liberty Graphics , P .O . Box
3614 , Charlotte, North Carolina
28203 (Copy-Not reproducing pens
made by Eberhard Faber, $8 .28 per
dozen, plus fifty cents for shipping.
These are also available at most local
commercial stationery and office
supply stores) .
An assistant cashier for a national
bank has come up with the darndest
simple solution to banking privacy .
Tax deductible check expendi-
tures , which you will have to produce
anyway if you should face an IRS
audit , should be written in the normal
way with ordinary checks and
ordinary pens . For those checks
which are used to purchase items
which you would just as soon not
have anyon'e know about, make out
the check for the correct amount ,
payable to "cash" and then endorse it
to the payee of the back . This is the
so-called restrictive endorsement.
When checks are microfilmed , only
the face of the check is photographed
(See Secretary Sinai's letter with
1'eference to $100 requirement.
However, some banks for sake of
convenience microfilm all checks,
and do both sides. Check with your
bank) .
While this may be a solution, or
with some banks it may not, there is
the potential problem pointed out by
Dr. Gary North in his book, "How to
Profit from the Coming Price
Controls ." He quotes a long-buried
Emergency Banking Order , to be
implemented "in case of an 'attack'
on the United States," which would
require all checks over $1,000 to be
photocopied, front and back. And, it
also freezes your bank funds.
I don't know what would be
construed as an "attack." An oil
boycott? A threat? Who knows . The
obvious solution is to haul your
money out of the bank at the first sign
of trouble, and ask for an immediate
cut-off statement . The only risk of
front-and-back copying would be
those checks which have not cleared,
and it would take several days before
the banks could implement the copy
order.
The checks you might be
60
concerned about are those where
government power is encroaching on
constitutional rights . If we had federal
gun control laws. for instance , and
the government were chaSing down
gun purchases , the first place they
would want to look would be
microfilmed bank records , and you
might not want to make that easy for
them . That's a matter of personal
conscience . You might not want
them to see your checks payable to a
food storage company or coin
dealer , as the time could come when
government would want to call in
your gold or seize excess food
supplies (not likely but possible) and
you will have to decide whether or
not civil disobedience is for you .
And, I'm neutral in those matters . I
honestly don't know what I would
do , but I want to keep my options
open . I want to hang onto the rights
granted me in the Constitution .
As a matter of fact , the entire Bill
of Rights is a series of links in the
chain with which we decided to bind
government. Our founding fathers
worried about any possible repetition
of the repressive government of King
George. The right to protection from
self-incrimination was written , not to
prote..ct criminals, but to protect
law-abiding citizens against the abuse
of government. One of the great
dangerous trends of our time is the
abuse of governmental power by
regulatory agencies with the collusion
of the courts, and I simply want to
prepare my life so that if the time
comes that if I have to stand against
that power in order to protect myself
and the Constitution , I am able to do
so . And, my bank records are my
own business .
The founder of my church once
said that at some future time , .. ... the
Constitution of the United States will
hang by a thread ," and many other
far-Sighted men of other religiOUS
persuasions have made similar
statements . The time may come
when the only defense of that
Constitution will be to stand behind
its provisions against those who
would abuse it or evade it through
the misuse of government regulatory
power .
Whether an individual's actions in
resisting government constitutes a
moral defense of the Constitution , or
simply a violation of the law , is a
judgment call . The tax revolt is an
example of that principle . I consider
the direct confrontation methods of
tax revolt to be needlessly dangerous
and unnecessary at this time . The
"Confrontation" tax rebels are trying
to bring down the taxing system and
are , in effect , throwing themselves in
front of the government steamroller
to do so . I think that's unwise and
premature . The steamroller is going
to run out of gas and self-destruct
anyway . But I want to be able to use
every defensive position against the
aggressive encroachment of govern -
ment in my life , if I should need to ,
and the right to privacy and the right
to avoid self-incrimination are some
of those rights which should be
protected .
Let 's try to keep one jump ahead
of those rascals in Washington as
long as we can . So - crank up the
green ink!
Th e material contained herein was
digested from The Ruff Times,
published and copyrighted by Target
Publishers . Additional information
on the subject can be cbtained by
writing Target Publishers , 1451
Danville Blvd . , Alamo, Cal. 94507.
PLAY METER, October, 1978