"Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talks of the sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and futile"

William Lyon Mackenzie King, through his statement, urges recognition of the vital link between true democratic governance and sovereign control over a nation's currency and credit. He argues that governmental authority is undermined unless the state possesses exclusive power to issue money and regulate credit, positioning this responsibility as not only central but sacred. By using the term "most conspicuous and sacred responsibility", King emphasizes that fiscal sovereignty forms the cornerstone of a nation's autonomy and democracy; no amount of parliamentary debate or legislative decision-making can establish genuine sovereignty if monetary authority lies elsewhere.

King implies that when private interests, such as banks or external entities, control the mechanisms of currency and credit, the state becomes subordinate. Democracy, he suggests, extends beyond elections, representation, and legislation, it demands that the people, through their government, determine the economic foundations of society. In a system where credit creation and the supply of money are handled outside democratic oversight, the ability of the government to implement public policy for the collective good is severely constrained. Policies intended to foster economic development, social welfare, or national priorities can be thwarted if the purse strings remain in private or undemocratic hands.

Further, King’s statement serves as a warning against complacency regarding political freedoms that ignore economic realities. Parliamentary debates and formal electoral processes, he contends, are rendered meaningless when the financial infrastructure underpinning all governmental activity is not under public jurisdiction. The legitimacy and power of Parliament and democratic institutions risk becoming mere illusions, hollowed out by their inability to influence or control the levers of economic life. King calls for an urgent reassessment of democratic practice, demanding the restoration of monetary and credit issuance to government control as an indispensable prerequisite for genuine sovereignty and the fulfillment of democratic ideals. Only then can democracy move from theory to meaningful, practical realization in the lives of its citizens.