New-York tribune., 1908-05-21
FOR MONEY COMMISSION
CONFERREES SO DECIDE.
Will Leare Currency Bills in Con-
ference Until Nert Session.
EFrom The Tribune Bureau. ]

Washington May 2O-The conferrees the
financial bill held their first formal session this
afternoon and definitely decided to leave the
Aldrich and Vreeland bills in conference until
the next session of Congress. They DECIDED
however, to report to the respective houses the
last clause of the Aldrich BILL which provides for
the creation of national monetary comm1s-
sion," to be composed Of nine members OF each
house, to be appointed by the Vice-President
and the Speaker. respectively.
The Senate will adopt this report tomorrow
and send it to the House. where it will be adopt
ed under rule. The House conferrees admitted
in conference that they could not logically sup
port the vreeland measure, but said the House
would not accept the Aldrich bill. and 1t was
decided unanimously merely to report a dis
agreement and to leave the status of the bills
undsturbed.
1t is expected that the President will ap-
point members of the monetary commission
Senators Aldrich, Allison. Hale. Burrows, Pen
rose and Hopkins, Republicans. and Teller. Dan
iel and Bailey. Democrats. The intentions ot
the Speaker are not known, but 1t is regarded
a safe prediction that no Fowlerite will fnd
a place on the committee and that Representa-
tives Vreeand Burton and Weeks will be Sc
lected There is some feeling that New York
City should have representative on the COM
lected to represent the metropolis.
Mr.. Vreeland. leader of the House contingent
in the conference, made the following state
ment:
The conferrees on the part of the House and
the conferrees on the part of the Senate held
to-day what will probably be their last meeting
during the present session. We have been un-
able to agree upon reconciling the bills passed
by either house. The situation will remain In
statu quo until next winter.
~ tt71t toto
and district bonds shall be the basis for emer-
gency circulation to the extent of s500.oO0,OOO-
All of the national banks in the United States
hold not to exceed sixty, or at the outside sew
enty, million dollars worth of these bonds which
could be used for circulation. The great cities
of New York, Boston. Chicago and ST. Louis
together hold less than s20.000,000 or these
bonds If then. these bonds are to be used as
a basis for emergency currency, the national
banks Of the United States would have to divert
more than s400. .00o. 900 from commercial chan
nels and tie them up in bonds for which they
nsh' never hdNe any use dHu "illch O. e.. tlie @
worst would only be used once in ten or fifteen
years. The bankers of the West and South, in
particular, say that they do not these
bonds and could not afford 10 divert their funds
this class of securities. The bankers hundreds
of whom have either appeared here or written
here. almost unanimous in saying that they
could not afford to and would not purchase these
bonds Therefore, II seems that the remedy Of
fered by the Senate would be useless in case
OF panic
The law proposed by the House could be in
stantly used in any section Of the United States
upon property always hand. The security
given by the government would be very much
larger than IL Is on the present hanknote cir
cuIs+iou A large number Of bankers from, all
the large cities Of the country have written TO
this committee favoring the House bill.
An agreement might perhaps have been
reached had the House conferrees consented to
require 30 per cent OF the securities put UP
with the clearing house associations in trust
10 he bonds In the opinion Of the House con-
ferrees. this would offer the banks a remedy
which they could not and would not
We have. therefore decided to let the whole
natter stand until next session, and in the
mean while to endeavor To have a commission
which shall gather information upon the
whole subject and report at another session of
Congress.