The San Francisco call., 1909-09-27
|ALDR|CH TO URGE
new CURRENCY ACT
Monetary Commission Studies
Foreign Methods to Suggest
Plans to Congress
Great Central Bank Favored by
Taft as Likely to Meet the
Needs of Country

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26.-In less
than five years-on June so. 1s14-the
Aldrich- vreeland financial act will
expire by limitation, and unless it is
replaced by a wisely framed measure
of broad scope the country will be
again in the perilous situation that
is commonly believed to have resulted
in the panic of 1907-s.
There is general realization of the
necessity of legislation on this sub
ject. Speaker Cannon believes that
more extension of the present law, with
perhaps a few amendments in details,
will suffice. President Taft looks with
favor upon the proposition to create
a great central bank and there are all
sorts of intermediate schemes. Prob
ably that which commands the great
est support will be based upon the
recommendations of the monetary
commission which has been at work
for more than year gathering the
material for the construction of the
actual legislation.
PEOPLE NEED AROUSING
Senator Aldrich. who heads the COM
mission. and students of finance un-
derstand that it will be difficult to
arouse public interest in details OF
this rather abstruse subject and that
only by general agitation can congress
be brought to the point of action.
Soon after the return from Europe
of Senator Aldrich, Professor Andrews
and other members f>the commission,
about the middle of next month, prep
arations will be made for the prelimi-
nary report of the commission, to be
submitted to congress in December.
The full report is to be SO comprehen-
sive that 1t can not be completed
within another year.
FOREIGN SYSTEMS STUDIED
The commission has been engaged
in a CAREFUL study of the financial
systems of Great Britain and the prin-
cipal continental powers and mass
of data of the greatest Importance to
students of finance has been collected.
None of these systems, as a whole, is
adapted to the needs of the United
States, because of the peculiar condi-
tions which exist in this country, but
In most of them have features that
may be of value as founda tion for
the projected new American plan. At
tention will be directed to defects OF
the existing systems which has grown
up by accretion, causing 1t to be de-
scribed as patchwork and as one no
longer capable by reason of lack of
elasticity and unnecessary restrictions
of meeting the business needs of the
country.
FOR CENTRAL FEDERAL BANK
Though nominally created to deal
only with the subject of currency and
the bond issues, the commission has en-
larged its scope so as to include the
national banking system, and 1T is
believed that even the state banks will
be dealt with in the forthcoming re-
port.
The projected great central bank will
be fully exploited. Based on the his
tory of the operations of the old
United States bank, destroyed by An
drew Jackson, apprehension exists
among officials of national and state
banks that this central bank may
trench upon their business and be a
formidable competitor, so this phase OF
the matter will be fully discussed by
the commission.
The comptroller of the currency Is
convinced that with public confidence In
the banks fully restored, there is nc
reason to apprehend any struggle OF
competition for business between the
national and state banks and the gov
ernment central bank