The Washington herald., 1913-09-09
CURRENCY BILL
hearings HALT
President Makes Concession
TO Demand for More
Time.
CONSULTS WITH OWEN
Furthez earrings Postponed Until
Trl. ~, but Then Work Be-
gins in Earnest.

The President yesterday made a con-
cession to the desire in the Senate
that currency legislation shall not be
rushed through at once. Senator Owen,
chairman of the Senate Committee on
Banking and Currency, called on the
President to convey 10 him the strong
feeling existing in the Senate in op-
position to hasty action, and, as a re-
suit of this conference, the Senator
announced that further hearings on
the banking bill will be postponed un-
iii Tuesday of next week.
What effect the delay in the hear
Ings will have on the progress OF the
bill after il reaches the Senate can
only be cUnjeCtured. Senator owen
claims that the hearings have been de-
ferred merely to give the members of
the committee a much-needed rest and
that when the committee resumes con-
sideratiOn of the banking measure
there will be harmonious effort to
get the bill in shape for the Sen
ate without delay.
Il was learned yesterday that Sen
ator owen conferred with several of
the Republican members of his COM
mittee before going to the White
House. and that he obtained from them
assurances of cooperation to facilitate
a speedy conclusion of the currency
matter il Il temporary respite were
arranged.
The opposition To the bill claims that
the Presidents plans 10 have banking
and currency bill enacted at this ses-
sion will misCarry unless the Senate COM
mittee makes u number of material
changes in the bill. as it will be re-
ported from the House Committee on
Banking and Currency. 1t is understood
that with few notifications made to
the House bill many Senators who have
spoken for delay would be found faCil-
itating the passage of the bill.
Bankcrs Are Through.
The bankers who have been before the
Senate committee have decided to rest
their efforts on the information they have
given the committee. They are under
stood to have proposed a number Of
compromise amendments through the
Secretary of the Treasury and that they
will be well satisfied il some Of the com
pulsory features of the bill are eliminated
and if some consideration is shown their
desires to be represented in some way
in connection with the management OF
the new system. even if only through
the apportionment of the stock holdings
in the Federal reserve banks among all
the member banks so that there will be
no competition between the regional re-
serve banks.
The note issue which is to provide the
emergency currency has been the one
feature of the bill objected to by the
bankers in its present form which has
not heretofore brought out a suggestion
that might offer a common ground for
bringing together the views OF the bank
ers and the administration. 1t became
known yesterday that the bankers have
hit upon "A plan with reference TO the
note issue which they believe will OBJ
tain the approval Of the administration
measures supporters.
The suggestion of the bankers is SINH
lar 10 the Suffolk Bank system, used IN
New England many years before the ma
tionaI bank system was started. Under
this system the banks Of New England |
agreed that the Suffolk Bank in Boston
should act as the redemption agent for
all the banks in New England. The
banks issued their own bank notes,
which were accepted by the other banks
in the system as currency: but no bank
was allowed to reissue any of the notes
Of another bank. Such notes had to be
turned in to the Suffolk Bank for re-
demptiOn.
May Gain Point.
The effect OF the Suffolk Bank sys-
TEN was TO establish an elastic cur
rency, which would contract and expand
with the demands of commerce. This is
exactly the kind Of currency which the
present bill is designed TO produce, but
the bankers have offered strong argu-
1nents to prove their contention that the
bill. as it now reads will not produce |
an elastic currency. They proposed |
that the government should not issue
the notes, but that the banks should
issue the notes, backing them up with
10 per cent gold reserve as well as the
Capitalization of the issuing bank and |
100 per cent of good short-time COM
mercial paDer.
The bankers now suggest that they will |
be satisfied with a government-issued
note provided it shall be issued through |
the regional reserve banks on the same
system as the Suffolk bank system; that |
when one regional bank receives a note |
issued by another regional bank, thai |
note shall be turned in for redemption, |
and shall not be reissued. 1t is said that |
this modification of the note issue pro- |
vision will be incorporated by the Senate |
committee
1t was reported yesterday that Presi- !
dent Wilson regards as futile the efforts !
of the committee of bankers to bring new !
arguments before Congress on the advisa- |
biIity of amending the bill. The PresI-
dent considers that the bankers have |
brought no new light to the subject. and |
that all the arguments which they have
presented to the Senate committee on !.
banking and currency have been present
ed to and considered by the House Com
mittee.
Mr.. Wilson left il be known that he had |
examined all these arguments when the
administration bill was in preparation.