The Sentinel=record., 1913-12-12
FINAL ASSAULT
 ON CURRENCY BILL
SENATOR HITCHCOCK BEGINS OF. reHlNG AMENDMENTS TO
 MANY SECTIONS OF BILL.
senator Root Also Presents Two I'm. portant Amendments with Reference to the Guarantee.

"aSAlngton, Dee 1.-The final as. sault on the detailed provisions of tbo administration cuTenpcy bill was he. sun m the Senate tonight. Senator Hitchcock of Nebraska. leading tbe at. tack. In a lull in the flood of currency oTatorY which had occupied the Sen. ate day and night for almost two weeks, Senator Hitchcock began the presentation of his amendments 10 the bIll declaring in a dramatic speech that he declined to consider as unalter. able the measure completed by the Democratic caucus.
 Senator Hitchcock quoted from Pres. ldent Wilson's book, The New Free. dom,' to show that the president was on record against caucus and commit tee legislation, and was in favor of ihe consideration of reform measures in the full light of publicity"
 This brought a reioinder from Sen. ator Gallinger, the Republican leader. who suggested that the president had approved of the caucus on the tariff bill and also had approved the caucus on the currency bill.
 T doubt that" said Senator Hitch. cock T shall not believe until I hear the votes cast here that men who have assured me they would not Dc bound against their convictions by any caucus, will stultify themselves and come in here to vote against the things in which they believe"
 The Hitchcock amendment to sec. ton two of the bill was the first ore. sented today. It provides for the or. ganization of four regional reserve banks instead of eight or twelve. and for the sale of the stock in the -e. gional bank by public subscription un- derwritten by the banks.
 Senator Burton of Ohio occupied the greater part of today's session with an argument fayoring a grea. central bank as against the regional bank plan.
 Two important amendments were presented today by Senator Root One proposed to eliminate entirely the pro vision that a portion of the earnings of the new system should be impound- ed in a fund to guarantee the deposits of member banks. The other would provide a new reserve section under which the regional reserve banks would be required to hold a reserve of
 50 per cent against all demand liabili- ties, deposits as well as note issues If the reserve fell below 90 per cent
 the amendment would impose a tax of 1-2 per cent on each ? 12 CT cent that the reserve was depleted down to
 8 l-3 per cent, at which point the sys- tenn could incur no further liabilities through the issue for further notes
 The amendment would further re- quire that after the new currency, with the outstanding national bank notes should readh S900,000000 no further 1 issues should be made unless covered by 100 per cent gold reserve, or unless
 tax of 1-2 per cent was paid on the additional issue. When the issue
 reached $1 POO, 000.000 the tax would increase to per cent.
 While no formal attempt was made
 Co secure an agreement fixing date
 for a final vote on the bill, the matter
 was the subject of considerable dis
 cussion among senators today It tooa
 definite form in a proposal advanced
 by republicans to vote next Wednes-
 day or Thursday if night sessions could be discontinued. No action isl contemplated, however, until Saturday