The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1913-08-15
READY TO TRIPLE
BANK DEPOSITS
If Necessary. Government is to
Put Out $150.000.0O0.
BANKERS ARE OPTIMISTIC.
Consensus OF Opinion Is That the
s5oooo,ooo At First Proposed
Will Be Ample To Meet
the Situation.

Washington. - The S50,000,000 of
Federal fund about TO be deposited in
the national banks of the West and
South to assist in moving the crops
will be increased to S150,000.0 600, if
necessary. The desire of the govern
ment to mobilize all the needed cash
of the public treasury in the agricul-
tural belts OF the country to avert the
money stringency characteristic of
the crop-moying period was communi
Gated to bankers of the Central West
at a conference with Secretary Nc
Adoo and Assistant Secretary John
Shelton Williams, called by the Treas
ury Department to make arrangements
for the distribution of the big sum.
While these representative fnan-
ciers, fresh from the crop-marketing
centers of the Middle States, welcom-
ed the prospect of the proposed de-
posits, the consensus Of opinion, it
was stated, seemed to be that $780,
100000 would be ample to meet the
situation. The dominant tone OF the
bankers expressed convictions was.
the Treasury Department announced
that business conditions were good.
but that the promised deposits would
relieve the usual strain.
Air Currency Views.
The 81 bankers gathered at the
meeting seized the opportunity to pre-
sent their views on currency legisla-
ton to the government. They urged
two material amendments to the pend
ing Glass-Owen Bill. one curtailing the
powers Of the federal reserve board
proposed TO control the reserve bank
system, and the other essentially
modifying the reserve requirements of
the measure so as to minimize the
decentralization Of credits. With
these changes, it was stated, all but
two of the 81 bankers favored imme-
date banking and currency legisla-
ton.
Amendments to the bill were pro-
posed to Chairman Owen, of the Sen
ate Finance Committee, after the con-
ference with treasury officials regard
ing the deposits, it was urged that the
federal reserve board be deprived of
all power of initiative, lodging that
function with the proposed advisory
board, composed of bankers. This
proposition would confne the adj
ministrative activity of the federal
reserve board to the approval or dis
approval of suggestions from its ad-
visory council The bankers argued
that the federal reserve board should
be stripped of administrative powers
and made essentially a regulatory
body.
criticise Reserve Feature.
Strong criticism was made of the
reserve features Of the bill. The
bankers declared that, as at present
drawn, it would decentralize credits to
such an extent as to impair business
seriously, some maintaining that they
would be obliged materially to de-
crease their loans. They asked for
reduction of the reserve required of
country and reserve city banks and
such a relaxation as would permit
the continuance of a proportion of re-
serves with reserve agents as at pres
ent instead of forcing these reserves
into the federal reserve banks or keep
ing them in the banks own vaults.
The bankers suggested that the re-
serves for country banks be reduced
from Is per cent. to II per cent, of
which 5 per cent. would be held in
the banks vaults; 8 per cent. de-
posted with federal reserve bank,
and per cent placed with CORE
spondents, or kept in its own vaults
or deposited with the federal reserve
bank They recommended that the
20 per cent. reserves for reserve city
banks be reduced to Is per cent, 6 per
cent. in banks own vaults, per cent.
in the federal reserve bank, and per
cent. with correspondent banks.