The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-10-15
THE CURRENCY BILL
IS SUBJECT OF WARM
DEBATE IN NEW YORK
Bankers and Administration
Currency Leaders Argue
For and Against the
Measure

| New York. October 14.-Declaring
that the Owen-Glass currency BILL
now before Congress. was born in
| caucus and Graded in politics since its
| inception" A. Barton Hepburn, chair
man of the Chase National bank of
New York attacked today the Wilson
| administration measure Mr.. Hepburn
was one of the speakers at the ma
tlonal conference on currency reform
! which opened here today under the
auspices of the New York Academy of
Political Science. At the conference
leading figures In the administration
fight for the currency bill elashed with
bankers opposed to the measure.
Senator Robert l.. Owen, sponsor in
1.-the Senate for the currency bill; Rep
resentative Carter Glass. who led the
fight for the bill in the House, and
Representative Robert j. Buckley of
Ohio, member of the House committee
on banking and currency, defended the
administration plan. Arthur Reynolds
of Des Moines, president of the Amer
lean Bank ers' association. and Mr. Hep
burn spoke for the bankers opposed to
the bill. Mr.. Glass was unable on ac-
count OF Illness to attend the confer
ence and the speech he had prepared
was read into the record.
Main Point of Debate
The debate revolved largely about
the wisdom of compelling national
banks to join in the proposed system
under penalty of losing their charters
and on the assertion that designation
of members of the federal reserve
board by the President would open the
way to political domination of the
banking business.
Il am not especially fearful of po-
litical CONTROL" said Mr.. Hepburn. turn
ing aside from his prepared speech to
emphasize his point Il am not even
especially fearful of incompetent con-
troll But inasmuch as this bill was
born in caucus and Graded in pol
itics from it's inception, business men,
bankers and the public in general may
be pardoned for having some misgiv
ings whether politics may not have a
part in its management"
Senator Owen and Mr.. Reynolds dis
agreed as to the probable success of
the proposed plan. The senator pre-
dicted its unqualified success and ex-
pressed the opinion that virtually ev
cry bank in the country would join in
it. Mr.. Reynolds replied by saying
that he had attended recent confer
ence of 600 country bankers in Boston
and that they We're united in their I'M
Willingness to join the regional assoc
Citations proposed In his home state,
he said, he had talked with many
bankers and not one of them had eX-
pressed Willingness to join the associa-
lions.
Bankers Must Submit
Mr.. BullSley said the time had come
when the bankers of the country must
submit to government control as the
railroads had done. Representative
Glass held that the real reason for
the bankers opposition was the fear
of an immediate loss of profits. Sem
ator owen insisted that the banking
system as a whole should DE super
yised directly by the government in
the interest of all the people instead
of being in the hands of bankers for
their own profits. He was asked wheth-
err he had considered advocating the
appointment of federal board members
for life so that they would be above
the suspicion of political control.
ain our country men live too long
for that" the senator replied smilingly.
He said the federal board members
would be appointed Tor long TERMS pos
sibly 10 or IL years. and that for these
positions there should be selected men
who were equal intellectually of the
men who sit on the supreme court
bench.
Various amendments to the bill We're
suggested by Prof. o. M. W. Sprague
of Harvard university.