The Washington herald., 1913-12-23

| not reach a complete agreement on the
questions at issue in the currency bill
until nearly O'Clock yesterday morning.
| For several hours there was a struggle
in the committee over a single issue
! That was whether the Comptroller OF the
| Currency should be a member ex officio
of the Federal reserve board. The Glass
| bill, as Il passed the House, provided
| for three ex officio members-the Secre-
| tary OF the Treasury, the Secretary OF
| Agriculture, and the Comptroller or the
| Currency. The Senate dropped all but
the Secretary of the Treasury. The
House conferees readily acquiesced In
! the elimination OF the Secretary OF Agri-
culture from the board, but refused to
allow the Comptroller OF the Currency
| to be left of.
! President Wilson and Secretary Nc
Adoo backed the House conferees and IL
seemed for a time as II an agreement
would be impossible. Finally however,
| the telephone bell in the committee
room rang and one of the Democratic
Senators answered It. After q brief con-
versation this Senator returned to the
conference table and said in substance:
President Settles 1t.
Gentlemen, I've just been talking to
the President. AS we all know, he has
gest that we settle this matter by max
ing the Comptroller q member OF the
Federal reserve board"
Thus a message from the White House
at 3 o'clock in the morning was the real
reason why the Comptroller Of the Cur
rency was added to the board and the
influence of the administration in the
central banking board increased.
The salary of the Comptroller of the
Currency will be increased from 5000 to
$4,000 in compensation OF this additional
service imposed upon him. Not only is
he to be a member of the Federal re-
serve board, but he is also to serve as
a member of the organization committee,
which is to take the preliminary steps for
the Inauguration of the new system.
At present the Office OF Comptroller Is
filed by Thomas p. Kane. Deputy Comp
troller. There has been no Comptroller
Of the Currency since last spring. Why
the administration has refrained from
filling this most important office is one
of the mysteries that Washington has
been trying to solve for a long time |
While nominally the affairs of the Comp |
trolIer's Office have been in the hands |
of Mr.. Kane. as deputy, they have, in |
fact, been dictated from the office OF
John Skelton Williams. Assistant Sec /
retary Of the Treasury.
Struggle on Question.
There has been a persistent rumor that |
the salary OF the Comptrollership is be- |
ing increased in the currency bill, and |
the place was being held open so that |
Mr.. Williams might step from the As
sistant Secretaryship into this powerful |
CTfice as soon as the banking and cur |
renCy legislation was passed. This al
legged plan, however, was threatened with |
faiIure when the Senate eliminated the |
Comptroller from the Federal reserve |
board
These reports and Mr.. Williams per-
sonality entered prominently into the |
struggle yesterday in the conference |
committee. There was, however, an ad-
ditional and a broader opposition to the
plan of having two Treasury officers on
the Federal board This latter opposi-
ton was based on the argument that Il
the board is to consist of only seven
and the President is to have
two Of his Treasury Department off,
GERS as members eX-Officio, with the
OF appointing two other mem
bcrs Of the board in the first two years
OF his administration, he can dominate
this powerful banking beard in the sec
ond year OF his occupancy of the White
House.
In the hands Of some Presidents. II
power and was plainly move in the
direction OF opening the great Federal
banking system to politics. The Re-
publican members, from the beginning,
had urged that the Federal reserve board r
be so large that no President could ex.
Dect to control the majority OF II within
mis- administration. But President Will
son was insistent on having two eX-
)fficio members and upon keeping control
# the Federal reserve board under the
President.
President Is Victorious.
The President and the House gained a
victory in having the House provision
an organization committee,
o be composed of the Secretary OF the
Treasury, Secretary of Agriculture, and
he Comptroller OF the Currency, to fix
he limits of regional districts and name
he cities in each district to be the To-
alton of the regional bank.
This is an important work, but it must
,e done subject to the approval OF the
federal reserve board. Although the bill
provides that the number of regional
,anks shall be not less than eight nor
more than twelve, it was claimed among
senator's yesterday that the spirit Of the
Iouse will be carried out by the creation
f twelve regional bank districts at the
cry OuISSl- |
Senator Hoke Smith has been prom
sed that Atlanta shall have a regional
eserve bank. And it is conceded that
Sew Orleans will get one. 1t goes with
ut saying that Boston and New York
Till each have a regional bank, and pos
IDLY either Philadelphia, Baltimore, or
Cleveland is almost certain
0 have one, and another choice is
hought to lie between Louisville and
,incinnati Chicago will be ore, as will
t. Louis and San Francisco. If there
re twelve, II is likely that the choice
S to the others will lie between Den
er, Kansas City, and Omaha Seattle
lay be one, and possibly St Paul or
Senator Shafroth is in
stent that Denver be made a reserve
ank center; and Senator Reed believes
nat Kansas City is as much entitled to
ave a regional bank as St. Louis.
Changes in Conference.
Probably the most important changes
Lade by the Conference Committee other
ian those heretofore mentioned was the
imination of the insurance OF bank de-
osits, the rewriting of the section re-
ting to the refunding of the per cent
overnment bonds, and for the retire
ent of the national bank notes based