The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-09
FUNDS TO ASSIST
IN MOVING CROPS
MAY Be INCREASED
Federal Government May
Deposit $3.50, 100000 in the
South and Southwest.
Another Conference

Washington, August s-The $4,000 900 OF
federal funds about to be deposited in the
national banks of the west and south to
assist in moving the crops will be in
creased to $3.50. coo, ,ooo If necessary The de-
sire of the government to mobilize all
the needed cash of the public treasury in
the agricultural belts of the country to
avert the money stringency characteristic
of the crop moving period was commune
Gated today to bankers of the central west
al a conference with Secretary McAdoo
and Assistant Secretary John Shelton Will
liams, called by the treasury department
to make arrangements for the distribution
of the big sum.
While these representative financiers,
fresh from the crop marketing centers OF
the middle states, welcomed the prospect
of the proposed deposits, the consensus of
opinion, 1t was stated seemed to be that
$50,0O0,00O would be but little help to the
situation Dominant tone of the bankers
expressed convictions was the treasury de-
partment announced tonight, that business
conditions were good. but that the prom
ised deposits would relieve the usual
strain.
Present Views
The 81 bankers gathered at the meet
ing seized the opportunity to present
their views on currency legislation to
the government. They urged two ma
terial. amendments TO the pending
Glass-OWen bfll-one curtailing the
powers of federal reserve board pro
posed to control the reserve bank sys-
TEN, and the other essentially modify
ing the reserve requirements of the
measure so as to minimize the decent
realization of credits. With the changes,
1t was stated, all but two of the 81
bankers favored immediate banking
and currency legislation
Amendments to the bill were pro-
posed to Chairman Owen of the Sem
ate finance committee after the con-
ference with the treasury officials re-
garding the deposits 1t was urged
that the federal reserve board be de-
prfved of all powers of initiative, lodg-
ing that function with the proposed
advisory board, composed of bankers.
The proposition would confine the ad-
ministrative activity of the federal re-
serve to the approval or disapproval OF
suggestions from Its advisory council.
The bankers argued that the federal
reserve board should be stripped of
TALLY regulatory body.
Strong Criticism
Strong criticism was made of the re-
serve features of the bill. The bankers
declared that as at present drawn il
would decentralize credits to such an ex-
tent as to impair business seriously, some
maintaining that they would be obliged
materially to decrease their loans They
asked for reduction of the reserve re-
quired of country and reserve city banks
and such a relaxation as would permit the
continuance of a proportion of reserves,
with reserve agents, as at present instead
of forcing these reserves into the federal
reserve banks or keeping them in the
banks own vaults.
The bankers suggested that the reserves
for country banks be reduced from 15
per cent to 12 per cent, of which 5 per
cent would be held in the banks vaults;
per cent deposited with a federal reserve
bank and 4 per cent placed with corre-
spondents or kept in its own vaults or de-
posted with the federal reserve bank
They recommended that 20 per cent re-
serves for reserve city banks be reduced
to Is per cent, per cent in the banks
cwn vaults, per cent in the federal re-
serve bank and per cent with corre-
spondent banks.
These recommendations. 1t was
pointed out, would result In transfer
ring to the federal service banks, only
about one-half the present reserve de-
posits of the banks with correspondents
instead of all of these deposits as con-
templated by the bill. The bankers
argued that Congress should go slowly
in changing the existing contradictions
of credits.
Senator Owen promised to take rec-i
concentrations under consideration.
Secretary McAdoo heard the southern
bankers yesterday and will confer with
far western bankers next Thursday re-
garding arrangements for distributing
the deposit of $50,00O000