Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-09
BANKS DON'T WANT
OVER S5O,0O0,OOO
Ample to Move Crops, SeCre-
tary McAdoo Is Told at
Conference.
FAVOR CURRENCY BILL
IF CHANGES ARE MADE
Decentralization of Reserves One of
the Chief Points of
Objection.

| iHe tHlrtN-One DankerS from all over
the United States who are discussing in
| Washington with Secretary McAdoo the
needs OF the country in the way of cash
| TO move the crops have seized the OPP
| portunity to present their views on cur
rency legislation to the government
They urge two material amendments to
the pending Glass-Owen bill, one cur
failing the powers of the federal reserve
board. which is proposed to control the
! reserve bank system, and another es-
sentially modifying the reserve require
ments of the measure. SO as to minimize
the decentralization of credits.
1t is the consensus of opinion among
the bankers that the $50. 900 of gov
ernment funds originally offered by the
Treasury Department to move the crops
Will be enough to relieve the usual
strain. although Secretary of the Treas
ury McAdoo offered the flnanciers the
use of as much as three times the origi-
nally offered s50, 600 If they wanted
it.
Think $4,000, 900 Ample.
Business conditions are declared to be
so good in the United States by the
! bankers that they not only do not need
but all but two of the thirty-one bank
ers gathered here favored immediate
banking and currency legislation. with
the two amendments proposed to the
Glass-Owen bill, as outlined above
Amendments to the bill were proposed
to Chairman Owen of the Senate finance
committee after the conference with
posits. 1t was urged that the federal
reserve board be deprived of all powers
of initiative. lodging that function with
the proposed advisory board. composed
of bankers. This proposition would
conf1ne the administrative activity of
the federal reserve board to the ap-
proval or disapproval of suggestions
from its advisory council The bankers
argued that the federal reserve board
should be stripped of administrative
latory body.
Object to Reserve Plan.
Strong criticism was made Of the re-
serve features of the bill. The bankers
declared that as at present drawn 1t
would decentralize credits to such an
extent as to impair business seriously.
some maintaining that they would be
obliged materially to increase their
loans. They asked for a reduction Of
the reserve required OF country and re-
serve 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 reserve
for country banks be reduced from 10 per
cent to II per cent, of which per cent
would be held in the banks vaults, 3
per cent deposited with federal reserve
bank and per cent placed with cor
respondents 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 re-
duced to IS per cent: q per cent in the
banks own vaults, per cent in the fed
eral reserve bank, and per cent with
correspondent banks.
Result Of Recommendations.'
These recommendations would, It was
pointed out, result in transferring to
the federal reserve banks only about
one-half of 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 Capitalization
of credits.
Senator Owen promised to take the
recommendations under consideration.
Secretary McAdoo will confer with
far western representatives next
Thursday regarding arrangements for
distributing the deposits Of the $780,
| 100000.