The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-26
eated by the sale of Amer

have been created by the sale of Amer ican securities.
 This unparalleled plan for national CO., operation-in fact. it is unprecedented-re- fleets the financial foresight and experi- ence of James Burwiek Forgan, who is president of the First National bank of Chicago. and Albert Il. Wiggin. who is president of the Chase National bank and chairman of the clearing house commit tee of New York. Associated with these two men of finance who are now brought to the front are, Of course. others of rec ognized ability and unusual breadth Of un- derstanding.
 The gold pool proposition is understood to have been first worked out by Mr For gan. With the reorganization Of the First National bank of Chicago, and with the highly important. although not publicly conspicuous, association of Norman B. Ream with that reorganization Mr. For gan was brought to the institution and speedily brought it into the ranks of the pre-eminently great American banks. His experience in managing upon broad lines banking institution of this kind and the nationwide associations which this management made inevitable un- doubtedly especially qualified Mr Forgan for first conceiying and then perfecting a plan which in all probability is to be of inconcoivable value to American business men who now have obligations abroad to meet. who have the credit and the re- sources with which to meet them. but who md the money market deadlocked so that they cannot utilize their resources.
 Albert H. Wiggin in the panic of 1907 revealed himself as a banker possessine great breadth of view, courage tempered by good judgment. and the master oi many resources-not meaning by that pure banking resources. of which he Is also master. He was one of the bankers who were in close association with the late J Pierpont Morgan when the latter was planning and then executing his brilliant campaign which had the ending of the panic and the restoration of normal money conditions in view. Those who attended the conferences in MT. Morgan's library one of which at least lasted all night spoke afterward of the valuable counse which MT. Wiggin gave, and in, the bank ing world of this city it became knowr that by reason of his demonstration oi great ability. equally great mental re- sources, courage and good judgment, he commanded the confidence of MT Mor- gan. which was maintained and even in- creased from that time until the latter death
 Bearing the Burden
 What MT Forgan was doing in Chicago shortly before the conference between the committees who represented the 12 reg ional districts and the federal reserve board MT. Wfggin was also doing in New York city. His labor was incessant. and 1t was of a kind of which he bore the entire burden. It was due to his appeal that the banks in the federal reserve dis trict of which New York city is the cen ter practically without exception fur nished detailed althorugh. of course, con fidential information which was of the highest value at the conference between the federal reserve board and the 12 reg ional reserve committees. Furthermore, it was due to MT. Wiggin's appeal that fav- orable responses were obtained from al- most all of the banks in the New York districts which are members of the fed era1 reserve system. As whole. they pledged themselves to stand with him in this proposition.
 That is the reason why the plan has progressed so far that after the banks of the central reserve cities, New York Chi cago and St. Louis, have pledged them selves to cooperate together with the banks of Boston and Philadelphia, the federal reserve board will intimate to the banks of the reserve district of the United States that it is expedient that they CO., operate In this plan, each contributing proportionately to the amount of re- sources and reserves they shall hold The undertaking is therefore to be national, while the recent underwriting by the banks of New York city and private bank CTS of New York city's obligations was purely exclusive as. of course. it must have been. The expectation is strong that with the establishment of this gold pool and the furnishing thereby of means by which commercial America can pay it's foreign obligations now outstanding u great step will have been taken toward the resumption of fairly comfortable. if not entirely normal, conditions