The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-02
PANIC MEASURES
SAVED COUNTRY
when war BROKE
Vigorous Action In Great
Economic Crisis Prevent
ed Great Cataclysm.
(By William P. Malburn, Assistant

! (By William p. Malburn, Assistant
Secretary Of the Treasury
The Wilson administration rescued
! the United States from the brink of
panic and ruin when war spread like
a flame over the continent of Europe.
The rapid declarations of hostilities
! in August, 1914, convulsed Europe
and shook the world. Foreign ex-
change was disorganized; credit facil-
tiles destroyed; and shipping prac-
tically suspended for, a. time. The
United States was commercially iso-.
lated. t'fs'-,,t 2s.-2sltf - .%@. SORTS
The swift and vigorous action of
Secretary McAdoo in the greatest
economic crisis in the history of the
world 'unquestionably saved the ma
ton from paralyzing cataclysm that
! would have echoed in every home in
the land for many years to come.
Disaster would have followed in the
wake Of hesitation and inaction.
There was no precedent to guide the
! government or the banking COM
munity and it was through the fear
less leadership and exhaustless ener-
gy Of Secretary McAdoo that conf
| dence was sustained and credit facili-
ties quickly supplied to every section
of the country. It was through the
influence Of the Treasury Department,
intelligently directed. that specie
payments were not suspended and
the country convulsed in the most
stupendous panic in its history.
Prominent bankers of the city of
New York appealed to the Treasury
Department to save the country from
the threatened calamity, saying that
unless measures were taken to relieve
the situation the banks of New York
would be unable to open their doors
throughout the day Of August 8,
1914 The administration met the
situation with unhesitating decision
and lightning rapidity.
Search the record of the Republic
can party during all its years of pow
er, and there cannot be found a par
alle1 Of the efficiency and effective
ness, with which the Democratic Sec
rotary of the Treasury steadied the
financial and business pulse of the ma
ton, brought order out Of chaos, and
pointed the way to security and pros
perity. Contrast this with Repub1i-
can Incompetence and indecision in
1907. That painful experience in
American history will always and for
ever be an Indictment Of President
. Rooseve1t's administration and of the
Republican party. In a situation
which was a mere breeze as compar
ed with the storm Of August, 1914,
all of the Republican machinery of
government broke down completely
and incalculable loss and disaster
overlook the American people. AS a
matter OF fact the present Democratic
prosperity is the only prosperity the
American people have enjoyed since
the panic Of 1907.
Immediately after the first declara-
ton of war that forecast the involve
ment Of the whole of Europe, the
Secretary of the Treasury ANNOUNCE
ed to the country that there was stor-
ed in the vaults Of the Treasury $780,
! 10000 of emergency national bank
notes which gould be issued, under
the Aldrich-Vreeland Act, as amend
! ed and made workable by the Federal
Reserve Act, upon a moments no
! tice, to supply circulating medium,
which was the first pressing need of
the. situation, in order to meet the
demands of credit in the extraordin-
ary' circumstances.
xAfOuSu D0IQOCIdLlC dLu
| craftsmanship a provision was insert
| ed in the Federal Reserve Act modi-
! flying the old Aldrich- Vreeland Elmer
gency Currency Act to such an ex-
! tent as to make it really workable
and available for the business Of the
country and extending it from June
80, 1914, when 1T would have expired,
| to the 30th Of June, 1915. The terms
and conditions of the law, as original
/ 1y enacted by the Republican party,
created so many restrictions and i'm
posed such prohibitive taxes on the
circulation provided by the act, that
it was practically imperative. In its
original form 1t would have been
valueless in this great crisis, and the
Treasury could not have come to the
assistance Of the country and pre-