Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-12-23
RESERVE BOARDS
POLICY SCOREDBY
] SENATOR HARRIS
The Atlanta journal News Bureau,
623 Riggs Building.
BY THEODORE TILLER

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.-Sharp
criticism of the federal reserve
boards policy regarding agricultural
loans and price depression, together
with the suggestion that he would
not be averse to it if some of the
members of the board should resign,
was voiced in the senate late Mon
day afternoon by Senator William j..
Harris, of Georgia.
Senator Harris spoke in connection
with house amendments to the senate
bill restoring the war finance corpor-
alton. He said he would vote for
the house amendment so as to hurry
action on the farmers relief legis-
lation.
Saying he would accept the house
amendment which struck out the
senate ,proviso virtually directing
the reserve board to loosen up" on
agricultural credits, Senator Harris
expressed doubt that the board would
pay attention to such an expression,
anyway. The Georgia senator said:
at am going to vote to concur in
the house amendment for two rea-
sons. In the first place, the distressed
try is such that if we are going to
give them help, we ought to do it
without delay. In the second place,
the second section suggests to the
federal reserve board that they help
the farmers in a certain way. The
record of the federal reserve board,
as made in the past few months, In
regard to the farmers, shows that
they are not going to help the
farmers in the exercise of their pow
ers, but they are going to do every
thing in their power to hurt the
farmers.
"The other day when this joint
resolution was before the senate,
offered an amendment making the
rate of rediScount per cent on agrl-
cultural paper, but the senate saw
fit to vote that down. I had prev1-
ously introduced in the senate bill
to reduce the rediscount rate on agrl-
cultural paper to per cent.
"Since that time it seems that the
federal reserve board has inspired
two statements which have been
given to the papers and have gone
all over the country. One was that
if congress made any suggestions
like this, the members of the fed
eral reserve board would resign, and
the other was that the rediscount
rate had nothing to do with helping
the farmers of the country at this
time.
snow, so far as 1 am concerned,
some OF the IlGIuU6IS VI IlloI OOdA u
who have been giving statements to
the press that depressed the price OF
cotton and wheat and doing every
thing they could to injure the farm
ers of this country, would resign,
I would be very thankful. l will go
beyond that, and say that If the
friends of the farmers in this body
will Join with me, we will not allow
to be confirmed any member of that
board who has been against helping
the farming interests of the country
in times of such distress, and we will
not wait for their designations.
1.-THE federal reserve bank act is
one of the greatest in our history.
There is nothing that has accom-
plished greater good. The New York
bankers. the international bankers, as
the senior senator from Idaho (Mr.
Borah), said the other day, seem
to have the ear of some of the fed
the farmers of this country, and 1
agree with him fully in that. The
bankers who are opposed to the leg
islation can destroy it by getting the
ear of men on that board who will
listen to them instead of the appeals
of the representatives of the farmers
of this country. That is the best
way for the international bankers of
this country to have the federal re-
serve act repealed or amended so as
to destroy it's usefulness to the peo-
pie of the country and to the agri-
cultural masses who are so much in
need of assistance at this time