Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1921-11-09
Proof of Soundness Of Chron-
icle's Position on Federal
Reserve Bank.

Reserve Bank.
Ever since the summer of 1920
when the heavy guns of the all pow
erful Federal Reserve Banking sys-
tenn were aimed with deadly accura-
cy upon the business of the country,
The Chronicle has never ceased to
call attention to that crime against
business and prosperity; forced de-
lation. It has caused nine-tenths of
the trouble in this country, with mil
lions out of employment and with
prices shattered to the point where
the producer became thoroughly dis
heartened and the merchant made
sick because Of the decline IN val
ues in his store. The price of cotton,
for instance, was forced down from
43 to 10 cents per pound, and, though
other commodities did not suffer
quite so much in proportion, they
suffered quite enough. The Federal
Reserve Banks ruinous policy simply
played havoc with business and we
are right now slowly recovering.
The announcemnt is made with +.
great deal of gusto that the discount
rate has. again been lowered and that
this is done to help agriculture and
other forms of business. Indeed, it is
like sending for the doctor after the
patient has already passed the crisis.
The discount rate should never have
been raised to such an extent that it
was and now, after we have passed
through the worst, we hear the mag
unanimous gentlemen of the Federal
Reserve Board making the grave an
nouncement that it was going to low
,er the discount rate to help bring
business back to what it should be.
Of course lowering the discount rate
again will help, but why should it
ever have been raised to the point
where money could not be obtained
even by responsible men of business?
AS for The Chronicles position re-
garding the Federal Reserve Banks
conspiracy against business, this
newspaper alone Of all the dailies in
the country, and aided only by the
powerful pen of the editor of the
Manufacturers Record and the voice
of John Shelton Williams, former
member of that board and ex-comp-
troller of the currency, fought for
Is months against it. Now, we see
notable men over the country taking
the position that it was mistaken
policy of the Federal Reserve Board
to force deaation which would have
come gradually anyway, but would
not have blasted homes. and wrecked
lives and fortunes and thrown null
lions out of employment.
The Chronicle yesterday printed
the views of former Governor SAM
uel w. Mccall, of Massachusetts,, on
this question, and we reprint Gov
ernor' McCalPs statement this morn
ing and leave to our readers to COM
pare what the distinguished gentle
man from Massachusetts says now
with what The Chronicle and Manu-
facturers' Record have been saying
for more than a year. The article
from yesterdays Chronicle is as fol-
lows:
"That the present business depres-
sion with its resulting unemployment
is mainly the result of mistaken
policy on the part of the federal re-
serve bank, is the opinion of ex-Gov-
Samuel W. Mccall of Massachusetts,.
"In estimating the weight of the
different causes of unemployment
and business depression very little
has been said about the effect of the
drastic contraction of currency and
credits through which we have pass
ed.
"The federal reserve system was
designed to furnish a circulating me-
dunn which should expand and con-
tract in response to the demands of
trade. We were apt to think of it as
something self-operating and furnish
ing natural expansion and contrac-
ton according to the beautiful law
of it's being. This natural process
however, is one of it's benefcent pos
sibilities. 1t is in effest a government
machine deity and its real benef-
cience depends largely upon the wis
dom of those who direct its workings.
eve saw the system responding to