The Washington times., 1921-12-27
s25,0O0,000 IS
Barred IN STORY
Of ], :. WASTAGE
Charges Reveal Reserve Boards
Plan to Erect "SoIomon's
Temple" in New York City.

A royal palace, a veritable Solo
mons Temple, the costliest banking
edifice in the world--these are some
Of the ways in which a planned
$25. 100000 structure Of the New
York Federal Rererve Bank is de-
scribed. The magnificence Of the
bank is a part of an amazing story of
alleged extravaganza on the part OF
the Federal Reserve Board which
bids fair to be aired in Congress and
on the hustings according to pre-
dictions made at the Capitol yester-
day.
According to the actual figures OF
the Federal Reserve Board, the New
York reserve branch palace will cost
as follows: ss--. ... .- . .cvfy .-tI =
Main building, land. $4,797 $50
structures, s1S,63S,071; total, s23.435,-
$50. Annex, land, $6S1 .531. structures.
S1,52S,925; total, s2,210, 456. Total,
land, s5,479,413: structures, 20,l66,-
1856. Total, s25,646, 400"
The building is to include an audi
torium to seat 900 people. two clubs,
one for men and the other for women;
two restaurants, each with 5000
square feet area: small and more
exclusive rooms for officers or their
guests; 5000 square feet of gymna-
stun, where the medical department
can conduct certain simple corrective
exercises. etc.
Charges Reveal Facts.
These facts were brought out as
the result OF charges made by former
Comptroller of the Currency John
Shelton Williams, now chairman OF
the board of the Richmond Trust
Company of Virginia. Fortified with
his years of experience as Comptroller,
when he virtually was Government
dictator to the national banks. Mr..
Williams has called the attention Of
Congress to the extravaganza of the
board and more especially to the
palace" planned in New York. lie
SAYS the New York branch is spent
ing upward of s25, 900, 900 for Its
banking palace, although yearly Con-
gressional appropriations for all United
States public buildings for the last
twenty years aggregate less than
s11 900, 900. f
This building. he says, will MAKE
Solomon's- Temple of old seem cheap
by comparison" The reserve banks
charging off Of almost $2,O0e.00o for
depreciation, based on demolition OF
old buildings on the site. deprived the
United States Government of $4,000
600 from the banks net earnings, ac-
cording to Mr.. Williams.
Stinted On Loans To Farmers.
Mr.. Williams says the Federal Re-
serve Boards report shows that the
formal agreement with General Con-
tractor Eidlitz" for erection Of this
mammoth and costly edifice" was
executed January 25, 1921. showing.
he says, that the Reserve Board sane
toned these expenditures while in
sisting upon loan contractions where
farmers, and merchants needed funds.
The building will cost, according to
his analysis, more money than five
reserve banks were lending on agri-
cultural and livestock paper during
crop moving In Maryland New Eng
land. New York, New Jersey, Della
ware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, the Vir-
gin as and the Carolinas and part of
Kentucky. -.
Board Denied Amazing Waste.
The Federal Reserve Board, in It's
report to the Senate on these charges
when first made, denied there had
been an amazing waste of public
funds and told how II was necessary
for these banks to provide per-
manently for their future growth. It
said the total expended for banking
houses by all Federal Reserve banks
and branches September 30 last was
e36, $4,000, or 60 per cent. of the,
franchise taxes paid to the Govern
ment at the end OF 1920 or of 1921.
1t said these bank building construc-
tons are capital expenditures