Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-01-04
Extracts From Speech of Sen
ator Heflin Flaying the
Federal Reserve Board.

the money supply VI Iiie PSoPA~ N
troll the business of that people. If
they permit money to flow freely and
credits to be supplied, there is no
reason for any factory being idle, no
excuse for any man or woman beng
unemployed, no excuse for the pro-
ducts of farm of factory or mine SELL
ing below the cost of production. Sen
ators, here is where one of the great
evils lies, right with this Federal Re
serve Board, which has accumulated
billions of gold while people out yon-
der are starving and the business OF
others going to ruin.
I was talking on yesterday to an
ex-member of Congress of Ohio, MIR.
Croser. He said: "Hehin, saw pitt
full sight the other night in theatre
in Cleveland. They had been adver-
Using for old coats and old clothes
for ex-service men"-yes, Mr.. Presi-
dent, begging for old clothes for the
ex-service men, soldiers who had
worn the uniform of their country
and offered their lives on the battle
line of. France, saved our nation from
the dangers that threatened it, saved
the liberty and civilation of the
world, back home in the richest Gov
ernment on the globe, with more gold
in it's possession now than all the rest
of the world combined. He said ne
saw them on the stage in the theatre
calling for the people to bring up
these old coats and old clothes for
our ex-service men, and he said they
had a stack of them on the stage sew
eral feet high, and to see these boys
go up and get them touched his heart
and made the tears come from his
eyes.
Yes, Mr.. President, it is enough to
make the tears come into your eyes.
1t is enough to give you pang in
your heart. What does this board
care? They are sitting there, draw
ing big, fat salaries. They are ap-
propriating money, without asking
Congress, out of this Federal reserve
fund to build banking palace in
Wall Street costing millions and mil
lions of dollars. I am told that one
big bronze door cost $4,000. They
could have gotten along with door
that cost less than that. If we are go
ing to squan6er money in that way,
I submit that it ought to be appro-
priated to feed and clothe the men
who saved the life of this nation in
the hour Of its peril.
/ am reminded by my friend from
Georgia (Mr. Watson) that this
whole building in New York is to cost
sbout,s26, 100000 and that they gave,
s1,0OO,OOO to the architect. Mr..
President, look how easy it is for
them just to write checks and dish
out the money!
A Business Destroyed.
1 recited here once before-I will
call it to the attention of the Senate
again, right in this connection-the
case of a young man out in the West,
desiring 10 start a ranch, who bor-
rowed $4,000 from bank and went
out and bought some cattle. He
started his ranch and worked with it
for year. He had a few more cattle
when the end of the year came than
he had when he started. They fore
closed his paper and forced him to
pay. He sold the same cattle for ST.
800, and it left him owing the bank
$500, with his years work gone and
his business destroyed by the bank
What caused the bank to do that?
The Federal Reserve Board under
take to hide out and say: eve are
not responsible; the member bank
does it," but that is not true. They
are responsible for all of it. because,
1 tell you, the truth of the situation is
this: The member bank, as rule,
will lend money and wants to lend
money and will help the local banks
in every way they can, but they get
word through some mysterious chan
mel, "You had better hold up on this
kind of loan, or that, and if you do
this or that we will not approve it,"
so they live in dread and fear of the
Federal Reserve Board, and that feel
ing has gone all down the line, and
it has affected the banking business
of the whole country, and our people
are suffering from the evil conse-
uuenceS.