The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-01-17
FEDERAL RESERVE ACT AMENDMENT
 VOTE DUE TODAY
Bill Providing for Appointment of Farmer on Board Said to Be Favored by
 the President,
By Associated Press

Washington, January 16.--The Sem ate will probably vote tomorrow to put . farmer on the federal reserve board. leaders Of poth parties said tonight. Such action would be taken on a bill amending the federal re- serve act so that, in making appoint ments to the board the President must have due regard for a fair representation of the financial, agrl- cultural and industrial commercial interests and the geographical sub divisions of the country" The meas ure is compromise, to which Pres ident Harding and most of the sem ators have agreed.
 Board Played and Defended
 Senators today denounced and de- tended the many phases of the re- serve boards activities, there being several attacks on the general ad- ministrative policy of the board while Senator Glass, democrat, Virginia, a former secretary of the treasury. and known as author of the reserve act, stoutly defended the boards per sonnel and program. He branded criticism of the board as for the most part demagoguery of "eruptive pol iticians.'
 Mir Glass denials of charges that 9the board was the cause of the heavy decreases in prices of agricultural products was spirited and he offered figures in substantiation of his state ments which he said were 'cold and Indisputab1e."
 To He Fooled Again
 The other principal speech of the day was by Senator Norris, repub- lican of Nebraska, who. while say ing he was eager to do anything which would aid the farmers. warned that the farmers are about to bs fooled again.
 They think" MT. Norris said, that this legislation will work won ders; that 1t will give immediate re- lief; that a sort of milinneum will be produced. But it will not and the reason 1t will not Is because by no legislative act can congress take away the discretionary power vested in the executive over appointments"
 MT. Norris said he probably would vote for some of the amendments, which he said, would be offered to the compromise measure but in most cases his vote would be "in protest against what he described as nearly a maladministratton of affairs of the reserve branch.
 Statistics Submitted
 Statistics were offered showing that WAllAo PlALc6 OI products tumbled last year, the reg kional reserve banks actually had in { screased the volume of currency and senlarged credits. He emphasized that the reserve board had no power by law to increase currency or order credits restricted and defied anybody 10 show that the board had "even so much as hinted" srch q policy tc the reserve banks.
 oI.1 Ca cline" in prices of agricultural prod ucts during 1920 were submitted by the Virginia Senator along with statements showing that the amount of paper rediscounted by the reserve banks increased from $2,215,O0O.00C on January l. 1920. to s2,6S7, ,0oO, 900 on the date in 1921. The currency in circ ulation increased from $3,0OS,- 100000 to ssa36, 6,0o0.ooo between the same dates.
 Cities Atlanta's Figures
 MT. Glas citeo particularly the credit figures of the Atlanta reserve bank where rediscounts on cotton paper were largely handled to show how the credit facilities of the bank had been extended. The Atlanta bank. according to the figures, had rediscounts of sss,ouu,000 on Janu- ary l. 1920, and rediscounts of $166,- 000,000 a year later.
 The circulating currency of that bank increased between the dates mentioned from s155. 900 to S173.- 100000. He said also that figures from reserve banks in other agri- cultural districts were of a smaller character. While rediscounts of agri- cultural paper increased in all of them, he added, there had not been corresponding credit increases in manufacturing centers.