The Llano colonist. [volume] (Llano, Calif.) 191?-1937, 1922-12-23
FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD
(Bn The Federated Pressl

most important body in the United
States and one of the most powerful
in the world.
The supreme court can veto any act
of congress and SO nullify the will Of
the people, but it does this only about
twice year. The federal reserve
board comes in contact every day with
the living arrangements and expenses
Of hundred million Americans and
can do whatever it pleases with them.
The power it possesses TO raise or low
er discount rates is more tremendous
and irresponsible power than was ever
welded by king and the results are
almost inconceivable. By an order is
sued in a fraction of moment this
board can ruin a million farmers and
make thousand rich men kicher yet.
| This board stands accused of the
grossest favoritism in the exercise of
its great power, so that, if these eharg-
es are true, it appears to have been
trying to build up New York financial
interests at the expense Of the rest Of
the country and by boosting favored
borrowers. ....
Some of the facts alleged in support
Of these charges are SO staggering that
they put into the shade all other phases
of all public affairs. Thus Il is assert
ed that in the fall of 1920 the federal
reserve system in New York lent to one
great speculative bank in that city
sums of money three times as great as
eight reserve banks in the same length
of time lent TO 5000 member banks in
e states in agricultural and live stock
loans.
Millions for speculation and cent
pieces for agriculture would seem to be
about the size of these transactions.
For the purposes of farming and pro-
duction, money was hard to get; for
the purposes of speculation, dead easy.
The spectators were financiers of
great inf Iuence; the farmers were OBJ
scu.e persons trying to grub living
from the SOIL Fer the farmer the
swift kick; for the stock gambler the
front farlor. That seems to have been
the rule.
1t is further alleged that at about the
same time the federal reserve system
was lending to the national banks in
the city of New York three times as
much in proportion to their resources,
as was being lent to all Of the 1000
country banks in all the states in the
union. Three times as much in pro-
potion to their total resources, you un-
derstand.
Easy money for the great New York
banking institutions already gripping
the industries of the country; hard
money for the bank of the interior with
which the farmer does business and to
which he must go for the loans by
which he can live from crop to crop.
If tins charge is true, then the fe,lcr
al reserve system is nothing but gil
gantic machine to help sweep up all
that is left of the money Of the country
into the control Of Wall St. and make
one group of financiers there of UNI,
limited and irresistible power.
Il IN this fall season Of 1920 the
country hanks had been uron an equal
footing with the New York city banks.
IN proportion to their resources, the
country banks would have had bill
hon collars more to lend thar they
really had The result would have
been cheapening of money and an
easing of the farmers crushing burden.
l'y shutting off the money supply
to the country banks, the farr:ers were
compelled to sell their crops for what
they could get and the SPECTATORS
made billions. The suicides of farmers
that were ruined by this proceeding are
said to number scores.
Desperate efforts have been made
to secure official attention to these
charges and to cause the country to
understand what is going on. All these
efforts have failed. In one way or
another publicity has been cholled of
and it looks now as if this particular
process of gathering power into the
hands of Wall St. had gone SO far that
it is beyond stopping.
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