Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-22
Washington Ticker
BY CLINTON COFFIN,
Associated Press STAFF Writer.

|
credit policies and possible banking
legislation which the House of Repre-
| sentatives has ordered, but effective
compromises were finally arranged this
week. 1t is now expected that, begin
ming next Tuesday, the House banking
and currency committee will be able
to proceed with the inquiry.
| Much of the delay was occasioned by
the suggestion, which came to the COM
mittee members from administration
quarters. to the effect that the inyesti-
| cation would be facilitated materially
| if an advisory board could be infor-
mally set up, including w. Randolph
Burgess, assistant Federal Reserve agent
of the New York Reserve Bank; some
higher officials of the Treasury, John
| H. Pole, controller of the currency, and
one or more members of the Reserve
Board. In executive discussions the
House committee finally voted down
propositions to create such body, but
did agree to summon and hear first
in the inquiry from the group Of peo-
pie described.
The direction of the executive dis
cussionS rather clearly outlined the two
branches of inquiry with which the
committee sessions will have to cope
On one hand, the investigation will be
called upon to consider whether the
Federal Reserve control of credit during
| the last two years has been adequate
and proper, with some depression into
the international aspects of rediScount
rate changes in the American banking
system. The second branch of inquiry
will relate to proposals to reconstruct
national banking law in such fashion
as to permit widespread establishment
Of branches.
There is no question but that we
shall bring out the extreme variance
there is in opinion as to both these
matters" said Representative Strong of
Kansas, who is a senior Republican
member of the currency committee and
, an outspoken opponent of extended
branch banking. Personally, want
to see the law forbid the growth of
branch banking and of chain banking,
which latter system seems to me a
merely temporary phase of banking
merger, the operators of which intend
in the long run to set up branch sys-
TENS. It is rather significant that the
growth of chain banking organization
in the Northwest has been so marked
that in one -Wisconsin-som
800 independent unit banks are now
asSociating themselves into a single
group and considering ways and means
of cooperation that will let them MAIN
tain individual character, and yet COM
pete with the special advantages of the
chain institutions.
Further, some Of us still have the
opinion that the reserve board should
take responsibility for stabilizing the
purchasing power of the dollar by ma
nipulating discount rates; indeed, that
this should be the principal duty of the
board in the conduct Of the institution
That issue will doubtless come up as the
hparirue Y1rNrand -
In refusing the Northern Pacific and
Great Northern Railroads permission to
unite unless they divest themselves of
their present joint ownership of the
vastly important Burlington system
which was the decision announced yes
terday by the Interstate Commerce
Commission, that body has again dem
onstrated it's intention to cling to its
program in the matter of railroad con-
solidation. These three lines have
maintained a very substantial degree of
joint organization ever since the late
j. j. Hill evolved methods of mutualiz-
ing their operations, nearly 80 years
ago. The two Northern roads each own
half of the Burlington, and the $4,000
miles of trunk line the three operate is
dominant element in the rail system
Of the West.
In drafting its general plan for ma
tional railroad consolidation last Fall
the commission proposed to cut up the
established grouping of the Hill roads,
even though the three roads composing
It were on record with hard-pressed
application for authority to merge their
present corporate organizations. The
Government scheme calls for an indie
pendent Burlington system, and the
commission yesterday made it clear that
this would be insisted upon, even
though the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern were themselves permitted to
join.
Hardly anybody in the railroad field
expects the Northern lines to accent
that part of the commissions finding
which proposes to have the Burlington
divorced from the partnership The
three systems long have functioned to-
| gether IN dealing with Northwestern
ana transcontinental traffic, and have
developed methods of supplementine
each others facilities on an Important
scale. Protracted resistance is conf
IDENTIFY anticipated If the Government
follows up the commission decision sug-
costing the separation of the three.
January figures of American automo-
bile production, as worked out by the
Commerce Department, showed that the
NS6oAt AilohilB Idplu III
1880 to recover from the slump in
which 1t closed 1929. The actual num-
Der OF machines manufactured during
the month was 273,089, or considerably
more than double the December OUTPUT
OF 10000 cars and trucks. It was
however, substantially less than the
production of January last year, which
amounted to 401.037 cars and trucks.
reports indicate that the February
performance of automobile plants viii
be even better than that of January
though 1t is unlikely that the high pro-
in the Spring months this year.
| In spite of the long established pres
| tige of French preparations of thai
class, American makers of rouge and Lin
| sticks, customs records disclose, are able
| to find a substantial market for suct
/ products right in France The lates
monthly compilation of export figure.
shows that France is the third best ma.
tional customer for American rouge anC
1 ~.