Evening star., 1932-11-13
BY WILLIAM HARD.

The national legislative prospect i;
that under President Roosevelt after
March 4 next we shall have an out
burst of intense legislative activity cor
responding in a way to that which
marked the first two years Of the first
administration of President Wilson.
Mr.. Roosevelt, as President-elect Is
SO determined upon legislative develop
ments that he has already announced
a coming series of conferences between
himself and Democratic Senators and
Representatives toward that end. It
becomes interesting and instructive
thereupon to consider the principal OBJ
jectiyes toward which it seems likely
that Democratic national legislators
will direct their energies.
X
Doubtless one of the first fields in
which they will act will be the field
of money and banking. This Is vir-
tually insured by the high place of re-
spect and influence occupied in the
Democratic party by Senator Carter
Glass of Virginia. Mr.. Gl5ss. as a men,
ber OF the Lower House Of the Con-
gress, was vitally important in the
creation of the Federal Reserve system
some 20 years ago. He is now bent upon
adding to the Federal provisions for its
operations.
At the same time, within the Federal
Reserve Board at Washington there
are still two members appointed origi-
nally by President Wilson in 1914. They
are Mr.. Adolph c. Miller and Mr..
Charles s. Hamlin. The views of Mr..
Miller, Of Mr.. Hamlin and of Mr.. Glass
will presumably have large weight in
the revival and extension of Demo-
cratic money and banking policies.
These policies after March 4 will
probably by no means include certain
novelties proposed in the present Demo-
cratic House of Representatives in its
last session. 1t is not believed possible
that the new Democratic adminiStra-
ton will favor the issue of unbacked
paper money, or the public guarantee of
the safety of private bank deposits, or
the use of the powers Of the Federal
Reserve System for the fixing of the
general average level of private COM
modify prices. Those new attempted
adventures do not in general attract
the approval of the surviving public
financial experts of the Wilson regime.
-
The efforts actually probably to be
lowing aims:
A stricter supervision Of the prac-
tices of the Federal Reserve System
member banks. A separation of COM
mercial banking from so-called invest
ment banking" Fuller publicity for
the interstate sales Of securities by So
called investment bankers" The curb
ing of the alleged undue use of national
bank credit for speculative purposes.
On that last point the Glass bank
ing reform bill already on the Senate
calendar is extremely explicit. 1t pro-
vides: :,
Each Federal Reserve bank shall
keep itself informed of the loans and
investments OF its member banks, with
view to ascertaining whether undue
use is being made of bank credit for
speculative trading in securities or real
estate or commodities. When
ever, in the judgment of the Federal
Reserve Board, any member bank is
making such undue use Of bank credit
the board may suspend such bank from
the use of the credit facilities OF the
Federal Reserve System"
Thus Is foreshadowed one OF the most
extensive experiments in banking con-
troll ever attempted in any country. Tt
mental economic proposals of the new
If successful in prac-
tice, it would obviously go far toward
checking the speculative excesses OF any
prospective period of business boom.
X ~
The next field of assured Democratic
endeaVor in the new Congress will be
the field of agriculture. Here again the
objective Is gigantic.
The President-elect has stated that
he will try to bring the various policies
of the various great agricultural or
ganiZations to a concerted outcome.
Those organizations have already started
to the Congress that they would like
to grant to the Federal Farm Board the
right to choose from time to time be-
tween the three principal contending
plans Of agricultural price reform;
Those plans are the equalization fee"
nlan, the "export debenture" plan and
the domestic allotment" plan.
The first two are weary veterans in
the congressional corridors Of Washing
ton. The third has new bright face.
It is thought to have had some charms
for some of the President-elect's closest
advisers. It's chief originator seems to
have been Prof M. L. Wilson of the
State College of Montana. Its chief
features seem to be the following:
4 Il
In every county in the United States
a local committee issues to each farmer
an allotment certificate" on products
of his which enter Importantly into our
export trade. Let us suppose that the
product under immediate consideration
is wheat. The local committee issues to
the farmer an allotment certificate"
whereby he becomes entitled to produce
a certain quantity of wheat in ac-
compartment to participation by him
in the further advantages Of the plan.
These advantages are initiated by the
Federal Farm Board, which will esti-
mate the proportion Of our wheat crop
likely to be sold abroad and the pro-
portion likely to be consumed at home.
Let uI suppose that the board decides