Evening star., 1935-04-21
BANK BILL SEEN
ASSIMILATION CURB
Fletcher Says Bankers Now
Have P0Wer-G. o. P.
Cries Dictatorship.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Demanding enactment of the ON.
nibus bank bill, Chairman Fletcher
of the Senate Banking Committee
last night issued warning that
there now lies within the hands oi
bankers the potential makings for one
of the most Stupendous inf1ations this
or any other nation ever has expert.
enced."
His statement was given out short
1y after House Banking Committee
Republicans had denounced the bills
provisions for centrali1ng control OF
the Nations credit resources as the
forerunner of dictatorship. All seven
minority members of the committee
joined in an Indignantly worded mi
nority report terming the move to
strengthen the Federal Reserve
Boards powers ill advised"
Fletcher, however, asserted that
''bankers as a whole are not qualified
to determine nor competent to ad-
minister our monetary policy" He
contended it was necessary to place
control over the Nations monetary
policy in the hands of the Federal
Reserve system to prevent a finan-
cial collapse comparable to that OF
1929.
Propaganda Charged.
The veteran Florida Senator
charged vicious propaganda and mis-
information" was being circulated
hill
THE proposed banking act of 1885
Is. in all probability, the most i'm
portant piece of banking and none
tary policy legislation with which this
or any other Congress has dealt" he
said.
Mariner S. Eccles, governor Of the
Federal Reserve Board, has urged en-
actment of the bill.
Meanwhile, Republicans leaders
mustered their forces to fight the
measure when it comes up in the House
week after next. Also Chairman Glass
of the Senate Banking Subcommittee
\ prepared questions through which he
hopes to draw from witnesses state
ments that the Capitalization section
was written by Eccles.
Glass opposes tampering with the
present Federal Reserve set-up.
independence Challenged.
The minority report said the pro-
posed legislation made the Reserve
Board governor and vice governor re-
movable at the Presidents will and
the governors of the reserve banks, il
turn, accountable to the board. Such
a plan, it added, was in conflict with
the present system. intended to assure
independence from Government con-
troll.
This separation Of the Reserve
banks from governmental control is
in accordance with central banking
practice in most of the more highly
civilized countries under a democratic
form of government" it said. Con
versely, countries under close dictator
ship, like Italy and Russia, have CEN
trail banks entirely under government
domination.
"One of the first and essential steps
In any dictatorship is to extend pow
er over the credit resources of the
country"
Dictatorship Denied.
Denying the bill would create a
banking dictatorship" Fletcher said
the Federal Reserve Boards direc-
tions to banks "are either permissive
or prohibitive as to all purely banking
operations. Within these two extremes
all actions with respect to purely
banking matters are left to the dis
cretion of Federal Reserve Banks and
their member banks"
But the supervision Of the monetary
policy. he insisted, is another thing.
THE administration of a monetary
policy has to do with the contraction
and expansion of the credit and cur
rency of the country and directly af-
fects the purchasing power of money
This function transcends those of
banking, farming, manufacturing or
that of any other business activity
1t literally controls the economic and
social welfare of the whole Nation"