The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
V fp fa* s t y J - i ^ & t Z ^ j JUf&c) f i & ^ e ^ ^ sUhfUt / / & . 5 . A - . U / ^ f l ^ u s ^ : _ * O ^ r ^ ^ j T ^ ^ C / ftM* ^ O U j U t ^ J ^ T d ^ U i j \ L l z r f f e t A ^ ( S ^ - x ^ t Z y M j & X A * / f / U > t f a . * ^ j C r y * O / y Z o ^ c Z ^ t A j t - ^ 0 4 - ^ 6ziCc t v i s t t y i x y i M ^ t t t & y t ^ 1 - / f 3 z csy/ r — ^' 1— (,r tsy t^ r // ' 1 /f r //• '^L^tyJ ' OcJpCt" v " — CS\ ' p f e t S l C Z ^ Owe-**? - -' " ; — A. STREIFF CLoniuliincj 3 0 8 WEST 1 OTH ST. AUSTIN, TEXAS P.O.Box 117 Feb. 2 1 9 5 1 . The Hon. Mariner S.Eccles* Governor Federal Reserve system Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. Eccles:We thank you greatly far the information you so kindly supplied. As in the beginning of $he Republic, so are these still times "that try men*s souls"* Perhaps more so. In the long view, it is not at all inconceivable that- as you point out - our capitalistic system might be destroyed. It certainly is trying awfully hard to destroy itself* The Federal Reserve laws were created in 1933 to provide "fiscal elasticity" to a system ifvhich suffered from occasional breakdowns - say once in 19 years. But it MOST beadmitted that after 17 years of Federal Reserve THE AVERAGE MAN FINDSnHBBEEF NO BETTER PROTECTED THAN HE WAS BEFORE* Insurance paid for in gold dollars is returned in Truman nickels (the current name for our dollarettes*) Bank accounts are worth less than half in terms of living cost, property etc* These losses are just as real, as huge and as universal as occasionally before Federal Reserve* We lived here in 1907 when banker Morse went to prison. Normalcy was back in less than two years. But we are now wallowing in an interminable mess and muddle, and tens of millions with us have, in addition to huge taxes - which were very small prior to 32- sustained losses NO LESS REAL than during a depression. Instead of being a "New"Deal, a very ancient remedy was tried, which heretofore has always terminated the same way- and WITHOUT DOUBT WILL AGAIN;.a printing,press orgy* The fatal companion of this policy is that the politicians can not quit once it is started^ and it runs to the bitter end which is ruin of the masses and a new government. Inflation is then stopped overnight. You have already stated that the law itself creates an engine of inflation. We have in addition always wondered why interest should be paid on government loans which are merely an exchange of one bit of paper for another, as long as they are not passed on to the public? Why pay interest on water? But the capitalistic system is full of holes, and inflation is but one of them. "Prosperity through scarcity" (burning potatoes, killing pigs, etc.etc.) is another, and now that we face a formidable opponent with:* a new philosophy it may well lead to the destruction of our own system if it continues tp squeeze the masses* AS/m Tours sincerely / / F February 19, 1951. Mr. A. Streiff, P. 0. Box 417, Austin, Texas. Dear Mr. Streifft It was very thoughtful of you to take time to write me about iny testimony on January 25 before the Joint Committee on the Economic Report in its hearings on the President's Economic Program. It is .true, as you say, that the money supply has been expanding rapidly since last June. The total of time and demand deposits and currency held by the public increased over 7 billion dollars in the last half of 1950. The figures you quoted are not correct, however. There was no expansion in the money supply from December 1947 through June 1950 as is shown in the checked column *on the enclosed table from the Federal Reserve Bulletin for January. Thinking you might find them interesting I am taking the liberty of enclosing a copy of the full text of my statement before the Joint Committee and also a reprint of an article entitled, "The Defense of the Dollar", which appeared in the November issue of Fortune Magazine. Sincerely yours, M. S. Eccles. Enclosures. VE:dls
@FedFRASER