The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
RUSSELL G. SMITH NUMBER. ONE POWELL SAN FRANCISCO September 27, 1938. Dear Marriner: Mr. L. M. Giannini showed me a letter which A. P. received from Mr. C. C. Chapman, one of the foremost citrus growers of the State, who is a member of the Bankfs Advisory Council. I obtained a copy of the letter and enclose i t , because I think you w i l l be interested in reading i t . This letter I think indicates the feeling which our Directors have concerning the manner i n which certain matters have been handled recently, and also I believe appropriately describes the achievement of Mr* Giannini i n his leadership of this institution. Cordially yours, Honorable M. S0 Eccles, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, Washington, D.C. CHARLES CLARKE CHAPMAN Fullerton, Calif. Sept* 19, f38. Dear Mr. Giannini:I not only saw your picture in the Times but read a most i n teresting report of an interview with you. The optimistic word you spoke w i l l be helpful at this time when there is so much fear and hesitation on the part of the people who really want to be doing things. A message of this kind from you, known to be a keen observer and to have no desire to mislead the people, w i l l inspire many. My heart went out in deepest sympathy for you last Tuesday as I saw how greatly distressed you were over the unfair criticism from Washington. You are the one man that saved the Bank when others, either by mismanagement or designedly, were dragging i t on the rocks. How marvelous ly you succeeded, for now i t is one of the biggest, the safest and most profitable banks in the Nation. The picture, as I visualize i t , is like the great ocean liner stranded and i t requires mighty power to pull i t off into the deep. You were the big tug that had the power necessary. Little tugs could have flocked about i t and pulled and pulled in vain. You were the one and only man that had the power of the big tug boat. You dragged i t off the rocks and set i t going. How majestically i t is now traveling on the high seas of phenominal success. How, to have both the motives and the achievements of the one who did this big job questioned, is enough to make one indignant, resentfully so. Pardon this long letter but I don f t often so i n f l i c t you. Sincerely yours, Signed: Charles C. Chapman
@FedFRASER