The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
January 23, 1946• Mr, Ralph !• Flanders, President, Feder&l Heserve Bank of Boston, Boston 6, Massachusetts. Dear Mr, Fl&sder»: I took the opportunity of the recent meeting in $.&«hington of the System Research Advisory Cosadttee to have Mr. !>«&n Acheron, Under Secretary of State, address the group on the subject of the proposed British loan. I sm hopef&l tli^t this geetlng, together with the do«mmanta and is^sorsnda #sich I h&ve sent to you in recent vwki, and the additional s&terial published in this month's federal Reserve Bulletin, -sdll have awakened your interest in the subject m£ will h&ve impressed upon you the great import;sne© which is* att&ched to th© matter by our Gov wrnBent. The President will shortly subnlt to Confres* & b i l l i^plMMnt ing the &fre«anents reached during the recent inter»gov«rn»«at&l negotiations in Washington &«id i t i s hoped thftt this action Fill be followed by full and frae dlactission of the issye on & nationwide As one of the negotiators of the agreements o» the American side, I shall ad^Cv^te their acceptance, as opportunity offers, both before the Congress tnd before the country n large* 1 know from lntlsiate experience how difficult i t isas to reconcile Anserle'4& and British viewpoints ia this matter, but I ©is convinced that tha result—which inerltably represente so&® coaproJiiis© between the extremes—deserves the wholehearted support of both countrios* Ion will be «,w&r© from ay recent public statements th&t I am not one to enter lightheartedly upon new ooramitment« to foreign count ries «hich would have the effect of increasing our national debt and creating further purchasing power to press upon our alre&dy strained domestic ©CGIIoffly. However, we rauat weigh against these considerations the impelling necessity to assist our recent Ally to recover from the ravages of war and Its place in the world I recognise the necessity not because I believe we owe the British further assist me® &® a result of their disproportionate sacrifices durifeg th© war, but rather because we need their cooperation in constructing the peace* The British Empire* and the other countries linked to i t in the sterling area, comprise a yery important segment of tha world trading coraEunity. loan sufficient to tide theia over the difficult postwar transition the Britlin v l H be afelis—-and have coMsl&ted th«»«ilir#s--«*t© Join with us in developing & frm and -workable world economy* without such & l®m§ forced to fall bade upon th«Ir om deplat^d MMNf*t9* the Britiih could only ftftlntttitt thMKBelvee by resortlnf to Ytrfeasl #c©3ai»ic m&vf&TQ in ^orld mark«t@, 1% would ©ntfsr a nm «r& of rival f»coaoalc bloee f r#stricticmt ^a world trad®, and incr^asiiig lnt«nuktlon«l Th«r® wmld b« oo opport^jiiity to lay th@ eeoi«mic foundation* for again to my pnblle •t&t«aMmt issued at th# cluslou of the r6c«nt negotiation*! ^It i s not a. question of «h«th©r we cm afford to provid* the help, but fefMMff in otir t>im lonf-nm lnt#r««t we can afford not to provide i t , w I earnestly hope that the directors ^ad officers of fGmr Bank girm full eonaideration to the s e r i t a of this c&s«# This i s an l**ue upon 'wnleh yow could a l l give re&l enlightei»Mnt tad leadership to yotir csoMmsnity. Xa ^ny c&m$ I trust that during the coining nwks f i^en thi* matter 1* before the cotmtry, you will find opportunities to assist public di«cw.s»ioifi by dlsse»inatimf UM relevant factual infom&tion which i s In your hands. truly fours, (Signed) M. S. Eccles TO THE PRESIDENTS OF ALL FEDERAL RESKRVE BANKS.
@FedFRASER