The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
Governor Marriner Eecles, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C. Dear sirWith regard to your lejrfcer to Senator Byrdt you are, apparently, one of the crackpot theorists with whom the country i s afflicted* It makes a very big difference whe/bher the State is the one and only borrower + The obligations of the government are held in quantity by every bank and insurance company* Tesf the government is wasting a lot of money on employing: people usho do no useful work. Capital is being destroyed by the government on a lot of s i l l y ventures* H w do you explain o the terrible loss o our purchases of useless silver far above the world m price; the loss on the Passamofuoddy •e&ture, aid other idiotic ideas* The N w Deal has put business in a s t r a i t jacket* Overhead has e gone way up; our companies cannot compete with concerns abroad because of this - yet, the N w Deal makes conditions worse by lowering the tariff* e You and your associates have been responsible for the loss of the country's export markets in wheat and cotton; you have used the people's money for T A projects; have kept no comparable record of costs; and have prevented V the u t i l i t y industry from apwnding money on improvements* By a political decision interested solely in votes, you have kept railroad wages sa high that many roads are broke. Nothing can be spent on new equipment* In fact, because of government policies, the heavy industries are practically getting nowhere* No one sees sufficient daylijght ahead to make improvements to plant and equipment - which is the sort of business that would provide work for thousands for many months ahead. Yes, when a man invests money in private industry, in stocks or bonds, he knows some of them will turn out bad; but he hopes to make wire ;fchan he loses. That is our profit and loss system - not merely a profit system* But when one buys a g vernment bond, he does not expect to lose. Government credit, e t c . , is the basis for confidence in our currency* Destroy that, and you will have wild disastrous inflation* The country knows you had banking experience - of the bush league type* You are not a major league player, or thinkpr* And remember, you were not elected to any public office. Try running for the Senate; see how many votes you can get* Your l e t t e r to Senator Byrd i s just typical of the snarling done by N w Dealers. No use your crying jfaVfair play - you don't ccme into the e court with clean hands* Yours truly,
