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EX-OFPICIO MEMBERS W. P . G . HARDING, GOVERNOR ALBERT STRAUSS. VICE GOVERNOR ADOLPH C. MILLER CHARLES S. HAMLIN WILLIAK*&;J£CADOO SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY CHAIRMAN C0 PTR0LLER0FTHECURBENCV J O H N SKELTON WILLIAMS " __ ___ FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD WASHINGTON tAc. w . T. CHAPMAN. ASSISTANT SECRETARY w . M. IMLAY, FISCAL ACENT ADD.=S,.e,L^ November 1 5 , 1 9 1 8 . RESERVE BOARD X-1270 SUBJECT: PREPARATION OF ANNUAL REPORT. Dear S i r : In t h e p r e p a r a t i o n of your Annual Report f o r 1918, i t i s suggested t h a t you follow s u b s t a n t i a l l y the o u t l i n e s adopted in 1916 with the incorporat i o n of the a d d i t i o n a l data c a l l e d ' f o r in 1917, e l i m i n a t i n g , however, a l l r e f e r e n c e t o t o p i c s which have become obsolete and c u r t a i l i n g remarks regarding those which have proved of minor importance. The work of the Federal reserve banks has been of exceptional importance l u r i n g the past year, and your report should include a review of the a c t i v i t i e s of the Federal reserve bank in connection with public f i n a n c i n g . I t w i l l be recalled- t h a t h i t h e r t o the Federal Reserve Agents have used t h e i r own judgment as t o the opening or introductory m a t e r i a l embodied in t h e i r r e p o r t s , thus varying t o some extent the c h a r a c t e r of the matter submitted and destroying the harmony of the r e p o r t s as r e l a t e d t o each o t h e r . The Board does not d e s i r e t o l e s s e n i n any way the freedom of a c t i o n which may be necessary in the p r e p a r a t i o n of a s a t i s f a c t o r y r e p o r t , but i t i s suggested t h a t as f a r as p o s s i b l e a standard o u t l i n e be followed in order t h a t these r e p o r t s may admit r e a d i l y of comparison, one with a n o t h e r . I t i s p a r t i c u l a r l y recommended t h a t s t a t i s t i c a l t a b l e s be c a r r i e d in t h e appendices except so f a r as brief t a b u l a r p r e s e n t a t i o n s may be necessary in the body of t h e t e x t f o r i l l u s t r a t i v e purposes. The method of p r e s e n t i n g s t a t i s t i c s employed in t h e r e p o r t of D i s t r i c t No. 1 f o r t h e year 1917 i s called t o your a t t e n t i o n as an example. Considerable s t a t i s t i c a l matter w i l l appear the appendices Digitized in for FRASER t o the Board's own r e p o r t , and as i t i s d e s i r a b l e t h a t the -2- , X-1270 e n t i r e r e p o r t covering t h e operations of the Board and the Federal reserve banks be contained in one volume of reasonable s i z e , i t i s necessary t o request tne Federal Reserve Agents t o keep t o t h e i r t e x t , avoiding unnecessary verbiage and p r o l i x i t y „ I t i s suggested t h a t i n most cases the r e p o r t s should not exceed f i v e or s i x thousand words. Some of the r e p o r t s submitted l a s t year were several times t h i s l e n g t h and i t was necessary t o e d i t them in order t o bring them with in reasonable l i m i t s . I t i s suggested t h a t in preparing your r e p o r t t h a t you endeavor t o give s t r e s s t o t h e p a r t i c u l a r commercial or f i n a n c i a l developments which have s p e c i a l a p p l i c a t i o n t o conditions in your own d i s t r i c t . I t does not appear t o be e s s e n t i a l t h a t the r e p o r t s from the several d i s t r i c t s be given a n a t i o n a l coloring; t h a t being the scope of the Board's own r e p o r t , but in each of the d i s t r i c t s t h e r e w i l l . b e some outstanding i n d u s t r i a l or business developments upon which s t r e s s can properly be placed* Your a t t e n t i o n i s i n v i t e d to the general o u t l i n e , enclosed herewith, ^which i t i s suggested be followed as f a r as p r a c t i c a b l e in ordar t o secure u n i f o r m i t y i n the c h a r a c t e r of the r e p o r t s . An attempt was made l a s t year to have t h e r e p o r t s in hand by December 20th, but i t was found t h a t t h i s date was too e a r l y and t h a t the i n c l u s i o n of the f i g u r e s a t the end of t h e year delayed a c t u a l p r o g r e s s . The Board has accordingly decided t h i s year t h a t a l l r e p o r t s be placed in i t s possession in completed form by January 8,1918. Very t r u l y yours, Federal Reserve Agent, Federal Reserve Bank, Governor, 877 „I. ? X-1270_A SUGGESTED OUTLINE OF TOPICS AND THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY SHOULD BE TAKEN UP BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE AGENTS IN THEIR ANNUAL REPORTS FOR 1918. 1 . F i n a n c i a l r e s u l t s of o p e r a t i o n ; (a) Earnings, expenses, dividends, e t c . (b) Comparative balance s h e e t s f o r December 31,1917 - 1918. ( c ) P r o f i t and l o s s statements f o r 1918. 2; General Business and Banking Conditions: (a) Volume of b u s i n e s s . (b) Labor. (c) Money Market. 3. Discount Operations: (a) Rediscounts - Conrrercial Paper (b) Rediscounts - Liberty Loan Trade Acceptances 5. Acceptances ( a ) Growth of open market f o r acceptances (b) Policy on acceptance purchases 6. Reserve P o s i t i o n 7 . Movement of Membership (a) National Bank (b) S t a t e Banks 8. R e l a t i o n s with National Bank Members (a) Discount operations (b) Trustee powers 9. R e l a t i o n s with S t a t e banks and t r u s t companies: (a) Discount operations (b) Examinations (c) Reserves , -2- ' X-1270. a 10. F i s c a l Agency Operations (a) For Treasury Department 1 . Allotment of Treasury C e r t i f i c a t e s among banks i n d i s t r i c t 2. Deposits of Treasury funds with banks, and t h e i r withdrawal. 3. F l o t a t i o n of Liberty Loans 4 . Work in connection with s a l e of War Savings C e r t i f i c a t e s . (b) War Finance Corporation (c) Capital Issues Committee 11. Note I s s u e s . ( a ) Federal Reserve n o t e s (b) Federal reserve bank notes 12. P o s i t i o n of commercial banks as a r e s u l t of war f i n a n c i n g : ( a ) Increase of t h e i r o b l i g a t i o n s , (b) E f f e c t on commercial paper of d i s t r i c t * ( c ) Relation t o , and e f f e c t on, general b u s i n e s s . 13. Policy t o be pursued in r e s t o r i n g l i q u i d i t y of banks: (a) Probable time in which they can c l e a r up t h e i r "war paper". (b) Policy of Federal reserve bank toward them meanwhile. 14. Operations of Federal Reserve Bank branches: 15. Miscellaneous: i n c l u d i n g : (a) I n t e r n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , (b) Clearings, (c) Collections (d) Gold Settlement Fund ( e ) Foreign accounts ( f ) Banking Quarters - new b u i l d i n g s .
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