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•
X-4788
ST.ATE~GrTT
FOR THE PF.ESS
Released for nublication in
the morni:1g uapers of Thursday,
February 10, 1927.
The Federal Reserve Board announced today the apnointment of l.Ir .. Gates
W. McGarrah, of New York, as Class C Director and Chairman of the Board of the
Federal Reserve BB.l1k of Uew Yorl..: and Federal Reserve Agent •• L1 order to allow
Mr. McGarrah time to. sever his existing busL1ess connections and to attend the
spri::1g meeti11g of the General Cou.."1cil of the Reichsbank, of which Mr. McGarrah
has been the ·American member under the arrangement set up by the so-called Dawes
Plan of 1924, the Board
ha~
fixed
l~y
first as the date when Mr. McGarrah will ac-
tively assume the functions of the position to which he has beon appointed by the
Board.
In connection
'~ith
this appointment the Federal Reserve :Soard gave out
the following statement:
"There is no more responsible or important position in the Federal Reserve
Ba~1k
:Sa~~s
than that of Chairman and Federal Reserve Agent at the Federal Reserve
of Uew York.
The Chai rr.nan of. the :Soard is, in a special sense, the guarantor
to the Federal Reserve Board and to the public of the good fu.:."1ctionLlg of his
ba..'1k.
!n his capa.ci ty as Federal Reserve Agent he is the "official representa-
tive of the Federal Reserve
11 The
~oard 11
at his bank.
position is, therefore, not only one of broad and great respon-
sibili ties but o:..1e which calls for exceptioilO.l qualificatio:1s.
the Federal Reserve Act the Chairman must be a
ma~1
But more than skilled banking jud@ncnt is, in the
•
of
11
By the terms of
tested banki:1g experience."
o~inion
of the Federal Ro-
{~~0
..... __. 'l: ....
X-4788
serve Board, necessary to the fullest discharge of the rcsnonsibilities
which the Chairman and Federal :ResoM'e Agent is charged.
by nature is qualified for the assumption of
~ith
He should be a man who
res~on~ibilities
public in their
character, in order that the public interest in tho 11ray in which the Federal rcservo banks are operated may bo brought effectively to bear upon the bank's every
action and attitude.
"The position calls for a combination of
in the same individual not always easy to find.
~lifications
and qualities
There are, however, in most
.American colllJlWl.i ties men who arc outstanding figures in the banking ':rorld and,
in addition, enjoy the highest repute for integrity, character and
~ublic
spirit.
"The Federal Reserve Board feels, after a careful canvass extending
over a period of two months, that it has been very fortunate in succeeding in
bringing to the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York a man of Mr.
McGarrah's qualifications.
Mr. McGarrah's experience as a banker in New York ex-
tends over a period of some forty years.
At the time of the organization of the
Federal Reserve System in 1914, Mr. McGarrah was President of one of the largest
commercial banks in New York City, The Mechanics& Metals National Bank.
He later
became Chairman of the Board of that institution, and when it was merged with the
anase National Bank about a year ago he became Chairman of the Jxecative Commdtteo
of the merged institutions.
J$
one of the country's outstanding commercial bank-
ers, Mr. McGarrah's interests brought him into contact with every portion of the
United States.
F~
bankers in New York City or elsewhere have his intimate k1ow-
ledge, gained. on the spot, of every section of the United States •
.liThe high regard in which Mr. McGarrah h held by the banld.ng conmmi ty
of the State of New York is evidenced by his election in 1923 by the member banks
of the Neu York Federal Reserve District to the position of Class A Director of
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
This position Mr. McGarrah held for a term
X-4788
-3-
of three years under the systo:-:1 of rotntio:1 observed by the bn:Jks of this District
\7i th respect to their banl::L1g repreco:.1tn.ti ves o:..1 thEl :Board of the No'7 York
"In 1924 under the arro.:1gernont set up by the Dp.wes
Council for the Reichsbank: having foreign representatives
selected to be the American me;nber.
0:1:
Pln::~
Ba~lk.
for a General
it, Mr. UcGarrnh was
This position is i:1 the nature of a:1 inter-
national trusteeship of tho highest character and in addition calls for the exercise of broadly based banking a;.1d fLw.:1cial judgments.
important European work has given
Mr.
IHis connection with this
McGarrah rare facilities for
sup~lementing
his experience as a banker in the United States with an intimate knowledge of
economic and financial conditions in Europe and the workings of leading European
banking and financial systems.
11
Mr. McGarrah's credentials, derived as they are from his wide and
varied experiences, his high personal character, and his public-mindedness are of
the best and give every promise that the Board, in bringing him into the chairmanship of the largest of the twelve Federal reserve banks &1d the most important
Reserve banking institution in the world today, is rendering a great service not
only to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York but to the whole Federal Reserve System.
The care and deliberateness with which the Board has proceeded in filling
this position is in pursuit of its policy, as
o~portunity
offers, of giving to
the "OUblic interest in the Federal reserve banks through the three Class C Directors
an~ointed
it can find.
by the Federal Reserve Board, the best and ablest renresentation
It was with this
pu~ose
that the Board recently
invited~~.
Owen
D. Young to relinquish his position as a Class B Director of the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York and
acc~t
appointment from the Federal Reserve :Board as Class
C Director of that institution and Deputy Chairman.
"The Board was led to appoint Mr. Young by substantially the same
sort of considerations that led to its selection of Mr. McGarrah, Mr. Young 1 s
X-4788
position in the oo.IIlllli;Ulity bei!'Jg 41vt only that of a business head of outstnnding
emine::~ce
but that of a man whose interest and abilities are more and more being
sought in activities and trusteeships of a public nature.' Such are, in a peculiar
degree, the Class C directorships of tho Federal Reserve Ban.l.cs. 11
'
.
@FedFRASER