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F E D E R A L R E S E R V E BANK OF DALLAS W A T R O U S H. I R O N S October 29, 19^2 p r e sid e n t You are fam iliar with the President’ s report to the Nation on October 22 concerning the international situ ation and the attendant risk s. In the event o f an attack on the United States, the Government’ defense plans c a ll f o r the maximum u t iliz a t io n o f available resources. This would be p ossib le only i f there were a functioning banking system. Ibday heavy reliance i s being placed on bank preparedness. In many respects, we have achieved a high degree o f readiness. Emergency fin a n cia l p o lic ie s have been established, emergency banking regulations and circu la rs have been promulgated, emergency currency supplies are on hand at decentralized lo ca tio n s, and provision has been mad.e fo r postattack currency d istrib u tion , clearance o f checks, and ex tension o f cred it fo r essen tial purposes. A ll o f these accomplishments, however, are dependent on the capability o f banks to operate. At th is c r i t ic a l time, i t is believed that those banks which have heretofore in itia te d a program o f emergency operations w ill want to make sure that i t i s current, those banks which have intended to in it ia t e preparedness measures at some future time w ill want to do so now, and those banks which may have f e l t previously that th e ir p a r t ic i pation in the program was unnecessary may want to reconsider th eir p o s itio n . I strongly urge that the banks In the Eleventh Federal Reserve D is t r ic t take the follow in g steps immediately: 1. Duplicate essen tial records such as customer ac count balances, note ledger, and investment p o r t fo lio re g is te r. 2. Create a succession l i s t fo r the ch ie f executive o ffic e r . 3* Establish a plan fo r p rotection o f personnel and n o tify employees. This publication was digitized and made available by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Historical Library (FedHistory@dal.frb.org) k. Send duplicate records and copies o f succession l i s t s to a small c it y at le a st 100 m iles distan t. Another commercial bank might be w illin g to ex change such records, o r arrangements could be made at a u n iversity or co lle g e fo r record storage. Should you have any questions with regard to emergency pre paredness, or i f we can help you in any way, please contact Mr. James L. Cauthen, Vice President o f th is Bank. Sincerely yours, Watrous H. Irons President
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