The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
1415 A meeting of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve SYstem ms held in Washington on Thursday, August 30, 1945, at 10:30 PRESENT: Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Eccles, Chairman Ransom, Vice Chairman Szymczak Draper Mr. Carpenter, Secretary Mr. Connell, General Assistant, Office of the Secretary Mr. Morrill, Special Adviser Mr. Thurston, Assistant to the Chairman The action stated with respect to each of the matters herein— aft. referred to was taken by the Board: The minutes of the meeting of the Board of Governors of the Fecie , '1r.s'1- Reserve System held on August 29, 1945, were approved unani111,011 Ilemorandum dated August 24, 1945, from Mr. Thomas, Director r the Division of Research and Statistics, recommending that the ale n-41[1:ual salaries of the following employees be increased, as dleat A effective as of the beginning of the first pay roll pe11°c1 °711-ng approval by the Board: tthel kl,,L444 Eva/.le p. Tewksbury Loitt i'Lartcliehu rst e Ili -chards Uelanson Title Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk—Typist Draftsman Salary Increase From To $2,980 2,760 2,540 1,968 2,040 Approved unanimously, effective Sep— tember 9, 1945. $3,090 2,870 2,650 2,100 2,166 14t6 8/30145 -2Memorandum dated August 27, 1945, from Mr. Thomas, Director qth eDivision of Research and Statistics, recommending that Lewis "enlba. - tz be appointed on a permanent basis as an Economist in that 10n with basic salary at the rate of $6,650 per annum, effective ' as of the date upon which he enters upon the performance of his duties aft "having passed the usual physical examination. The memorandum tated that Mr. Dembitz wasa member of the Civil Service Retirement S'sterri np.‘,3 -11 1 would remain in that system. Approved unanimously. Memorandum dated August 29, 1945, from Mr. Bethea, Director f3r the elal Division of Administrative Services, recommending that Mrs. Shreve be appointed as a charwoman in that Division on a tem- 13°1.'47 of basis for an indefinite period, with basic salary at the rate S1344 ° Per annum, effective as of the date upon which she enters 111)(311 the performance of her duties after having passed the usual physeXa mination. The memorandum stated that it was assumed that Mrs. Sht'elie will become a member of the Board's retirement system. Approved unanimously. c't the M emorandum dated August 29, 1945, from Mr. Thomas, Director Research and Statistics, submitting the resignaDsion of tIct of William G- Meader, Jr., a library aid in that Division, and Nortimenting that the resignation be accepted effective as of the %ze of business August 31, 1945. The resignation was accepted as recommended. 14 ' -' -1 vt 8130/45 —3— Letter prepared for the signature of Vice Chairman Ransom to t[r. -ouert 1/1„ Ft. Nathan, Chairman of the Reconversion Working Committee, Ortie e of War Mobilization and Reconversion, Washington, D. C., read— ill'gae follows: "In accordance with your letter of August 23 in re— to the appointment of a Subcommittee on Transition ogramming, the Board is agreeable to designating Mr. • odlief Thomas, who, as you know, is Director of our 1 ,;'lvision of Research and Statistics, to represent the '°ard as a member of this Subcommittee which, among other things, will be particularly concerned with fis— a e!',1 Policy, credit controls and related subjects that ' e of immediate interest to the Reserve System." Approved unanimously. Telegram to the Presidents of P.71 the Federal Reserve Banks l'ea.ding as follows: "In accordance with general policy of Government hasstat?d by President on August 23, Board of Governors decided that beginning September 1, 1945, its of— Will be closed on Saturdays. The Washington of-ce of the leased wire system will be open as usual O erY Saturday and telegrams to the Federal Reserve Banks la!ring Friday clearings will be dispatched Saturday e;*,"Ings as heretofore. Clearings for Fridays will be tcoted Friday night. Therefore, it will be necessary (34 all Friday clearing telegrams be received at Board's rr.-lces l. on Friday not later than 7:00 p.m. Eastern War p-er' When clearing wires have been received and proved ' ell eral Reserve Banks will be notified and operators An°111d not be released until such advice is received. t44 unavoidable transfers between Banks and agents, here— t40 °re made on Saturday as of Friday, will be made on bende.Y as of Friday. Treasury offices concerned will closed on Saturdays beginning September 1, 1945, and then re ? will be no currency shipments on that day. All gllIeitions for shipments of Federal Reserve notes to 4 P 418 8130/45 -4- "be made on Monday should be forwarded so as to be reF,elved in Board's offices not later than Friday noon. i'oard's offices, including telegraph office, will be Closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 3, 1945." Approved unanimously. Letter to Mr. Fred E. Buettner, Auditor of The South Shore Ilati°118.1 Bank of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, reading as follows: ."1,Ve regret that we have not been able to reply earlier to your letter of August 11, 1945 with respect 113 whether member banks are prohibited from absorbing the cost of imprinting checks. r "The Board's letter of June 22, 1945, to which you , !_fer, related only to the absorption of exchange charges Y member banks and does not discuss the question mentioned Your letter. There is no outstanding ruling or bulletin of the Board with respect to whether the absorption of the i,!st.of imprinting checks constitutes a payment of interest -" vlolation of the Board's Regulation Q. "The question whether particular practices, such as 1that .1,, to which you refer, involve a payment of interest canai; ordinarily be determined except after consideration of de-L. the facts and circumstances of each specific case as melreloped in the course of examinations of any particular AeMber bank with respect to which the question is involved. wo!?I'dingly, I am sure that you will understand that it rulL!-(1 not be feasible for the Board to undertake to issue ta lngs on questions of this kind until all the pertinent et's of the case are disclosed by such examinations." n Approved unanimously. Letter to Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers reading as follows: .Luls is in reply to your note of August 17, 1945, sing a letter from Mr. Charles C. Drew, Treasurer, I'alcl rael-L1 Co-operative Bank, Lowell, Massachusetts, who cornOil the application of the Board's Regulation W, 1,e , ct.' deals with all forms of consumer credit, to home' al'r and home-improvement loans. allti "Regulation W has been a part of the Government's to ' -lnflation program since 1941. Its purpose has been ' l educe the use of credit, in order to prevent it from 1419 V30/45 -5- n'uJ-ng unduly to the purchasing power of the public, which, even without credit, has far exceeded the amount of consumers' goods and services. It has helped to reduce inflationary pressure, thereby supporting such other anti-inflationary measures as price ceilings and the like. "The practical workings of this regulation have always been under study by the Board with a view to determin11:Ig what amendments may be necessary or appropriate from .,3_me to time to adjust the regulation, or any part of it, the course of events. What adjustment may be called or by reason of the sudden ending of the World War and the economic consequences which will result from that eat event is at present being carefully studied by the , ard. In connection with that study, you may be sure tthe problem in which Mr. Drew is interested will be he given special attention and that the views which he as expressed will receive earnest consideration. "Mr. Drew's letter is returned herewith." r Approved unanimously, with the understanding that similar replies would be made to letters received from Members of Congress on the same matter. Letter to Mr. J. A. Kaufman, President of Warwick Stores Inc., 4ely yors_ k, Ne-or York, reading as follows: in "This is in reply to your letter of August 23, 1945, 4 _ whIch you request that Regulation W be discontinued 4-nwliediately. "As you know, Regulation W has been part of the Govnment's anti-inflation program since 1941. It firs t, bee e ame effective on September 1, 1941, in a somewhat less 171,,rehen3ive form than now prevails. The conditions 11 -Lch it was designed to meet grew out of the war but did t necessarily end with the cessation of hostilities. The effect of the regulation is always under der study by the Board with a view to determining what amendments r be necessary or appropriate fran time to time to adregulation, or any part of it, to the course of the ents• What adjustment may be caJled for by reason of whiesu,n ending of the war and the economic consequences h will result from that great event is at present t 144,?-0 8130/45 -6- being carefully studied by the Board. In connection 'with that study, you may be sure that the regulation's aPPlication in the field of wearing apparel, in which You are particularly interested, will be given special at tention." Approved unanimously. Letter to Mr. Slade, Vice President of the Federal Reserve tank of San Francisco, reading as follows: ."Thank you for your letter of August 22, 1945, re4dIng the advertisement of the Hollywood Diamond Ring . • offering terms in apparent violation of Regulation W• The manner in which you have handled the matter appears to have disposed of it adequately." t Approved unanimously. Letter to Mr. Paul A. Porter, Chairman of the Federal CommunicaqcRla c . °Illmlssion, Washington, D. C., reading as follows: "The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Systern T earnestly urges a year's continuation of your Foreign --agence Broadcast Service. &rig"The Board's International Section has been receivthe Commission's Radio Report on the Far East since R142 ,1 and for a shorter period has received the Daily pivort on Foreign Broadcasts. We have been particularly cersed with the selected intercepts which we have resince last May from the Special Service Department. exi:allse of the fact that we found all of this material ti,relaiely valuable, we requested on August 10 insta]lapo-11 of the Commission's teletype service at the earliest possible date but this has been held up because of the siple discontinuance of the service. We have found that much of the information on foreconomic and financial subjects which we receive the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service is not e lable in other sources, and it is all received much from this Service than it could be obtained else-e- This is particularly true with respect to information 8130/45 —7— Central and Eastern Europe and on the Far East, where ule restoration of normal communication facilities cannot be expected for some time." Approved unanimously. Thereupon the meeting adjourned. Chairman.
@FedFRASER