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1271

A meeting of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System was held in Washington on Tuesday, June 30, 1936, at 11:00 a. m.
PRESENT: Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.

Eccles, Chairman
Broderick
Sz7mczak (latter part of meeting)
McKee
Davis

Mr. Morrill, Secretary
Mr. Clayton, Assistant to the Chairman
The Chairman stated that he desired to discuss the appointment
of Class C directors to fill existing vacancies at certain Federal reserve banks.

He suggested that in view of the recent appointment of Mr.

Owen D. Young as a Class C Director and Deputy Chairman of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York for the unexpired portion of the term ending
December 31, 1937, and the further fact that the term of Mr. Clarence
M. Woolley

as

a Class C director would not expire until the end of the

current year, there was no pressing necessity for the appointment of a
third Class C director at the New York bank at this time; that it was
highly desirable to obtain the services of an exceptionally ,-,ell qualified man; and that the suggestions of the members of the Board as to
individuals who might be considered for the position would be appreciated.
Chairman Eccles reported that consideration was being given to
the qualifications of Mr. F. A. Smythe, President of the Thew Shovel
Company, Lorain,

Ohio, and Chairman of the Industrial Advisory Com-

mittee of the Cleveland Federal Reserve District, for appointment as
Class C Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, but that the




6/3o/36
inquiries had not yet proceeded to a point where he felt justified in
making a definite recommendation.
For the vacancy in the Class C directorship at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Chairman Eccles stated that he felt that it
would be desirable to consult with Chairman Delano for the purpose of
obtaining his views and suggestions with respect to the appointment.
The members of the Board present indicated that they were in agreement
with this procedure.
Chairman Eccles also stated that for two of the three existing
vacancies in the Class C directorships at the Federal Reserve Bank of
Chicago, consideration had been given to Mr. Fronk J. Lewis, retired,
and Mr. Robert E. Wood, President of Sears, Roebuck • Company.
After a discussion, the Chairman was
authorized to take up with Messrs. Lewis
and Wood the matter of their serving as
Class C directors of the Federal Reserve
Bank of Chicago and, if the results of
his discussion with them were satisfactory, to tender appointment as Class C
directors to them.
Consideration had also been given, Chairman Eccles reported,
to Mr. William T. Nardin, Vice President and General Manager of the
Pet Milk Company, and to Mr. Edwin B. Meissner, President of the St.
Louis Car Company, for appointment to fill the existing Class C
vacancy at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and he brought to the
attention of the members of the Board information which had been
gathered regarding the two individuals.




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6/30/36

The Chairman was authorized to tender
to Mr. Nardin appointment as Class C director for the unexpired portion of the term
ending December 31, 1936, with the understanding that designation as Chairman and
Federal Reserve Agent might also be tendered in the event it were found that he
would accept such designation, and, if it
were found that Mr. Nardin would not be
available, the Chairman would make further
investigation as to the qualifications of
Mr. Meissner and report back to the Board
before having any discussion with Mr.
Meissner.
Chairman Eccles said that, in connection with the existing Class
C directorship vacancy at Dallas, consideration had been given to Mr.
W. A. Webb, General Manager of the Texas Centennial Exposition, and he
reported the results of inquiries which President McKinney had made
with respect to Mr. Webb's experience and qualifications.

Chairman

Eccles also referred to Mr. J. M. Bennett, one of the Board's appointees
to the directorate of the San Antonio Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank
of Dallas, as another person who might be considered for the position.
The Chairman was authorized to make
such further investigation as he might
deem necessary to determine Mr. Webb's
suitability and qualifications for the
position and, if in his judgment it was
desirable to do so, to tender to Mr. Webb
appointment as Class C Director of the
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas for the
unexpired portion of the term endingDecember 31, 1938.
In connection with the vacancy in the Class C directorship at
1\
\

the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Chairman Eccles stated that
he believed Mr. A. 0. Stewart of San Francisco, a man of outstanding
business experience who had been very successful in various enterprises,




6/30/36

-4-

including in recent years the reorganization and operation of Joint
Stock Land Banks, would be a desirable appointment.
It was agreed that if, upon further
inquiry, the Chairman felt it desirable
to do so, he should be at liberty to tender appointment to Mr. Stewart as Class
C Director of the Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco for the unexpired portion
of the term ending December 31, 1938.
In connection with the consideration
of Mr. Stewart, reference was made to the
question whether he would be eligible as
Class C director in view of his connection
with the Joint Stock Land Banks, and it
was understood that the Chairmen would obtain an opinion from the Board's general
counsel with respect to this question.
At this point Mr. Szymczak joined the meeting.
Reference was made to a memorandum dated June 23, 1936, from
Mr. Morrill, copies of which had been furnished to all members of the
Board, recommending the adoption, in the form attached to the memorandum, of regulations relating to standard hours of duty of employees
of the Board.

The memorandum also recommended, for the reasons stated,

that the Board direct the recording of over-time duty performed during the last six months of the current year by all employees of the
Board's organization exclusive of (1) the staff of the Chairman's office, (2) heads and assistant heads of divisions of the Board's staff,
(3) private secretaries of Board members and of heads and assistant
heads of divisions, and (4) the field examining force, and other members of the Board's staff while in a travel status, with the understand-




A.? e

-5-

6/30/36

ing that the head of each division would be responsible for submitting
monthly reports on the first day of each month as of the close of the
preceding month to the Secretary's office which would consolidate such
reports, insert the necessary information with respect to compensation,
group employees according to salary classifications prescribed by the
Civil Service Commission, and transmit to the Commission monthly reports
in the form prescribed.

The memorandum recommended further that the

Board authorize the Secretary's office to work out the necessary procedure, including the necessary forms, for the guidance of division
heads in accordance with the foregoing requirements.
The regulations with respect to hours
of duty were approved and adopted unanimously
in the following form, and the recommendations contained in the memorandum with respect to maintaining a record of over-time
of employees of the Board were also approved
unanimously, with the understanding that it
would be made clear to the employees of the
Board through the respective division heads
that the record is being made with the
thought of cooperating with the Civil Service Commission:
"Regulations of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System Governing Hours of Duty
"The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System hereby prescribes the following standard hours of duty for its employees: Employees in Group 1 - duty of 7 hours per day, with
39 hours per week. Employees in Group 2 - duty of 8 hours per
day, with 44 hours per week.
"Every employee of the Board of Governors, however, will be
expected to work from time to time for such additional hours as
the head of his office may deem necessary for the performance of
the work assigned to him.
"OCCUPATIONS COMING UNDER GROUP 1
Office workers in general.




-6-

6/30/36

"Professional, scientific and technical employees, and
sub-professional employees, employed principally in
office or laboratory duty.
Office messengers and office laborers.
Bank and similar examiners.
And such other occupations as correspond in character
more nearly to those listed above in Group 1 than to
those listed in Group 2.
"OCCUPATIONS COMING UNDER GROUP 2
Professional, scientific and technical employees, and
sub-professional employees, employed principally on
outdoor work.
Custodial or maintenance employees: Examples: Janitors,
cleaners, laborers, messengers with special assignments, matrons, etc.
Laborers employed in shops and on outdoor work.
Mechanical and crafts employees.
Employees engaged in the protection of life and property.
And such other occupations as correspond in character
more nearly to those listed above in Group 2 than to
those listed in Group 1."
Reference was made by Mr. McKee to the question raised by the
Harris Trust and Savings Bank of Chicago, Illinois, in its letter of
June 18, 1936, transmitted to the Board by Assistant Federal Reserve
Agent Young, with his letter of June 20, 1936, with respect to the
publication of the Board's ruling that a deposit of a labor union may
not be classified by a member bank as a savings deposit.

Mr. McKee

suggested that the entire question of the correctness of the ruling
be given very careful consideration before a reply to the letter was
made.




After a discussion, it was agreed
that, as questions arising under Regulation Q have been assigned to Mr. Ransom for
primary consideration, action on the question raised by the Harris Trust and Savings
Bank should be deferred, and Mr. Morrill

1277
'1 1

6/30/36

-7was requested to bring the matter to
the attention of Mr. Ransom and advise
him that the Board desired that he give
consideration to the question involved
and make a recommendation to the Board
as to the action that should be taken.
In connection with the above, Mr.
McKee suggested that Mr. Ransom might
wish to give consideration to the views
of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
with respect to the effect that the ruling might have in the Second Federal Reserve District.
Consideration was then given to the recommendation made by

Messrs. Smead, Chief of the Division of Bank Operations, and Goldenweiser, Director of the Division of Research and Statistics, that the
Board discontinue the publication in the weekly statement of condition
of Federal reserve banks of the reserve ratios of the individual Federal reserve banks.

Messrs. Smead and Goldenweiser had prepared memo-

randa setting forth the reasons for their recommendations, copies of
which had been circulated among the members of the Board, and Mr. Thurston, Special Assistant to the Chairman, had prepared the following
paragraphs for inclusion in the text of the weekly statement to be released to the press on Thursday, July 2:
"Changes for the week in the holdings of government
securities of individual Federal reserve banks resulted from
the transfer of all government securities previously held in
the separate investment accounts of these banks to the System Open Market Account and the reallocation of participations in this account among the Federal reserve banks. The
total holdings of government securities of the Federal reserve banks remain unchanged.
"As the reserve ratios of individual Federal Reserve
banks have ceased to be of significance because funds of the




1278
-8-

6/30/36

"Federal reserve banks are invested in securities bought in
the open market by the Federal Open Market Committee and,
therefore, in no way reflect conditions in the several districts, the individual ratios of the several Federal reserve
banks are eliminated from the weekly statement of condition,
but the ratio of total reserves to Federal reserve note and
deposit liabilities will continue to be shown in the consolidated statement of assets and liabilities of all of the Federal reserve banks combined."
After a discussion, and upon motion by
Mr. Szymczak, the Board approved the elimination from the weekly statement of the reserve
ratios of the individual Federal reserve banks
and the inclusion in the weekly statement to
be released to the press on July 2 of the two
paragraphs quoted above. On this action, Mr.
Broderick voted "no".
In connection with the above action, the
Secretary was authorized to send a telegram to
the Federal reserve banks advising of the
Board's action and suggesting that they give
consideration to the desirability of discontinuing any publication by them of the reserve
ratios of the individual Federal reserve banks.
(Secretary's note) Subsequent to the above action it was
found that the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston had carried in its
investment account approximately t6,000 of Government securities
which it had purchased for resale on the installment plan to employees. These securities were placed in the other assets of
the bank and were not transferred to the System Open Market lccount, resulting in a reduction by that amount in the total System holdings. For that reason the word "practically" was inserted between the words "remain" and "unchanged" in the last
line of the first quoted paragraph referred to above.
Reference was then made to a memorandum addressed to the Board
by Mr. Morrill under date of June 17, 1936, recommending approval of the
following letter to the Chairman of the Leased Wire Committee of the
Presidents' Conference:
"Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of June 31, 1936,
referring to the approval given by the Governors of the Federal reserve banks on February 5, 1935, to the installation
of teletype equipment on the leased wire system and trans-




-9-

6/30/36

1

nmitting the recommendations of the Leased Wire Committee that:
1. Page equipment be installed on the Chicago-Washington wire.
2. At the convenience of the Washington and New York
offices, tape equipment be installed on the Washington-New York Circuit.
3. At the convenience of the New York office, the New
York-Chicago line be converted into tape equipment.
4. After the Washington office has concluded its study
of the tape and page machines, the remaining circuits
be converted to teletype at the convenience of the
Federal reserve banks affected.
"The Board approves the above recommendations and has authorized this office to proceed in accordance therewith. Arrangements are now being made with the American Telephone &
Telegraph Company for the installation of sixty-speed page
machines on the Chicago-Washington circuit. After the operating details are worked out on that line, and at the convenience
of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, tape machines will
be installed on the Washington-New York and New York-Chicago
circuits, and after the study of the tape and page machines
has been completed in the Washington office the change in the
remaining circuits will be taken up with the banks affected.
"Copies of your letter of June 13 and this reply are
being sent to the Presidents of all Federal reserve banks
for their information."
The memorandum also contained the following paragraphs with respect to the personnel problem involved in the Washington telegraph office in connection with the installation of teletype equipment:
"The savings to be effected by the installation of teletype equipment will result entirely from lower salaries paid
teletype operators as compared with the salaries of Morse
operators. The cost of a Morse service throughout the main
lines of the Leased Wire System on a twelve-hour basis (which
is the shortest period for which Morse service can be obtained) would be $1F0496.00 per month and the cost of teletype equipment with the necessary sending and receiving machines would be 41'15,560.00 per month on the basis of elevenhour service between Chicago and Washington and between Washington and New York and nine-hour service on all other circuits.
"The installation of teletype equipment presents to
the Board and the eastern banks which still have Morse




6/30/36

-10-

"equipment the problem of what action should be taken with
respect to the Morse operators now on their payrolls. The
Leased Wire Committee has stated that the problem is something that each bank will want to work out for itself, but
that in the event the change is made each bank should make
every effort to adjust this problem as soon as possible in
order that the system will not be charged with salaries in
excess of those which should reasonably be paid to competent
teletype operators. The Leased Wire Committee suggests
that this might be accomplished by finding positions for
Morse operators in other divisions or on the outside, or in
lieu thereof by giving them ample notice so that they may
adjust their affairs accordingly.
"Most of the Washington operators have been on the
Board's rolls for a number of years and it is believed that
every effort should be made to make adequate provision for
them. Both the Washington and Chicago representatives of
the American Telephone P, Telegraph Company have advised
that it is entirely practicable to train Morse operators
to operate teletype machines and, therefore, it is recommended
that the operators in the Washington office be trained as
teletype operators and retained for the time being at their
present salaries and that they be advised that they should
make an effort to find positions elsewhere as Morse operators
and that if they are retained on the staff of the telegraph
office after January 1, 1937, (which date could be extended
if in the judgment of the Board such action were believed to
be justified in any particular case) it will have to be at
somewhat reduced salaries. Several of the men in the Washington office are very capable Morse operators and it is
possible that they may be able to find positions elsewhere.
One of the operators, a part-time man, is already an experienced teletype operator and has indicated a willingness
to accept a position as a full-time teletype operator at
the regular salary for such operators."
The memorandum had been circulated among the members of the
Board and Mr. McKee had noted thereon that he believed that, because
of the personnel problem involved, the transfer should be deferred until a more favorable time.

There followed a discussion of Mr. McKee's

position and it was agreed that the date upon which the salaries of
the operators would be reduced should not be fixed at January 1, 1937,




6/30/36

-11-

but should be left for determination by the Board at a later date.
Accordingly, the letter to President
Schaller, as Chairman of the Leased Wire
Committee, was approved unanimously with the
understanding that the telegraph operators
in the Washington office would be trained
as teletype operators and retained for the
time being at their present salaries, and
the Secretary was instructed to advise the
operators that the Board and the members
of the staff would be of any possible assistance to them in endeavoring to obtain
other positions.
Mr. McKee stated that, because of newspaper articles which had
appeared recently, he felt there was a possibility that through inadvertence information was being given to representatives of the press
regarding prospective action of the Board on matters of policy, such as
changes in the margin requirements prescribed in Regulations T and U
and a change in reserve requirements of member banks, and stated that
he felt the situation should be given careful consideration by the
Board.
At the conclusion of a discussion,
the Chairman stated that he would take
the matter up with Mr. Thurston, Special
Assistant to the Chairman, Mr. Goldenweiser, Director of the Division of Research and Statistics, and Mr. Parry,
Chief of the Division of Security Loans.
Reference was made to the action taken at the meeting on June
25, 1936, in connection with the letter received from the Comptroller of
the Currency under date of June 19 advising that he had selected Mr.
William John Rusch as Chief of the Federal Reserve Issue and Redemption
Division, effective July 1, 1936. In this connection, Mr. Morrill re-




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-12-

viewed for the information of the members of the Board the discussion
at a conference of representatives of the Board and the office of the
Comptroller of the Currency yesterday afternoon with respect to the
general question whether a change should be made in the present procedure under which the expenses of the Federal Reserve Issue and Redemption Division are paid.

He stated that the Comptroller of the Currency

is absent from Washington at the present time and will probably be
away for approximately a month; that it appears that the Deputy Comptroller of the Currency who has this matter in charge is not in a position to take any action during the absence of the Comptroller; and that
Mr. Misch was now in Washington, having apparently been brought here by
the Comptroller of the Currency for the purpose of taking over the duties
of the position on July 1. It was pointed out that Mr. Smead, Chief of
the Board's Division of Bank Operations, feels strongly that the salary
proposed for Mr. Rusch is excessive in view of the duties and responsibilities of the position and that the division could be operated more
economically and efficiently than has been the case in the past.

Refer-

ence was also made to the fact that it appeared during the conference
above referred to that consideration had been given by the Comptroller's
office to only a portion of the questions which had been raised in the
Board's letter of April 14, 1936, to the Comptroller of the Currency
and it was stated that the Deputy Comptroller of the Currency who had
the matter in charge was unable to advise the representatives of the
Board as to what the attitude of the Comptroller of the Currency would




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6/30/36

be with respect to the questions not previously considered.
After consideration of the circumstances above referred to, it was voted
unanimously that, pending further discussion with the Comptroller of the Currency
of the question of the relationship of the
Federal Reserve Issue and Redemption Division to the office of the Comptroller of
the Currency and the Board and the manner
in which the expenses of the division are
to be paid, Mr. Rusch be appointed as
Chief of the Federal Reserve Issue and
Redemption Division on a temporary basis
for a period of not to exceed three months
beginning July 1, 1936, and that his
salary be fixed during the period of the
temporary appointment at the rate of P.675.00
per month. In taking this action it was
understood that the Secretary would advise
the office of the Comptroller of the Currency immediately of the Board's action.
Consideration was then given to each of the matters hereinafter
referred to and the action stated with respect thereto was taken by the
Board:
The minutes of the meeting of the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System held on June 29, 1936, were approved unanimously.
Letter to Mr. Clark, Secretary of the Federal Reserve Bank of
Atlanta, reading as follows:
"Reference is made to your letter of June 18 inclosing excerpts from the minutes of the June 12, 1936, meeting of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank
of Atlanta relating to the retirement, effective December
31, 1936, of Messrs. M. W. Bell, Cashier, R. A. Sims, Assistant Cashier, and J. W. Honour, Assistant Auditor.
"Under the provisions of paragraph (a) of the Board's
letter X-94051 of December 27, 1935, your bank is authorized
to pay to the Retirement System not to exceed six months'
salary for the purpose of supplementing the retirement allow-




- 284
1
6/30/36

-14-

"ances of officers and employees involuntarily separated
from service who are 55 years of age, or more, and who have
had at least 10 years of service. It is understood, however,
that your bank may wish to pay not to exceed six months'
salary to the above mentioned officers in cash upon their
retirement instead of paying such amounts into the Retirement System for their account and, in view of the statements
contained in your letter, the Board will interpose no objection to such payments."
Approved unanimously.
Letter to Mr. Curtiss, Federal Reserve Agent at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, reading as follows:
"This refers to your letter of April 21, 1936, and its
inclosures, relating to the voting permit applications of
'Shawmut Association' and 'The National Shawmut Bank of Boston', both of Boston, Massachusetts. It is noted that F. A.
Carroll, Vice President of The National Shawmut Bank of
Boston, advises that the bank is satisfied with the changes
authorized in the agreement to be executed by it as a condition to the issuance of a general voting permit, but that
Shawmut Association now desires that the Board authorize the
elimination of subsections (b) and (c) of paragraph 1 from
the agreement to be executed by that applicant.
"As you know, subsection (b) of paragraph 1 of the
agreement required to be executed by Shawmut Association
pertains to the elimination of all depreciation in its stocks
(other than stocks of subsidiary and/or affiliated organizations), in its defaulted securities, and in its securities
not of the four highest grades as classified by a recognized
Investment service organization regularly engaged in the
business of rating or grading securities, and all losses in
all its other assets, -all as shown by the latest available
reports of examination by the appropriate supervisory authorities and/or as shown by the latest appraisal of assets by
other examiners, auditors or appraisers satisfactory to you.
Pursuant to paragraph lettered (A) of such agreement appreciation in securities may be off-set against depreciation
in securities in the manner set forth in such paragraph.
"The Board does not have current information as to depreciation in securities and as to appraisals of assets by
examiners, auditors or appraisers satisfactory to you which
might be used as a basis for compliance by Shawmut Association




1285

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-15-

"with the requirements of subsection (b) of paragraph 1
of the prescribed agreement. It is noted, however, that
the report of examination of Shawmut Association included
in the report of examination of The National Shawmut Bank
of Boston as of February 28, 1936, showed net appreciation
in securities (other than stocks of subsidiary or affiliated
organizations) of t656,475, and the only loss classified
in other assets was a loss of P30 in notes receivable. It
appears, therefore, that the total amount of eliminations
to be made by Shawmut Association in order to comply immediately with the provisions of subsection (b) of paragraph I would
be only !!'30, unless later information available to you shows
a situation substantially different from that indicated by
the report of examination referred to above.
"With reference to subsection (c) of paragraph 1 of the
agreement, which pertains to the elimination of all other
known losses, it is noted that the only assets other than
investments in securities shown by recent financial statements
of Shawmut Association were relatively small amounts of cash,
notes receivable, accrued interest receivable, and accounts
receivable, and the Board's files contain no indication of
any 'other known losses' which it would be necessary for
Shawmut Association to charge off or otherwise eliminate in
compliance with the provisions of subsection (c). It would
be necessary, of course, to obtain definite assurance as to
'other known losses' in passing upon the sufficiency of any
action taken to comply with the provisions of this subsection.
"With further reference to both subsections (b) and (c)
of paragraph 1 of the agreement, attention is directed to
the statement in the inclosure numbered X-9473-f of the Board's
letter of January 30, 1936 (X-9473), to the effect that when
paragraphs numbered 1 and 2 of the standard form of agreement
have actually been complied with by the holding company affiliate, those paragraphs, of course, will no longer be effective.
"The Board has noted with interest the statements made
in Mr. Rich's memorandum to Mr. McRae dated April 21, 1936,
to the effect that Shawmut Association's accountants and
auditors had indicated that the method of making certain
charge-offs and eliminations as outlined in paragraph 1 of
the draft of the agreement to be executed by Shawmut Association would not be deemed sound accounting practice for investment trusts, and also that a balance sheet prepared along
the lines indicated in said agreement would be quite different from the form prescribed by the Securities and Exchange




6/30/36

-16-

"Commission for investment trusts.
"In the discharge of responsibilities placed upon it by
law in connection with the granting of voting permits, the
Board set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of paragraph 1
of the prescribed form of agreement what it considered acceptable as the minimum of correction of overvaluation of
assets of holding company affiliates other than stocks of
subsidiary or affiliated organizations. The form of balance
sheet prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Commission
for investment trusts appears to give ample latitude for the
effect of any adjustments required by those provisions of the
agreement.
"If Shawmut Association's accountants and auditors,
in the informal conference referred to in Mr. Rich's memorandum, were fully informed as to the practical effect upon
Shawmut Association of the portions of the agreement to which
it is objecting and are nevertheless of the opinion that the
requirements of such provisions would result in an accounting practice not deemed sound for investment trusts, the
Board would be glad to receive a statement setting forth in
detail the basis of such opinion.
"On the basis of the information furnished to it, and
in view of all the circumstances, the Board does not feel
that it should authorize the modification requested by Shawmut Association in the agreement to be executed by Shawmut
Association as a condition to the issuance of a general
voting permit. The Board extends to thirty days from the
date of this letter the time within which you may issue to
The National Shawmut Bank of Boston and Shawmut Association
the general voting permits authorized in its ANCILDALE telegrams of December 11, 1935, as modified by the Board's letter of April 4, 1936, with respect to the agreement to be
executed by The National Shawmut Bank of Boston."
Approved unanimously.
Letter to Mr. Clark, Secretary of the Federal Reserve Bank of
Atlanta, reading as follows:
"Reference is made to your letter of June 19 inclosing
an excerpt from the minutes of the June 12, 1936, meeting of
the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
1
authorizing charge-offs in the aggregate amount of !!'340,000
subJacksonville,
Birmingham
and
Atlanta,
at
premises
on bank
Federal
of
the
Governors
Board
of
of
the
approval
the
ject to




6/30/36

-17-

"Reserve System.
"You will note from the memorandum inclosed with my letter of June 17, sent to you as Secretary of the Federal Open
Market Committee, that it is proposed to use extraordinary
charge-offs in determining allocations of Government securities among the Federal Reserve banks only in case the earnings of the System as a whole are more than sufficient to
meet estimated requirements for expenses, normal depreciation allowances, fixed charges, and dividends. Since it is
apparent that earnings will not be sufficient during 1936 to
meet all of these charges, extraordinary charges such as
those referred to in your letter of June 19 will not be taken
into consideration this year in making allocations of Government securities held in the System Open Market Account. Accordingly, action on the recommendation of your directors with
respect to depreciation charges in the aggregate amount of
$340,000 on your bank buildings in Atlanta, Birmingham and
Jacksonville will be deferred until December when consideration will be given to the payment of the dividend for the last
half of 1936 and to the entries with respect to charge-offs
and reserves usually made at the end of the year."




Approved unanimously.

Thereupon the meeting adjourned.

6

/171//7/,5
,
g4VA
' Secretary.

Chairman.