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1146 A meeting of the Federal Reserve Board was held in Tashington on Friday, May 17, 1935, at 3:00 p. m. PRESENT: Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Eccles, Governor Thomas, Vice Governor Hamlin Miller Szymczak Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. ALSO PRESENT: tO Morrill, Secretary Bethea, Assistant Secretary Carpenter, Assistant Secretary Clayton, Assistant to the Governor Messrs. John Mead Howells and John W. Cross, members of the jury appointed to judge the competition for the selection of an architect for the Board's new building. Mr. Everett V. Meeks, Professional Adviser to the Federal Reserve Board. Advice having been received by the Board that the jury, appointed judge the competition for the selection of an architect for the Board's new building, was ready to report, this meeting was called to review the draWingS and receive the report. been After the drawings submitted by the nine competing architects had studied by all of the members of the Board present, Mr. Howells, C41-1-Ittan. of the Jury, read the jury report which was formally submitted t0 the Board as follows: of "As instructed in the program the Jury has ‘a) Familiarized itself with the site for the proposed n building. gram. (h) Studied and digested the conditions of the proHas examined carefully all the designs and in its the6 ; t olats 7found that all nine designs submitted conform to provisions of the program. pared (d) The Jury has further carefully studied and comdays. al1 designs in three separate sessions on two separate 1147 5/17/55 "(e) It has selected by unanimous vote design numbered design in its opinion gives promise of the best resuTlItliss "(f) It has rated in the order of their merit the two best remaining designs as follows: Number 3 placed second; Number 4 placed third. "(g) The Jury furthermore certifies as above that the selected and rated designs have conformed to the mandatory provisions of the program. "(11) The Jury therefore recommends to the Federal Reserve Board that it premiate design numbered 7 selected as above and in accordance with the conditions of the program. . "The Jury felt that the quality of the drawings subeated was of an exceptional order, the highest standard ,llg maintained throughout. This excellence in itself brought about prolonged and careful discussion of all drawrig" After due deliberation the result as recited above ac,s unanimously reached. "The admirable returns obtained have been eminently successful and the Jury believes that the Board has achieved results which could not have been obtained otherwise. The competition has brought out the best thought and efforts of a group of America's most distinguished architects on this Problem. These are now at the disposal of the Board. 7. r t (Signed) I am pleased to concur in the above and to commend the deof the jury. (Signed) Everett V. Meeks. J. T. Cross A. C. Miller Tm. Emerson Frederic A. Delano John Mead Horells Chairman." In c ommenting on the report Mr. Howells said that the jury felt that, while there had been some auestion in the minds of some of the illembera of the `41 jury as to the results obtained from competitions of this kl"a) the drawings submitted by the competing architects in this case 17ers °f such high quality that the jury was satisfied that as good reatIlts oc„ LLLd not have been obtained by any other method. Mr. Miller suggested that, unless the members of the Board deto a,, questions, the professional members of the jury and the 13°Elrcit s Professional adviser withdraw from the meeting in order that the 1148 5/17/35 -3- Board might give consideration to the jury's report. No questions were asked, and Messrs. Howells, Cross, and Meeks left the room. Mr. Thomas referred to the absence of Mr. James and it was agreed that final action on the report should not be taken until Mr. James could be present, but that a decision should be reached as soon as P"sible. It was ascertained by the Secretary that Mr. James was flying from MenThis to Washington and was scheduled to arrive in Washington at 5:00, frs. m• today but that his plane was two and a half hours late. It was then suggested that the Board might receive the report of the JUry at this meeting and take action thereon tomorrow morning when j amee Will be present. Mr. Miller moved that the Board accept the report of the jury and thank the members of the Jury for their services. Carried. Mr. Miller stated that the chairman of the jury feels that, until action is taken by the Board on the report, he should remain in Washington and that, as he would like to return to New York tonight if TI°"ibley it wolbe of assistance to him if the members of the Board DI' sent would give an informal indication as to their attitude toward the report. All of the members present expressed themSelves as being in accord with the jury report, and it was agreed that there was no necessity for Mr. Howells to remain longer in Washington. It was also agreed that a meeting of the Board should be held at 9:30 tomorrow morning for the purI?ose of taking final action on the report of the Jury, 1149 5/17/35 -4Mr. Morrill stated that the competing architects had been re- quested to make arrangements to receive wire advice of the Boards action tomorrow, so that the winnin,c, , architect might arrange to be in Washington on Monday, May 20, in connection with a meeting of The Commission of Fine Arts which will pass on the building design. He also said that a draft Of Contract with the architect had been prepared and was in the hands of Mr. Miller. At this point, Mr. Meeks, Professional Adviser, reentered the rOom U7Don inquiry from Governor Eccles, it was stated that it was believed that it would take the winning architect from four to six months to c omplete the final drawings and that the draft of contract with the architect Provides for a limit on the time that he may take for that 11°Isk. Governor Eccles expressed the view that such a provision would be 48irable. Mr,il1er stated that the winning design lends itself particu411 Y well to execution in marble and he reviewed the consideration which hacl been given by the jury to the advisability of using marble in the 141141111g ' He said that Mr. Delano had strongly urged that careful thought be l'\'en to the possibilities of deterioration in marble before a decision 4 reached as to the material to be used. Mr. Morrill read a draft of a press statement prepared for rele "e in th e morning papers of Sunday, May 19, 1935... After discussion, the proposed statement wa8 approved in the following amended form: 1150 5/17/35 -5"The Federal Reserve Board on Saturday, May 18, selected as the architect for its new building on Constitution Avenue, It basis 7F-- was chosen Friday morning by a jury on the designs submitted by nine architects who were invited to Participate in a competition which was announced February 1. The jury's choice was approved by the Federal Reserve Board. It is expected that the architect will begin work im mediately on the preparation of final plans and specifications. The design and material of the exterior of the building are subject to the approval of the Fine Arts Commis_ bion. "The jury which passed upon the designs was composed of three architects and two laymen. The architects who served ere John W. Cross, New York City; rilliam Emerson, Dean of wthe School of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of NriT°10EY, Boston, Massachusetts, and John Mead Howells, York City. The other members of the jury were Frederic A. ie-Lan°, Chairman of the National Capital Park and Planning ,°nmission, and Adolph C. Miller, a member of the Federal Aeserve Board. C d, "The program for the competition was prepared under the -m rection of Mr. Everett V. Meeks, Dean of the School of the 'lne Arts in Yale University, who has acted as the Board's Professional adviser. "The program outlined certain conditions under which the onueral Reserve Board acquired the site on Constitution Avenue, exe t of which provided that the design and material of the Th„„eV-°r of the building should be subject to the approval of ' °rnmission of Fine Arts, The Commission prescribed that wh7e material of the exterior of the building is to be of poe marble to conform to the other buildings along this to v, l.°n of Constitution Avenue'. In indicating its views as general architectural character of the building the 10:T?-ssion stated that 'the nature of the functions performed c'_ne Federal Reserve Board dictates an architectural conimn„of dignity and permanence. It must, consequently, have dignity.t Ipe th The program also referred to the fact that the proximity perm2 Proposed building to the Lincoln Memorial and other sliv-rZTatstructures already erected on Constitution Avenue he,;ed that the exterior design of the building be in °IV with its environment. "171} e the Petitor Board did not attempt to dictate to the comaesthejin the matter of style, it was indicated that the di -1.c gnity ofappeal of the exterior design should be made through conception, purity of line, proportion and scale 4 1151 5/17/35 -6rather than through decorative or monumental features and the Program quoted the view of the Commission of Fine Arts that the Federal Reserve Board building must be in general accord with the home in governmental buildings in Washington—it must seem at the city'. iT he winning design projects a building which fulfills admirablythe above desired elements and in addition solves in masterly fashion the program as developed to meet not only the present but also reasonable future needs of the Board. incr "Within the past three years the Board's organization has esed 50% in size and is now housed in rented quarters in tw° separate downtown office buildings. In the new building ,mple room will be allowed for expansion so that when the building is occupied the Board will not find itself in the position of having failed to make proper provision for its needs. Soundproof movable partitions will be used in the R'eater Part of the building so that alterations in space allotments may be made economicany.9 Mr. Miller moved that the Secretary be authorized, after the architect for the new building has been chosen, to permit representatives of the press to have access to the =g 11 . design for the purpose of making photo- Carried. M. Morrill stated that the program for the competition provides tc'r the return of all drawings, except the winning design, after copies hIlve been made by the Board. He said that he had been advised by the National par, x drawings made Service that all photographic negatives and prints of for that office are made by the Army Signal Corps and that the eaPtain fl charge of the photographic laboratory had stated that he tl°111d be ni baqs of :-Ileettsed to have negatives and prints made for the Board on the actual cost of materials and labor and that he was of the %11°4 that the work could be finished by Saturday of next week. The Secretary was authorized to have the n?bersary negatives and prints made by the Signal Corps and to send to the Federal reserve 1152 5/17/35 -7banks advice of the Board's final action with regard to the selection of an architect, with copies of the drarings of the north and south elevations of the winning design. Inasmuch as the report of the jury certified that all designs submitted conform to the mandatory provisions of the program of competition, the payment of a competition fee of .1:;11500 to each competing architect as provided in the program, except to the winning architect, was approved. Mr. Thomas stated that he had been advised that the subcommittee Of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee, which has been holding hearings on the proposed Banking Act of 1935, had agreed to report the bill to the full committee not later than the 27th of May, and that he felt the Board should consider the form of the proposed amendments contattled in the bill to the Clayton Act and section 32 of the Banking Act Of 1933 in order that the Board's recommendations may be submitted to the eclramittee before it is too late. He said that he felt it would be Unfortunate for the bill to become law with the amendments to the Clayton Act and section 32 in the form in which they are now contained in the bill ' Re indicated, however, that the report of the Board's committee 04 thi8 subject was not in final form, and that he felt that a discussion (/t the subject would be helpful. After some discussion of the questions involved, action was deferred, with the understanding that Mr. Thomas would prepare and submit a definite recommendation for the Board's consideration. Governor Eccles stated that, after consulting with Governor thq, (311, Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, who had suggested ln view of the statutory requirement that four meetings of the A 4 rz.er? AC. 5/17/35 —8— C°Irlraitte,e be held each year, a meeting or the Committee be called,and after receiving advice from Under Secretary of the Treasury Coolidge that he viould like to confer with the Committee regarding June 15 Treasury financing, be (Governor Eccles) had called a meeting of the Coramittee to be held in Tashington on May 27, 1935. He said that Gc3vellior Harrison had stated that he would communicate with the secrete ry Of the Governors' Conference and suggest that he get in touch vith the various Fovernors and request that they submit any tonics which they '3111d like to have discussed at a Governors' Conference immediately Naol-ing the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Governor '''ecles also said that there were certain questions which the Board might de2irc to discuss with the governors and that he would like to have the Illbers give some thought to the matter and be prepared, at a later nieetinE, to maa suggestions as to topics for the conference with the He added that he thought the conference would afford each eraber Of the 3oard an opportunity to make a statement to the governors `1"" to the Boanirs position on the matters which are under his particular clil'ection, such as a statement on industrial loans by Mr. S7,ymczak and °4 4letters affPcting membership in the Federal Reserve System by :Ir. Governor Eccles referred to the proposed transfer of Mr. Henry Economic Assistant in his office, to the Division of 11.e h and Statistics. He stated that since the meeting on May 6, 1935, oiseussed the matter with Mr. Goldenweiser, who had stated that he 1154 SA1/%5 -9- telt*. Edmiston ras qualified for viork in the division, and that the °1114,problem ' 41t °f line presented was that the salary being Paid Mr. Edmiston was ith other salaries in the division of employees doing e°41Parab1e worh. Governor Eccles stated that he had discussed the illatter with 'Ir rdmiston and had told him ti t if the transfer were made hle 8alarY could not exceed 11,000 per annum, which is 5OO less than bia:present salary. Alr. Miller stated that, in his judrment, an error is made when- man is placed in a position on the basis of administrative con- "" EL iderations, that an addition to the staff of a division should not be it is done vith the idea that it -yin strengthen and improve the j and thnt he questioned the desirpbility of the proposed .tl'arieterbectluse of its possible effect in the division. Aftr discussion, action on the matter was deferred for a later meeting of the Board. Thereupon the meeting adjourned. App ect.. Governor.
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