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790 Minutes of actions taken by the Board of Governors of the Ner6:1 4-Reserve System on Tuesday, May 18, 1948. The Board met t4 SPecial Library at 10:30 a.m. P RESENT: Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. McCabe, Chairman Szymczak Draper Evans Vardaman Clayton Carpenter, Secretary Sherman, Assistant Secretary Morrill, Special Adviser Thurston, Assistant to the Board Riefler, Assistant to the Chairman Bethea, Director of the Division of Administrative Services Mr. Vest, General Counsel Mr. Nelson, Director of the Division of Personnel Administration Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Messrs. Bopp and Johns, Vice Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and Kansas City, respectively. laittz s zymczak said that he had received a call from Mr. t' Divers, Assistant Administrator of the Housing and P1114,4 q.o44 ,ce Agency, who stated that that Agency wanted to work Itok 1 the Board of Governors in matters relating to housing " Ett4, 4113-118i 4 legislation. Mr. Szymczak stated that Mr. Divers' call tesillted from the Board's letter of May 11 to Senator Tobey, l'111511 (1r the Senate Bankiag and Currency Committee, opposing cer11)54:t°Nrisions in the bill H. R. 2799 relating to housing which NII)resented by the Housing and Home Finance Agency, but that 4491 5448 -241' Piers was in no sense critical of action taken by the Board 414)8111g that legislation, and the purpose of his call was to Vork fIrrangements whereby the two agencies could discuss mat- te before thAy reached the legislative stage. *. Vest said that there had been at least one conference of the Board's staff with representatives of the Housing 4118 Ilitance Agency in connection with the provisions in bill /1'11. 2799. It was the consensus that working arrangements such as er. 4 th,, tto. suggested were highly desirable, and that his interest ot 144:ter presented an opportunity for still closer exchange rnlan McCabe suggested that since questions relating to le,4114 M111e 4th, 4ctiV1ties of other Government agencies (other than in the 1t1al field) were one of Mr. Draper's assignments, he and kezbe of the staff as would be appropriate might meet at 111.1. 4tri 4nd When necessary with representatives of the Housing I:lel:Ice Agency, fi nd report to the Board from time to time In a discussion of this arrangement it was also that *4tti tics 141". Ramsay Wood, of the Division of Research and 4nd someone to be designated in the Legal Division, tl)4 e the m embers of the staff to work with Mr. Draper on 'atter. 792 5h8i -3It was agreed unanimously that these suggestions would be followed. connection with the foregoing discussion, Mr. Vest re1)(4‘tecl that a letter opposing provisions in bill H. R. 2799 similar to the Board's letter of May 11, 1948, was sent by the Federal De114lt I-surance Corporation to the Senate Banking and Currency Cornto last„ek. Reference was made to a memorandum from Mr. Nelson dated 1948 rattlita,_ a 'recommending that the Board approve a new scale of "xlmum salaries under the personnel classification the 1.tt -0 xederal Reserve Bank of Richmond approved in the Board's or August 28, l947. The memorandum stated that a recent sal- Itatie 037 the Richmond Bank indicated that an increase of 411141rfaa-tely 5 Per cent would be desirable, that this increase 1°111 leave the wage structure for the Richmond Bank at a level l'Ets still relatively low, but that the Richmond Bank felt 1.ti‘°1114.be Mequate to meet their needs for the present and had 1(1.t1..(111-tecl a greater increase. UPon motion by Mr. Evans, it was "greed unanimously to approve the rec-111111endati0n contained in Mr. Nelson's lorandum and to advise the Federal eserve Bank of Richmond as follows: "rm 44Z1411.1 : 4 Board approves the following minimum and q)ective alaries effective July 1, 1948 for the re.des at - g-ra the Federal Reserve Bank of r 793 -4hi„call ,(313-d) including the Baltimore and Charlotte Branches, were adopted by the Board of Directors and submitted 115rour letter of April 15, 1948: Grade Maximum Salary Minimum Salary 1 $1800 $1320 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 e plo 1440 1560 1920 2100 1714 .0 1920 2340 2580 2100 2880 2340 2640 2940 3240 3600 4000 4400 14.800 5300 3180 3540 3900 4400 490o 5400 5900 65oo 7100 5700 7700 a Board approves the payment of salaries to em- krt17,8) other than officers, within the limits specified grades in which the positions of the respective 'l*ees are classified." lileluoranclum from Mr. Draper dated May 5, 1948, with respect 41,1,, It„ aliellts for space for the Hoover Commission, which is studyIhe or, maalization of the executive branch of the Government, was Dre„ (41 1) kkezi A The memorandum referred to the action at the meeteh 30, 1948, at which time it was agreed that it would 131e t° rallke space available to the Commission, even though ti ON: t° cl° 80 it would be necessary to request the Office of NTk -"'18meat to release the space which it was using in -1111ding. Mr. Draper stated that some space had been ahle to the Hoover Commission, that it still needed 794 -5111)r°11zately 1,635 square feet, which is the area now occupied 11111e0Tfice of Contract Settlement, that that Office was requested titheBoard's letter of April 1, 1948, to release the space with- 14 3o av 16, ' CI S but had not done so, that the matter was discussed with Chairman of the Appeal Board of the Office of Contract 4ttleraellt and Mr. ConSpingarn, Deputy Director of the Office of tract Settlement on April 30, and that they had indicated that an "ttIrt v°111d- be made to locate suitable space elsewhere for the C)41es of eolatract Settlement within a period of 90 days. Mt. Drtl 1)er stated that no further action was required by the Board thi8 a discussion of the matter it was the consensus of the ZN:2, f alEtce Board who were present that it was desirable to 1//t "Ailable to the Hoover Commission in so far as that rett8ibi tt e a-ad that the program for having the Office of Conrelease the space it is now occupying should Nrstieci 4 Accordance with the earlier action on the matter. 14)1;6. *`-oaR Szymcza,_ Zak reported that Mt. George Lee Bach, who is Nerea vith the Hoover Commission on problems relating to the Iteserve Board/ visited his office yesterday. Mr. Carpen111.)1. r lotth httl ead. a letter addressed to the Board which Mr. Bach left 14a3r 17, 1948, indicating that in the studies he was 795 -614144 it would be necessary to call on the Board and various menor the staff over the next few weeks and inquiring if there 814111elliber of the staff with whom the Board would like him to contact in his work. There was a discussion of the matter during which it was agreed that such contact be maintained with the Secretary's °ffice, with the mderstanding that other zenibers of the staff would be available to confer with Mr. Bach whenever necessary. The sale that tort t4 meeting then recessed and reconvened at 2:30 p.m. with attendance as at the close of the morning session, except Messrs. Bethea and Nelson were not present and Messrs. Dearettici smith, members of the executive committee (which was also 11141,7114 committee) of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Prese t. • Dearmont presented a program for rehabilitation of the /iugen.t which was owned by the Federal Reserve kat Or St Louis and med. the main Bank building. He stated Nt at adi° tile r equest of directors of the Bank the executive the ittee haa made 11411 a studY of the question of rehabilitating the comprised five floors and a basement, of which the -411t 64a411, 1/2 of the first floor were presently occupied by 'z/rtnients of the Bank and the remainder of which constituted (11 qaQe. without partitions, floor coverings, or light fixtures 796 5/18/48 -71111 e Unoccupjed. Mr. Dearmont said that the study made by the e committee of the Bank and approved by the board of directC*8 3`t et Meeting on May 6, 1948, recommended that portions of the "terior of the building be refaced, that air conditioning, new keki4e e qu ipment, lights and wiring, and floor covering and electtitai outlets be installed, that plumbing equipment be renovated es tecessary„ and that a covered bridge from the third floor of the Nett B uilding to the roof of the mezzanine of the main build14 be provided.•$6::mr. theseimprovements were made, at a total este t141.coet of Dearmont said, there would be proPlc4C14111Proximately 70,000 square feet of rentable floor °4-11 at the present time should bring a rental of around700 89340e foot per annum. He also said that the St. Louis Bank 4,411,1the Ifc)rk was urgent in nature because of the shortage of 4ble space in St. Louis and because of inquiries received : 91411° TreaeUry Department concerning the possibility of ob411411€ rrom 22,000 to 25,000 square feet of space in the near acc oMmodate some of its fiscal activities. He also orne of the work on the exterior of the building was ti4 ileecie4 d that directors of the Bank felt it was good te144 t0 do the entire Job at one time, since the work would e 'very little use of strategic materials which were in 797 5h8A8 -8- elIPPlY and since it would make available badly needed floor 81)4Ce for rent in the city of St. Louis. Mr. Smith expressed the opinion that it was important for t4, -ecierel Reserve Bank to improve the exterior appearance of the 1111€elit 131111ding as promptly as possible, and that it seemed to him ob.4 good b usiness to make available floor space when the demand tot ileh space exists as it does at present. He also said that "would be provided to the Bank to undertake any future k4Ple 81)4 tiee which it might be called upon to perform, and that the t1114tit'll EIPPeared to be whether to provide the space in anticipa$ 811°11 needs or to wait until the needs existed before underthe re habilitation program. Nte )311ring a discussion of the total investment that would be 14itht ttted in the Nugent Building, it was suggested that the Bank i)i: tti °41der selling the property with the understanding that the it r 8er lf°111d rehabilitate it and rent to the Bank such space as th:Illired. Messrs. Dearmont and Smith both expressed the opinion 14111e the Bank could no doubt sell the building at a profit e est time, it would be a mistake to do so and would be 11°11 44 ::ififihtecl to release a building which could be made very suittake ett, Care of possible expansion in activities of the Bank, teral) exY or permanent. 798 5/18/48 —9— Following the discussion, it was understood that Messrs. Dearmont and Smith would submit a memorandum or letter outlining the Bank's proposal and that the matter would be considered bY the Board at a meeting on Friday, MaY 21, 1948. At this point Messrs. Riefler, Vest, Bopp, Johns, Dearmont, 111(1Stilith' withdrew and the action stated with respect to each of th Z141ers hereinafter set forth was taken by the Board: 141/lutes of actions taken by the Board of Governors of the —Serve or he Melnorandum dated May 17; 1948, from Mr. Thomas, Director the te t thav 14t System on May 17, 1948, were approved unanimously. ori of Research and Statistics, recommending that ' 1€" 11 .tion of Mrs. Dora A. Kelenson, a research assistant 1)1.7or4' ."'sion, be accepted to be effective, in accordance with lest at the close of business June 2, 1948, with the under, the't a lump sum payment would be made for annual leave reas of that date. Approved unanimously. 14eM0randum dated May 17, 1948, from Mr. Thomas, Director thetiv .kRilEttio ic)/1 of Research and Statistics, recommending that the 4 Qf Miss Sara Josephine Parrish, a clerk-t be ist in that 4ccepted to be effective, in accordance with her reose of business May 28, 1948, with the understanding 799 5/18/48 -10tiAt.tt lunIP sum payment would be made for annual leave remaining to credit as of that date. Approved unanimously. Letter to the Comptroller of the Currency reading as fol- 10118. It is respectfully requested that you place : all, ilacps er with the Bureau of Engraving and Print_t.„suPPlementing the order of June 19, 1947, e 1,e-a printing of Federal Reserve notes of the Reserve Bank of St. Louis in the amount ' denomination stated below: DenomiNumber of Amount nation sheets $10 84,000 $10,080,000" Approved unanimously.