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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.