FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD AT WASHINGTON AUGUST, 1919 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD. EX OFPTCIO MEMBERS. W. P. G. HARDING, Governor. ALBERT STRAUSS, Vice Governor. CARTER GLASS, ADOLPH C. MILLER. Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman. CHARLES S. HAMLIN. JOHN SKELTON WILLIAMS, Comptroller of the Currency* J. A. BRODERICK, Secretary. GEORGE L. HARRISON, General Counsel. W. T. CHAPMAN, Assistant Secretary. H. PARKER WILLIS, W. M. IMLAY, Fiscal Agent. Directory Division of Analysis and Research. M. JACOBSON, Statistician. J. E. CRANE, Acting Director, Division of Foreign Exchange. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis OFFICERS OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS. Federal Reserve Bank of— Chairman. Governor. Deputy governor. Cashier. Boston. ... Frederic H. Curtiss... Chas. A. Morss.. Chas. E. Spencer, jr... W. Willett. C. C. Bullen New York. Pierre Jay Benj. Strong, jr. R. H. Treman L. II. Hendricks. J. H. Case L. F. Sailer J. F. Curtis Philadelphia. II. L. Austin. E. P. Passmore. Wm. II. Hutt, jr W. A. Dyer. Cleveland D. C. Wills... E. R. Fancher.. M. J. Fleming1 H. G. Davis. Frank J. Zurlinden1.. Richmond. Caldwell Hardy. George J. Seay. C. A. Peple Geo. H. Keesee. R. II. Broaddus Atlanta. Joseph A. McCord M. B. Wellborn.. L. C. Adelson M. W. Bell. Chicago. Wm. A. Heath I J. B. McDougal.. 0. R. McKay S. B. Cramer. B. G. McCloud1 St. Louis Wm. McC. Martin. 1). C. Biggs O. M. Attebery J. W. White. Minneapolis... JohnH. Rich •. Theodore Wold I R. A. Young S. S. Cook. Kansas City... Asa E. Ramsay J. Z. Miller, jr | C. A. Worthington1 . J. W. Helm.2 Dallas Wm. F. Ramsey R. L. VanZandt ; Lynn P. Talley Lynn P. Talley. San Francisco. John Perrin.." J. U. Calkins ' Wm. A. Day Ira Clerk 3. 1 Assistant to governor. 2 Acting cashier. 3 Assistant deputy governor. MANAGERS OF BRANCHES OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS. Federal Reserve Bank of— Manager. Federal Reserve Bank of— Manager. New York: St. Louis: Buffalo branch Ray M. Gidney. Louisville branch W. P. Kincheloe. Memphis branch J. J. Heflin. Cleveland: Little Rock branch A. F. Bailey. Cincinnati branch L. W. Maiming. Pittsburgh branch Geo. De Camp. Kansas City: Omaha branch 0. T. Eastman. Richmond: Denver branch C. A. Burkhardt. Baltimore branch Morton M. Prentis. Dallas: Atlanta: El Paso branch R. R. Gilbert. New Orleans branch Marcus Walker. Houston branch Sain R. Lawder. Jacksonville branch Geo. R. De Saussure. Birmingham branch A. E. Walker. San Francisco: Salt Lake City branch C. H. Stewart. Chicago: Seattle branch C. J. Shepherd. Detroit branch R. B. Locke. Spokane branch C. A. McLean. Portland branch C. L. Lamping. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE OF BULLETIN. The FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN is distributed without charge to member banks of the system and to the officers and directors of Federal Reserve Banks. In sending the BULLETIN to others the Board feels that a subscription should be required. It has accordingly fixed a subscription price of $2 per annum. Single copies will be sold at 20 cents. Foreign postage should be added when it will be required. Remittances should be made to the Federal Reserve Board. Member banks desiring to have the BULLETIN supplied to their officers and directors may have it sent to not less than 10 names at a subscription price of SI per annum. No complete sets of the BULLETIN for 1915, 1916, or 1917 are available. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. Federal Reserve notes and currency expansion... 699 Statistical—Continued. Review of the month 703 Statistical Review: 1914-1919—Continued. Business and financial conditions: Summary... 706 Operations of Federal Reserve Branch Special reports of Federal Reserve agents.. 711 Banks during six months ending June Earnings and expenses of Federal Reserve Banks.. 720 30, 1919 777 Banking and economic conditions in Japan, 1914- Number of employees of Federal Reserve 1919 731 Board and Federal Reserve Banks, Official: 1914-1919 778 Government financing— Number of member banks of the Federal Letter of the Secretary of the Treasury to Reserve System, 1914-1919...., 780 Chairman of Ways and Means Committee, Loans, investments, and deposit liabilities dated July 9 725 of national banks, 1914-1919 782 Letter of the Secretary of the Treasury to Abstract of reports of condition of all mem- banks and trust companies, dated July ber banks, 1914-1919 783 25 726 Principal resources and liabilities of mem- Amendments to Federal Reserve Act pending ber banks in leading cities 786 in Congress 727 Stock of money in the United States 788 State banks and trust companies admitted to Allotments of Liberty bonds and treasury the system 738 certificates 787 Foreign branches of American banks 738 Wholesale prices in the United States 747 Banks granted authority to accept up to 100 per Discount and interest rates in various centers.. 750 cent of capital and surplus 737 Physical volume of trade 753 Charters issued to national banks 737 Debits to individual account and to bank ac- Fiduciary powers granted to national banks 739 count, June-July 763 Law Department: Discount and open market operations of the Legal opinions and decisions 740 Federal Reserve Banks 790 Amendments to State banking laws 741 Resources and liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks 797 Miscellaneous: Federal Reserve note account 800 Crop statistics, by Federal Reserve districts... 737 Interdistrict movement of Federal Reserve Commercial failures reported 736 notes 802 Assets, liabilities, and earnings of the three lead- Operation of Federal Reserve clearing system.. 803 ing German commercial banks, 1914-1918... 735 Condition of member banks in selected cities.. 804 Statistical: Estimated stock of money in the United States.. 810 Statistical Review: 1914-1919 766 Imports and exports of gold and silver 809 Classification of earning assets held by Fed- Foreign exchange rates 81Z eral Reserve Banks since organization of Discount rates approved by the Federal Reserve system 771 Board 810 Reserves, deposits, and note circulation of Diagrams: Federal Reserve Banks since organiza- Earning assets of Federal Reserve Banks, 1914- tion of system 774 1919 772 Growth of the Federal Reserve clearing Net deposits, Federal Reserve notes in circula- system, 1916-1919 775 tion and reserves of Federal Reserve Banks, Transfers through the gold settlement fund, 1914-1919 773 1915-1919 776 Investments of national banks, 1914-1919 780 Earnings and expenses of the Federal Re- Deposit liabilities of national banks, 1914- serve Banks, 1914-1919 777 1919.... 781 IV Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN VOL. 5 AUGUST 1, 1919. No. 8 FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES AND CURRENCY EXPANSION. On August 8 the following letter was sent the issue of an equal volume of small bills in by the Governor of the Federal Reserve Board some other form of currency would be neces- to the Chairman of the Committee on Banking sary. To effect the retirement of the United and Currency of the United States Senate: States notes, funds would have to be with- DEAR SIR: The Federal Reserve Board ac- drawn from the Treasury to be supplied either knowledges receipt of 3'oiir letter of the 5th by taxation or by the sale of interest-bearing instant asking for an expression of its views as obligations, The Board does not believe that to the advisability of legislation providing for any legislation with respect to United States the gradual reduction of the currency in cir- notes is necessary or desirable at this time. culation as proposed by Senate resolution 142. The national bank notes outstanding on The Board would suggest that in determining August 1, 1919, amounted to $658,118,555, a whether or not legislation is necessary or desir- reduction of nearly $60,000,000 since July 1, able to regulate the volume of currency in cir- 1914. The greater part of these notes is culation, consideration be given to the various secured by United States 2 per cent bonds, forms of money which make up the sum total and provision has already been made in section of our volume of currency. A distinction 18 of the Federal Reserve Act for their gradual should also be drawn between the stock of retirement. money in the country and the amount actually Federal Reserve Bank notes, which are in circulation. secured by United States obligations and are With respect to gold coin, gold certificates, taxed just as national-bank notes are, have been standard silver dollars, silver certificates, sub- issued only to replace in part national-bank sidiary silver, and Treasury notes of 1890, the notes retired and standard silver dollars melted Board assumes that it is recognized that no or broken up and sold as bullion under author- legislation is necessary. ity of the act of April 23, 1918, known as the The United States notes, or legal tenders, Pittman Act. The issue of these notes has, which have remained at the fixed amount of therefore, brought about no increase in the $346,681,016 since March 31, 1878, have not circulating medium. been a disturbing factor since the passage of the The amount of Federal Reserve notes out- act of March 14, 1900. An adequate gold re- standing has increased from $357,239,000 on serve of more than 45 per cent is now held April 1, 1917, to $2,504,753,000 on August 1, against these notes, most of which are in the 1919. It appears, therefore, that those who form of small bills of $1, $2, and $5, denomina- see in the larger volume of circulation in the tions.