FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN NOVEMBER, 1931 ISSUED BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD AT WASHINGTON Gold and Currency Movements Annual Reports of Central Banks: Australia, Bolivia, Chile, South Africa UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1931 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD Ex officio members: EUGENE MEYER, Governor. A. W. MELLON, , Vice Governor. Secretary of the Treasury\ Chairman. CHARLES S. HAMLIN. J. W. POLE, ADOLPH C. MILLER. Comptroller of the Currency. GEORGE R. JAMES. WAYLAND W. MAGEE. FLOYD R. HARRISON, Assistant to the Governor. WALTER WYATT, General Counsel. CHESTER MORRILL, Secretary. E. A. GOLDENWEISER, Director\ Division of Research E. M. MCCLELLAND, Assistant Secretary. and Statistics. J. C. NOELL, Assistant Secretary. W. M. IMLAY, Fiscal Agent. CARL E. PARRY, Assistant Director, Division of Research and Statistics. Chief, Division of Examination, and Chief FederalE. L. SMEAD, Chief, Division of Bank Operations. Reserve Examiner. FEDERAL ADVISORY COUNCIL District No. 1 (BOSTON) HERBERT K. HALLETT. District No. 2 (NEW YORK) R. H. TREMAN. District No. 3 (PHILADELPHIA) HOWARD A. LOEB. District No. 4 (CLEVELAND) J. A. HOUSE. District No. 5 (RICHMOND) JOHN POOLE. District No. 6 (ATLANTA) - JOHN K. OTTLEY. District No. 7 (CHICAGO) MELVIN A. TRAYLOR. District No. 8 (ST. LOUIS) W. W. SMITH, Vice President. District No. 9 (MINNEAPOLIS) _. GEO. H. PRINCE. District No. 10 (KANSAS CITY) W. S. MCLUCAS. District No. 11 (DALLAS) J. H. FROST. District No. 12 (SAN FRANCISCO) HENRY M. ROBINSON. WALTER LICHTENSTEIN, Secretary. II 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 Roy A. Young W. W. Paddock. W. Willett. New York.. J. H. Case Geo. L. Harrison W. R. Burgess C, H. Coe.i J. E. Crane Ray M. Gidney.* A. W. Gilbert J. W. Jones.* E. R. Kenzel W. B. Matteson.* Walters. Logan J. M. Rice.i L. R. Rounds Allan Sproul.* L. F. Sailer Philadelphia . R. L. Austin . Geo. W. Norris Wm. H. Hutt C. A. Mcllhenny. W. G. McCreedy.1 Cleveland George DeCamp E. R. Fancher M. J. Fleming H. F. Strater. Richmond Wm. W. Hoxton George J.Seay C. A. Peple-... Geo. H. Keesee. R. H. Broaddus. John S. Walden, jr.1 Atlanta Oscar Newton Eugene R. Black W. S. Johns M. W. Bell. H. F. Connifl. W. S. McLarin, jr.i Chicago Eugene M. Stevens. _. J. B. McDougal C. R. McKay W. C. Bachman.i JohnH. Blair D. A. Jones.i J. H. Dillard 0. J. Netterstrom.i E. A. Delaney.i St. Louis John S. Wood _- Wm. McC. Martin... 0. M. Attebery S. F. Gilmore.i FA . NTT. Hall.TTnill '2 G. 0. Hollocher.» C. A. Schacht.i Minneapolis John R. Mitchell W. B. Geery Harry Yaeger H. I. Ziemer. H. I. Ziemer Frank C. Dunlop.1 Kansas City M. L. McClure W.I. Bailey C. A. Worthington.... J. W. Helm. Dallas C. C. Walsh B. A. McKinney RT . WR . TTolGilberm t Fred Harris. R. B. Coleman W. 0. Ford.i San Francisco Isaac B. Newton Jno. U. Calkins Wm. A. Day Wm. M. Hale. Ira Clerk i Assistant deputy governor. • Controller. MANAGING DIRECTORS OF BRANCHES OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS Federal Reserve Bank of— Managing director Federal Reserve Bank of— Managing director New York: Minneapolis: Buffalo branch R. M. O'Hara. Helena branch R. E. Towle. Cleveland: Kansas City: Cincinnati branch C. F. McCombs. Omaha branch L. H. Earhart. Pittsburgh branch J. C. Nevin. Denver branch J. E. Olson. Richmond: Oklahoma City branch. C. E. Daniel. Baltimore branch Hugh Leach. Dallas: Charlotte branch W. T. Clements. El Paso branch J. L. Hermann. Atlanta: Houston branch W. D. Gentry. New Orleans branch Marcus Walker. San Antonio branch M. Crump. Jacksonville branch Hugh Foster. San Francisco: B irmingham branch A. E. Walker. Los Angeles branch W. N. Ambrose. Nashville branch J. B. Fort, jr. Portland branch R. B. West. Chicago: Salt Lake City branch.. W. L. Partner. Detroit branch W. R. Cation. Seattle branch C. R. Shaw. St. Louis: Spokane branch D. L. Davis. Louisville branch Memphis branch W. H. Glasgow. Little Rock branch A. F. Bailey. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE OF BULLETIN The FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN is the board's medium of commu- nication with member banks of the Federal reserve system and is the only official organ or periodical publication of the board. The BULLETIN will be sent to all member banks without charge. To others the subscription price, which covers the cost of paper and printing, is $2. Single copies will be sold at 20 cents. Outside of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the insular possessions, $2.60; single copies, 25 cents. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Review of the month—Gold and currency movements 603 Magnitude of demand—Effect on reserve position—Composition of reserve bank credit. Renewal of credits to Bank of England and Reichsbank 604 Changes in foreign central bank discount rates 605, 636 Annual report of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia 620 Annual report of the Central Bank of Bolivia 622 Annual report of the Central Bank of Chile 624 Annual report of the South African Reserve Bank 626 National summary of business conditions 607 Financial, industrial, and commercial statistics: Reserve bank credit and factors in changes (chart and table) 608, 609 Analysis of changes in monetary gold stock, gold movements „ 609 Member bank borrowings at Federal reserve banks 610 Discount rates and money rates 610 Member and nonmember bank credit: All banks in the United States— Loans and investments, deposits 611 Bank suspensions 613 Number of banks, banking offices, banks operating branches 613 All member banks— Loans and investments, deposits, reserve position 611 Loans to banks 613 Loans to customers, open-market loans and investments 611 Holdings of eligible assets (Government securities and eligible paper) 613 Weekly reporting member banks in leading cities 612, 643 Bankers' acceptances, commercial paper, brokers' loans 612 Security prices, security issues, and security loans 614 Production, employment, car loadings, and commodity prices 615 Industrial production 616 Factory employment and pay rolls 617 Building contracts awarded, by types of building 618 Merchandise exports and imports 618 Department stores—Indexes of sales and stocks 618 Freight-car loadings, by classes 618 Wholesale prices, by groups of commodities 619 Financial statistics for foreign countries: Gold reserves of central banks and governments 629 Gold movements 630 Foreign exchange rates 631 Bank for International Settlements 631 Central banks 632,634 Government note issues and reserves 635 Commercial banks 635 Discount rates of central banks 636 Money rates 636 Price movements: Security prices 637 Wholesale prices 638 Retail food prices and cost of living 638 Banking and business conditions in Federal reserve districts 639-646 Detailed Federal reserve statistics, etc 647-652 Index 653 IV Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN VOL. 17 NOVEMBER, 1931 No. 11 REVIEW OF THE MONTH last two weeks. Foreign central banks and Federal reserve developments in recent other foreign holders of short-time funds in the weeks have been influenced largely by two New York market also drew on their holdings _ , _ factors—the outflow of goldoutside of the Federal reserve banks for the Magnitudmj e of „ _ . _ to _ demand Irom this country and the purpose of obtaining gold for export. In the domestic demand for currency. latter part of October the demand for gold from During the 6-w^eek period following the sus- abroad diminished as quotations of foreign pension of gold payments by Great Britain currencies in the New York market declined, there was a decrease in the country's stock and in the last few days of the month there was of monetary gold amounting to $730,000,000 little change in the country's stock of monetary and an increase in currency outstanding of gold. On October 31 the stock of gold increased $390,000,000. Both of these factors increase by about $25,000,000 through the release of the demand for reserve bank credit, and the gold previously held under earmark at the total volume of this credit, notwithstanding a Federal Reserve Bank of New York. considerable decrease in member bank reserve Gold movements in recent years have been balances, increased by $930,000,000 during the on a large scale and have been characterized period, and was at the end of October at the by successive periods of export from the United highest level in 10 years. States, followed in each case by an inflow that The outflow of gold, which began at the time has lasted longer and has been larger in volume of the suspension of gold payments by Great than the preceding export movement. Not- Britain on September 21, was the largest move- withstanding the unprecedented magnitude of ment of the metal during a similar period in the drain on the country's stock of gold during any country at any time. The decrease in the the 6-week period following the suspension of country's gold stock did not, however, consist gold payments by Great Britain, the gold stock in its entirety of gold actually exported, as at the end of the period at $4,300,000,000 was $415,000,000 of the gold remained in the United still approximately $200,000,000 larger than at States, but was earmarked for account of foreign the end of the preceding outward movement, central banks at the Federal Reserve Bank of which came to a close in the middle of 1928.