19470121_Minutes.pdf

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Minutes of actions taken by the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System on Tuesday, January 21, 1947.

PRESENT: Mr. Eccles, 'ChairmanMr. DraperMr. EvansMr. Vardaman

Mr. Carpenter, SecretaryMr. Sherman, Assistant SecretaryMr. Morrill, Special AdviserMr. Thurston, Assistant to the Chairman

Minutes of actions taken by the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System on January 20, 1947, were approved unanimously.

Memorandum dated January 16, 1947, from Mr. Leonard, Director

of the Division of Examinations, recommending that an increase in

the basic annual salary of Gordon R. Murff, a Federal Reserve

bcaminer in that Division, from $7,820.40 to!-;9,077.25, be approved

effective January 26, 1947. The memorandum also recommended that

Mr. Murff be regularly assigned as examiner in charge of the road

force.

Approved unanimously.

Letter to Mr. McCravey, Secretary of the Federal Reserve

Bank of Atlanta, reading as follows:

"The Board of Governors approves the reappointmentsof Messrs. John E. Sanford, V. W. French, I. C. Milner,George Unship, and Luther H. Randall as members of theIndustrial Advisory Committee for the Sixth Federal Re—serve District to serve for terms of one year each, be—ginning March 1, 1947, in accordance xith the actiontaken by the Board of Directors of the Federal ReserveBank of Atlanta, as reported in your letter of January16, 1947.11

Approved unanimously.

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Letter to Mr. Young, President of the Federal Reserve Bank

of Chicago, reading as follows:

Bank

New

"Reference is made to your telegram of January 9,1947, advising that at the annual meeting of the Boardof Directors held on that day Messrs. Frank A. Lindstenand Laurence H. Jones, Assistant Cashiers, were electedAssistant Vice Presidents.

"Accordingly, the Board of Governors approves thepayment of salaries to Messrs. Lindsten and Jones asAssistant Vice Presidents at their present rates of19,000 and 0,500, per annum, respectively, for theperiod January 9, 1947, through March 31, 1947."

Approved unanimously.

Letter to Mr. Peterson, Vice President of the Federal Reserve

of St. Louis, reading as follows:

"In accordance with the information and recommenda-tion contained in your letter of January 8, 1947, theBoard of Governors will interpose no objection, underthe provisions of condition of membership numbered 8to which the member bank is subject, to the expendi-tures, totaling approximately $251,800, made by theManufacturers Bank & Trust Company, St. Louis, Missouri,In remodeling its banking house and purchasing a parkinglot."

Approved unanimously.

Letter to the C. 'h. H. Company, Incorporated, 280 Broadway,

York 7, New York, reading as follows:

"This refers to Mr. Proehlts letter of January 17,1947, with respect to a determination by the Board thatthe C. W. H. Company, Incorporated, New London, Connecti-cut, is not engaged as a business in holding the stock of,or managing or controlling, banks.

"From the information supplied, it appears that theC. W. H. Company, Incorporated, is a family investmentcompany which oms 10,001 of the 20,000 outstanding sharesof stock of The Munsey Trust Company, Washington, D. C.,

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"880 of the 8,000 outstanding shares of stock of Theidnthrop Trust Company, New London, Connecticut, and,through a subsidiary, a few shares of stock of certainother banks acquired in liquidation of deposits inClosed banks. The Board understands that your companydoes not own or control, directly or indirectly, stockof any other banks, does not manage or control, directlyor indirectly, any banking institution other than TheMunsey Trust Company, and is not operated for the pur-pose of managing or controlling banks.

"In view of these facts, the Board has determinedthat the C. W. H. Company, Incorporated, is not engaged,directly or indirectly, as a business in holding thestock of, or managing or controlling, banks, bankingassociations, savings banks, or trust companies, withinthe meaning of section 2(c) of the Banking Act of 1933,as amended; and, accordingly, your company is not aholding company affiliate for any purposes other thanthose of section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act.

"However, the Board reserves the right to make afurther determination at any time on the basis of thethen existing facts and, if there should be such achange in the facts as to indicate that the C. W. H.Company, Incorporated, might be deemed to be engaged,directly or indirectly, as a business in holding thestock of, or managing or controlling, banks, bankingassociations, savings bulks, or trust companies, thismatter should again be submitted to the Board."

Approved unanimously.

Letter to the Honorable Albert Thomas, United States House

of Representatives, reading as follows:

"We are returning herewith, as you have requested,the letter that you referred to us on January 15 fromMr. S. A. Knight of Houston, Texas.

'Tour correspondent inquires about the possibilitythat the present requirements on instalment buying --of automobiles, washing machines, sewing machines, etc.,-- may be relaxed in the immediate future by lengtheningthe permissible length-of-contract from 15 months to 18.For all the articles to which you refer the present re-quirements, which are prescribed in the Board's Regula-tion W, have been in effect since December 1, 1946, atwhich time the period in cluest]on was lengthened for

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"most articles from 12 months to 15 as part of a generalrevision of the regulation. The permissible maturityfor automobiles had been already 15 months. It was ourview then, and we have not yet seen good reason forchanging it, that the present terms would be appropriatefor some time. We should not expect them to be relaxed,as your correspondent suggests, in the immediate future.

"The supplies of these goods are still far short ofdemand. In these circumstances, as you know, the purposeof this regulation is to help in holding down the upwardpressure on prices that undue growth in consumer creditwould otherwise create.

"We have been glad of the opportunity to comment onMr. Knight's letter."

Approved unanimously.

Letter to the Comptroller of the Currency reading as follows:

"It is respectfully requested that you place anorder with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, sup-plementing the order of June 13, 1946, for printingof 00,400,000 of Federal Reserve notes of the 1934Series for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Franciscoin the 0.0 denomination."

Approved unanimously

Secreta

Chairman.

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