FOMC Minutes

A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the

offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in

Washington on Monday, December 14, 1942, at 10:20 a.m.

PRESENT:

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Eccles, Chairman

Sproul, Vice Chairman

McKee

Ransom

Draper

Evans

Alfred H. Williams

Gilbert

Young

Leedy

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Morrill, Secretary

Carpenter, Assistant Secretary

Goldenweiser, Economist

John H. Williams, Associate Economist

Wyatt, General Counsel

Rouse, Manager of the System Open Mar

ket Account

Mr. Clayton, Assistant to the Chairman of

the Board of Governors

Mr. Piser, Chief, Government Securities

Section, Division of Research and Sta

tistics of the Board of Governors

Mr. Berntson, Clerk in the Office of the

Secretary of the Board of Governors

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and

by unanimous vote, the minutes of the meeting

of the Federal Open Market Committee held on

September 28-29, 1942, were approved.

Early in October, in connection with the October Treasury fi

nancing, it

became evident that it

would be necessary for the System to

purchase increased amounts of securities for the System account in order

to carry out the policy which had been agreed upon.

Therefore, on Octo

ber 9 the members of the Committee increased to $2,500,000,000 the lim

itation on the authority of the executive committee to increase or de

crease the amount of securities in the System account.

In connection

12/14/42

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with the development of the Treasury's program of December financing, in

formal assurances had been given to the Secretary of the Treasury by the

members of the executive committee and the other members of the full Com

mittee in Washington that the Committee would endeavor to maintain dur

ing the December campaign total excess reserves for the country as a

whole at not less than $2,500,000,000 with around $500,000,000 of that

amount in New York City.

In view of the increased volume of purchases

that were being made for this purpose, the members of the full Committee

on December 9, 1942,

approved an increase to $3,000,000,000 in the au

thority of the executive committee to increase or decrease the amount of

securities held in the System account.

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and

by unanimous vote, the actions of the members

of the Federal Open Market Committee as set

forth above were approved, ratified, and con

firmed.

Mr. Rouse then read a report of open market operations during

the period from September 28 to December 9, 1942, inclusive.

He made a

supplementary report covering transactions conducted for the System ac

count during the period from December 10 to December 12, 1942, inclusive.

Copies of these reports have been placed in the files of the Federal

Open Market Committee.

During the discussion of Mr. Rouse's reports, Chairman Eccles

stated that, while the maintenance of existing prices of Government se

curities seemed desirable during a financing campaign, he questioned the

advisability of continuing to maintain present prices of outstanding

premium bonds.

It

was his opinion that after the current financing was

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-3

over these issues should be allowed to decline to a point where they

found their own level in the market and would not be overpriced in re

lation to the more recent issues of 2 and 2-1/2 per cent bonds.

During

hairman Eccles'

statement, Mr. Dreibelbis, Assistant

General Counsel of the Committee,

joined the meeting.

Mr. McKee referred to the difficulty experienced by the Federal

Reserve Bank of New York during the recent period in purchasing sufficient

amounts of Government securities, other than longer-term premium bonds,

to supply needed funds to the market in connection with the Treasury fi

nancing operations without disturbing the existing pattern of rates.

There was general agreement with his suggestion that, if in connection

with future financing campaigns the needed reserve funds were to be sup

plied through open market operations alone, it

would be necessary for the

Treasury to issue very substantial additional amounts of bills and certif

icates.

In this connection,

the statement was made that the Treasury had

approved an increase to $600,000,000 in this week's issue of Treasury bills.

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and

by unanimous vote, the transactions in the

System account during the period from Septem

ber 28 to December 12, 1942, inclusive, were

approved, ratified, and confirmed.

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and

by unanimous vote, the actions of the execu

tive committee of the Federal Open Market

Committee as set forth in the minutes of the

meeting of the executive committee held on

September 28, 1942, were approved, ratified,

and confirmed.

Mr. Rouse stated that under date of November 25, 1942, he re

ceived from Under Secretary of the Treasury Bell a letter requesting

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that the New York Bank furnish to the Treasury, for its

with its

use in connection

studies of Federal Reserve operations in Government securities

and it s survey of ownership of securities issued or guaranteed by the

United States, (1) a daily list

of transactions in Government securities

during the 24 hours ended at 4:00 o'clock each afternoon, including bills

purchased under repurchase agreements and held in the accounts of the in

dividual Reserve Banks, (2) a reconciliation of the figures shown in the

daily lists

with the change in total Federal Reserve Bank holdings from

Wednesday of one week to Wednesday of the next week, and (3)

a list

of

holdings of all 12 Federal Reserve Banks as of the last day of each

month showing each direct and guaranteed issue separately, except that

Treasury bills should be lumped together, the latter amount to include

bills held by the individual Federal Reserve Banks under repurchase

options.

Mr. Rouse said that it seemed entirely proper to him to send

to the Treasury the list referred to in item (3) above, as is now done

by other large holders of Government securities, with the understanding,

however, that the Treasury would recognize the confidential nature of

the data and the importance of withholding them from publication in a

form which would permit identification of individual securities as hold

ings of the Federal Reserve System.

(1)

and (2)

above,

M

r.

The information requested in items

Rouse said, was being furnished the Treasury,

with the approval of the Federal Open Market Committee, by telephone and

in copies of the daily letter and weekly report sent by the New York

Bank to the members of the executive committee of the Federal Open Market

Committee and certain members of the Committee's staff, so that the

-5-

12/14/42

members of the Treasury staff to whom the information was submitted were

receiving all of the information with respect to operations in the Sys

tem account that was received by the members of the Federal Open Market

Committee.

Mr. Rouse felt that in these circumstances,

and in view of

the extreme difficulty that the New York Bank was experiencing in find

ing trained men, the Bank should be relieved of the necessity of pre

paring any more reports than were absolutely necessary, and he said he

would like to be authorized by the Committee to inform Mr. Bell that,

because of the existing situation, he would prefer not to submit the

first two reports requested.

After a discussion of Mr. Rouse's sug

gestion, it was agreed unanimously that he

should discuss the matter informally with

Mr. Bell, stating that it had been taken up

with the Federal Open Market Committee, that

while the Committee was glad to authorize

of

the furnishing to the Treasury of a list

security holdings of the 12 Federal Reserve

Banks as of the last day of each month, pro

vided the confidential nature of the informa

tion was recognized as suggested by Mr. Rouse,

the other two reports requested would require

a considerable amount of work to prepare at a

time when the New York Bank was already short

of trained personnel, and that, inasmuch as

the Treasury was now receiving all of the in

formation with respect to transactions in the

System account that was being sent to the

members of the executive committee of the Fed

eral Open Market Committee and its staff, from

which the Treasury should be able to make such

computations as it might desire, the Committee

would appreciate it if the necessity for pre

paring the two reports in question could be

avoided. It was understood that Mr. Rouse

would confirm his understanding with Mr. Bell

by letter, a copy of which would be sent to

Mr. Morrill for the records of the Federal

Open Market Committee.

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Chairman Eccles then reviewed briefly the informal discussions

with representatives of the Treasury since the last meeting of the Fed

eral Open Market Committee relating to Treasury financing operations,

particularly with respect to the open market operations conducted for

the System account in connection with the October financing and the

major financing campaign being conducted at the present time.

He re

ported that during a conference at the Treasury on November 11, 1942,

which was attended by Messrs. Alfred H. Williams and C. S. Young and

himself, Secretary Morgenthau stated that before he announced the De

cember financing campaign he wanted to have the assurance of the Sys

tem that, if

at any time during the campaign he should feel that addi

tional reserves should be supplied and should request the System to

furnish an additional amount of excess reserves,

taken.

such action would be

Chairman Eccles also said that, without speaking for the Board

or the Federal Open Market Committee,

had agreed that, if

he and Messrs. Williams and Young

the Treasury felt it

could not finance the war suc

cessfully without larger excess reserves than were provided by the Sys

tem and a request were made by the Secretary that additional reserves

be provided, the System should comply with that request.

Following the

meeting at the Treasury, Chairman Eccles said, the matter was taken up

with the Board, and Secretary Morgenthau was advised informally that

so far as the members of the Board were concerned they would assure hi

that, if at any time during the financing, after representatives of the

System had had an opportunity to present reasons for the policy being

followed, he felt that additional reserves should be supplied, the

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System, upon receipt of a request from the Secretary, would put additional

reserves into the market in the amount requested.

In connection with Chairman Eccles'

statement, there was a dis

cussion of the informal understanding with the Secretary of the Treasury

that the System would endeavor to maintain a total of $2,500,000,000 of

excess reserves in the country as a whole and around $500,000,000 in

New York City banks.

There was general agreement with the expressed

opinion that under present circumstances it

was not possible as a prac

tical matter to maintain continuously a minimum of $500,000,000 of ex

cess reserves in the New York money market banks, for the reason that as

the funds were supplied they were invested by the banks in

securities.

short-term

This placed the System and the commercial banks in a com

petitive position in the market and resulted particularly in pressure

on the discount rate for bills.

It

was agreed that an undertaking to

maintain a specified amount of excess reserves was not entirely consist

ent with the policy of urging banks to keep fully invested and of main

taining a pattern of rates on outstanding issues of Government securities.

In this connection,

it

was stated that the existing understanding relat

ing to the maintenance of a stated amount of excess reserves would and

at the close of the present financing drive.

Reference was made to the full-page advertisements which had

been prepared by Doremus and Company at the request of the Treasury and

placed in newspapers suggested by that Company at the beginning of the

current financing campaign.

It

had been agreed that the cost of these

advertisements would be paid by the Federal Reserve Banks, and Mr. Morrill

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12/14/42

stated that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had paid the bills

covering the cost of the advertisements.

Mr. Sproul suggested in

a let

ter dated December 10, with which he forwarded the paid bills for the

advertising in the districts other than New York, that arrangements be

made with the other Federal Reserve Banks to reimburse the New York

Bank,

and Mr. Morrill stated that this was being done.

The representative members of the Federal Open Market Committee

stated that they had received a number of complaints from newspapers

and radio stations with respect to the manner in which the advertising

was handled,

and Mr. Williams suggested that it

avoiding that situation if

would be helpful in

similar advertisements placed in the future

could be handled by the Federal Reserve Banks.

Messrs. Sproul and Eccles stated that the Treasury had felt

that it

was necessary to have some kind of newspaper advertising of the

campaign, that it

had been arranged hurriedly with a realization that

it might be the cause of some criticism, and that a better arrangement

would be worked out prior to another major financing operation.

man Eccles also stated that it

Chair

had been estimated that, with the con

templated increase in the weekly offering of Treasury bills to

$600,000,000 beginning with the issue of December 16 and to $700,000,000

in January and with the increase of the February 1, 1943, issue of certif

icates to $2,500,000,000, it

might be possible to defer further major

financing operations until April, and that during the intervening period

a opportunity would be afforded on the basis of experience to work out

a procedure which would avoid many of the difficulties encountered in

the current campaign.

12/14/42

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In this connection, Chairman Eccles suggested that it

would be

advisable to hold another meeting of the full Committee in January of

next year which would be attended by the Presidents of all the Federal

Reserve Banks, with the understanding that while the Presidents were

here they would meet as the Chairmen of the Victory Fund Committees

for a review of their experience in the current financing operation and

with representatives of the Treasury for the purpose of discussing plans

for future campaigns.

The first three days of either the week of Jan

uary 18 or the week of January 25 were suggested as possible dates for

the meetings.

Messrs. Ransom and Evans stated that they had made other

arrangements for the week of January 18.

It was understood that Mr. Morrill

would ascertain from Mr. Szymczak (who

was absent from this meeting because of

the death of a sister) and the Presidents

of the other Federal Reserve Banks wheth

er January 25 would be agreeable to them

and, if so, that the meetings would be

called to begin on that date.

Chairman Eccles stated that during the preparation for the pres

ent financing campaign it

siderably simplified if

became evident that the problem would be con

there could be a substantial increase in the

number of war loan deposit accounts maintained by banks throughout the

country.

He said that telegrams were sent to the Presidents of the Fed

eral Reserve Banks calling their attention to the matter, that the Presi

dents undertook to encourage the opening of such accounts by banks in

their districts, but that a number of banks objected to taking such ac

tion for the reason that they did not want to pay the Federal Deposit

12/14/2

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Insurance Corporation assessment on deposits of Government funds held in

the accounts and some banks objected to maintaining reserves against such

deposits.

He went on to say that when this information came to the Board

the matter was taken up with the Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insur

ance Corporation, and that it

was agreed that a draft of bill

should be

prepared which, for the duration of the war and six months thereafter,

would relieve insured banks of the necessity of paying Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation assessments on war loan deposits and member banks

of the necessity of maintaining reserves against such deposits.

the bill was prepared, Chairman Eccles said, he, Mr. McKee,

When

and Mr.

Crowley, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, dis

cussed it

with Mr. Steagall, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency

Committee,

and Senator Prentiss Brown, a member of the Senate Banking

and Currency Committee,

and, while they were both favorable to the leg

islation and were of the opinion that, if

it

were presented after the

turn of the year when the new Congress convened, it

without a great deal of difficulty, they felt it

could be enacted

would be impossible to

obtain its enactment at this time because of the general legislative

situation and the desire of members of Congress to bring about an early

adjournment.

Mr. Goldenweiser was then called upon for a statement as Econ

omist for the Federal Open Market Committee.

After reviewing briefly

the situation with respect to production and prices in connection with

the war effort and the funds that would be needed to finance the war,

he discussed the possibilities of inflation inherent in the increasing

12/14/42

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amounts of funds which would be supplied by bank purchases of Government

securities as compared with what the situation would be if

funds were

used by the public for the purpose of purchasing Government securities

instead of bidding up prices of the reduced volume of available con

sumers' goods.

He also made certain suggestions with respect to changes

that might be made in fiscal and Treasury financing policies and with

respect to the policies to be followed by the Federal Reserve System in

connection with war financing.

A copy of Mr. Goldenweiser's statement

has been placed in the files of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Following Mr. Goldenweiser's statement, the meeting recessed

and reconvened at 2:30 p.m. with the same attendance as at the close of

the morning session except that Mr. Dreibelbis was not present.

Mr. John H. Williams was called upon for a statement as Asso

ciate Economist for the Committee and, after commenting upon the expan

sion that had taken place in production and the effectiveness of direct

controls to prevent inflation, he discussed the relative importance of

fiscal and monetary policies and selective or direct credit controls

and made suggestions as to the means by which the System's monetary

policies might be implemented.

A copy of Mr. Williams'

also been placed in the files of the Federal

statement has

Open Market Committee.

While Mr. Williams was making his statement, Mr. Dreibelbis,

Assistant General Counsel of the Committee, rejoined the meeting.

After

the statement, Mr. Berntson withdrew.

During the course of a discussion of the effectiveness of avail

able controls in preventing inflation, there was general agreement on

12/14/42

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the part of the members of the

Committee that the System alone could not

do more in the field of monetary and credit policy than to keep abreast

of developments,

to exert its influence wherever possible, and to adapt

its policies to the needs of the war program.

It

was agreed that the

members of the executive committee should continue the procedure that

had been followed in the past of making suggestions to the Treasury

with respect to fiscal and financing policies with a view to bringing

about the adoption of such changes in these policies from time to time

as might result in financing the war effort in the most effective way

with the least possible adverse effect on the war and post-war economy,

and that this should be one of the matters for discussion at the meet

ings to be held next month.

In connection with a discussion of whether any change should be

made in the existing arrangement under which Federal Reserve Banks pur

chase all Government bills offered to them on a discount basis at a

rate of 3/8 per cent per annu,

there was agreement with the suggestion

that consideration should be deferred until the meeting in January of

the questions (1) whether bills should be made available by the Treas

ury up to a stated amount to any one purchaser at a flat rate of dis

count and (2) whether, instead of purchasing bills in the market to re

place maturing bills held in the System account,

an arrangement should

be made with the Treasury for direct replacement of such bills.

At the conclusion of the discussion,

there was unanimous agreement that no change

should be made in the direction issued to the

Federal Reserve Banks at the meeting of the

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Federal Open Market Committee on September

28, 1942, to purchase all bills offered at

the posted rate of 3/8 per cent.

In connection with the above action, Mr. McKee stated that he

questioned the advisability of permitting the Federal Reserve Banks to

hold in their individual accounts instead of the System open market ac

count the bills purchased under repurchase options, and that he would

like to review the record of the action of the Committee on this ques

tion and to reserve the right to bring the matter up for discussion at

a later meeting of the Committee.

Reference was then made to the authority to be granted to the

executive committee to direct the execution of transactions for the Sys

tem open market account pending another meeting of the full Committee.

There was a discussion of the question as to the amount of securities

that it

might be necessary to purchase during that period to offset any

increase that might occur in

currency in

circulation, to provide reserves

for deposits resulting from bank purchases of Treasury certificates and

increased offerings of bills, and to maintain the agreed pattern of rates

on Government securities.

In this connection, mention was made of the

arrangement that had been made under which the Federal Reserve Banks

would place in

circulation their existing stocks of Federal Reserve Bank

notes, amounting to approximately $660,000,000, which would add that

amount to member bank reserves.

All of the members of the Committee

were in agreement that the renewal of the authority granted at the last

meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee would be ample to meet the

situation pending the next meeting of the Committee, with the understanding,

12/14/42

however, that separate authority should be given to purchase short-term

certificates of indebtedness for the temporary accommodation of the

Treasury and that, in the event of a contingency requiring authority for

additional purchases of Government securities,

such authority could be

granted upon the telephonic, telegraphic, or written approval of a ma

jority of the members of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Thereupon, upon motion duly made and

seconded, the following resolution was

adopted by unanimous vote:

That the executive committee be directed until otherwise

directed by the Federal Open Market Committee, to arrange for

such transactions for the System open market account, either

in the open market or directly with the Treasury (including

purchases, sales, exchanges, replacement of maturing securi

ties, and letting maturities run off without replacement),

as may be necessary in the practical administration of the

account, or for the purpose of maintaining about the present

general level of prices and yields of Government securities,

or for the purpose of maintaining an adequate supply of funds

in the market; provided that the aggregate amount of securi

ties held in the account at the close of this date (other

than special short-term certificates of indebtedness pur

chased from time to time for the temporary accommodation of

the Treasury and Treasury bills purchased pursuant to the

directions of the Federal Open Market Committee issued under

dates of April 30, August 3, and September 28, 1942) shall

not be increased or decreased by more than $1,000,000,000.

That the executive committee be further directed, until

otherwise directed by the Federal Open Market Committee, to

arrange for the purchase for the System open market account

airect from the Treasury of such amounts of special short

term certificates of indebtedness as may be necessary from

time to time for the temporary accommodation of the Treasury;

provided that the amount of such certificates held in the ac

count at any one time shall not exceed $1,000,000,000.

Reference was made to certain sugges

tions that might be made to the Treasury

in connection with future financing opera

tions, and there was unanimous agreement

that Mr. Morrill should send to the Presi

dents of the Federal Reserve Banks who were

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-15not members of the Federal Open Market

Committee, for their information pending

the discussion of Treasury financing at the

meetings to be held in January, copies of

(1) the memorandum prepared by Mr. Sproul

setting forth his views on credit policy

and Treasury financing which he sent to

the members of the Federal Open Market Com

mittee under date of December 10, 1942, and

(2) Mr. Goldenweiser's memorandum entitled

"Treasury Financing and the Banks: 1943 and

1944".

It was also understood that Chair

man Eccles would send a copy of Mr. Sproul's

memorandum to the Secretary of the Treasury

with the statement that if he had any com

ments to make with respect to the questions

presented therein the members of the Federal

Open Market Committee would be pleased to

have them.

Thereupon the meeting adjourned.

Secretary.

Approved:

Chairman.