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, D.

C.,

PRESENT:

on Tuesday-Thursday, February 6-8, 1951, at 10:17 a.m.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

Mr.

McCabe, Chairman

Sproul, Vice Chairman

Eccles

Erickson

Evans

Norton

Peyton

Powell

Mr. Szymczak

Mr. Vardaman

Mr.

Mr.

C. S. Young

Gilbert (alternate member)

Mr. Carpenter, Secretary

Mr. Vest, General Counsel

Mr. Thomas, Economist

Mr. Rouse, Manager, System Open Market

Account

Mr. Thurston, Assistant to the Board of

Governors

Mr. Riefler, Assistant to the Chairman,

Board of Governors

Mr. Sherman, Assistant Secretary, Board

of Governors

Mr. R. A. Young, Director, Division of

Research and Statistics, Board of

Governors

Mr. Youngdahl, Chief, Government Finance

Section, Division of Research and

Statistics, Board of Governors

Mr. R. F. Leach, Economist, Division of

Research and Statistics, Board of

Governors

Chairman McCabe stated that the reason this meeting had been

called so soon after the meeting on January 31, 1951, was because the

rapid developments made it

desirable to review the situation as it

now

existed, to give the members of the Committee the benefit of what had

2/6-8/51

-2

transpired during the past few days, and to counsel as to what the future

course of action of the Committee should be.

He stated that in his opin

ion this was a very crucial meeting, that the Committee should deliberate

very carefully, and that if

it

should decide to issue a statement, that

should be done only after most careful consideration and in the light of

the circumstances as they had developed.

He then referred to the executive

session of the Committee on January 31, following the meeting with the

President at the White House,

stating that Mr. Vardaman had suggested that

the executive session be held so that if

there were any leaks the 12

members of the Committee could be held responsible, that he (Chairman

McCabe) had made a plea to the members of the Committee not to divulge

anything that had taken place at the White House or at the executive ses

sion, that as the Committee knew statements had since been released, and

that as a result the Committee now found itself

ferent from what it

ary 31.

appeared to be when it

in a position very dif

met on the afternoon of Janu

Chairman McCabe stated that he had not divulged any information

concerning the meeting at the White House and, although he had received

inquiries from the press, he had responded that he had no comment to make

because he considered that any conference at the White House was confi

dential until the President saw fit

to make a statement concerning it.

He

went on to say that on the morning after the Committee called at the White

House on January 31 the President issued a statement through his Press

Secretary giving his interpretation of the meeting, that that was followed

2/6-8/51

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almost immediately by a Treasury spokesman interpreting what had happened

at the meeting, and that late in the afternoon of that day (February 1)

there had been delivered to him a letter from the President as follows:

"I want the members of the Federal Reserve Board and the mem

bers of the Federal Open Market Committee to know how deeply I

appreciate their expression of full cooperation given to me

yesterday in our meeting,

"As I expressed to you, I am deeply concerned over the inter

national situation and its implications upon our economic sta

bility.

"Your assurance that you would fully support the Treasury De

fense financing program, both as to refunding and new issues,

is of vital importance to me. As I understand it, I have your

assurance that the market on government securities will be

stabilized and maintained at present levels in order to assure

the successful financing requirements and to establish in the

minds of the people confidence concerning government credit.

"I wish you would convey to all the members of your group my

warm appreciation of their cooperative attitude."

Chairman McCabe stated that because of the content of the Presi

dent's letter, which he had considered to be highly confidential, he

studied the matter carefully on the afternoon and evening of February 1

and the morning of February 2, and that he reached the conclusion that the

best procedure would be to discuss it

with the President before he com

municated with the other members of the Federal Open Market Committee with

the thought that he would ask the President to withdraw the letter, but

that in the meantime the letter was released by the White House on Friday

afternoon, February 2, before he had had a chance to talk with the Presi

dent.

2/6-8/

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Chairman McCabe then referred to the discussion at the executive

session of the Committee following the meeting at the White House and to

the request made of Mr.

Evans that he prepare a memorandum of the meeting

with the President which would be checked with Mr. Sproul and sent to the

other members of the Committee.

He stated that Mr. Evans prepared such a

memorandum and sent a copy of it to Mr. Sproul on February 1, that Mr.

Sproul telephoned on Friday morning, February 2, to suggest certain changes

in the memorandum, that the memorandum was read at an informal meeting of

the Board of Governors on Friday morning at which a few additional sug

gestions were made with respect to language, and that all of the members

of the Board of Governors agreed that the memorandum was an accurate record

of the discussion that had taken place at the White House.

At Chairman McCabe's request, copies of the memorandum prepared by

Mr. Evans as changed by Mr. Sproul and subsequently by Mr. Evans in the

light of the discussion of the meeting on Friday morning, were distributed

to the members of the Committee and the Secretary read the draft as set

forth in the minutes of the meeting on January 31, 1951.

Following the

reading of the memorandum, Chairman McCabe asked the members of the Com

mittee who lived outside Washington for their comments upon it and each of

them expressed the view that the memorandum was an accurate and compre

hensive record of the conference with the President.

During the ensuing discussion some minor suggestions for changes

in language or content were made, Mr. Vardaman suggesting that inasmuch as

2/6-8/51

-

there was no discussion of rates on Treasury securities at the meeting with

the President, the memorandum need not state that there was no such dis

cussion.

Mr. Sproul expressed the view that since such a discussion did not

occur, it

was especially important that the memorandum so state inasmuch

as the letter from the President which the White House had made public indi

cated that he believed that the Committee had given assurance that the

market for Government securities would be stabilized and maintained at

present levels.

He went on to say that he would prefer to have this point

spelled out more fully than appeared in the memorandum but that the refer

ence now contained in the memorandum was sufficient to meet his point.

No

action was taken by the Committee to change the form of the memorandum as

contained in the minutes of the meeting of the Committee on January 31,

1951.

In commenting upon open market policy, Mr. C. S. Young expressed

the view that the Committee should continue the policy that had been agreed

upon although he felt that it

would be necessary for the matter to go to

Congress eventually in order to clarify the position of the Committee in

its

relationships with the Treasury.

Mr. Young added that several individual

bankers who had commented to him on the matter on the basis of press reports

had indicated that they were sympathetic with the position taken by the

Federal Open Market Committee,

would take a position in

but he doubted whether banking as a group

support of the policy advocated by the Committee.

2/6-8/51

-6.

Mr. Szymczak then referred to an article that appeared in The

Washington Evening Star on February 5, 1951, by Doris Fleeson, purporting

to disclose information concerning the discussion at the executive session

of the Committee on the afternoon of January 31 and stating how individual

members voted on the question whether the Committee should continue its

existing policies,

and he asked Mr, C. S. Young whether Miss Fleeson had

communicated with him following the meeting of the Committee with the

President.

Mr. Young responded that he had never heard of Miss Fleeson until

her article was brought to his attention after he reached Washington

yesterday, that he had received several telephone calls from members of

the press over the week end asking for comments on the meeting with the

President, and that he told them he had no comments.

He added that he

had not reported to his Board of Directors on the meeting with the Presi

dent and that so far as he knew he was the only person in Chicago who was

familiar with the discussion at that conference until reports of it

ap

peared in the press.

Mr. Vardaman stated that before the discussion went any further he

wanted to state that he had been accused of having disclosed the names of

officials and how they voted at the meeting, that he denied having done

that, that he did not discuss the matter with Miss Fleeson until approxi

mately 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 1, that she called him on the

telephone at that time and read him a statement along the lines that she

planned to publish, that she had the entire story at that time, that that

2/6-8/51

-7

was his first

contact with her on this matter, and that he had never dis

closed to Miss Fleeson or to others what took place at meetings of the

Federal Open Market Committee.

Mr. Szymczak stated that the reason for the question addressed to

Mr. Young was that in a discussion at a meeting of the Board earlier this

morning Mr. Vardaman had suggested that Miss Fleeson might have obtained

her information from Chicago or Atlanta and he wanted to know whether Mr.

Young had discussed the meeting of the Open Market Committee with persons in

Chicago who might have given the information to Miss Fleeson or representa

tives of hers.

Mr. Norton stated that he wanted to report that he had talked to

Miss Fleeson on Sunday, February 4, that they met at church, that she asked

him whether he agreed with the statement released by Mr. Eccles relating

to the meeting at the White House, that he replied, "Not exactly," and that

he did not mention the names of persons who were at the executive session

of the Open Market Committee and that she did not mention any names of

individuals present or votes cast at that session.

In response to an inquiry from Mr. Szymczak, Mr. Thurston stated

that he received a telephone call from Miss Fleeson about 11:00 p.m.,

February 4, that she did not read him her statement or tell

him what she

was going to write, but that she did say she had the whole story and that

Mr. Vardaman had suggested she call him (Mr. Thurston) and discuss it

him.

with

2/6-8/51

-

Mr, Vardaman stated that when Miss Fleeson called him earlier that

evening he suggested that she telephone Mr. Thurston.

Mr. Gilbert stated that he had not known much about the release of

information at the time he left Dallas inasmuch as their local papers

carried very little

on the matter, although he had known that, following

the release of the President's letter at the White House, Mr. Eccles re

leased part of the memorandum covering the meeting with the President.

He

added that he had noticed a press report that Senator Maybank had requested

Senator Robertson, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Reserve Matters

of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee, to confer with Chairman McCabe

to find out about the situation and report back.

Chairman McCabe withdrew from the meeting at this point to answer

a telephone call.

Mr, Gilbert went on to say that in his judgment the Committee

should continue the present policy which it

consideration, although it

had agreed upon after careful

seemed to him that it

was only a matter of time

until the question would be brought before the Congress for an indication

of its

wishes concerning the policy that should be followed.

Mr. Erickson stated, in response to a question, that he had talked

with no one other than the members of his board of directors at the Boston

Bank on Monday of this week at which time he had told them generally of

the discussions at the meeting of the Committee last Wednesday.

Mr. Peyton stated that he had been convinced right along that the

2/6-8/51

-9

position taken by the Open Market Committee was the correct one, that the

Treasury was mistaken, and that he felt the Committee should continue with

the policy as presently stated.

He went on to say that he did not think

resignation of members of the Committee would be proper, that if they be

lieved in their position they should stand and defend it,

that he felt the

issue was one worth supporting, but that he could not be sure what the

position of the new members of the Open Market Committee would be when the

present representative members were succeeded by new members in March of

this year. He added that he felt all members of the Committee should be

in reasonable agreement and that if necessary the matter should be taken

to Congress which had the power to define the position it wished to have

the Committee take.

Mr. Peyton added that if

the country was at war the

situation might be different but that the country was not at war and that

he felt the policy agreed upon by the Committee should be given a try as a

means of holding down further inflationary developments.

Mr. Sproul then made a statement substantially as follows:

First, I think the record of our interview with the Presi

dent as read at this meeting is fair and accurate in all its

I think each one of us might have something

essential aspects.

is not in there or we might suggest some

that

we might remember

thing that might be taken out, but I think it represents accu

rately what was said and the atmosphere in which it was said.

I can pick out the President's reference to his Liberty Bond ex

perience as an indication that he does not know very much about

the subject. Second, looking at the content of the statement,

the President said we had done a good job and he wanted us to

We have been doing a job since the beginning of Korea

continue.

that has brought us into violent conflict with the Treasury, and

we have gone ahead despite that conflict, and he said it was a

2/6-8/51

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good job that we were doing and wanted us to continue. He also

said he did not want to undertake to discuss details of Treasury

financing; he did not want to get into a discussion of whether

prices should be up a thirty-second or down a thirty-second. I

think that is not talking about the rigid market the Treasury

wants.

Finally, when it comes to the question of issuing state

ments, the President said he would have no objection to our

making a statement and thought it might be a good thing. That

was the whole atmosphere of the conversation and the subsequent

letter from the President wholly misrepresented it. I think

that what goes on at a Presidential conference should not be dis

closed until the President gives it out and when he does, he

should give it out accurately. That was not done in the letter

that was disclosed by the White House concerning our conference.

For that reason I am glad that Mr. Eccles took the individual

action he did in releasing our memorandum of what went on. I

think, in the intolerable situation of the President's releasing

a letter which was not accurate and which I think was dictated

by the Treasury, that Mr. Eccles' release of the memorandum

temporarily retrieved our place in the financial community and

with the public. I resent, however, individual disclosure, no

matter how it comes about, of what takes place in meetings of

the Federal Open Market Committee. Disclosure of individual

votes is wholly inexcusable and a blot on our record. Having

said that, I think we should now get official again. We should

quit issuing statements on individual responsbility.

Mr. Szymczak commented at this point that leaks of information

do not necessarily go directly to the press, but that they might go to

someone in the Treasury or elsewhere in Washington and be let out from

there-intentionally or otherwise.

Mr.

Vardaman commented that the leaks rarely ever come from par

ticipants in the meetings,

that someone tells a friend something, that

that friend tells someone else, and the story gets around.

Continuing with his statement, Mr. Sproul said substantially

First, this Committee should make a reply to the President's

letter which was addressed to the Chairman. The outline of

that should be that we are sorry when he has so many other

2/6-8/51

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demands on his time, that he was brought into a controversy

in an area where we are charged with responsibility, and

that there must have been some misunderstanding,

(Mr. Sproul then read a draft of a letter along the lines

he proposed.)

I would not consider this to be a public document and

would not consider it something to be given to anyone else un

less the President took action to give it out. I think the

second thing this Committee should do is to send a letter to

the Secretary of the Treasury and outline what we feel should

be done following up on what we stated as a desirable pol

icy in our letter to him on October 30, 1950.

(Mr. Sproul then read a draft of letter such as he pro

posed to be sent to the Secretary of the Treasury.)

Having sent such letters to the President and to the

Secretary of the Treasury, I think this Committee should then

consider what action it is that we are talking about. The

action I would have in mind would be the previously stated

policy which contemplated backing away from the premium on

the longest-term bonds, which gives profits to sellers of such

bonds. When the Treasury stops supporting that market, and if

and when the market needs further support and we are called

upon to give it, we should promptly put into effect the pre

viously adopted policy of backing down close to par. Second,

we should continue with our previously adopted policy which

contemplated a further increase in the short-term rate until

it is up to the discount rate. There would, of course, have

to be consultation with the Treasury on the basis of the state

ment in our letter to the Secretary on October 30 before there

would be a further increase in the short-term rate. Mr. Thomas'

memorandum of January 30 states the case very well. We have a

situation in which it looks as though there will be pressure

on us continuously for the next few months. The avail

ability of bank reserves is going to be a critical factor in

this situation, and we should not stand there and take the se

curities and thus increase bank reserves at the will of the

market. It is not a question of interest rates. It is a

question of the availability of bank reserves.

Mr. Szymczak commented that he felt it

was necessary to clarify

the point just mentioned by Mr. Sproul, that comments from both the White

2/6-8/51

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House and the Treasury recently had put emphasis upon fractional increases

in interest rates as an anti-inflationary weapon, and that the Committee

should make it clear that it was not talking about a slight increase in

the short-term rate or a slight decrease in the premium on long-term bonds,

but about making reserves available to the banks, upon the basis of which

there is

a multiple expansion of credit.

Mr.

Vardaman raised the question whether thought had been given

to sitting down with the President and making clear to him that it was the

goal of the Committee to reduce the premium on the longest-term bonds so

that they would come down to par.

Mr. Sproul responded that he did not

believe the letter to the President should go into that inasmuch as the

President had indicated at the conference on January 31 that he did not

wish to discuss details, and the purpose of the letter would be to make it

unnecessary for the President to comment further on a technical matter on

which he could not be expected to be informed.

Chairman McCabe rejoined the meeting at this point, and Mr. Sproul

reviewed the suggestions he had made and re-read the drafts of proposed

letters to the President and to the Secretary of the Treasury.

There was a general discussion of the content and purpose of the

suggested letter to the President during which Mr. Vardaman stated that

the suggestions made by Mr. Sproul did not contemplate any change in the

policy of the Committee, that that was the crux of the matter, and that if

the Committee did not tell

the President what it

contemplated, it

was not

2/6-8/51

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likely to get a clarification of the situation.

pressed the view that the Committee should tell

Mr. Vardaman also ex

the President that it

con

templated letting bonds go down to par and holding them there.

Mr. Sproul responded that what he had in mind and what the Commit

tee had contemplated,

now and in the past, would not be destructive of the

financial strength of the Government or of the country, that this assur

ance had been given to the President upon numerous occasions, that he

questioned whether the more specific statement suggested by Mr.

would serve any useful purpose, that in

Vardaman

his view the purpose of the letter

was to relieve the President of concern for the Government's financial

security in so far as operations of the Open Market Committee were related

to it

and to assure him he could leave it

to the Committee to continue its

consultations with the Secretary of the Treasury.

At Chairman McCabe's request, the Secretary read the letter ad

dressed to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Federal Open Market Com

mittee under date of October 30, 1950.

Mr. Norton suggested that the Committee might write a letter which

would assure the President that it

was cooperating in the general program

that he had suggested, without going into details concerning rates and

open market operations.

Mr. Sproul responded that if

such a statement implied concurrence

in the President's wishes as set out in the letter he had made public, it

would be contrary to the views that had been expressed by the members of

2/6-8/51

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the Committee, that the President should never have been embarrassed by

having been brought into the controversy, that the Committee was trying

to get the President out of the controversy with the least possible

embarrassment to him, and that in his opinion the suggestion made by Mr.

Norton would only embarrass the President further.

He went on to say that

the Committee has the authority and the responsibility for action, and

that if

it

acted under that authority it

would provide an opportunity for

the Congress to review the matter and take whatever action it

to be desirable, whereas if

believed

the Committee went along with the program sug

gested by the Secretary of the Treasury on January 18, it

that the Congress would take any action in

was not likely

connection with it.

Chairman McCabe raised a question as to the powers of the Presi

dent under the Defense Production Act of 1950, particularly whether that

Act gave him authority to direct the Board or the Federal Open Market Com

mittee in its

operations.

Mr. Vest stated that under the Defense Production Act of 1950 the

President had the power to issue orders and regulations to carry out the

purposes of the Act, and that if

it

came to a question whether the func

tion of the Federal Open Market Committee was encompassed in the Defense

Production Act he felt

that it

the language of the Act was not such as to indicate

contemplated giving such authority to the President.

Chairman McCabe stated that he had hoped that the letter which the

President sent to his on February 1 would not be made public because the

2/6-8/51

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letter sounded as though it

was a directive, that it

for the President to withdraw it

since it

would be difficult

had been released, that he had

tried to avoid having the issue come to a climax particularly in the press,

but that since the letter had been released the weight of opinion in the

financial press and with such groups as the Committee for Economic Develop

ment, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and others seemed to support the

general position taken by the Federal Open Market Committee.

however, that it

He suggested,

might be desirable again to discuss the matter with the

President in the hope that he would see that there was much to be con

sidered in the matter, that he doubted whether any written communication

would accomplish much in that direction, but that it might be worth trying

a letter if written in the proper tone and spirit.

Mr. Sproul stated that his suggestion for a letter was to help get

the matter back on an official basis, to relieve the President of an em

barrassing situation, and to make another attempt to resume negotiations

with the Treasury along the lines which the Chairman had suggested to the

President at their conference on the afternoon of January 31.

Mr. Eccles then made a statement substantially as follows

I think what we have been talking about, in part at least,

is right. I think there is a way to do these things and that

we have to answer the President's letter. Whether he under

stands it or not is not our fault; he has a staff of people who

can read it for him, or he can send it to the Treasury. The

question of the letter is pretty much the record of an official

body. As Mr. Sproul says, a letter would get us back on an of

ficial basis.

Now I, possibly being the principal cause of the situation

that brought about this meeting today and kept this issue alive,

2/6-8/51

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have no apologies to make.

I have no regrets.

I did what I

think was right. If I had it to do over, I would do exactly

what I did. I think under the circumstances it was the way

that I could best discharge my public responsibility, the way

I could best protect the position of this System, as well as to

protect my own record. I regret exceedingly that the situa

tion developed to a point where releasing what was to be a

confidential document seemed to me to be absolutely essential

under the circumstances. I took the entire responsibility for

it myself. I purposely avoided talking with anybody or telling

anybody what I was going to do, because I did not want in any

way to involve anyone else. I did not act on the advice of

anyone or as the result of consultations with anyone. I merely

want to say that for the record.

Now it seems to me that this Committee has a public re

sponsibility that is as important for it to discharge in trying

to prevent inflation as it is that we carry out a defense pro

gram. There is going to be nothing for us to protect in this

country unless we are willing to do what is necessary to pro

tect the dollar. Our responsibility is not a minor one; it is

a very great one under the conditions that ex.st, and if we

fail, history will record that we were responsible, at least to

a very great measure, in bringing about the destruction or de

feat of the very system that our defense effort is being made

to protect and defend.

We are not in a war. We do not now have deficit financing.

The situation is not comparable in any degree with the situation

that confronted us in 194l at a time when we had a great deal

of slack in the economy. We were then in a deflation with 10

million unemployed people and many idle factories and huge ex

cess bank reserves, with practically no securities in our Sys

tem portfolio and no power to increase reserve requirements. It

was under those conditions that the defense program started,

after there had been substantial budgetary deficits in 1938,

1939, and 1940. During those years, this Board and the Federal

Open Market Committee did not object to the deficit and cheap

money for that was a time when it was desirable to expand credit.

It was desirable to get people to spend their savings; it was

desirable to do just the opposite of what is desirable and neces

sary at this time.

The inflationary forces began to develop as a result of the

war program, especially the very heavy deficit financing program

Then the amount of financing was very great

after Pearl Harbor.

2/6-8/51

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with deficits up to $60 billion a year which ran the public

debt up from $50 to $280 billion in five years. Under those

conditions, it would have been impossible to finance the war

time deficits of that size under a restrictive and tight money

policy; it would have been impossible during that period to

float securities on a declining and falling market. We recog

nized that fact.

The situation today is exactly the opposite.

We have had

for the last four or five years an aggregate budgetary surplus

of nearly $13 billion. The inflation that has taken place and

the expansion of the money supply was due largely to private

financing through the commercial banking system; to the banks'

ability to get reserves on which to expand credit and increase

the money supply. Before Korea, we had inflation on our hands;

credit was expanding in the spring even before Korea. Up to

the present time there has not been a budget deficit, and the

defense program has not been a factor so far as expenditures

are concerned in the inflationary situation that has developed.

We can not wait to act.

Action is far overdue.

In retro

spect, I would say, if anything, that we have been derelict in

not acting sooner and more aggressively. We have failed to take

as drastic and strong and aggressive action as the situation

has been calling for. We have relied upon selective credit con

trols, a slender reed that was entirely unable to deal with the

credit expansion that this Federal Reserve System has pumped

into the market through its cheap money policy. I say action

is long overdue. I do not think we can wait. We have a

statutory responsibility, and it seems to me that under the

circumstances, if we expect to discharge our responsibility,

there is one thing for us to do as an agent of Congress and

that is to carry out that responsibility by the use of the

tools we have until we get additional authority.

You only protect the public credit by maintaining confi

dence in the Government and in its securities and to the extent

the public will buy and hold those securities. The thing we

are doing is to make it possible for the public to convert

Government securities into money and to expand the money supply

We have permitted

of this country by $7 billion in six months.

an increase in the money supply of this country by more than 8

per cent since Korea. That was not done for the purpose of

carrying out our responsibilities, but for the purpose of trying

to hold the interest-rate structure. It was due entirely

to our efforts to carry out the demands or requests of the

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Treasury,

It seems to me that this is an issue that we ought to be

prepared to stand up to, as any soldier would stand up in times

of great stress, and face our responsibilities to the American

public. We are almost solely responsible for this inflation.

It is not deficit financing that is responsible because there

has been surplus in the Treasury right along; the whole ques

tion of having rationing and price controls is due to the fact

that we have this monetary inflation, and this Committee is the

only agency in existence that can curb and stop the growth of

money.

Congress has done a good job of increasing taxes, but I do

not believe we have done a good job on this question of credit.

It seems to me that we should get down and face the facts today.

We should not think that we are going to work this out with the

Treasury; we have been trying to do so for more than a year and

have not worked anything out. We no longer have time to work it

out in that way. I, for one, feel that the issue has to be faced.

When you think that we have bought $3-1/2 billions of Goverment

securities since last May, during a time when the Government has

had a budget surplus, which has been anti-inflationary, it is

apparent that we have provided the means for the growth in the

money supply, which has been directly related to the increase in

cost of living and the price level.

We can not pass this responsibility; we should tell the

Treasury, the President, and the Congress these facts, and do

something about it.

I do not believe we should be concerned

about a directive from the President. He can give us a direc

tive, that is

true.

If

he does, certainly the responsibility is

his. That is one thing. But until he does, we are giving the

public the impression that we have capitulated to the extent that

we do not do something about this problem. The public today is

confused. They think this is nothing but a feud for power be

tween the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. It is no such thing.

We have not only the power but the responsibility to do a cer

tain job. We know what the job is. There should be no con

fusion in the minds of the public with reference to where this

responsibility is.

It seems to me the way we can clarify this

is to come out with a public statement as to what has happened,

If the

what our responsibility is, and what to do about it.

President wants to give us a directive, that is not evidence of

our capitulation. If Congress does not like what we are doing,

2/6-8/51

-19

then they can change the rules. But until they do that, we have

the responsibility and the authority.

I believe we have been derelict; I think that I, as a mem

ber of this Committee, have not been as aggressive as I should

have been. I think I have not made the record I should have.

As I look back to 1946 and 1947, when the Treasury and a budget

ary surplus and the war was over, particularly when we were

having our troubles with Secretary of the Treasury Vinson, we

should have taken a stronger stand. If we had had a row, I

could have resigned. As I look back on it, I regret I did not

take a stronger stand for obtaining substitute authority from

the Congress.

But until we get that authority, it is up to us

to use what we have.

Chairman McCabe suggested that the Committee reach a decision as

to whether a letter should be sent to the President and then take up the

question of what the policy of the Committee should be.

Mr. Powell stated that he felt a letter to the President should be

written, that it

should make the record clear, but that he would not be in

favor of a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury if

it

was for the pur

pose of discussing the Secretary's statement in New York on January 18.

He would have no objection, however, to a letter to the Secretary which

carried out the previous statements of the Committee to consult with him

in

connection with open market policies which would affect either the

long-term rate or the short-term rate.

Mr.

Vardaman stated that he was not in

favor of another innovation,

and that he would favor issuing a statement saying that the Committee would

do what the President had asked and that it

gress for clarification.

would take the matter to Con

2/6-8/51

-20

There was a further discussion of the possible content of a letter

to the President and of the policy that might be followed by the Committee,

following which the meeting recessed and reconvened at 2:30 p.m. with the

same attendance as at the close of the morning session.

Mr. Evans stated that he thought the Committee had to write a letter

to the President or discuss the matter with him or perhaps do both.

Such a

letter should state the facts concerning the inflationary situation, that

the Federal Reserve System was not interested in interest rates as such but

that it

was concerned with restricting the availability of bank reserves,

and that it

in

was greatly concerned with maintaining Government credit which,

the last analysis, would depend upon maintaining confidence in the

purchasing power of the dollar.

In his comments Mr. Evans referred to a

memorandum which Chairman McCabe had given to Mr. C. E. Wilson, Director

of the Office of Defense Mobilization, on January 16, 1951, concerning a

program to combat the inflationary spiral, and, at his suggestion, the

Chairman read the memorandum to Mr. Wilson, as follows:

"In the past six months we have given top priority-and

rightly so-to a reassessment of our international position,

and to the development of a comprehensive military program. We

have given urgent consideration to procurement problems and

production problems.

Now that these programs are launched, the

next order of business must be to work out a comprehensive pro

gram for financing the defense effort and for maintaining the

integrity of the dollar.

Inflation is our Number One unresolved

problem today.

"The strong upsurge of prices over the past several months

dramatizes the potency of current-let alone future-inflationary

forces.

"If it is in order to contemplate such heroic measures as a

complete freeze of wages and prices across the board, is it not

2/6-8/51

-21-

"equally in order, and essential for the long-run, to initiate

simultaneously emergency action on the fiscal and credit fronts?

For example, an emergency tax measure-one that would jolt the

country-might stop this inflation psychology in its tracks.

More drastic action on selective credit controls (Regulations W

and X, and margin requirements) plus emergency restrictions on

loan portfolios of insurance companies, banks and other lenders

would curb inflationary credit expansion. To be enacted

quickly, these measures might have to be crude and should be

temporary. But they would provide time to work out a more care

fully evaluated program.

"No dam of wage and price controls can be expected to with

stand pressures of the magnitude that are in sight. Increased

incomes resulting from defense spending will be far in excess of

goods available for civilian purchase.

The outstanding volume

of bank and other credit is more than enough to finance the

entire economy even at forced draft. Fully as important is the

current movement to convert liquid assets into land, equities,

and commodities, the so-called 'hedge against inflation.'

This

movement is well underway and is gaining momentum. It feeds on

itself. It will accelerate with any further rise in the infla

tionary spiral and will accentuate the spiral. The volume of

liquid assets already outstanding is out of all proportion to

the needs of the economy.

"Inflation is not inevitable.

"I suggest the Defense Mobilization Board immediately con

centrate on a study of the problem of financial mobilization

The study should be just as comprehen

and inflation control.

sive as that given to the requirements of military mobilization.

The problem of war finance is much more complicated and much

It

more urgent than it was at the beginning of World War II.

cannot be solved by minor adjustments in fiscal policy, in debt

management policy, or in monetary and credit policy. We need a

Complete reappraisal of what is involved in financial mobiliza

tion for a fullscale defense effort. We must not repeat the

mistakes of World War II financing. As President Truman so

clearly and correctly pointed out last Fall. 'During World War

II we borrowed too much and did not tax ourselves enough. We

must not run our present defense effort on that kind of finan

cial basis.' Certainly the President and the Treasury have

taken an heroic stand in this emergency to press for a 'pay-as

we-go' tax program, and the suggestions made here are for the

purpose of strengthening their hands.

"The American economy has been subjected to a major in

flation in spite of the harness of direct controls applied dur

ing the last war. That program broke down rapidly when hostilities

2/6-8/51

-22

ceased. As soon as the harness was removed the pent-up power

of the swollen money supply, which resulted from the war fi

nancing methods, broke loose in a tremendous inflationary tide.

"Last Wednesday consideration was given to building a dam

of general price and wage controls to stem these forces. Such a

dam along-and at this time-will not suffice. Unless it is

part and parcel of a broadscale carefully integrated program of

direct restraints on spending plus fiscal and credit measures

to lock up demand, it may actually compound the problem by

precipitating widespread hoarding as the freeze on automobile

prices has already done. A general freeze on prices and wages

creates an illusion of anti-inflation security. By itself it

does not deal with the fundamental causes. The inflationary

flood which threatens to engulf us must be stemmed at the source."

Mr. Szymczak stated that he considered a letter to the President to

be essential because the President had released the letter to the Chairman,

as a result of which an answer was required for the purpose of clarifying

the matter in the President's mind, if not for public release.

He said

that the letter should be as clear as possible but particularly he suggested

that it emphasize that the Committee was not interested in interest rates

as such, that it was not talking about a thirty-second or an eighth or a

quarter of one per cent, but that it was talking about the availability

of bank reserves.

He suggested that the letter bring out the fact that

the Committee had been virtually prevented from carrying out the policy

adopted on August 18, 1950, because of Treasury opposition, that everything

it had attempted to do was in the public interest, that the public interest

would be best served by preserving a sound dollar, that the inflationary

situation was developing rapidly before the Korean incident in June, and

that it had become much worse since then.

Mr. Szymczak also suggested that

it was important to point out the difference between the situation in 1941,

2/6-8/51

-23

when the country had idle plants and manpower and large excess bank re

serves, and the present when plants and manpower were operating practically

at capacity.

Mr.

Szymczak also expressed the view that a program for supple

mentary reserve legislation should be decided upon by the Board, or, pos

sibly, by the Committee, that it should be brought before the Congress as

soon as possible, and that it

should stress the necessity for additional

authority if the Federal Reserve was to carry out its responsibilities in

the fight against inflation.

Following a report by Mr. Thomas of conditions in the market for

Government securities, the discussion turned to a consideration of policy

that might be followed, during which question was raised as to whether any

of the members of the Committee would wish to go along with the program

announced by the Treasury, of freezing the long-term interest rate on both

refunding and new issues at present levels.

Mr. Vardaman reiterated the view that the Committee should go along

with the position taken by the Treasury, meantime taking the matter to Con

gress for clarification.

Chairman McCabe suggested that, on the basis of the views expressed,

Messrs. Thurston, Riefler, and Thomas be asked to prepare, for considera

tion by the Committee at a meeting tomorrow morning, drafts of letters that

might be sent to the President and to the Secretary of the Treasury.

Thereupon, the meeting recessed and reconvened at 12:30 p.m. on

Wednesday, February 7,

1951, with the same attendance as at the close of the

2/6-8/51

-24

session on February 6, except that Mr. Vardaman was not present and re

quested that the minutes show that he had left the building at 12:15 to

attend a meeting at the Department of Defense on the V-loan program.

At Chairman McCabe's request, the Secretary read a draft of letter

to the President prepared pursuant to the understanding at yesterday's

session.

During a discussion of the draft, Chairman McCabe raised the

question whether the letter should include specific reference to main

tenance of the 2-1/2 per cent rate on long-term securities, and it

was

the concensus that inclusion of a reference to that rate would not be

desirable.

He then suggested that the staff prepare another draft in

the light of the suggestions made and that it

be considered at another

session this afternoon.

The meeting recessed at 1:32 p.m. and reconvened at 3:30 p.m., with

all of the members of the Committee present and all of the staff that had

been present at the previous session except that Messrs. Carpenter, Thomas,

Rouse, Thurston, and Riefler were not present.

Chairman McCabe stated that the staff was still working on a revi

sion of the draft of letter to the President and he suggested that in the

meantime consideration be given to a memorandum prepared under date of

February 5, 1951, in the Board's offices at the Board's request and under

the direction of Mr. Powell, with respect to a program that might be pro

posed by the Board of Governors or by the Committee for restraining the

expansion of credit.

Mr. Vardaman withdrew from the meeting at this point.

-25

2/6-8/51

At the Chairman's request, the memorandum was read and Chairman

McCabe called the Legal Division to inquire whether there had been any

legislation since the Banking Act of 1935 which gave additional authority

to the Treasury in the field of public debt management as it related to

the functions of the Federal Open Market Committee,

and it

was understood

that the Legal Division would prepare a memorandum covering this subject.

As the reading of the memorandum was completed, Messrs. Carpenter,

Thomas, Rouse, Thurston, and Riefler, joined the meeting.

Mr. Carpenter then read a revised draft of letter to the President,

during which Mr. Vardaman joined the meeting.

The revised draft of letter was discussed and changed and re-read

by the Secretary.

Mr. Vardaman stated that he had no suggestions to make about the

letter but that he would not wish to vote to approve its

transmission to

the President until he knew what program the Committee was going to follow.

Mr. Sproul suggested that the Committee should be prepared to tell

the Secretary of the Treasury what the program of the Committee would be,

and that a statement with respect to the program need not be included in

the letter to the President for reasons previously stated.

This point was discussed, and at the

conclusion of the discussion, upon motion

duly made and seconded, the letter to the

President was approved in the following form,

Mr. Vardaman voting "no" for the reason pre

viously stated by him:

"You as President of the United States and we as members of

the Federal Opon Market Committee have unintentionally been drawn

2/6-8/51

-26-

"into a false position before the American public-you as if you

were committing us to a policy which we believe to be contrary

to what we all truly desire and we as if we were questioning

your work or defying your wishes as the chief executive of the

country in this critical period. We would betray our duty to

the country as well as to you if we failed to do all in our

power to clear up these misunderstandings,

"In your recent meeting with us you clearly stated as your

objective one which underlies Federal Reserve operations-the

maintenance of confidence in the integrity of the dollar and

therefore in Government securities, In your recent economic

report to the Nation you said:

'If inflation continues to gain

cumulative force it will multiply the cost of the defense pro

gram. It will undermine production, destroy confidence, gen

erate friction and economic strife, impair the value of the

dollar, dissipate the value of savings and impose an intolerable

burden upon fixed income groups. This must not happen.'

"We propose to do all in our power to prevent it happening.

We are dedicated to the preservation of the purchasing power of

the dollar. Any policy which eats away this purchasing powerwhich increases the cost of living-at the same time and to the

same degree undermines confidence in the credit of the United

States. The credit of the United States Government in the

final analysis rests with the American people. It depends upon

the public's willingness to buy and hold Government securities,

"The heart of the problem which confronts us is this: How

can we stop the decline in the purchasing power of the dollar?

How can we curb the dangerously rising tide of credit which is

adding to the country's supply of dollars at an unprecedented

rate? How can we arrest the flight of dollars into hedges

against inflation when the supply of dollars is growing so

fast? How can we best encourage people to hold and increase

their savings and to spend less so long as inflationary dangers

threaten?

"Without confidence in sound financial management, this

flood of newly created dollars in the form of credit cannot be

controlled. It will overwhelm whatever price, wage, and similar

controls, including selective credit measures, that may be con

trived. This problem was not present in the mobilization period

preceding World War II. Then the country had an abundance of

unused plant, materials, and manpower. Savings had been de

pleted. Liquid assets were low and the public did not fear ris

ing prices or shortages of goods and therefore did not antici

pate the possibility of inflation.

"Today our concern and our responsibility is with the basic

problem of bank reserves which continue to generate a rising

2/6-8/51

-27-

"tide of money. In the face of existing inflationary pressures

there is no effective way of stemming this tide that will not

reflect itself in interest rates. It merely confuses the issue

to charge that the Open Market Committee favors higher interest

rates per se . We favor the lowest rate of interest on Govern

ment securities that will cause true investors to buy and hold

these securities.

"Today's inflation is not due to deficit financing by the

Government. It is due to mounting civilian expenditures largely

financed directly or indirectly by sale of Government securities

to the Federal Reserve. You have taken a courageous and forth

right stand for increased taxes to finance the defense effort on

a pay-as-we-go basis. If the additional taxes which you have

recommended are enacted, little

or no new Government borrowing

will be needed.

The experience of the past year, however, has

clearly demonstrated that a balanced budget alone cannot stop

inflation. We shall still

need to deal with inflationary threats

arising from civilian spending based largely upon the present

excessive money supply, augmented by the liquidation of Govern

ment securities by the banks and other holders.

"It continues to be, as it has always been, the policy of

the Federal Reserve System and of its Federal Open Market Com

mittee to adapt credit policy to the needs and requirements of

the Government as well as of the country. Our support of Treas

ury financing in time of war and in time of peace has given

clear proof of this policy.

"However, in inflationary times like these our buying of

Government securities does not provide confidence. It under

mines confidence. The inevitable result is more and more

money and cheaper and cheaper dollars. This means less and

less public confidence. Mr. President, you did not ask us in

our recent meeting to commit ourselves to continue on this

dangerous road. Such a course would seriously weaken the

financial stability of the United States and encourage a further

flight from money into goods. It would not be consistent with

our responsibility to the Congress and to the people of this

country to follow such a program.

"In your meeting with us you mentioned the experience of re

turned veterans and other small holders with Liberty Bonds after

As you know, the Savings Bonds of today are specifi

World War I.

cally designed to avoid a repetition of this experience. The

Liberty Bonds were marketable securities subject to market

fluctuations in price. These fluctuations were excessive fol

lowing World War I, particularly because a large volume of

Liberty Bonds were not purchased out of savings but with bank

borrowed funds. Later many of these were dumped on the market

2/6-8/51

-.28-

to repay loans. As a result, in the absence of any provision

for support to maintain orderly conditions in the market, they

reacted excessively in price.

"The Savings Bonds of today, unlike Liberty Bonds of World

War I, are redeemable on demand at specified values. The

holder of Savings Bonds need not be concerned with market

fluctuations because he will always get back dollars he has put

into such bonds with a stated amount of interest,

"In our open market operations we are concerned only with

the marketable issues, which are largely held by banks, other

financial institutions, and experienced market-wise corporate

and individual investors.

We have maintained, and plan to con

tinue to maintain, orderly conditions in these issues. These

holders are accustomed to changes in prices of securities and

to shifting their investments in order to take advantage of more

profitable opportunities.

Today they are able to sell their

Government bonds to the Federal Reserve at a premium, whereas

the owners of Savings Bonds, in which savings of the mass of the

people are invested, must accept a lower interest return if they

redeem their bonds before maturity.

"In accordance with our assurances to you, we shall seek to

work out with the Secretary of the Treasury as promptly as pos

sible a program which is practicable, feasible and adequate in

the light of the defense emergency, which will safeguard and

maintain public confidence in the values of outstanding Govern

ment bonds, and which at the same time will protect the purchas

ing power of the dollar.

"Finally, at this critical time, when the cooperation of

every one is desperately needed, we sincerely trust that the

decisions which are made will be for the best interests of the

people of the United States."

Chairman McCabe suggested that in order that there would be no

question about the matter, the letter to the President carry a postscript

to the effect that 11 of the 12 members of the Committee approved the

letter and that Mr. Vardaman was opposed.

Upon inquiry by Chairman McCabe

as to whether Mr. Vardaman would have any objection to such a postscript,

the latter stated that he would have none with the understanding that the

reason for his dissent would be stated in the postscript that he wanted to

2/6-8/51

-29-

have a program decided upon by the Committee before the letter to the

President was transmitted.

Chairman McCabe stated that the next order

of business would be the question of what would be said to the Secretary

of the Treasury with respect to credit and debt management policies and

that if

Mr. Vardaman wanted to change his vote he would be at liberty to

do so.

Chairman McCabe then suggested that it

be understood that the

manner and time of transmittal of the letter to the President be left to

the discretion of the Chairman.

Upon motion duly made and seconded,

and by unanimous vote, this suggestion

was approved.

Secretary's note: It was the deci

sion of the Chairman that the letter should

be transmitted to the White House without

the postscript referred to above. Mr.

Vardaman was not informed of this decision

and did not know of it until he inquired

of the Secretary's office after reference

was made to the existence of the letter in

the press. At that time Mr. Vardaman dis

cussed the matter with Messrs. Carpenter

and Thurston and stated to the latter that

he would be satisfied if Mr. Thurston would

call Mr. Short, Press Secretary to the Presi

dent, and advise him that Mr. Vardaman had

not approved the letter. Thereupon, Mr.

Thurston called Mr. Short and informed him

accordingly.

The letter was delivered to the White

House shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday,

February 7, 1951, and in response to an

inquiry from a member of the White House

staff as to whether the letter was impor

tant, since an important letter would be de

livered directly to Blair House for the

2/6-8/51

-30President that evening, it was stated that

the letter was important and that the White

House staff should handle it in accordance

with whatever procedure was usually followed

in the case of an important communication.

At Chairman McCabe's suggestion the Secretary then read a draft of

letter to the Secretary of the Treasury.

The draft was discussed and upon motion

duly made and seconded, and by unanimous

vote, approved in the following form:

"Following the meeting of the Federal Open Market Commit

tee with the President on January 31, at which the President

expressed the wish that the Committee provide support to the

Government securities market during the emergency period, the

Committee has considered what policies might be advisable in

the immediate future.

We should like to discuss with you at an

early date a coordinated credit policy and debt management pro

gram which would assist in the highly important fight against

inflation and improve public confidence in the market for Gov

ernment securities. We would suggest as a basis for that dis

cussion a program along the following lines:

"(1) The Federal Reserve, for the present, would

purchase the longest-term restricted Treasury bonds

now outstanding in amounts necessary to prevent them

from falling below par.

"(2) If substantial Federal Reserve support of

the longest-term restricted bond is required, you

would be prepared to announce that at an appropriate

time the Treasury would offer a longer-term bond with

a coupon sufficiently attractive so that the bond

would be accepted and held by investors. It would be

announced that outstanding long-term restricted bonds

would be exchangeable for the new bond and that the

new bond would be offered for cash subscription by non

bank investors on a basis to be determined.

"We should like to discuss with you possible

features for the new bond that would remove or reduce

the need for Federal Reserve support of the market in

the future.

For the purpose of restricting the creation

"(3)

of bank reserves through sales of short-term securi

ties to the Federal Reserve, particularly by banks,

2/6-8/51

-31-

the Committee would keep its purchases of such securi

ties to the minimum amounts needed to maintain an

orderly money market,

"Under this policy, banks would be expected to

obtain needed reserves primarily by borrowing from

the Federal Reserve Banks.

If demands for expansion

of bank credit and bank reserves should continue,

short-term interest rates presumably would adjust to

a level around the discount rate.

"This is the time to inaugurate the suggested program.

It appears that the Treasury will not need any financing either

for new funds or for refunding until next summer. It is im

portant that rate adjustments be made before that time so that

your large refunding and new money financing in the second half

of this year may be carried out smoothly and successfully with

out undue support by the System.

"Only through policies such as these can restraint on

credit expansion be exercised in the degree that is so neces

sary to avoid continued erosion of the purchasing power of the

dollar and to maintain the strength of our economy in this

critical period. Both the Treasury and the Federal Reserve

have a vital interest in this objective.

"We hope that we may have an early opportunity of dis

cussing this matter with you."

Secretary's note:

The letter was de

livered by Chairman McCabe and Mr. Sproul

to the Secretary of the Treasury when they

met with him at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday,

February 8, 1951.

In response to a question, it was stated that this meeting of the

Federal Open Market Committee would take the place of the one that had

been called for February 13, 1951, at the last meeting of the Committee.

Mr. Sproul then stated that there had been some very regrettable

leaks of information on what had happened during yesterday's session of

the Federal Open Market Committee and he moved that it

(1) no one would make any comment on today's session,

be understood that

(2)

if there was any

leak the Committee should seek to determine the source, and (3)

if the

-32

2/6-8/51

source of the leak could be traced to a member of the Committee that would

be sufficient cause for removal of the member from the Federal Open Market

Committee,

Chairman McCabe referred to the article which appeared in The

Wall Street Journal of this date commenting on yesterday's session of the

Federal Open Market Committee and giving erroneous information with respect

to the views of individual members as expressed at that session and indi

cating that there had been acrimonious discussion at the meeting which was

also contrary to the fact.

He said that he agreed strongly with Mr.

Sproul's motion, adding that, if there was any further leak of information

and it

could be traced to a member of the Board of Governors,

the Committee

should request the President to take steps to remove the member from the

Federal Open Market Committee,

and if

a leak should be traced to a Federal

Reserve Bank President who was a member of the Federal Open Market Commit

tee, or to a member of the staff, the Board of Governors should take action

to remove the individual from office.

He went on to say that he felt it

disgraceful that there had been leaks of information such as that appearing

in The Wall Street Journal today and in other papers recently, that he had

talked with the publisher of The Wall Street Journal today and had taken

steps to trace the source of the story in today's edition, and that under

the circumstances the publisher of the paper indicated he was sorry that

the article had appeared in the form it

had.

Chairman McCabe also stated

that certain Senators had called him on the telephone and stated that

2/6-8/51

-33

material had been sent to them by a member of the Committee, that they

were also being asked for appointments,

that it

was very embarrassing to

them, and that Senator O'Mahoney had called him this afternoon to ask

whether there was any way in which he (Chairman McCabe) could put a stop

to such procedure.

Chairman McCabe stated that he told Senator O'Mahoney

that he was very sorry, that it

was embarrassing to the Committee as well

as to the Senator, and that the worst part was that the report appearing

in The Wall Street Journal today was erroneous since, while there had been

honest differences of opinion at the session of the Committee yesterday,

the discussion had been on a very objective basis.

Chairman McCabe also

suggested that it be understood that if there was any instance in which a

member of the Committee was found to be undermining with members of Congress

or others the position of the Board of Governors or the Federal Open Market

Committee,

those facts should be brought to the attention of the President

with great force.

Thereupon, upon motion duly made and

seconded, unanimous approval was given to

Mr. Sproul's motion.

Mr. Eccles suggested that some thought be given to what might be

said to the press when this meeting adjourned and it

was agreed that Mr.

Thurston would prepare a draft of statement for consideration at another

session to be held tomorrow morning.

Thereupon, the meeting recessed and reconvened at 11:25 a.m. on

Thursday, February 8, 1951, with the same attendance

as at the close of

2/6-8/51

the previous session, except that Mr. R. F. Leach was not present.

Chairman

McCabe stated that he and Mr. Sproul had had two con

ferences this morning, one at nine o'clock with Secretary of the Treasury

Snyder in the latter's office at which Messrs. Martin and Bartelt were

also present, and one at ten o'clock with Senator O'Mahoney, who had

called at Chairman McCabe's office.

Chairman McCabe then made a statement substantially as follows:

We met with Secretary Snyder at nine o'clock. He had very

strong feelings about the situation that had been created. He

took up first my conference with him and the President on Janu

ary 17 and said that he thought he had certain definite under

standings, and he went on to give me those. Then I gave my

views. We had a little discussion. Then he referred back to

the August 18, 1950, meeting, which he dwelt upon at consider

able length because he felt that we had then delivered an

ultimatum to him without giving him a chance to express his

point of view. Mr. Sproul answered him very effectively on

that. Then there followed a general discussion of what had been

taking place, and, finally we got around to reading him a copy

of the letter to the President. His comment was that it sounded

a little "preachy" to him, and he questioned whether we should

send a letter of that type. He also made the comment that if

the President did not release the letter, he supposed that with

in 24 hours someone over here would do so. Then we read him

the letter addressed to him, and there followed quite a dis

cussion in which he expressed strong reservations about doing

anything at this time, saying that he thought it was largely a

question of settling down and everybody keeping quiet and

letting the market have a chance to act. When it had a few

days to do that, he said, the market acted very well. He

ended up by saying that he would like to have that letter and

go over it and discuss it with us again.

I also read to Secretary Snyder the memorandum which I

read to this Committee when we met on January 31, the one that

I dictated after the conference with the President and Secre

tary Snyder on January 17. He did not disagree with any part

of the memorandum except to say that it was very definite in

his mind that he was talking about future financing.

I said,

2/6-8/51

what I could not understand was, if he was going to make a

public announcement and a speech in New York the following day,

why he would come to a meeting like that and not make a com

ment on what he was going to say. I said I knew nothing of

the purpose of the meeting with the President, that in my

previous conversations with Mr. Snyder and the President the

primary thing was maintaining confidence in long-term re

stricted bonds, and that the President started off his con

versation by saying, "I am concerned about those 2-1/2 per

cent bonds." I also said that if the Secretary had in mind

making a public announcement like the one he made on January

18, I felt strongly that he should have let me know, especially

where he used my name and the President's name. He said the

President knew exactly what he was going to do and what he was

going to say. I said to the Secretary, "The President told me

afterward that he did not know you were going to make a speech

in New York." That disturbed Secretary Snyder very greatly.

He said the President knew exactly what he was going to say.

I replied that I could not understand why the Secretary did not

spell this out for me, and give me a chance to have my say,

particularly since he knew that as Chairman of the Committee I

could not commit the Federal Open Market Committee on future

policies.

He said hereafter we will have it all spelled out,

because then we will know exactly what it is, and I said I would

like to have it spelled out. I said this had cut me very deeply

because I did not know the statement was going to be issued, and

I did not know he was going to make the speech in New York and

make the announcement as he did. I did not feel his explanation

of the circumstances was satisfactory.

As to the meeting of the Committee with the President on

January 31, the Secretary said he had no idea that the President

was going to call the Federal Open Market Committee over there.

Mr. Sproul spoke up and referred to the Treasury's official

announcement immediately after that meeting as to what was

pledged on the part of the group and I do not think the Secre

tary made any comment.

I suppose that we will wait for a few days to get his com

ments on our letter to him and then there will be another

meeting.

In response to questions by Chairman McCabe and others while he was

giving the foregoing report, Mr. Sproul made additional comments at various

intervals during the report substantially as follows:

2/6-8/51

-36-

The Secretary started out by saying, and he was very

emphatic about this, that he had nothing to do about arranging

the President's invitation to the Federal Open Market Commit

tee to come to the White House and knew nothing about it.

In

presenting the Secretary with a copy of the letter to the

President, it was clearly understood that it would be regarded

as confidential unless the President approved giving it out.

In connection with our letter to the Secretary, he said that

he would take it and study it, but his whole attitude during

the discussion was that the market should be maintained as it

was and that stability of the market at present prices should

be continued. He spoke of his great financing problems and

of the critical situation of the country at this time. The

Secretary did not answer the Chairman's question as to why he

(the Secretary) did not say at the meeting with the President

on January 17 that he was going to make a speech in New York

and what he was going to announce at that time.

In commenting on the meeting of the Committee with the

President, I said to the Secretary that, while the President's

request to come over was unprecedented, we went and the con

versation was in general terms and there was nothing we could

find fault with in the conference with the President, but that

what appeared afterwards in the White House press coments and

subsequent interpretations of the Treasury was not in accord

ance with the conference.

When the Secretary brought up the question of the August

18, 1950, meeting and spoke of it as an ultimatum and of his

not having had an opportunity to express his views, I said

that I would like to have him know how the situation looked

from the other side of the fence, that perhaps he did not know

how it looked to us, that we had been discussing these problems

with him for more than a year, that we had come over and laid

down our programs with him time and time again, that we had

presented them to him in writing and in discussion, that he had

discussed them with us little or not at all, that he had

usually turned to an associate and usually asked if they had any

comment to make and had then said that he would let us know what

he was going to do, that that had usually been followed by an

announcement by him, often anticipating far in advance his needs,

of the financing program which had differed almost completely

from our recommendations and which had had the effect of freez

ing our position. I said that it was only in the light of that

experience that we thought it was asking too much last August to

expect to get agreement from him in advance, and that we therefore

2/6-8/51

-37

decided to come over and tell him at that time what we were

going to do.

He responded that from his side of the fence it

did not look that way at all, that we had come over and told him

what was going to be done, and that within a few hours what we

said would be in the papers and that before he had had a chance

to consider and make up his mind, the possibility of any other

course of action had been denied him.

There followed a discussion of the statements by Chairman McCabe

and Mr. Sproul during which question was raised as to whether the letter

to the President was likely to be released.

Chairman McCabe stated that

he had tried to get in touch with Mr. Connelly, Secretary to the President,

to suggest that it be released but that he had not reached him.

During

the discussion a report was brought into the room that at a press confer

ence that morning the President had told newsmen that he understood that a

majority of the Federal Reserve Board agreed with him on his interest rate

views, and that it was his understanding that a majority of the Reserve

Board members sided with him on the interest rate question between the

Board and the Treasury.

In this connection Mr. Carpenter stated that after the letter to

the President had been delivered to the White House last night a call came

to the building asking whether the letter was important, since if

it

important it

was not

would be delivered to Blair House at once, but if

it

it would be held at the White House for delivery in the morning.

was

Mr.

Carpenter added that the White House inquirer was informed that the letter

was important and that it

for such letters.

should be handled in whatever way was customary

-38

2/6-8/51

Mr. Szymczak stated that it

was understood at the meeting of the

Committee yesterday that no information would be given out by the members

of the Committee with respect to the meeting and that any breach of that

understanding would be grounds for removal.

The problem, he said, was

what was to be said by the Committee to the press, that there would be an

attempt on the part of the press to find out what had been discussed at

the meeting of the Committee,

and that for that reason there should be

some kind of a statement from the Committee,

He also said that members

of Congress were becoming increasingly interested in the whole question and

were making speeches on the floor with respect to it

and that there should

be some statement that could be made to them.

Chairman McCabe said that if

the President should decide not to

release the letter from the Committee it would be in order for the Committee

to decide whether it wished to issue a statement and that it might be left

to the executive committee to issue a statement or to prepare a statement

that could be cleared with the members of the full Committee,

It was also

suggested that the question of a statement to members of Congress could be

covered in

discussions with the Chairman of the Subcommittee of the Senate

Banking and Currency Committee on Federal Reserve Matters and the Chairman

of the Joint Committee on the Economic Report.

Mr.

Szymczak stated that if

the White House did not release the

letter to the President and the Treasury delayed a reply to the letter to

the Secretary, there should be a statement by the Federal Open Market Com

mittee.

2/6-8/51

-39

Mr. Thurston stated that the question might be asked by the press

whether there had been a reply to the letter from the President to Chair

man McCabe,

There was a discussion of what might

be said in that situation and it was

agreed unanimously that if such an inquiry

should be made, Mr. Thurston would be

authorized to say in response to the in

quiry if made that a reply had been sent

to the White House.

There was also a discussion of the procedure that should be fol

lowed in the event the Treasury did not accept any part of the program out

lined in the letter to the Secretary.

Mr. Szymczak pointed out that there

was the immediate problem of what should be done with respect to the price

at which long-term restricted bonds would be bought for the System account

and Mr.

Sproul stated that when the Treasury discontinued its purchases

of the longest-term restricted issue, the New York Bank, acting under in

structions from the executive committee,

should begin to drop the price

rapidly in an orderly market to slightly above par.

Mr. Rouse stated that there should be some clarification of the

manner in which the price should be permitted to decline--whether it

should

be by steps of 1/32 or 2/32 at a time or whether the decline should be a

rapid drop to slightly above par.

Mr. Sproul suggested that in terms of an

orderly market the decline should not be more rapid than 4 to 8/32 a day.

It was stated that as long as the Treasury continued to purchase

the December 67-72 restricted bonds at par and 22/32, the market price on

2/6-8/51

40

the June 67-72 issue would not decline very far and Chairman McCabe ex

pressed the opinion that until

the Treasury discontinued its

purchases

there would be no point in lowering the System's support price on the June

67-72 issue.

During the discussion, Mr. Vardaman withdrew from the meeting to

keep another appointment and at the conclusion of the discussion it

was

decided that pending further discussion with the Treasury no action should

be taken to permit the market price of long-term restricted bonds to decline.

Mr. Sproul stated that a decision on System policy should not be

long delayed and that if

no word was received from the Secretary of the

Treasury early next week the matter should be taken up with him again.

It was agreed unanimously that the pro

gram which the Committee would like to see

put into effect was set forth in the letter

to the Secretary of the Treasury dated Febru

to

ary 7, 1951, and that it should be left

the executive committee to carry the program

into effect so far as open market operations

were concerned, if an agreement could be

reached with the Treasury. In reaching this

agreement, Chairman McCabe emphasized the

necessity for exercising extreme care to

assure that in carrying out the policies of

the full Committee no grounds be given for a

charge by the Treasury or anyone else of bad

faith on the part of the Committee.

In the light of the above discussion, it was agreed that a meeting

of the executive committee should be held in Washington at 2:30 p.m. on

Wednesday, February 14,

1951.

During the discussion, Mr. Sproul reviewed briefly the substance

2/6-8/51

-41-

of the discussion which he and Chairman McCabe had this morning with

Senator O'Mahoney,

Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Economic Report.

Mr. Sproul suggested that the general direction of the full Com

mittee to the executive committee to arrange for transactions in the System

account be renewed without change.

Thereupon, upon motion duly made and

seconded, the following direction to the

executive committee was approved unani

mously with the understanding that the

limitation contained in the direction

would include commitments for the System

open market account:

The executive committee is directed, until otherwise directed

by the Federal Open Market Committee, to arrange for such trans

actions for the System open market account, either in the open

market or directly with the Treasury (including purchases, sales,

exchanges, replacement of maturing securities, and letting maturi

ties run off without replacement), as may be necessary, in the

light of current and prospective economic conditions and the gen

eral credit situation of the country, with a view to exercising

restraint upon inflationary developments, to maintaining orderly

conditions in the Government security market, to relating the

supply of funds in the market to the needs of commerce and busi

ness, and to the practical administration of the account; pro

vided that the aggregate amount of securities held in the account

at the close of this date other than special short-term certifi

cates of indebtedness purchased from time to time for the tempo

rary accommodation of the Treasury shall not be increased or de

creased by more than $2,000,000,000.

The executive committee is further directed, until otherwise

directed by the Federal Open Market Committee, to arrange for the

purchase for the System open market account direct 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 total

amount of such certificates held in the account at any one time

shall not exceed $1,000,000,000).

Mr. Rouse then referred to the authorization given by the Federal

Open Market Committee to the Federal Reserve Banks on March 1, 1950, to

2/6-8/51

-42

enter into repurchase agreements with nonbank dealers in United States Gov

ernment securities who are qualified to transact business with the System

open market account under certain conditions and to the provision in the

authorization that such agreements

would be at least 1/8 per cent above

the average issuing rate of United States Treasury bills.

Mr. Rouse went

on to say that the average issuing rate on Treasury bills had increased to

a point where if

the foregoing provision was observed literally the rate

would be 1.52 per cent, that it

had been customary to move the rate on the

repurchase agreements in steps of 1/8 of one per cent which would mean a

rate of 1-5/8 per cent, and that it

would be his recommendation that the

New York Bank be authorized to enter into such agreements at a differential

of less than 1/8 per cent so that the agreements could be made at 1-1/2 per

cent.

At that rate, he said, dealers would take positions in bills which

they could resell readily in the present market and it

would not be neces

sary for the System account to purchase them.

It was agreed unanimously that, pend

ing further action by the Committee, the

authorization referred to by Mr. Rouse

would be modified in accordance with his

suggestion.

It

was tentatively agreed that the next meeting of the Federal Open

Market Committee would be held on March 9, 1951.

Secretary.

Thereupon the meeting adjourned.