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Minutes of actions taken by the Board of Governors of the

al Reserve System on Thursday, February 23, 1950.

PRESENT: Mr. McCabe, ChairmanMr. EcclesMr. SzymczakMr. Draper

Mr. Carpenter, SecretaryMr. Sherman, Assistant SecretaryMr. Kenyon, Assistant Secretary

Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Governors of the

Pederal Reserve System with the Federal Advisory Council held on

l'ebrIletrY 21, 1950, were approved unanimously.

Minutes of actions taken by the Board of Governors of the

Reserve System on February 21, 1950, were approved unanimously.

Memorandum dated February 20, 1950, from Mr. Young, Director°11 the Di .

-vision of Research and Statistics, recommending an increase1'4 the b

481c salary of Mrs. Nancy W. Ware, a clerk-typist in that

from $2,530 to $2,610 per annum, effective March 5, 1950.

Approved unanimously.

to Mr. Latham, Vice President of the Federal ReserveBkrAitTelegram

c'r Boston, reading as follows:

the "Retel February 21.w f Board approves designation of lowing employees of yourallt exa

bank as special assist-miners:

Daniel Aquilino Paul J. HanifyJohn F. Burke Edward McCarthyE. Lloyd Evans, Jr. Donald A. Pelletier

Approved unanimously.

Letter to Mr. McCreedy, Secretary of the Federal Reserve Bank°r

-"la, reading as follows:

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"The Board of Governors approves the appointments ofMessrs. B. F. Mechling, Harry L. Miller, Keith Powlison,

ialtes M. Skinner, and Daniel H. Schultz as members ofthe Industrial Advisory Committee for the Third FederalReserve District to serve for terms of one year each, be-PIlaing March 1, 1920, in accordance with the actionIrkenby — the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve,ellk of Philadelphia, as reported in your letter of'ebruary 16, 1950."

Approved unanimously.

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

Dal 14s, reading as follows:

"The Board of Governors approves the reappointments.°0f Messrs. Charles R. Moore, E. P. Simmons, Lawrence S.j..1.?11°ck, Ira T. Moore, and Jake L. Hamon as members of

Industrial Advisory Committee for the Eleventh Federal

7_8erVe District to serve for terms of one year each, be-

Llirling March 1, 1950, in accordance with the action takenpJlthe Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of8"4-las, as reported in your letter of February 20, 1950."

tates

43akirig and

Iioard approved

lkdget lander date of

relationship of thel'resident,

that there

t° the Colagress:

the

Approved unanimously.

Letters prepared for Chairman McCabe's signature to Honorable

R. MaYbank, Chairman, Committee on Banking and Currency, United

and Honorable Brent Spence, Chairman, Committee on

Currency, House of Representatives, reading as follows:

the letters for

January 23,

proposal

and the Budget Bureau

would be no objection

transmission to the Bureau of the

1920, with a request for advice as to

contained therein to the program of the

replied under date of February 2, 1950,

to the presentation of the proposal

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The Board of Governors wishes to recommend for the.?nslderation of your Committee legislation to modify the'J-rgitations now contained in the Federal Reserve Act upon;T;;I:csost of buildings at branches of the Federal Reserve

•

'in 1947, the Board brought to the attention of Congressti:le need for more adecuete building facilities at the branchesthe Federal Reserve Banks, pointing out that this need

:cT}d not be met because of a provision of the law placingci -Llmit of c.5O,OQO upon the cost of any such building (ex-

of the cost of vaults, permanent ecuipment, furnish-and fixtures, and also exclusive of the cost of land).

p, time, in order to take care of the most uri!;ent needs'Cis additional building construction, Congress provided ina s:1 Act Of July 30, 1947, that this lieit should not rTplyfscl 'Ong as the aggregate of such costs thereafter incurredo r, 1̀1 branch bank buildino with the approval of the Board"overnors was not in excess of -13,000,000.

VI, :Under the provisions of the 1947 amendment to the lawin- -'10;- rd has aoeroved: (1) purchase of the existing build-

°ccuPied by the Cincinnati branch of the Federal lieservetr4 °f (2) construction of buildings to houseBa%P°rtland and Seattle branches of the Federal Reserve(3) °f San Francisco, 1,hich now occupy rented quarters; andbe+ construction of e major addition to the quarters of the'rolt branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.Of (3 -Ln edultion, the Board has approved the prei3aration'Ioll etalled plans and specifications for a new building toOf ;: the Jacksonville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank

and funds have been earmarked to permit this"f'itIction within the .10,000,000 limitation.

p1,11 The Board has also authorized preparation of detailedoe e'lla specifications for a major addition to the quartersSa, Los Angeles branch :)fs the Federal Reserve Bank of

;risco. Preliminary plans have been submitted forePitt major additions to the quarters occupied by the

-0,,i j:th113'gh branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of ClevelandCity:LemOiraha branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansasedec.0 Ihese additions are all badly needed to provideba..fs te sPace and satisfactory working conditions. On the

°- Present estimatee it 'yould not be possible to comeitctioall three of these 1)ro„reTs within the existing Un-

it Nreraa F'°81', of the buildings occuoied by branches of the Fed-

Le serve Bans were accuired or constructed more than

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years ago and in view of the expanded activities since.Tat time, additional space is needed at many branches other'Han those mentioned above. In particular, new buildings,

substantial remodeling or improvements, are contemplated,c3r the Buffalo, Louisville and San Antonio branches. Also,lir°gMms for additions of varying size to the present struc—Ires are contemplated for the buildings occupied by the

11;?llow1ng branches: Baltimore, Charlotte, Birmingham, Nash—Denver, Oklahoma City, El Paso, Houston, and Salt

'Jake city. -

414 It is clear that under the provisions of the present

thethe aount available for additional construction atbran

mches is wholly inadequate for programs which are

seessFry in the interest of efficient operation."It should be borne in mind that all expenses in con-

13,7e ion with the construction and enlargement of the branchtr buildings are met by the Federal Reserve Banks out ofin:ir own funds. No appropriations of Government funds areth;Ted, Moreover, the Board of Governors, as an agency of

(/vernment, is vested with the general supervision of

Per rederal Reserve Banks; and, in the exercise of this su-4,11,nsion, all construction projects with respect to branchap—rs- buildings come before the Board of Governors for itsinPr°val

the . In each case, the Board considers the proposal

V

in 1, -Light of the needs of the branch, the type of build—Etv 0 be constructed, the reasonableness of the cost, thetirallebility of materials, whether the construction at thesit: is generally in keeping with the prevailing economic

1 i0/1, and other pertinent considerations.e,mou The Board believes that the q0,000,000 aggregatepedent which under the 1947 amendment may be expended forID,I,rtiral Reserve branch buildings (exclusive of land, vaults,1.441,1,?nt equipment, furnishings, and fixtures) is clearlythis - 'elent at this time and recommends, therefore, thatdraft ''°,000,000 amount be increased to 25,000,000. Aalld of bill to carry out this recomnendation is enclosed,rem,2he Board earnestly hopes that your Committee will givedatuer.able consideration to this legislation at an early

110 01":The.Bureau of the Budget has advised us that there is

Cogress, Jectlon to the presentation of this proposal to the--.fl

Approved unanimously.

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Letter to the Honorable Frank Pace, Jr., Director of the Bureau

the Budgpt, reading as follows:

"In comPltance with a rPouest received from the HousecoMmittee on the Judiciary, the Board has prepared the en-tic)sed report on the bill H.R. 6976 to amend Title 18 of theunited States Code reletin, to bank robbery.

"Before transmittinE; this report, the Board will ap-reciate advice as to the relationship of the proposed leg-slation to the program of the President."

Approved unanimously.

ChairmPn.

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