Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward полностью

It did not take long for the Democrats to bring forth their ownproposal. In fact, that process had begun even before the election of1912. One of the most outspoken critics of the Aldrich plan was theDemocratic Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, Congressman Carter Glass from Virginia. And it was Glass 1. Seymour, Vol. I, p. 160.

2. Ibid. William McAdoo, Wilson's Secretary of the Treasury, was indignant over the credit generally given to Paul Warburg for his part in the creation of the Federal Reserve because McAdoo felt he should have received the recognition. Later, we find Carter Glass similarly piqued over Seymour's interpretation of House's importance. Glass' book, Adventures in Constructive Finance, was written primarily to show that it was he, not House, who rightfully deserved such glory. But neither McAdoo nor Glass were part of the hidden power which is the focus of this study and neither had any inkling of who was really calling the shots.

3. Quoted by Kolko, Triumph, p. 222.

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THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND

who was given the responsibility of developing the new plan. Byhis own admission, however, he had virtually no technical knowledge of banking. To provide that expertise and to actually write thebill he hired an economics teacher from Washington and LeeUniversity, Henry Parker Willis. We should not be surprised tolearn that' Willis had been a former student and protege ofProfessor Laughlin and had been retained by the National Citizens'

League as a technical writer. Explaining the significance of thisrelationship, Kolko says:

Throughout the spring of 1912 Willis wrote Laughlin about his w o r k for the Glass Committee, his relationship to his superior, and Washington gossip. The advice of the old professor was much revered " W h e n you arrive," he wrote Laughlin concerning a m e m o r a n d u m he had written, "I should like to show it to you for such criticisms as occur to you." The student-teacher relationship between the two m e n was still prominent....

Laughlin, Colonel House, and Glass were to frequently consult with major bankers about reform, and provided an important and continuous bridge for their ideas while bills were being drafted....

Colonel House, in addition, was talked to by Frick, Otto Kahn, and others in late February, and the following month also met Vanderlip, J P Morgan, Jr., and other bankers to discuss currency reform.... To m a k e sure the reform was m o r e to the liking of bankers, a steady barrage of personal, unobtrusive communications with Glass, House, and Wilson was kept up throughout February and March.... The

[Citizens'] league was fulsome in its praise of Glass, and bankers felt greater and greater confidence as Colonel H o u s e began visiting Glass and showing interest in his currency measure....

The n e w President admitted " h e knew n o t h i n g " about banking theory or practice. Glass m a d e the same confession to Colonel House in November, and this vacuum is of the utmost significance. T h e entire banking reform movement, at all crucial stages, was centralized in the hands of a few m e n w h o for years were linked, ideologically and personally with one another.

THE GLASS-OWEN BILL EMERGES

In his Committee House Report in 1913, Glass objected to theAldrich Bill on the following grounds: It lacked g o v e r n m e n t control, he said; it concentrated power into the hands of the larger New York banks; it opened the door to inflation; it was dishonest in its estimate of cost to the taxpayer; and it established a banking 1. Kolko, Triumph, pp. 219-28.

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