REFERENDUM 
on the 
Report of the Special 
Federal Reserve Committee 
STATEMENT OF QUESTION 
“The federal reserve system has been from its inception the subject of serious study and steadfast sup- 
port by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States.” “The Chamber has confidence in the federal reserve 
system and its adaptability to new conditions, and holds that the system is entitled to the utmost cooperation.” 
These quotations are taken from the declarations made by annual meetings of the Chamber and reflect the 
results of continuous studies of the operation of the reserve svstem under the changing conditions it has had 
to meet since its creation, sixteen years ago. 
Upon these studies have been based policies adopted by the Chamber respecting particular subjects, 
such as opposition to legislative changes such as were proposed in 1922, advocacy of indeterminate charters 
for reserve banks, and support of action taken by the reserve system in aid of stable currencies abroad, as 
desirable for industry, labor, and agriculture. 
In 1925 the Board of Directors became impressed with the timeliness of plans for a comprehensive sur- 
vey of all questions relating to the federal reserve system, having received recommendations from the Com- 
mittee of the Finance Department which had been following diligently the operations of the reserve system. 
The plans were developed with the assistance of inquiries which were made of business men in all parts of 
the country, these inquiries resulting in a special conference on the subject held at Washington in May, 1926. 
In the development of the plans a Committee on Banking and Currency was formed in the fall of 1926, 
with a membership of fifty, representative of banking and the forms of business served by banking in all 
of the federal reserve districts, and including representatives of labor and agriculture. Reports on special sub- 
jects were prepared by sub-committees and later consolidated into one main report, which was discussed by 
a special conference in June, 1928, in which the committee obtained the benefits of the criticisms and sug- 
gestions of not only business men and bankers who were asked to participate but also of federal reserve offi- 
Shals ond economists, as well as representatives of agriculture and labor, who were invited and cordially re- 
sponded. 
After review of the discussions of the conference and studies which were subsequently made, the Bank- 
ing and Currency Committee, in the spring of 1929, presented to the Board of Directors its comprehensive 
report with eight auxiliary statements on special phases of the subject. 
Recognizing the great value of a report into which so much study had been put, the Board of Direc- 
tors authorized the appointment of a Special Federal Reserve Committee, composed of members of the 
larger Banking and Currency Committee, to prepare from a study of the extensive report a report with 
recommendations suitable for submission to the organization membership of the Chamber for a referen- 
dum vote, and directed that the large report and its auxiliaries should be printed and distributed at the 
time the referendum pamphlet was issued. 
The members of the Special Federal Reserve Committee are: 
Harry A. WHEELER, Chairman, Chicago ~ Wirriam F. GEpHarT, St. Louis 
SeweLr L. Avery, Chicago C. T. Jarrray, Minneapolis 
Jurius H. Barnes, New York JorN G. LoNspaLE, St. Louis 
A. J. Brosseau, New York Warrer Scorr McLucas, Kansas City 
WALTER S. BuckLiN, Boston R. GoopwyN RuEerr, Charleston, S. C. 
Cuarres S. CaLweiLL, Philadelphia Pavr Szoup, San Francisco 
The report of the Special Reserve Committee has now been received. Accordingly, there are printed 
in this pamphlet: Page 
1. The Committee's Report. - . 4 
2. Arguments in the Negative. <5 
With this pamphlet there is sent to each organization member a copy of the large report and its auxil- 
iaries. Copies are available to all other members upon their request. In the large report appear the names 
of the members of all committees which had a part in the Federal Reserve Study and a more complete 
statement than is possible here of the events leading up to the report of the Banking and Currency Com- 
mittee and the subjects which were covered in the studies which were made.