CHAPTER II 
PRESIDENT HOOVER ACTS 
IT was but natural to expect that so stupendous a 
crash, with a reduction in listed values of twenty- 
six billions of dollars, would deal a tremendous blow 
to business. But business was more scared than hurt. 
By convocation of the President, and under the 
auspices of the United States Chamber of Commerce, 
four hundred leading business men set up in Wash- 
ington, December 5, 1929, a committee of seventy- 
two “key” men called the National Business Advisory 
Council. This committee set about devising means 
for a continuing organization to stabilize business. 
At its meeting President Hoover defined three pos- 
sible lines of emergency action. 
The first step, Mr. Hoover said, was to recover 
business confidence by the powerful aid of the Fed. 
eral Reserve System and the strong position of the 
banks. These were working steadily to diminish in- 
terest rates. Money released by the deflation of 
securities would thus be returned into business. The 
President noted the effect of this action in making 
money more abundant in all parts of the country and 
in strengthening the bond market, in which public 
issues that had been postponed were beginning to 
appear. 
The second step was taken by the President him-