Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 48 Part 2.djvu/472

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1730 1 anuary 31, 1934. Gold Reserve. Preamble. Vol. 31, p.45. PROCLAMATIONS, 1934. By THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, by virtue of Section 1 of the Act of Congress approved }.1arch 14, 1900 (31 Stat. L. 45), the present weight of the gold dollar is fixed at twenty five and eight tenths grains of gold nine tenths fine; and

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WHEREAS, by Section 43, Title III of the Act approved May 12, olPres~~lt. au or y 1933 (Public, No. 1O,73d Congress), as amended by Section 12 of the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, it is provided in part as follows: "Whenever the President finds, upon investigation, that (1) the foreign commerce of the United States is adversely affected by reason of the depreciation in the value of the currency of any other govern- ment or governments in relation to the present standard value of gold, or (2) action under this section is necessary in order to regulate and maintain the parity of currency issues of the United Sta'.ies, or (3) an economic emergency requires an expansion of credit, or (4) an expan- sion of credit is necessary to secure by international agreement a sta- bilization at proper levels of the currencies of various governments, the President is authorized, in his discretion- "(a) To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to enter int\) agree- ments with the several Federal Reserve banks and with the Federal Reserve Board whereby the Federal Reserve Board will, and it is hereby authorized to, notwithstanding any provisions of law or rules and regulations to the contrary, permit such reserve banks to agree that they will, (1) conduct, pursuant to existing law, througnout specified periods, open market operations in obligations of the United States Government or corporations in which the United States is the majority stockholder, and (2) purchase directly and hold in portfolio fot' an agreed period or periods of time Treasury bills or other obliga- tions of the United States Government in an aggregate sum of $3,000,000,000 in addition to those they may then hold, unless prior to the termination of such period or periods the Secretary shall con- sent to their sale. No suspension of reserve requirements of the Fed- eral Reserve banks, under the terms of section 11 (c) of the :Federal Reserve Act, necessitated by reason of operations under this section, shall require the imposition of the graduated tax upon any deficiency in reserves as provided in said section 11 (c). N or shall it require any automatic increase in the rates of interest or discount charged by any Federal Reserve bank, as otherwise specified in that section. The Federal Reserve Board, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may require the Federal Reserve banks to take such action as may be necessary, in the judgment of the Board and of the Secretary of the Treasury, to prevent undue credit expansion. "(b) If the Secretary, when directed by the President, is unable to secure the assent of the several Federal Reserve banks and the }4"cderal Reserve Board to the agreements authorized in this section, or if operations under the above provisions prove to be inadequate to meet the purposes of tlus section, or if for any other reason additional measures are required in the judgment of the President to meet such purposes, then the President IS authorized-

"(2) By proclamation to fix the weight of the ~old dollar in grains nine tenths fine and also to fix the weight of the sIlver dollar in grains nine tenths fine at a definite fixed ratio in relation to the ~old dollar at such amounts as he finds necessary from Iris investigation to stabilize domestic prices or to protect the foreign commerce against t.he adverse effect of depreciated foreign currencies, and to provide for the unlimited coinage of such gold and silver at the ratio so fixed, or in case the Government of the United States enters into nn