National Monetary Commission

National Monetary Commission was a study group created by the Aldrich Vreeland Act of 1908. After the Panic of 1907 American bankers turned to Europe for ideas on how to operate a central bank. Senator Nelson Aldrich, Republican leader of the Senate, personally led a team of experts to major European capitals. They were stunned to discover how much more efficient the Europeans were. Furthermore the pound, franc and mark were much more important in international trade than the dollar.

The Commission issued 30 reports (1909-1912) that provided a detailed and authoritative survey of banking systems of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They examine such topics as U.S. financial laws; U.S. state banking statutes; Canadian banking history; and the banking and currency systems of England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, and other nations. The volumes contain essays commissioned from leading specialists, plus innumerable tables, charts, graphs, and facsimiles of forms and documents. Some volumes contain transcripts of relevant speeches, interviews, and hearings. Mitchell [1911] provides a comprehensive review of the documents prepared by the commission. All of the reports were published by the U.S. Government Printing Office between 1909 and 1911.

The Commission's reports became the basis for the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 creating the modern Federal Reserve system.

References

• Mitchell, Wesley C. (1911). The Publications of the National Monetary Commission, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 25: 3, pp. 563 - 593.
• Stephenson, Nathaniel W. Nelson W. Aldrich: A Leader In American Politics. 1930
• Wells, Donald R. The Federal Reserve System: A History (2004)
• Wicker, Elmus . The Great Debate on Banking Reform: Nelson Aldrich And Origins of the Fed (2005).
• Wood, John H. A History of Central Banking in Great Britain and the United States (2005).

Digital versions of the Commission reports are available on FRASER, a website of historical resources from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.[1]