THE WEEK

• Paraphrasing John L. Lewis’ famous memo to the AFL’s Ethical Practices Committee (Have you discovered any ethical practices yet?), we are sending an inquiry to the House Committee on Legislative Oversight: “Have you failed to overlook anything yet?”

• Taking another step along the predictable course that was set when the rediscount rate began to be lowered last November (see “The Rediscount Rate As Omen,” national review, Nov. 30, 1957), the Federal Reserve Board has reduced mandatory bank reserves by an initial one-half per cent, thus making available about $3 billion in additional bank credit. The business community responded with a collective yawn and a stock market selloff. Wall Street knew that for private business the current trouble was not a lack of lendable funds but of prospects of sufficient profit to make them worth borrowing. The real purpose of the Fed’s move became clearer a day or two later when the Treasury announced a $11/4 billion nine- year loan to mop up the unsubscribed leftover from January’s large refunding operation. With deficits ahead, the Fed was getting the banking system ready to purchase larger quantities of government paper.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

• Paraphrasing John L. Lewis’ famous memo to the AFL’s Ethical Practices Committee (Have you discovered any ethical practices yet?), we are sending an inquiry to the House Committee on Legislative Oversight: “Have you failed to overlook anything yet?”

• Taking another step along the predictable course that was set when the rediscount rate began to be lowered last November (see “The Rediscount Rate As Omen,” national review, Nov. 30, 1957), the Federal Reserve Board has reduced mandatory bank reserves by an initial one-half per cent, thus making available about $3 billion in additional bank credit. The business community responded with a collective yawn and a stock market selloff. Wall Street knew that for private business the current trouble was not a lack of lendable funds but of prospects of sufficient profit to make them worth borrowing. The real purpose of the Fed’s move became clearer a day or two later when the Treasury announced a $11/4 billion nine- year loan to mop up the unsubscribed leftover from January’s large refunding operation. With deficits ahead, the Fed was getting the banking system ready to purchase larger quantities of government paper.