138 



National Resources Committee 



committees, or creating special or select committees and, 

 occasionally commissions, technically speaking, to in- 

 quire into more special matters in which it is interested 

 and in respect to whicli the enactment of legislation 

 is deemed probably desirable. It is impracticable to 

 give any detailed presentation of the organization and 

 reports of these inquiries such as has been attempted 

 in respect of economic and social inquiries of a more 

 general character. All that is possible to do here is 

 to present a roughly classified list of some of the more 

 important of these investigations in recent years.-' 



Banlciiw: 



1. Joint Committee on the Federal Reserve System, created 

 l)y act of March 4, 1923, composed of three members of the 

 Semite Committee on Banking and Currency, appointed by 

 the President of the Senate, and five members of the House 

 Committee on Banking and Currency, appointed by the Speaker 

 of the House, with instructions to inquire into the efCect of the 

 existing limited membership of State banks and trust companies 

 ia the Federal Reserve System upon financial conditions in 

 the agricultural sections of the United States ; the reasons 

 which actuated eligible State banks and trust companies in 

 fulling to become members of the Federal Reserve System; 

 what administrative measures had been, and were being, taken 

 to increase such membership; and whether or not any change 

 should be made in existing laws, or in the rules and regula- 

 tions of the Federal Reserve Board, or in methods of adminis- 

 tration to bring about in the agricultural districts a larger 

 membership of such banks and trust companies in the Federal 

 Reserve System. 



Merchant Marine: 



1. Merchant Marine Commission, created by act of April 28, 

 1904, composed of five Senators and five Representatives ap- 

 pointed by the presiding officers of the two Houses, with in- 

 structions to investigate what legislation, if any, was desirable 

 for the development of the American merchant marine; and 

 what changes, if any, should be made to the existing laws 

 relating to the treatment, comfort, and safety of seamen in 

 order to make the seagoing calling more attractive to American 

 citizens. 



Rural Credit: 



1. Commission to Investigate Rural Credits in Europe, created 

 by act of March 4, 1912, composed of not more than seven 

 persons, to be appointed by the President of the United States, 

 with instructions to study, in European countries, cooperative 

 land mortgage banks, cooperative rural credit unions and simi- 

 lar organizations, and to cooperate with the American Com- 

 mission assembled under the auspices of the Southern Com- 

 mercial Congress. 



2. Joint Committee on Short Term Rural Credits, created 

 by act of May 31, 1920, composed of the chairmen of the 

 Senate and House Committees on Agriculture and Forestry 

 and on Banking and Currency and seven other members from 

 each of these committees appointed by the chairmen respectively 



"This list Is by no means exhaustive. Its purpose is little more thau 

 to give an indlcalion of the research work of Congress carried on In 

 this vray. For a more comprehensive list see: Federal Commissions, 

 Committees, and Boards: List of Federal commissions and boards and 

 similar bodies created during the period September 14. 1!)01. to March 

 4, 1920 (S. Doc. 174, 71st Cong., 2d Bess., 1030) and the Document 

 Catalogues and Congressional Directories for the years since 1920. 



of these committees, with instructions to formulate a system 

 of short term rural credits in the United States. 



Oold and Silver: 



1. Gold and Silver Inquiry Commission, created by Senate 

 resolution of March 3, 1923, composed of five Senators ap- 

 pointed by the President of the Senate, three of whom .should 

 be of the majority and two of the minority party, with instruc- 

 tions to investigate the cause of the continued decrease in 

 the production of gold and silver; the causes of the depressed 

 condition of the gold and silver industry in the United States ; 

 the production, reduction, refining, transportation, marketing, 

 sale, and use of gold and silver in the United States and else- 

 where; the effect of the decreased production of gold and 

 silver upon commerce, industry, exchange, and prices ; to confer 

 with citizens, associations, and corporations of foreign countries 

 with a view to the stabilization of wider use of silver in ex- 

 change and to prepare plans for negotiation with foreign 

 governments to that end. 



Waterways: 



1. National Waterways Commission, created by act of March 

 3, 1907, composed of five Senators appointed by the President 

 of the Senate and seven Representatives appointed by the 

 Speaker of the House, with instructions to investigate ques- 

 tions pertaining to water transiiortation and improvement of 

 waterways. Its report (S. Doc. 469, GL'd Cong., 2d sess., 1912) 

 embraced a large number of mouograiihs by various authors 

 dealing with waterways in different countries in Europe, par- 

 ticular waterways, or other topics. 



2. Waterwa.vs Commission, created by act of August 8, 1917, 

 composed of seven persons appointed by the President of the 

 United States, one of whom should be chosen from the active 

 or retired list of the Engineer Corps of the Army, one, at least, 

 should be an expert hydniulic engineer from civil life, and the 

 remaining five of whom should be chosen from either private 

 life or the public service. 



Highway Construction: 



1. Joint Committee to Investigate Federal Aid in Road Con- 

 struction, created by act of August 24, 1912, composed of five 

 Senators, appointed by the chairman of the Senate Committee 

 on Post Offices and Post Roads, and five Representatives, ap- 

 pointed by the chairman of the House Committee on the Post 

 Ofl[ice and Post Roads with instructions to inquire into the 

 matter of the grant of aid to the states for the construction 

 of public roads. 



Employers' Liability and Workmen's Compensation: 



1. Commission to Investigate Employers' Liability and 

 Workmen's Compensation, created by joint resolution of June 

 25, 1910, composed of two Senators appointed by the President 

 of the Senate, two Representatives, appointed by the Speaker 

 of the House, and two other persons, appointed by the Presi- 

 dent of the United States, with instructions to make a thor- 

 ough investigation of the whole matter of employers' liability 

 for accidents to labor and workmen's compensation. 



Wages and Prices: 



By Senate resolution of March 3, 1891, the Senate Committee 

 on Finance was directed to make an investigation of wages 

 and prices over a period of years. In pursuance of this direc- 

 tion, this committee, under the direction of Senator Aldrich 

 of Rhode Island, caused to be made by a staff recruited by 

 it for the purpose and with the aid of the old Department of 

 Labor (now the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department 

 of Labor) one of tlie most extensive compilations of wages 



