Two Hands for FRB

President Truman nominated two new members to the Federal Reserve Board last week. Both were hand-picked by FRB Chairman William McChesney Martin. The appointees (who must still be confirmed by the Senate):

P:Abbot Low Mills, 53, Republican, first vice president of the Portland (Ore.) U.S. National Bank, replacing Marriner Eccles, who resigned last June (TIME, June 25) with more than six years of a regular 14-year term to go. A lifelong banker from a banking family, Mills shares Martin's view that Federal Reserve policy should be independent and not dominated by the Treasury, a policy that Eccles helped reaffirm before he quit.

P: J. (for James) Louis Robertson, 44, Nebraska Democrat who has spent 19 years in the Treasury and is now Deputy Comptroller of the Currency. He was named to succeed Edward Norton, who resigned last week with twelve years of his term to go. Robertson is also expected to support greater FRB independence. But for a supposed bank expert, his first comment on FRB's policy of flexible support for Government bonds--the nub of the bitter argument between FRB and the Treasury last year--was hardly encouraging. Asked if he approved of FRB's current policy, Robertson replied: "I never give an opinion on something I know nothing about. And I certainly know nothing about that."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.