July 7, 1959 FOMC Minutes

FOMC minutes

would not be made available at, say, 1932. He was serious in suggesting this date, he said, adding that he had been asked on numerous occasions about discussions in 1951 and 1952 regarding the Treasury-Federal Reserve accord and that anything like this represented a too-recent period for making available these records. To make available records of the recent past would inject into policy considerations an influence that would be undesirable. However, he would repeat that records might now properly be made available for the period up to the year 1932. Mr. Hayes suggested that the question Mr. Mills was raising was a different one from that under consideration. It was a matter that should be dealt with perhaps at another meeting and on the basis of separate and special considerations. Mr. Shepardson stated that as far as the current question was concerned, he was in thorough accord with continuing a program along the lines of Alternative D in the July 6 memorandum, that is, continuing substantially the present procedure as far as records and Committee minutes were concerned. He did not think the Open Market to be changed as to either the persons present procedure needed to records. He also felt attending the meetings or accessibility that a valuable suggestion had been made in trying to distinguish were current records, perhaps from one meeting to between what those that were available had suggested, and another as Mr. Leach

for more widespread use. He could not see that anything would be lost by restricting the minutes of the most recent meetings as strictly confidential to the President and his one adviser who accompanies him to the Open Market meetings until after the next succeeding meeting. As far as general knowledge and training problems were concerned, it seemed to him that access to Open Market records after the next meeting of the Committee was quite sufficient. As to the total number of persons having access to records, he doubted that the Committee should be straining at a gnat on its top level staff who attended the meetings in view of the large technical and clerical staff necessarily engaged in processing Open Market materials. He thought the Committee might exercise care in distributing its current records and would favor a procedure such as that indicated whereby the current records would be kept strictly confidential until after the succeeding meetings. Chairman Martin stated that he gathered that the majority of present favored continuation of substantially the procedure those presently being followed with respect both to attendance at meetings and to access to Committee records, with appropriate minor adjust had just referred to. None of ments such as the one Mr. Shepardson a different view. those present indicated stated that as a matter of detail if the telegrams Mr. Bopp conferences each morning were commenting on the 11:00 a.m. telephone a full security clearance, by persons who had had to be handled only

it would involve full field investigations for a large number of telegraph operators throughout the System who were not presently cleared. These operators were carefully selected and instructed to treat telegraphic communications in a confidential manner, and in Mr. Bopp's view this was sufficient for their handling the 11:00 a.m. wire. Mr. Johns concurred in this view, adding that if exception were to be taken to the handling of the 11:00 a.m. wire by the operators there were many other matters that would have to be investigated on the assumption that the telegraph operators of the Federal Reserve Banks would not respect confidential data. Chairman Martin commented that it was extremely difficult to write a regulation of the type that Mr. Leach had suggested. In his view, this matter had to be in large measure one for administra tive handling by the members of the Committee and other Reserve Bank Presidents. He proposed that the Committee dispose of the question by accepting the alternative that would continue substantially the as to attendance at meetings and access to minutes present procedure Open Market Committee data, with any minor adjustments and other legitimate criticism that might be desirable for minimizing that information within the from the handling of Open Market could come King, he said that this to a question from Mr. System. In response a check of the suggestion for having proper security would include Open Market materials. for those handling clearance

There was general concurrence with the Chairman's suggestion, and it was understood that the Secretary would proceed to review the existing procedures in the light of the discussion at this meeting but that no change in the general procedures now followed was contemplated at this time. Thereupon the meeting adjourned. Secretary