Abstract

Secretary McAdoo's Services

No U.S. Secretary of the Treasury has ever been entrusted with so much responsible work as Secretary William G. McAdoo has had to shoulder since he assumed the Treasury portfolio on March 4, 1913. During the period when the Federal Reserve Act was being formulated, the Treasury was called upon constantly for data and expert advice touching various aspects of this most intricate and remarkable piece of legislation. The President had set his heart upon securing the quick enactment of a currency law and the campaign to obtain it was pushed against the advice of astute political leaders who contended that such legislation ought not to be hurried and that the bill could just as well go over until the following year, when the country would have time to digest it.