Pujo Committee
The Pujo Committee was a series of Congressional hearings that investigated the concentration of wealth among Wall Street titans like Morgan. When Morgan was questioned, Congress learned that too many funds were in private hands; the government did not have the resources or infrastructure in times of crisis. The Pujo Committee figured that a central bank should be responsible in financial panics, not private institutions or shareholders like Morgan. The revelations of the Pujo Committee urged Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act.
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(Photo Courtesy of Public Intelligence)
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"The committee’s majority report concluded that a group of financial leaders had abused the public trust to consolidate control over many industries. The Pujo Committee report created a climate of public opinion that lead to the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913" ("Pujo Committee Money Trust"). |
"J.P. Morgan, the recognized leaders, and George F. Baker and James Stillman in their individual capacities, in excess of $1,300,000,000 ... This takes no account of the personal fortunes of these gentlemen" (Congress). (Photo Courtesy of Public Intelligence)
"The Federal Reserve System is a network of 12 regional federal reserve banks that function as the central bank of the United States. The third attempt to establish a central bank the "Fed" was created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, partly in response to the findings of the Pujo Committee that investigated the causes of the Panic of 1907, and partly to break up the concentration of wealth in New York" (Leab 29). |