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Nothing further had come from the Federal Reserve Board except publication of the figures on which its "warning" had been based. These figures showed that in the last twelve months loans to member banks had more than doubled and that Federal Reserve outstanding credit had increased by $250,000,000.
Significance. The outstanding development of the week was the fact that, without taking any radical measures, the Federal Reserve Board, aided by front-page publicity given to bearish conversations in Congress and in the Reserve advisory council, succeeded in scaring Wall Street into a liquidation movement. A definite obituary on the bull market might, however, be a little premature. Mysterious despatches from Washington stressed an alleged division of opinion on the Federal Reserve Board and the existence of a minority party opposed to anti-speculative measures.
A "high official" and an "administration source" were quoted as believing that the Board had gone as far as it was going to go. There were hints and inferences that the official and the source were Secretary Mellon, who is ex officio a member of the Federal Reserve Board.
At the close of the week, Secretary of Commerce Whiting issued a distinctly bullish statement. Said he: "Administration policies have made for a substantial and increasing stability in business for several years. ... If these conservative, constructive policies of the government and of business are maintained, then there would seem to be no reason why the present economic situation should not continue."