Pujo Committee

Pujo Committee   (Subcommittee, Inquiry)
Formation	February 1912
Extinction	1913
Interests	The Money Trust
Membership	•  Arsene Pujo •  Hubert D. Stephens •  Samuel Untermyer •  [[..|...]]
A US congressional subcommittee that probed the Money Trust. The original chair, Arsene Pujo, withdrew after about a month, so it was actually chaired by Hubert D. Stephens.

The Pujo Committee was a US congressional subcommittee in 1912–1913 that was formed to investigate the so-called "money trust", a community of Wall Street bankers and financiers that exerted powerful control over the nation's finances.

Origins

Charles Lindbergh Sr. introduced a resolution for a probe on Wall Street power. This authorised Arsène Pujo of Louisiana to form a subcommittee of the House Committee on Banking and Currency.

Developments

In March 1912, approximately a month after it received authorization, Pujo's wife became ill, forcing him to take an indefinite leave of absence from the investigation. His successor was Representative Hubert D. Stephens of Mississippi. Witnesses were first examined on May 16, 1912.

Scope

The investigation originally intended to examine data from 1905–1912 regarding all loans of $1,000,000 or greater. However, the Comptroller of the Currency furnished only a fraction of the overall data, hampering the investigation's scope.

Report

Full article: Pujo Committee/Report

The Pujo Committee Report concluded in 1913 that found that "180 individuals" covering "341 directorships in 112 corporations...[possessed] $22,245,000,000 in aggregate resources of capitalization." Finally, it was concluded that a system is known as "Banking Ethics" prohibited competition among banks and firms. Also, a community of influential financial leaders had gained control of major manufacturing, transportation, mining, telecommunications and financial markets of the United States. The report revealed that at least eighteen different major financial corporations were under the control of a cartel led by J. P. Morgan, George F. Baker and James Stillman. These three men, through the resources of seven banks and trust companies (Banker’s Trust Co., Guaranty Trust Co., Astor Trust Co., National Bank of Commerce, Liberty National Bank, Chase National Bank, Farmer’s Loan and Trust Co.) controlled an estimated $2.1 billion. The report revealed that a handful of men held manipulative control of the New York Stock Exchange and attempted to evade interstate trade laws.

The Pujo Report singled out individual bankers including Paul Warburg, Jacob H. Schiff, Felix M. Warburg, Frank E. Peabody, William Rockefeller and Benjamin Strong, Jr.. The report identified over $22 billion in resources and capitalization controlled through 341 directorships held in 112 corporations by members of the empire headed by J.P. Morgan.

Members

• Arsene Pujo - original chair
• Hubert D. Stephens - replacement chair
• Samuel Untermyer - counsel
• ...

Findings

In 1913–1914, the findings inspired public support for ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment that authorized a federal income tax, passage of the Federal Reserve Act, and passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act.

 

Known member

1 of the 4 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
Arsène Pujo	Campaigning member of the US House of Representatives.

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References

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