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Roosevelt begged off the inaugural's evening celebrations, meeting with top aides and members of Hoover's Treasury Department throughout the night of Saturday, 4 March, and all the next day. By the dawn of the next business day, Monday, 6 March, Roosevelt had ordered a nationwide bank holiday (violations were punishable by a fine of $10,000 or ten years' imprisonment); soon afterward he embargoed all shipments of gold or silver, called Congress into an emergency session to pass sweeping bank legislation, and ordered leading bankers to Washington to help him deal with the crisis. Rather than provoke public hysteria, as some feared, Roosevelt's actions bolstered public confidence in the banking system. The nation rallied to extend the necessary credit to weather the nine-day holiday. Grocers sold goods on promises, cities paid workers in scrip, movie houses reverted to the barter system. On 9 March Congress passed, virtually unseen...
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This section contains 305 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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