ABSTRACT
In the wake of the panic of 1907, deposits guaranty laws' spread through the West, the Taft administration got Congress to pass the Postal Savings Bank Act and Senator Nelson Aldrich's National Monetary Commission appeared to be bogged down in an endless series of inconclusive sessions prompting little public comment and even less excitement. While Aldrich released trial balloons that prepared the public for a more centralized banking arrangement, Wall Street bankers did not have time to wait for reform. To them, the lessons of the panic of 1907 were clear: more concentration and cooperation at the nation's financial center could prevent another round of banking failures.
